Our VerdictRiven is as impressive, immersive, and unmissable as it’s ever been.
Our VerdictRiven is as impressive, immersive, and unmissable as it’s ever been.
Our Verdict
Our Verdict
Riven is as impressive, immersive, and unmissable as it’s ever been.
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Atrus. Linking books. Ages. A big cardboard box illustrated with an imposing sphere-like structure, filled with CDs to install. Weird, weird, puzzles. Riven, like its equally famous prequel Myst, is one of those games that made such a splash back in the ’90s that it feels a little familiar—a little revered, even—to just about everyone of a (my) certain age. A true classic, known even to those who never had any intention of playing it.
Need to knowWhat is it?A classic puzzle adventure, expertly updatedRelease date:25 Jun, 2024Expect to pay:Developer:Cyan Worlds IncPublisher:Cyan Worlds IncReviewed on:Intel Core i7-7700HQ, GTX 1070, 16GB RAMMultiplayer:NoSteam Deck:UnsupportedLink:SteamCheck Amazon
Need to know
What is it?A classic puzzle adventure, expertly updatedRelease date:25 Jun, 2024Expect to pay:Developer:Cyan Worlds IncPublisher:Cyan Worlds IncReviewed on:Intel Core i7-7700HQ, GTX 1070, 16GB RAMMultiplayer:NoSteam Deck:UnsupportedLink:SteamCheck Amazon
What is it?A classic puzzle adventure, expertly updatedRelease date:25 Jun, 2024Expect to pay:Developer:Cyan Worlds IncPublisher:Cyan Worlds IncReviewed on:Intel Core i7-7700HQ, GTX 1070, 16GB RAMMultiplayer:NoSteam Deck:UnsupportedLink:Steam
Check Amazon
Check Amazon
Check Amazon
Check Amazon
Check Amazon
Going back tothe originalin the cold light of 2024 is hard: it’s a 640x480 flipbook of a game, much of its original multi-disc awe and wonder lost to time. This remake brings all of the ancient magic back in an instant.
At the risk of stating the obvious: this is Riven, but in 3D. And I don’t just mean the old environments, polished domes, and worn machinery are all still there. This is the most successful, spiritually accurate real-time recreation of that unmistakable pre-rendered ’90s CG style I’ve ever seen. Everything’s slightly unreal. The sky’s almost too blue, the outdoor sun is always just a bit too bright, and interior lights have an attractive yet artificial pre-baked quality to their illumination. Rocky textures are sharp and intricate but never quite photorealistic. Foliage is too detailed yet naively simplistic all at once, giant single blades of green erupting from the dirt.
It’s beautiful. Stylish. Timeless. Being able to casually walk around environments that once took professional workstations hours to render from a single angle at much lower detail levels almost feels disrespectful to history, yet it immediately makes for a better adventure.
Somehow Riven still manages to look amazing even on relatively lowly modern hardware. Due to the unexpected and catastrophic failure of my usual machine I had to play this on a laptop that I would at best politely describe as potato-like, yet somehow its GTX 1070 still managed to hit 60FPS at 1080p at the game’s maximum graphical settings, with only a few rare, minor dips along the way.
Familiar landmarks in the distance help keep me grounded(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Image1of4Don’t tell me, I’ve got this. Maybe. Err.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Being able to look around Box Art Place feels surreal(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)3D models replace the old bluescreen actors(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Remade foliage retains a convincingly ’90s sheen(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Image1of4Don’t tell me, I’ve got this. Maybe. Err.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Being able to look around Box Art Place feels surreal(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)3D models replace the old bluescreen actors(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Remade foliage retains a convincingly ’90s sheen(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Image1of4
Don’t tell me, I’ve got this. Maybe. Err.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Being able to look around Box Art Place feels surreal(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)3D models replace the old bluescreen actors(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Remade foliage retains a convincingly ’90s sheen(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Don’t tell me, I’ve got this. Maybe. Err.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Being able to look around Box Art Place feels surreal(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)3D models replace the old bluescreen actors(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Remade foliage retains a convincingly ’90s sheen(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Don’t tell me, I’ve got this. Maybe. Err.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Don’t tell me, I’ve got this. Maybe. Err.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Don’t tell me, I’ve got this. Maybe. Err.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Don’t tell me, I’ve got this. Maybe. Err.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Don’t tell me, I’ve got this. Maybe. Err.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Being able to look around Box Art Place feels surreal(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Being able to look around Box Art Place feels surreal(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Being able to look around Box Art Place feels surreal(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Being able to look around Box Art Place feels surreal(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Being able to look around Box Art Place feels surreal(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
3D models replace the old bluescreen actors(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
3D models replace the old bluescreen actors(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
3D models replace the old bluescreen actors(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
3D models replace the old bluescreen actors(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
3D models replace the old bluescreen actors(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Remade foliage retains a convincingly ’90s sheen(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Remade foliage retains a convincingly ’90s sheen(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Remade foliage retains a convincingly ’90s sheen(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Remade foliage retains a convincingly ’90s sheen(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Remade foliage retains a convincingly ’90s sheen(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
What hasn’t changed in 27 years is that this is less a game to be solved and more a place to be experienced. I’m supposed to poke and prod at everything I can see, to peek through small windows and pull at various dials and levers just to see what happens.
