I'm sorry but there are too many changes from the Original one. The game starts with on a bad note with the changes of Atrus monologue text and tone... For the rest, I wanted to explore Riven in real time, not another world. Some puzzles disappeared, like the spheres with animals sounds one, and other ones appeared. Some rooms changed location or disappeared, like the one where we could summon the Wahrk. Where is it? I'm so disappointed... But I suppose that's a great game for anyone not knowing the original.
I found myself in a situation where for some reason I couldn't switch weapon with either the keyboard keys or the mouse. My character is stuck in a position where she point the weapon to ceiling... Can't even use the escape key to quit the game or use a typewriter to save my state of the game before force quitting it.
The mechanic of the game is very original! It's confusing at the start but the very beginning is a tutorial and you understand quickly what is going on. But be sure to have a controller, as the game advises it to you. It was designed to play with it. You can use the keyboard but the feeling is better with a controller. The game is beautiful and the music and sound are very relaxing. It's a very interesting take on a puzzle game :)
It's really difficult for me to give a fair review. I played it in 1995. I was a teenager and any simple computer graphics were fascinating to me. So, at that time, MYST was really impressive and immersive. It was mysterious, a bit creepy at time and you were really on you own. No phone distraction and no internet with all the reviews and answers to the game. You were really transported away from your life to another island Nostalgia would regret the simple 1993 roman look but the new “steampunky” graphics are really gorgeous. But how the gameplay aged? It's difficult to have a fresh eye on it. The 5 ages are “small”. They had to be small in 1993, with all those stills pictures rendered on a home Macintosh computer. Everything was crafted by hand and there were no objects library either. It still blows my mind that they pulled it of... How a modern gamer who never played the 1993 MYST during that era would see those 5 ages but had many playing hours in bigger world/maps? I don't know... If you're young gamer, have an open minded to play this game and try to forget how modern games are and just take the time to immerse yourself, I think it's worth it. The price is fair and if you're not sure about purchasing it, just wait for a sale :) Also, If you doubt Cyan in their capacity to create bigger world, just try Obduction: it really recreates the MYST feeling for modern players, imho. But you still have to be a world explorer and a puzzle person. This is not an FPS ;) 1993 MYST is a 5 stars game no question for me. but I will remove one star just for the really bad CGI characters. They are almost no better than the Apple Memojis in term of animation. It _really_ breaks the immersion :( It's heart breaking to say that to a company like Cyan... but I had to be honest :/ Even if I know that CGI characters are the most difficult part to create... Lack of mean and money could be the issue, here. Cyan is a small company. Maybe it could be fixed in a later update?
I just wanna play. There are way too much cut scenes in this game... The game flow is broken way too often and you have to sit like an idiot behind the computer waiting for the next shooting séance to start.
