Riven (1997)

The game is great, a little difficult at times to know if you are making progress, but that is the 'old school' nature of these games. The major issue I am having, and the subsequent removal of stars, is the relatively often game lock-ups forcing me to log off and on again as the game window becomes unresponsive and the menu stops working, preventing task manager to get to the front. Not often enough to for me to give up on it, but usually prematurely ends a session. I'm running Windows 8.

the best adventure with the title of myst. I can count every pixel on screen but it matters not, because the magnificant story binds my nose to it.

This game is IMMERSIVE. You are transported to a world that you will wish that you lived in. I have the soundtrack by Robin Miller, and listen to it often while I'm working, and I have loaded the game many times, and just left it running in the background, just as a pleasant escape. I actually cheated to get through some of the puzzles. I didn't care, I just wanted to see the world they created. Just being there is worth the price of admission, it is so beautiful. Do yourself a favor and get it. It's that good. Best game of all time? Yes, I think so.

I can't describe how excited I am to see this game on here at a price this low. I swear gog.com or Cyan or Ubisoft aren't paying me. I really just love this game (and all Myst games). I played this when I was about 13 so I couldn't really connect the entire story fully. I'm very excited to get back into the game and try again. Riven is one of those games that stays with you. It's so immersive that in your mind it becomes a place memory rather than a time memory. You actually think you've been there, or at least I feel that way. It takes me back! This game is probably one of the best video games to exist, in my humble opinion. Years later the graphics are still striking and the in-game real actor sequences and monologues still put games like Mass Effect and Oblivion to shame. And that's not even mentioning the plot! Please buy this game. It will not disappoint you (although it might make you pull your hair out in frustration!).

For me, Riven was a game changer. It's immense and beautiful world. It's gorgeous soundtrack and it's enticing puzzles became for me the standard for adventure games, and few if any titles have ever matched the feeling I got discovering the world of Riven. Riven, like Myst once again puts you in the role of an unnamed protagonist. This time you're sent by Atrus into the collapsing world of Riven to stop his psychotic father, Gehn and rescue his wife Catherine. Riven drops you right into the action and gives you nothing to go on other than a short journal by Atrus describing his attempts to save the world and his wife. Everything else you learn by exploring the rich world, moving through structures that depict Gehn as a God, villages, palaces and secrets. Despite the lack of hand holding, Riven, like Myst is easy to pick up and play thanks to its simple interface. Like Myst, the world you interact with is largely deserted of people, save for a few cutscenes. So if you need to have heart pounding action in your game, or heavy dialogue, Riven will disappoint you. The thrill of Riven is more subtle. It comes from a feeling of being part explorer, part archeologist picking through the relics of a world beautifully imagined and brought to life.