Game: Riven 2024
Genre: Puzzle
System: Steam (Windows) (also available for macOS)
Developers | Publishers: Cyan Worlds Inc
Controller Support: Full
Price: US $34.99 | UK £29.50 | EU € 33,99
Release Date: June 25th, 2024
No review code was used, as I purchased the game myself.
Riven is a remake of the second Myst game from 1997, called Riven: The Sequel to Myst. It not only brought new graphics to the old game, but it also added some new stuff.
The History of Riven
Back in the 1990s, Cyan and their game Myst was a very big deal. It’s hard to overstate how much of a difference Cyan made in the world of video games; they pushed the envelope of what a game could look like, of what our computers could do, and what kind of storytelling was possible in games. Cyan became so popular that the brothers who made Myst were featured in a magazine ad for the Gap, a massively popular clothing store.
Riven: The Sequel to Myst followed this stunning success, selling about 4.5 million copies between 1997 and 2000. Considering that less than half of Americans had a personal computer at that time, the number of units sold was staggering.
In 2020, Cyan Worlds decided to remake Myst with updated graphics. The team working on the remake included Rand Miller, the main creator of the first Myst back in the 1990s. Riven was similarly remade to be released in 2024, and I had the honor of playing through this amazing title myself.
In order to update this late ’90s video game for a modern audience, they exchanged the original click-to-go movement for 3D open action movement, updated the graphics, added VR, and changed around some of the puzzles. They even added some new music created by Robyn Miller, Rand Miller’s brother and the original composer for Myst and Riven.
I Love This Game
I played both Myst and Riven when they originally dropped back in the 1990s, and I am so excited to share the reboot with you. Riven 2024 is proof that remakes of original games can be lovingly recreated and even made better through changes. The puzzles have been updated to be either a little different (or a little bit easier in the case of the sound puzzle at the end of the game). It means that even big fans of the original can have a whole new experience in the Age of Riven.
I was blown away by how gorgeous it looks, how good the movement feels, and how good the puzzles are. Riven: The Sequel to Myst was beautiful, of course; it was created with photographs of real places. But the updated graphics are stunning. The vistas of this crumbling world are awe-inspiring. But the real star of this show is the music from Robyn Miller and the sound design. It’s hard to imagine you haven’t been transplanted to a whole new world as the plants are completely alien, the people speak in a different language, and devices that don’t seem to make any sense at first.
The story and lore haven’t changed; it’s still Atrus from Myst that sends you into Riven to find his wife without letting his father, Gehn, free. You have to figure out how to find Gehn, how to find Catherine and signal Atrus to find a way to return to your home. You need to learn new number systems and figure out all sorts of puzzles, and the entire time, you are followed around by some of the most shining examples of video game music in the business.
Added Accessibility Options in the Remake
One of the best additions to the new Riven is the accessibility options. There were a couple of puzzles in the original that were nearly impossible for anyone with hearing difficulties. This has been completely fixed this time around by giving sound subtitles to the puzzles that need it. There are also color subtitles for those with issues seeing color. Considering I have trouble with some sounds, all the added accessibility has been great.
Another lovely thing added to the new version of this game is the ability to change your cursor, adjust volume by sound type, and a lot of other great additions that wouldn’t have been available on a game in 1997. Cyan may have made some changes, but Riven is still what it was all those many years ago.
One thing they didn’t change was one of the most important things from the original game: the door that looks like a face. It looks even more like a face in this one, and I was so happy to see it return. Prison Island wouldn’t be the same without it. Look at this happy thing right here:
Problems with the Riven Remake
I have few issues with the new Riven, but I did have a few concerns. I have put 68 hours into this game total so far (I have been speed-running it for fun), and I have had the game crash a lot, especially if I haven’t saved manually in a while. My suggestion is to save often because you might lose everything.
I think part of the issue is that Riven doesn’t run great. I have a gaming PC with an SSD, and it’s not too terribly old, but my computer required me to turn the settings all the way down, and it still heated up a lot. Like a lot, a lot. It was straining my PC even more than other big titles I’ve run on it, like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Zenless Zone Zero. It feels like the remake could have used a little more optimization before being tossed out to the public.
One other thing I didn’t like about the game was the FMV characters being replaced by character models that looked kind of low-quality. I think they should have done something else for the people in this world; the surroundings were so beautiful, and the character models looked kind of lacklustre. I don’t know if FMV would have fit in here, but they could have made the models a little bit better somehow; perhaps Cyan should have asked Larian Studios to help them out.
Conclusion
Overall, I loved this Riven. It’s stunning; the new and updated puzzles are brilliant and fun, the music is amazing, the sound design is flawless, and everything in it is so beautiful. I did have a little bit of an issue with the game running poorly and having to turn the graphics way down, and I also didn’t like the character models. But overall, the translation from an old-school point-and-click to an updated version of itself went rather splendidly. I never played the remake of Myst from 2020, but I’m thinking I might have to go back and do just that now that I have seen how beautiful the new Riven is.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot.
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