It’s incredibly difficult to discuss the history of video games without the contribution of Myst and the games it inspired, as well as the direct sequels descended from it. For their time, they were masterfully done, relying on the inherent curiosity of the player to advance rather than any twitch skills or abstruse mathematics. It’s been well over a quarter-century since the first sequel, Riven, originally came out, so Cyan’s remake of their second game in the Myst universe is certainly a game to be examined carefully. Of course, a lot has changed since then, and this remake seems to be aware of most of those changes while stubbornly clinging to some of its original quirks.
Riven takes place after the events of Myst, with considerable reference to events in the tie-in novel, The Book of Atrus. Atrus, the creator (or discoverer) of Myst Island, has been trying to fix a series of problems he thought he left behind in the Age known as “Riven,” the homeland of his wife Catherine. She’s been missing for some time, and Atrus fears she’s been captured or killed by his father Gehn, whom he and Catherine left stranded in Riven. Since you’ve been so helpful sorting out his two rotten sons, Atrus asks you to undertake a rescue mission on the promise that he might be able to return you to your home.
Cyan made an excellent technical choice going with the Unreal engine for their Riven remake effort. If there was a better engine which could reproduce the detailed environments found in the original game in realtime, I’m hard pressed to think what it might be. The attention to detail is simply phenomenal. Given the way water plays such an important role in the setting, the water effects in particular are exceedingly well done. Of course, other lighting and animation effects are equally well executed.
At the same time, however, Cyan clearly understood that they couldn’t get away with bluescreened actors. For one, the original cast is a quarter century older, and the actor who originally played Gehn (John Keston) passed away two years ago. The slightly blurry FMV elements from the original are replaced throughout with virtual actors who do have a strong visual resemblance to their flesh-and-blood counterparts. In this respect, it’s a bit unnerving seeing the virtual actors. The resemblance is not a perfect reproduction the same way we’ve seen in movies like Rogue One, which both blessing and curse. “Close enough” works and yet it still kind of messes with the mind, or at least the memory for those who’ve played the original. For all that it does well, however, there are some spots where the geometry “pops in”, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the speed at which you’re moving. Still and all, it’s a treat for the eyes as well as liberating to the senses. You’re not trapped in a slideshow anymore.
Audio in the Riven remake seems to be duplicating virtually everything from the original. This has its benefits and its liabilities. The environmental sounds still do a lot to set the mood as well as help generate a sense of realism about the various mechanisms and creatures you’ll come across. The audio from the original actors’ performances are transplanted and synchronized almost perfectly as voice-over work for the virtual actors. All well and good. But, just like it was the first time around, the soundtrack for Riven is a little too minimalist. The various themes and leitmotifs of Myst combining together is absent here, and being able to move around in realtime perversely tends to make the soundtrack even more elusive. Sure, you could stick around in one spot for a few minutes and just let the music play, but that just seems counterproductive (mostly; one Steam achievement encourages it).
The gameplay in Riven is understandably more dynamic in the remake than the original. With realtime rendering of environments, you’re moving around and exploring in a way which you weren’t able to previously. Interaction with the environment produces responses, all of which are important in some capacity, and all of which you will need to pay close attention to. Every puzzle is not simply moving you forward, but building you up towards the finale, and you will need to take notes. More importantly, the solutions to puzzles from the original iteration of Riven might not work in this one. This attention to detail demands players not only pay attention, but internalize a lot of information. Fortunately, you can take screenshots in-game, then use the “Notebook” function in the menu to annotate those images. Wise players will take copious notes and snapshot everything of significance.
This more dynamic gameplay has a cost, though. Riven is a short experience, and players will likely burn through it in a day, assuming they don’t get seriously hung up on certain puzzles. The replayability factor is another consideration. While certain elements are randomized each playthrough, the bulk of the environment is going to be the same each time, which in turn will allow for faster runs on repeated playthroughs. Once you know your way around, a lot of the mystery of the game fades. Moreover, the story feels a lot thinner than it did the first time around. There’s a great deal less environmental storytelling in Riven than there was in Myst. Perversely, the fact we don’t have to be swapping CDs any longer reduces a lot of narrative tension. Who would have thought that a physical mechanism which indirectly created intranarrative cliffhangers would be so effective?
All in all, the remake of Riven does something important for gaming history. It makes use of modern technologies to update a classic title for a contemporary audience. It gives younger players who might not have been around when the original game released a chance to experience the sort of games older gamers cut their teeth on back in the day. And it gives those older gamers a chance to come back to a beloved title from the past without having to muck about with emulators or DOSBOX settings. This isn’t the sort of game that you play over and over again like Skyrim or Fallout. It’s for special occasions, a rarity that you come back to once in a while when you need to call back a certain kind of nostalgia. Sort of like reading a classic book every so often. If you haven’t picked up the original version on GOG.com, or even if you have, this new version is certainly worth the experience.
Axel reviewed Riven on PC with a review code.
