GamerEscape

When talking about the most impactful video games of all time, it’s hard to understate the importance of 1993’s Myst. A seemingly simple-looking point-and-click adventure on the surface, the game went on to be the top selling PC game for nearly a decade, only being thrown off its throne by The Sims in 2000. The game helped drive adoption of the CD-ROM drive for home computers, being the first game to require one, rather than being simultaniously launched on floppy disk.

Yet, if you ask many fans of the now-series, Myst isn’t the best title. It built the groundwork, and it’s looked upon fondly, but the title of “best game in the series” oft goes to its sequel: Riven.

Originally released in 1997, Riven took the base of Myst and turned it up to eleven. Rather than a hub world linking to a few puzzle-dense areas, Riven was a fully-realized world on its own. Blatant puzzles were swapped out for ones that were more deftly woven into the environment, making the game less a “puzzle adventure” and more of a place to just explore and live in for a while.

It’s not just the fans that speak of Riven in such high regard – even series creator Rand Miller referred to it as “the pride and joy of our studio” when he presented the game to us for a preview earlier this month.

Now here we are, nearly 30 years since the release of the original game. Miller and his studio, Cyan, have decided that now is finally the time to revisit their “crown jewel.”

Developed and published by Cyan, the 2024 remake of Riven is set for release on June 25th, 2024, for PC and Mac. The PC version was played for this review via Steam.

Hitting the Books

Riven kicks off after the ending of Myst. You play as an unnamed character, who had helped a man named Atrus escape a trap “linking book” in the previous game. Linking books are just that, books that link to another world, or “Age,” and Atrus has the ability to write them.

Unfortunately, Atrus’ wife, Catherine, has been taken captive by his father, Gehn. Gehn currently rules over the Age of Riven, a world beyond a linking book that is in the process of collapsing. Atrus, in a bid to get Catherine back, writes a new linking book to Riven, and tasks the player with retrieving Catherine and trapping Gehn in a new trap linking book of Atrus’ design. However, once the player enters Riven, there is no way back – Atrus tells the player that Catherine knows a way to call him and get them out, but once you’re in, you’re stuck until the mission is complete.

And so you teleport to the Age of Riven – only to be immediately caged and have the trap book for Gehn stolen. A mysterious character shows up to set you free, and then you’re off, tasked with exploring the collapsing Age of Riven to get the trap book back, rescue Catherine, and trap Gehn.

The actual depth of the story of Riven very much comes from how much effort you put in yourself. Aside from the opening and a couple of key cutscenes, everything else has to be gleaned from the world around you. There are a couple of journals you can find throughout the game (including one you’re carrying at the outset) that build upon the key players and the world lore, but these are optional to read. You’d be a disservice by ignoring them, though, as they really give context to what you’re seeing, as well as offering up hints to the obstacles you’ll soon be facing.

If you chose to ignore reading these journals, though, you’ll still be able to find enjoyment from just the whole vibe of the world of Riven. There’s all kinds of little details spread throughout the Age that cue you in to what’s actually going on here. Constant earthquakes and a giant fissure in the ocean around the island you begin the game on. Finding your way into areas that seem unnatural, and noticing what you can observe from them. Hints that Gehn’s rule over Riven isn’t quite as tight as it initially seems.

Most of all, the feeling that you’re not quite as alone as it seems at the outset. Most of Riven is spent exploring the Age in isolation – aside from a couple scattered conversations with key NPCs, you’re here solo in this collapsing world. Though, you’ll begin noticing things. Catching someone moving just out of frame, but they’re gone when you go to explore. Something you noticed and noted earlier in the game being obviously changed when you go back to check it later. There is life here; it’s just avoiding you.

It all builds together into a great mystery. What exactly is Gehn doing here, aside from holding Catherine captive? There’s signs pointing to a civilization here, but where are they, and what are they doing? Finding the answers to the questions that constantly crop up is a key driver here, and what kept me at my PC playing Riven for hours…even if some of that time was me breaking my brain trying to figure out what to do next.

Island Hopping

Whilst the original Riven was a point-and-click game with a slideshow style presentation, the remake opts for a fully 3D explorable world. Rather than clicking your way around single scenes, you are free to wander around the Age of Riven, exploring and discovering details, puzzles, and paths forward.

As I mentioned earlier, Riven is less about solving puzzles like Myst and more about immersing yourself in the world, but that’s not to say that there aren’t any puzzles. Here, though, they’re much more integrated into the environment…for better and worse.

