Adventure Gamers - Forums

Planning to pick this one up on Quest 3. Experiencing it in VR will be quite something. Just waiting for the Q3 graphical patch that will be released next week.

I have a bit of a dilemma with this one, I hope you guys can help me out. I’m new to the Myst games, I just played Myst for the first time recently (I know, a litte late to the party ) and I really enjoyed it so I’ve been looking forward to this remake to experience Riven but now I’m not sure if it’s the best version to play as a newcomer. It’s getting good reviews and from what I’ve read it’s faithful but my worry is that apparently they changed and added puzzles? How much does it differ from the og experience or affects the feel or difficulty of game overall? Also the FMV vs 3D models, I usually don’t care much about that, as long as they convey the same dialog/information. However, from my experience playing the Myst remake for some reason the FMVs didn’t have subtitles and those are HUGE for me, so I had to play it with the 3d models. If the og Riven doesn’t have subtitles, then it’s a deal breaker for me and have to go for the remake, but I still would like to weight in how much things are changed or altered to have the best experience possible.

danigar - 26 June 2024 05:58 PM

I have a bit of a dilemma with this one, I hope you guys can help me out. I’m new to the Myst games, I just played Myst for the first time recently (I know, a litte late to the party ) and I really enjoyed it so I’ve been looking forward to this remake to experience Riven but now I’m not sure if it’s the best version to play as a newcomer. It’s getting good reviews and from what I’ve read it’s faithful but my worry is that apparently they changed and added puzzles? How much does it differ from the og experience or affects the feel or difficulty of game overall? Also the FMV vs 3D models, I usually don’t care much about that, as long as they convey the same dialog/information. However, from my experience playing the Myst remake for some reason the FMVs didn’t have subtitles and those are HUGE for me, so I had to play it with the 3d models. If the og Riven doesn’t have subtitles, then it’s a deal breaker for me and have to go for the remake, but I still would like to weight in how much things are changed or altered to have the best experience possible.

Let me begin just by saying that I consider the original Riven, the greatest game of all time. I think I have physical copies of about 3-4 different versions of it. I am very enthusiastic about this new version that I crave to play at some point.

To your questions though: If you liked Myst, you will love Riven. I sincerely do not remember if the original’s FMV had subtitles or not (I think they didnt but dont take my word for it), but there is not much dialog anyways. The puzzles are in the same way Myst’s are (explore first-solve later), in a vast bigger area. The riddles might be a bit harder than Myst’s but they are all logic based. Also the original’s graphics hold EXTREMELY well, even today. You feel like you are immersing into a paradise. Without knowing how much they changed some of the puzzles or the actors (I dont care about Atrus and Catherine, but Gehn’s performance is very important for me. Even if we meet him briefely, I want him to be as perfect as it was originally), the original would by highly reccommended from me.

Karlok - 26 June 2024 10:02 AM

Yes! It’s not just Gehn, Catherine and Atrus. It’s the Moiety woman, the prisoner, the guard, the girl on the path, the face behind the door, the people running away when they spot you.

Exactly. I especially thought of that little girl on the path. One special moment in Riven and I dread meeting her in 3D form (if she’s still in the game). I too bought the game of course. Will probably begin playing tonight. Excited!

@Danigar: Since I haven’t played the remake yet, I can’t really help you. The OG Riven shares the top spot on my all time favorite games list with GK3, but it suffers a bit from being of its time technically, being presented in slide-show style and with pretty low-res graphics (640x480). As for difficulty the original is pretty darn difficult, or at least I thought so when I played it around the time of its release. As far as I can remember there is no option for subtitles in the OG, so if that’s a dealbreaker the choice is easy.

Well my 2 cents also as recent player. I played the 2021 remake mostly because I got it very cheap a while ago and was sitting in my backlog but also because I kind of wanted to experience it with modern graphics and controls. As much as I like retro stuff and also grew up with the classics, just sometimes the age of some games bothers me a little and if the puzzles and everything was pretty much the same, I just went with it. That said, I saw footage of the realMyst version to compare once I finished and I think I may have chosen that version instead, if it had subtitles (if that’s something you care about). I’m not sure if this is spoilery but I went in blind and didn’t know how much clues or information I could be missing if I didn’t understand everything they said, especially with that static effect, but then found out there’s not that much dialog and not much is missed if I didn’t get everything), but still, having subtitles is a big plus for me. I liked the atmosphere despite the age, loved the night/day cycle and of course the FMVs. The FMVs are much better I agree but as I’m not an original player, I didn’t mind the 3d models at all, and could always watch them later for reference/comparison.

I was going to go for the Riven remake as well, but what stopped me was reading about changes in the puzzles, which afaik the Myst remake didn’t change much, but I think I’m going to get it, it’s probably the best option for newcomers overall, especially for us that need subtitles

I recently played the most recent Myst (2021) and I think something has been lost. It lacks the atmosphere and feel of the original imo. You can choose between 3D models or original videos, which is good, but unfortunately the last sequences are 3D models only.

Myst is probably the most important game for me, since it’s what got me into gaming in the first place. It was included with my first computer, a Mac that I bought in 1995. I was mesmerized by it. So for me probably the original (or Masterpiece Edition) is the way to really experience the game. But I guess realMyst (or realMyst Masterpiece Edition) would be my recommendation for playing it as a newcomer.

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. It’s a strange experience when you have played the original as many times as I have.