Sometimes I’m sure the entire point is simply to pause for a minute and admire the view—a golden beetle shining in the sun, vast expanses of water that seem determined to out-blue the skies above, strange non-spaces where the usual laws of physics no longer apply and “up” is a matter of opinion.
Which is how I ended up with two pages worth of scribbles on fictional counting systems and notes that readFROG=2????andFISH THING IS???It looked more like I was channelling the spirit of da Vinci than solving a puzzle in a game, but I wouldn’t swap that extraordinary effort for anything. The reward for solving a puzzle was more satisfying than completing an objective; it felt personal, like proof I’d explored with my eyes open and applied myself to a world that literally didn’t speak my language.
Image1of4It’ll all make sense eventually. Honest.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Bioluminescent fungi tastefully light the way(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Gorgeous scenery is as common as tricky puzzles(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)A holiday photo, or a crucial puzzle? Why not both?(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Image1of4It’ll all make sense eventually. Honest.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Bioluminescent fungi tastefully light the way(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Gorgeous scenery is as common as tricky puzzles(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)A holiday photo, or a crucial puzzle? Why not both?(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Image1of4
It’ll all make sense eventually. Honest.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Bioluminescent fungi tastefully light the way(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Gorgeous scenery is as common as tricky puzzles(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)A holiday photo, or a crucial puzzle? Why not both?(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
It’ll all make sense eventually. Honest.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Bioluminescent fungi tastefully light the way(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)Gorgeous scenery is as common as tricky puzzles(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)A holiday photo, or a crucial puzzle? Why not both?(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
It’ll all make sense eventually. Honest.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
It’ll all make sense eventually. Honest.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
It’ll all make sense eventually. Honest.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
It’ll all make sense eventually. Honest.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
It’ll all make sense eventually. Honest.(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Bioluminescent fungi tastefully light the way(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Bioluminescent fungi tastefully light the way(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Bioluminescent fungi tastefully light the way(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Bioluminescent fungi tastefully light the way(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Bioluminescent fungi tastefully light the way(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Gorgeous scenery is as common as tricky puzzles(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Gorgeous scenery is as common as tricky puzzles(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Gorgeous scenery is as common as tricky puzzles(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Gorgeous scenery is as common as tricky puzzles(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Gorgeous scenery is as common as tricky puzzles(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
A holiday photo, or a crucial puzzle? Why not both?(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
A holiday photo, or a crucial puzzle? Why not both?(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
A holiday photo, or a crucial puzzle? Why not both?(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
A holiday photo, or a crucial puzzle? Why not both?(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
A holiday photo, or a crucial puzzle? Why not both?(Image credit: Cyan Worlds)
Riven’s as captivating in 2024 as it’s ever been. It’s an inventive puzzle game that demands an intense yet unhurried sort of commitment, and then lavishly rewards those who give it. It’s a vibrant alien world layered with lore and secrets. It has plenty of new twists on old solutions that will surprise its biggest fans but still appear seamlessly integrated to everyone else.
This is how you remake a classic.
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The Verdict90Read our review policyRivenRiven is as impressive, immersive, and unmissable as it’s ever been.
The Verdict
The Verdict
90Read our review policyRivenRiven is as impressive, immersive, and unmissable as it’s ever been.
90Read our review policy
90
RivenRiven is as impressive, immersive, and unmissable as it’s ever been.
Riven
Riven is as impressive, immersive, and unmissable as it’s ever been.
More about rivenThe remake of Riven, the sequel to the remake of Myst, is coming out later this monthThe Riven remake, with new content and VR support in Unreal Engine 5, promises ‘an homage to its roots and a leap into the future’LatestEpic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’See more latest►
More about rivenThe remake of Riven, the sequel to the remake of Myst, is coming out later this monthThe Riven remake, with new content and VR support in Unreal Engine 5, promises ‘an homage to its roots and a leap into the future’LatestEpic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’See more latest►
More about rivenThe remake of Riven, the sequel to the remake of Myst, is coming out later this monthThe Riven remake, with new content and VR support in Unreal Engine 5, promises ‘an homage to its roots and a leap into the future’
More about riven
The remake of Riven, the sequel to the remake of Myst, is coming out later this monthThe Riven remake, with new content and VR support in Unreal Engine 5, promises ‘an homage to its roots and a leap into the future’
The remake of Riven, the sequel to the remake of Myst, is coming out later this month
The remake of Riven, the sequel to the remake of Myst, is coming out later this month
The Riven remake, with new content and VR support in Unreal Engine 5, promises ‘an homage to its roots and a leap into the future’
The Riven remake, with new content and VR support in Unreal Engine 5, promises ‘an homage to its roots and a leap into the future’
LatestEpic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’See more latest►
Latest
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says tech leaders are ‘pretending to be Republicans’ to gain favor with Trump, skirt antitrust laws, and ultimately ‘rip off consumers and crush competitors’
See more latest►
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