The general consensus amongst fans appears to be that the original Riven is considered the most difficult in the Myst series, which many lend to the fact that the puzzles are so integrated into the world. Part of the challenge here is in even finding puzzles in the first place, and even then, “solving” them doesn’t always unlock an immediate path forward.

On the one hand, this means that you can lose the satisfaction of solving a puzzle – you know you’ve figured it out, it’s given you information that you may need, but without that immediate feeling of “I know what this did for me,” some puzzles ring hollow. One in particular I remember was unlocking a path to an underwater room on Prison Island. The puzzle to unlock said path was a case of immediate satisfaction, but the one found within said room was the opposite. It gave some important info to note down, but after figuring it out, I then had to backtrack and figure out somewhere else to go, which felt a bit frustrating.

On the other hand, though, this design lends to the cohesiveness and immersion of the world. There’s rarely ever a purposely-set puzzle room; instead you’re slowly gathering information through notes and objects, patterns and viewpoints, which eventually come to help you later in your adventure. The design lets Riven feel less…game-like. It’s more of a natural world, where the puzzles and clues feel native to it, rather than the game just throwing challenges at you because it’s a video game.

In terms of actual “difficulty,” the challenge level really comes down to how observant you are during exploration. I had a few sessions where I sat down, really locked in, and was able to make my way through multiple islands in one session without much difficulty as I was dead focused on checking everything around me. Other sessions where I was less focused (playing after a day of work, playing after a couple drinks, etc) I would often quickly find myself stuck with no idea on where to go next. This usually wound up being because I was missing fairly obvious door handles or interactable objects.

This is where I should disclose that we were provided a hint document for the game. I did end up referring to it a few times in the interest of completing the game in time for review, but I’d say 90% of the time I referenced it was because I couldn’t figure out where to go, not so much how to do something.

One big thing I wound up doing to help mitigate the “difficulty” was to go old-school: break out a pen and paper and start taking notes. This felt like it was a necessity once I started coming across the aforementioned puzzles that exist to provide information rather than a path forward. So long as you’re observant enough to put together a solid notebook, there’s very little in the way that will slow your progress.

The 90s but Now

One reason Miller mentioned for why Cyan hasn’t remade Riven until now was because they wanted to wait until they felt technology was in the right place to “do it right,” particularly when it comes to the representation of the Age of Riven itself. And, after playing through the Age, I can say they did a damn good job of realizing it in the modern era.

The Age of Riven is a surreal and often liminal vibe, and it is an absolute joy to explore the ins and outs of. The inital island you begin in creates a solid groundwork of what to expect…and then Riven goes wild with biomes, setpieces, and architecture. My first foray into Jungle Island, watching a cloud of moth-like creatures taking off around me as I explore the area, stumbling across a seemingly-abandoned village, and then accidentally scaring away a pair of odd-looking sea creatures as I ran by them, all of those moments still stick in my mind.

Even the most simplistic areas end up opening into something much more. Boiler Island presents itself as a dry lakebed with some pipes and a boiler-like machine. Nothing too interesting…but as you begin to explore its depths, you wind up walking through a number of memorable areas and discovering some key bits of lore. That humble island that seemed forgettable at first glance ended up being what really drew me into the game.

My only issue with the visuals comes from the few human characters in the game. The original Riven had these performances in live-action, but they are performed with 3D models here. While they’re not offensive, they always felt much lower in quality compared to the world they inhabit.

A World Reborn

When I first went into the Riven remake, I really wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it or not. I had only played Myst once back when I was ten or so, and I couldn’t make heads or tales of it back then. Seeing fans of the game talk about its difficulty had me nervous as well.

But once I found myself immersed in the world, everything just kind of…clicked. Riven isn’t an obstuse puzzle box like I expected. It’s a surprisingly fleshed-out world. One of seeming loneliness, one of mystery, one that wound up being absolutely enthralling. One that absolutely won’t be for everyone, but if it manages to hook you in, good luck getting it to let go.

Riven is a game that demands your full attention, occasionally to its detriment. If you aren’t locked in and focused, it is easy to lose the trail the game is gently leading you on. But if you can give it your time and attention, it will take you on an unforgettable ride.

~ Final Score: 9/10 ~

Review copy provided by Cyan for PC. Screenshots taken by reviewer.