It's really lovely to be back in the world of Riven. The CG characters that replace the FMV ones are not a major downgrade, and worth it for the very nice upgrades to the graphics in general. The freedom of view and movement is really nice, and the atmosphere is every bit as great as it was. I'm someone who forgets a playthrough after a few years, so the puzzles aren't immediately obvious to me, and I'm told there are differences as well, so to me it's eminently replayable. The negative parts are also graphics related. Random crashes have happened twice in about four hours of play, and I've been locked into the terrain because it spawned in after I moved there. I had to use a third party tool to fix my save file, as reloading didn't work, and the last autosave before that was more than two hours old. Just remember to save frequently and you should be good. Don't rely on just the autosaves.
I would remove half a star for it maybe being a little *too* immersive, to the point where some things are difficult only to be realistic. But I won't go as far as removing a whole star, because it is a fantastic game with a beautiful environment, oozing history and really making you feel like you're living in medieval times.
