Riven remake

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Ok, now that doesn't look like a failure. Even 3D actors don't look too shaby. I think I'll give it a try.

edit: trying the demo. Loading times are shit and throw me out of the narrative right after the initial talk with that old fart (whose name I seem to have forgotten. Has been a long time since I played the original). In the original everything in the transitions between scenes was seamless. Now I'm forced to look at a stupid loading screen that, as if I'm too moronic to know by myself, informs me that it's a loading screen ("Loading..."). And I wonder: Why do these shitty loading screens exist at all in games in general? Why not something creative? Like a scene that's slowly building up while the game loads in the background? A slow materialization in the next world would fit the narrative of this game and not break immersion like a screen informing me specifically that it's loading time and thus that it's a game I'm playing not a world I'm about to enter. Oh well.

 

[Infinitron]

https://af.gog.com/game/riven?as=1649904300

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Got it on Steam as I can be sure the updates flow in regularly there. The game seems to be DRM-free on Steam too (I started it with the .exe, Steam client closed).

One thing I noticed: The game may freeze in the loading screen if you don't have enough memory on your c:/. Don't know why, but it eats up about 10 GB of temporary space in the loading process in my case.

Can't deny the game itself looks stunning and practically exactly the same as Riven did, just with the freedom to move as you like and many new animations and details. That's pretty awesome in my book. Performance is not too bad either. The only thing I don't loke too much are the characters. They aren't bad, but not lip-synced (at least Atrus wasn't). Anyway I can't wait to dive in properly on the next weekend.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

I never played the original Riven release, but I found the premise of Myst series fascinating. I'll need to check this out

 

[Star Citizen]

Personally not a fan of the new puzzles, sorta inorganic/nonsensical to the original's meticulous efforts at making everything seem grounded n believable. Still very neat but I'm just playing it more as a fan reimagining than a remake.

 

[NwNgger]

I never played the original Riven release, but I found the premise of Myst series fascinating. I'll need to check this out

Before you play the games, read the novels. They're great and you can get the omnibus of all three of them fairly cheap online. Really helps provide lore and context for both Myst and Riven.

 

[KazikluBey]

I never played the original Riven release, but I found the premise of Myst series fascinating. I'll need to check this out

Before you play the games, read the novels. They're great and you can get the omnibus of all three of them fairly cheap online. Really helps provide lore and context for both Myst and Riven.

Recommending someone read three books before even trying a game is weird advice.

Only one that really provides useful tie-in is the first book, "The Book of Atrus" as it sets up the stage and the conflict for where we find Atrus and family in Myst and Riven. The best of the three.

If you liked the first book and/or the games and would like to know more about the setting, also read "The Book of Ti'ana" (Atrus's grandma) as it provides background info and some neat world building including the fall of D'ni. Not quite as strong as a standalone novel, but it did have a cool villain. #VeovisWasRight

Unless you're starved for reading material don't bother with the last one, "The Book of D'ni". Takes place after Riven sometime, but doesn't really tie in to either Myst 1-5, Uru or anything else unless they added something more to Uru in its reincarnation as Myst Online, and the story doesn't really go anywhere. Didn't like it much.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

I’ll just watch lore vids on youtube, I guess?

 

[eviltentacle]

Lol at recommending someone read three books before playing a game. You don't need to read any books or watch any lore videos, just play and enjoy the games! They are fantastic on their own. I wouldn't say you have to play Myst to understand what's happening in Riven either. One of the masterful things about these games is that every detail in the environment is telling the story.

 

[Darkozric]

I’ll just watch lore vids on youtube, I guess?

Back in the day we didn't have the novels or youtube, piecing the story parts together by yourself was part of the fun. Enjoy the exploration and puzzles and let the environmental story-telling guide you.
If you liked the journey, you could later watch some lore shit or as kazikluBay said just read the first book, but keep in mind that it's not a necessity.

Playing Myst for the first time huh? Man, I envy you. My only suggestion would be to leave URU: Ages beyond Myst for last.
Unlike previous games in the series, Uru's story mixes fictional plot elements with real-world events, it's a different beast.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

Not really for the first time. I remember reading wiki pages that said something about an empire of D’ni that could create multiverse portals by writing books, but I don’t know the plots of any games beyond the first

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Why didn't they use real actors in 3D environments for this remake? Do real actors cost too much?

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

The details are amazing. But what did they do to these dinosaur things on Jungle Island? In the original game it was one of the most memorable scene for me to look down to the beach from far above and see these giant, strange animals lounging on the rock in the sunlight. As soon as they noticed you, they jumped in the water and you could see them swim out into the open ocean before disappearing. Here you basically stumble upon them which takes away much of the wonder and amazement in the original game. But the worst thing: They jump off their rock and disappear in the shallow, transparent water directly, not swiming out. They just vanish. While the game has a very keen eye for details and enhances the original game very much in this way, unfortunately they completely destroyed the impact of this fascinating scene. A shame.

 

[Star Citizen]

The cart rides are really disappointing also, feel way too static. In the OG carts hit hitches, the rail lines wobbled and you got that sense of speed, in this remake it feels really artificial

 

[KafkaBot]

As a whole, would you say the original is still better? I'm trying to get my girlfriend to play Riven, but I haven't touched the remake yet, so I don't know which one to recommend.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

As a whole, would you say the original is still better? I'm trying to get my girlfriend to play Riven, but I haven't touched the remake yet, so I don't know which one to recommend.

From what I've seen so far the remake does many things right. It looks utterly gorgeous and perfectly catches the overall aesthetics and weirdness of the original. Some things have been heavily changed though - I just replayed the beginning of the original after years to have a direct comparison and was almost shocked how many puzzles are different in the new one - mind you: different, not necessarily better or worse. I was especially shocked that I didn't remember them myself. I'm also not quite sure if the Remake has potential dead ends - I got to prison island right after exploring temple island (by brute-forcing the code) which I'm not supposed to do at this point, if I understand correctly. Without the proper code to use the transportation devices one could be stranded there. Anyway, the overall feeling is fantastic in the Remake though, and to be able to walk freely enhances immersion greatly imho. If not for some changes I don't really like (see my post about the dinosaur things for example) I could wholeheartedly recommend it over the original. I'm not too far into the game though, so my final verdict could change.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

It could always be adjusted in updates?