A Classic In A New Dimension: A Riven Review

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: PC, VR (Meta Quest 2 & Meta Quest 3)

I'm no stranger to the Myst franchise, as I've played through the original trilogy more times than I can imagine. Myst, and its sequel Riven, were particular favorites in my youth, and I've purchased them several times over the years. I've played them on PC, I played them via contemporary console ports, and I've even played the many releases that have popped up over the years. Even though it's been about 15 years since I've played them last, it's safe to say that I know them very well. This review is going to look at yet another re-release of Riven: The Sequel to Myst, but one that adds a new dimension its gameplay. Riven has now entered the VR space, and it's now available on most major VR platforms. I'll be playing it on the Meta Quest 2, though I think the experience will be mostly the same across the board. With the intros out of the way, let's dive right in!

Taking place immediately after the events of Myst and The Book of Atrus, the latter being a novel that released concurrently with the original game, Riven once again places you into the role of the same player character who saved Atrus in the first game. This character is literally meant to be you, so they have no name or description in universe. Having solved all of Myst's mysteries, and having released Atrus from his imprisonment, your new task takes you to the Age of Riven. There you have to capture Gen, Atrus' old apprentice who has declared himself Riven's ruler, and rescue Atrus' wife Catherine. Sending linking books into Riven is considered too dangerous, as Gehn can't be allowed to leave the Age, so you must enter Riven with no clear way to escape once you've arrived. Armed only with Atrus' notes, and a book meant to imprison Gehn, you set forth on another adventure. Though the Age of Riven is inhabited by other people, your journey will be a solitary one. Most of your time will be spent on your own, mainly encountering further plot elements via books and notes scattered about. While this might sound like a rather thin premise, and a bad way to tell a story, it's anything but. Besides being a staple of the Myst series, the open-ended nature of the game allows players to become as involved with the world and its lore as they wish to be. Riven has a story that's full of action, betrayal, and intrigue, even if a lot of that happens off-screen. It's a classic in its own right, and I don't think I'll offend anyone by saying that it gets full marks for its plot, even if it's told in an unconventional way. With that covered, let's talk about gameplay next.

While most people would classify Riven as a point-and-click adventure game, both it and Myst are games that really go beyond that genre label. There is no inventory to speak of beyond books you keep in your bag, and there are very few characters you'll interact with during your journey outside of the ones seen at the beginning and end of the game. In order to complete your missions, you'll have to travel between the five island of Riven, and complete the tasks and puzzles that you find within them. Sounds simple enough, but it's pretty easy to hit a wall, even if much of the game is open to you right from the start. Even though there is no inventory management to speak of, the puzzles are no less complex in spite of that. Though you won't be collecting a lot of random items, you can still press buttons and switches, interact with machinery, and even carry objects from one place to another. The last part might sound like it's an inventory thing, but you'll never be able to carry several items at any one time. It's a very system that's extremely easy to understand, but it in no way makes the game itself simple. Since there are no characters to converse with and give you clues, you have to pay attention to every bit of the world to find solutions to the aforementioned puzzles. It's atmospheric storytelling at its best, and it's executed in a practically perfect way. While that pretty much covers the basics of the game, I think it's time to move on to discussing what is different in this VR adaptation.

The original release of Riven had you navigate the world via a series of pre-rendered images. There were some animated bits, but you mostly moved one screen to the other, clicking on edges of the screen to do so. Riven VR lets you move around freely, though it does have a turning mechanic that almost feels like the older clicking interface. That one little bit aside, all movement and actions are done in real time and in real space, so some of the puzzles had to be adjusted accordingly. Switches and items that were a simple click in the older versions now require you to move close and interact with them directly. While this adds a touch of realism to the experience, it is also makes the game suddenly feel clunky. There were many times when I knew what I had to do in order to move on, but the controls were fighting me every step of the way. It's not game breaking by any stretch, but it did lead to a more than a few annoying moments. Another big difference that is the removal of all of the game's FMV sequences. Originally all the in-game characters were portrayed by real actors, but here they're replaced by 3D models. I'm not sure if the footage was lost, or if rights issues are keeping it from being remastered, but it's an unfortunate change. Slight disappointment aside, I can see why the change would've been made, even if FMV sequences are all the rage once again. Beyond that, there are some quality of life changes like subtitles and color cues. While all these changes are mostly positive, things like long load times still manage to mar an otherwise great game. I'm not sure why Riven VR needs several minutes to start up, but it really kept me from even wanting to play the game after a while. It's hard to pick up and play when you have to put in a several minute time investment just to get to the title screen. All in all, this is still Riven, though it's a version that I think is far from definitive.

