Review for Riven Remake
Classic adventure remakes come in very distinct forms. Whether it’s Myst staying true to its roots or Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened ripping them out to plant something new, there have been various experiments to bring the classics back for a new generation. Following in the former’s footsteps is Riven, which stays true to its original counterpart’s world, story, and puzzle experience. The game also has Virtual Reality support, but this has issues (notably in Meta Quest 2).
Developed by Cyan Worlds, Riven is a direct sequel to the first Myst game. You play as an unnamed silent protagonist helping a man called Atrus rescue a young woman named Catherine from the clutches of his father, Gehn. This journey requires traveling to the world of Riven, where you will find much in the way of environmental storytelling but not much in the way of a straightforward, character-driven narrative. Knowing more about Riven’s lore or the events before this game requires much reading. Those who like combing through various tomes and engaging themselves in the plot’s historical context may enjoy this. For those who have never played Myst, the narrative is challenging to follow. The story outlines the primary objectives, and the game leaves it to you to discover how to achieve them. You don’t have to follow the story exhaustively to complete the game, but there are tidbits you need to find out for both puzzles and endings. You can potentially rush into a bad finale and finish prematurely. Still, the true ending is locked behind much work that will be explained later on.
The presentation, especially the art direction, elicits a genuine sense of wonder. You start at an isolated temple, but then find your way off into a forest of giant lance-shaped leaves, home to locals living in a watering hole with a submersible travel system. You will also encounter an island that is actually a large boiler room, a lone surveillance islet that is also home to some dark secrets, and a prison carved out of a giant tree. But that’s not all. You’ll find strange creatures, such as a large hybrid between a pelican and a seal. Some sections of the surrounding ocean are parted, reminiscent of Moses parting the Red Sea. These unusual and mysterious environments invite you to avidly explore and figure out what exactly is happening.
The game runs very smoothly on PC, with only a slight visual hiccup or two. The environments are extraordinarily detailed and smooth. The intricacy also extends to most of the characters, with motion capture performances adding an element of realism to the world’s appealing weirdness.
Riven’s soundscape features mostly ambient sounds. You’ll hear wind whistling, a few voices or crying children when visiting the village, the noise of machinery in certain sections, and more. This adds to the overall immersion, especially on PC. There is background music, but it only plays in particular rooms. Most of these rooms contain tribal tunes that can be somber, sinister, or catchy. The music doesn’t make as much of an impact as the voice acting. Dialogues are rare, but what is there is very well done, with some terrific facial animations that help convey personality and emotions.
What makes or breaks Riven is the puzzle-centric gameplay. Movement on the PC is simple using keyboard and mouse: walking around the world and interacting with buttons, wheels, or the various books you will be combing through. You travel from island to island using either a transportation system or, when you unlock them, “shortcuts” that still require work to use. On the PC version, the transportation lets you look out at the world and understand its scope and mystique. There are not many inventory items, but the one you’ll find yourself using often is a magnifying glass on the forest island. It highlights creatures or objects painted in white, which is essential for certain puzzles.
There are a few puzzles where the answer is straightforward enough, but the more complex challenges require solutions that are unavailable in the immediate vicinity. The answers to these conundrums are logical but also scattered around other islands, which means that if you don’t have a photographic memory, you will be backtracking. Thankfully, the game allows you to take screenshots and save them to a notebook you can consult. You can even take notes within these screenshots. However, you can’t rearrange the photos to your liking, and even then, you’ll be taking pictures of information either because you think it will be necessary down the line or because you saw a connection with yet another piece of information. The puzzle related knowledge will be vague initially, and even when you figure out many patterns, facts or hints, you may still find yourself returning to a location because you identified a connection between the puzzle and something else pertinent to it. As you may expect, this requires additional backtracking, which tests your threshold for this type of repetition.
Even on a second playthrough, you will still backtrack because certain puzzle solutions are randomly generated. The symbology and the numerical values behind them remain constant. However, some solutions are not set in stone and will change from run to run. For speedrunners, this will hamper their efforts. Those seeking to play the game once for the true ending after encountering a bad ending can easily reload a previously saved game. For those who enjoy replaying, this will serve to spice up additional playthroughs.
When replaying Riven through the Meta Quest 2 VR headset, the experience is a significant downgrade compared to the PC. Textures pop in much later, loading screens and frame stutters are more obvious, and character models look muddier. There is also noticeable clipping with water on sand, or a second layer of water uncovered when the top wave retracts. There is one area which is beautifully detailed in the PC version with a starry sky and dark clouds, especially while using a device to rotate yourself to another platform. On Meta Quest 2, key elements in that area are missing and the world around you fades completely to pitch black while rotating. Also, on Meta Quest 2, views of the world while transporting are not available, likely because it would take power the hardware does not possess. This is not too big a disappointment if you are focusing on the story and gameplay. However, if you want to immerse yourself in Riven’s marvelous world, these noticeable problems may annoy and potentially dissuade you from in-depth exploration.
The Meta Quest 2 does pose unique problems when it comes to interactions. Some puzzles require a timed input while looking through a lens, and it is usually hard to know where your hand is and press the button simultaneously. This is especially true when considering how the game handles physical touch. You can’t lightly tap your hand on a button and quickly apply pressure. Either you press it speedily or hard enough to get a reaction. Also, you cannot take notes within the screenshots of your notebook while using Meta Quest 2.
Cyan World’s remake of Riven brings the imaginative and cryptic world to life through its fantastical visual presentation and design. The few characters are very well-voiced, with great facial animations and motion capture. However, the main story is somewhat vague, and the complicated puzzles can become tedious if you haven’t discovered the required information. If you rush to complete the game and get a bad ending, the play time is about nine hours. The journey to trigger the true finale takes about three hours longer. While the narrative will not click for every player, it is an excellent retelling of a classic adventure that, like the Myst remake, resonates with its classic counterpart’s core story and world, while artfully expanding on them.
WHERE CAN I DOWNLOAD Riven
Riven is available at:
We get a small commission from any game you buy through these links (except Steam).Our Verdict:
Riven is a remake that stays true to the original. While the breathtaking world and visuals adeptly draw you in, the initial obscurity of the story and puzzle complexity may eventually push you away from full engagement. Still, for those who have played and enjoyed the original, this is an excellent dive back into a spectacular world, and an opportunity to see how Cyan Worlds has enriched the original vision.
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