Adventure Gamers - Forums

Karlok - 28 June 2024 09:14 AM

Veovis - 28 June 2024 03:26 AM

Played the Riven Remake for about an hour yesterday. The initial feeling is the same as with the Myst 2021. Beautiful but something is lost in translation. And the changes they have made so far feels pretty random.

I’m trying to reserve judgement for now. Not easy. I had been looking forward to the 3D maglev rides but the aren’t any better or more beautiful. I don’t get why they moved the room where you open the gate to the maglev, but that might become clear later. One thing I liked: you can get much closer to the sunners, who imo are uglier than in the original game. One thing I disliked very much: the “moyety device” that I haven’t found any use for yet, maybe to discover the animal symbols that have been removed from their old spot.

I don’t get that one either. I know that isn’t actually the case, but somehow the change of location of Gehn’s “hologram device” felt like something AI could have come up with if given the command to “physically change things around a bit”. Like a spot in the world has literally been lifted from one place and randomly put somewhere else. I felt the same way with the new solution to getting through the wooden door on the side of the rotating room. Doesn’t make more sense than the original solution imo. Actually both solutions are quite bad.

I’ll also try to reserve judgment though. It’s still early in the game. The remake definitely feels “new” in a way that has the potential to be challenging in a good way. Good thing they have promised rain this weekend in the area where I live!

Edit: One more negative having to do with the graphics. I think the spots where the islands meet the sea look pretty bad. And there are something in the water that took a while to even recognize as rifts or chasms in the water. So cheap looking. Is this because of the VR thing I wonder?

Karlok - 30 June 2024 02:01 PM

How about you, have you made progress and what’s your opinion?

PS: Not saying it’s “better” than the original Riven. It is not.

I’ve played it for 4-5 hours and I like it. A lot more changes in the environments and of the puzzles than I had anticipated. This is definitely not Riven as we know (and love) it, but a reimagining of the game. One difference is that the game steers the player towards a specific route through the game compared with the original, which was more or less open to explore in any order from the beginning. Even though I haven’t yet solved any of the main puzzles the way we gather clues seems simpler and less abstract compared with the original.

So far I think Cyan has made a good job of making Riven accessible for newcomers to the series. As a fan of the Myst series I find it interesting but definitely not as good as the original. But I enjoy playing it a lot.

Edit: The game works badly with a controller. I play it in a kind of hybrid way, where I use the controller for movement and the mouse for looking/action.

Also, I have made some use of the camera/notebook function. Not sure if this should be considered cheating, since notetaking was such an integral part of the original. One thing I’m on the fence about is whether or not the notebook should have been made accessible directly from within the game. Any thoughts on this?

I think you both have convinced me to buy the new Riven and give it a try. The trick is to NOT compare its quality to the original, because this will probably lead to many disappointments (especially to a hardcore fan like me), but more to enjoy it as a reimagining of the original. I am very willing to do that.