When I booted up Riven VR I was instantly transported back to my youth and was surprised by how much of the game I still remembered. It was like revisiting a favorite movie, and I was having a blast. Then I found some puzzles that I wanted to look up some solutions to, and realized that there was no easy way to do that. Even if I didn't want to take the easy way out, something as simple as taking notes is made all the more difficult with it being on a VR platform. Taking off the headset to jot down notes is anything but ideal, even though it was something I found myself doing a couple times. It made me wonder how the casual player, one who didn't have several Riven playthroughs under their belt already, was able to play the game at all. Riven VR does feature a picture taking mechanic that's meant to take the place of notes, but I never found it to be very useful. I'm reminded of the 3D version of Myst, which I believe was called RealMyst, which allowed you to walk around freely, but was playable on a standard PC. That feels like the ideal way to play a game like this. Things like exploring the world freely in first-person, or nearly jump scaring yourself when travelling between islands, can't make up for the fact that this isn't exactly the best way to play the game. While that's just my opinion, it's one that I couldn't shake once the honeymoon period with the game wore off.

Part of me feels that Riven is the best-looking VR game I've ever played, and another part of me feels that if falls just short of greatness. For every breathtaking view you get, there will be lots of draw-in, and plenty of textures that seem to appear out of nowhere. The backgrounds are all recreated faithfully, but the lack of interaction with most of them is far more apparent in the VR space than in the point-and-click one. The amount of times I reached out for something only to find it to be simply part of the background were too many to count, and I'm pretty familiar with the game already. All that aside, Riven is an amazing game, and travelling between islands never felt so intense. Those travel scenes felt impressive even in a 2D space, and playing them in VR is something else entirely. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit put off by them, but I enjoyed them each time they popped up nonetheless. You can actually adjust a lot of the visual aspects of the game, like skipping travelling sequences and adding subtitles, but I opted for the standard experience throughout my playthrough. It's also here that I should remind everyone that I played this on the Meta Quest 2, and I'm not sure how greatly that platform affected the game's performance. I did look up video of it running on the Quest 3, but I'm still not sure if it looks better there. Performance issues aside, there's no way anyone can call Riven an ugly game, I'm just not sure the magic is still there after all this time.

I have plenty of memories noting that the music of Riven was near masterpiece levels, but it took this VR version to really sell me on that fact. Maybe it was due to the fact that I played the entire game using headphones, or maybe it was the way the music seemed to phase in and out of existence as needed, but whatever it was, I'm convinced that this is one of the best game soundtracks of all time. There may be stretches of the game where only the sound of your own footsteps will accompany you, but then the music takes over whenever you enter a specific room, or when you try to solve one of the games many puzzles. Each track has a cinematic flair, but also have melodies that can very easily get stuck in your head. The music treads that fine line of video game music where it sounds both melodic and atmospheric, while also just being good music in general. I really can't go on about the soundtrack enough, and I was very excited to realize that I already own the soundtrack from purchasing a previously released collection. It's not just the music though, as the voice acting and sound effects are spot on too. I think the game uses all the same voices from the original, despite taking away the live action performances. Their inclusion is sure to create an uncanny valley effect for those very familiar with the game, but that's not exactly unwelcome here. In short, Cyan hit it out of the park with the sound decades ago and it took me all this time to truly appreciate it.

Riven currently sits on the Meta Store with a price tag of $34.99. While I can appreciate all the work that went into this version, and the many things it improves, I also can't help but feel that it isn't quite worth that price. This is a 27 year old game that still has a lot of its old problems (long load times & obtuse puzzles) in a new VR wrapping. I did enjoy my time with it, and fully recommend it as a gameplay experience, but that price point gives me pause. I guess one can wait until it's on sale, but sales on Meta Quest games seem to be few and far between. If $34.99 is total chump change to you, pick it up now, and get to playing. Otherwise, maybe give it some time to drop in price a bit. Fans of the Myst series will of course want to pick this one up right now, even if we've all bought this game a half dozen times already over the year. It's still Riven, and it's still the classic game it always was. See you in the next one!

Check Out Riven on Meta:
https://www.meta.com/experiences/6499813506711202/

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Story: A+
Gameplay: A-
Graphics: A-
Music/Sound: A+
Value: C

Overall: A-

Pros:
+ A classic game in every way. Riven deserves to be played no matter the platform.
+ Has its own take on the adventure game genre, and is extremely easy for casual players to get into.
+ Being able to walk around the Age of Riven in first person is one of the best gameplay experiences I've ever had.
+ Even though there are some graphical issues here and there, the game looks amazing.
+ Features one of the best soundtracks of all time, and the way the music is implemented is impressive too.

+/- Travelling between islands is crazy intense!

Cons:
- This is still Riven, and it's a game that's over 25 years old.
- Issues with the controls, and the lack of interactable objects in the world, make this an odd choice for VR.
- Simple things like taking notes, or even looking up solutions for difficult puzzles, are hard to do with a VR headset on one's head.
- Feels a bit overpriced at $34.99

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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