Riven, just like the groundbreaking Myst that got here earlier than it, positively has an air of grandiosity if you first play, and never simply because it takes 4-5 minutes of loading and unskippable boot sequences to succeed in the title display screen on Quest 2.
If you first load that iconic authentic journey, past a gap cutscene extra for taste than steerage, you’re left to discover the huge vacancy and thriller of the sport’s setting with out as a lot as a tutorial or trace of the place to start out. It was typical for the period, if not accustomed to trendy sensibilities. Riven begins a lot the identical method.
We start in a darkish room, reintroduced by Atrus to the linking books that function portals to the totally different Ages. Within the Age of Riven, Atrus’ father Ghen has trapped his spouse Catherine on this Age, requiring that you simply enter this world utilizing the final of the linking books to avoid wasting her, and put an finish to Ghen for good by trapping him within the starry void between the Ages. There’s a lot of lore to dive into for these most invested on this universe, however in follow, it’s extra of the identical: you’re dropped onto an island that serves as a grand puzzle labyrinth, tasked with traversing its many obstacles to be able to clear up its thriller.
What’s it?: A ground-up remake of Riven, the sequel to Myst, changing the point-and-click authentic with a fully-3D atmosphere constructed for VR.
Platforms: Quest, Steam (Reviewed on Quest 2)
Launch Date: June 25, 2024
Developer: Cyan
Value: $34.99
With Riven, developer Cyan has rebuilt the sport from the bottom up with VR assist in thoughts. Following the steps when remaking Myst, this remake is the primary time the pre-rendered point-and-click puzzle recreation has been painstakingly recreated and its island made absolutely traversable in 3D area. All puzzles have been painstakingly recreated as-is, albeit with some randomization to make sure returning guests aren’t immediately clued into the puzzle solutions with out placing all of the items collectively first.
What’s most instantly placing upon getting into Riven for the primary time is how tactile the island abruptly feels with this leap to 3D. Each button, lever, and extra can now be grabbed or turned and toyed with so as clear up puzzles and the deeper thriller of this uncommon place. Whereas some VR titles will scale back many actions to a push of a button, really being pressured to maneuver your physique to tug each lever and push buttons that impression the state of this world solely makes this world really feel extra actual, and these uncommon contraptions extra mysterious.
However when does thriller make method for obfuscation? Whereas far forward of its time when first launched, it is a query many newcomers have requested of Myst when seen from a present-day perspective. In that recreation, you’re dropped right into a mysterious island with out as a lot as a touch of the place to go first, an method that even lacks a tutorial for interacting with the world, which makes it off-putting to some. Myst’s broader simplicity as the primary entry has conversely allowed the sport to age gracefully; its uncommon method that might, on one hand, seem abrasive to newcomers, balanced by its contained nature to make it really feel manageable.
It avoids feeling overwhelming or frustratingly obtuse as a result of it by no means turns into so troublesome you’re feeling pressured to depend on a information to work out what’s anticipated of you, which turns this preliminary ambiguity into one thing actually distinctive. You’re feeling like an archeologist in the way you’re continually making new discoveries at each flip. Which is exactly the place Riven suffers.
Riven is broader in scope, an interconnected internet of islands and puzzles and a mind-bending starry expanse. Development means being anticipated to continually retrace via acquainted locales, meticulously making notes of objects not related till hours later as you attempt to monitor down Ghen. Puzzles are extra complicated, there’s extra thriller. As a setting, Riven is monolithic. Even by its ending, it appears like there’s extra to this place than meets the attention, and the possibility to lastly wander via it reasonably than clicking via pre-rendered snapshots aids in speaking its scope and ambition. Utilizing its Magazine-Levs or strolling on foot is spectacular.
But it’s this complexity, coupled with the aforementioned points inherent to it and different puzzle video games of this period, that maintain this remake again. Riven generally feels too giant for its personal good, and I discovered myself pissed off on quite a lot of events, interacting with objects with no clear thought if it was having a cloth impression on the world round me or bringing me nearer to an answer. If I may even discover objects to work together with within the first place, a difficulty lifting Riven into 3D and VR compounds.
As with all good point-and-click title, a hard and fast perspective on a panorama will usually intentionally spotlight interactive components with out making anyone answer seem too apparent to keep away from making a gift of the answer to an undeserving participant. For as majestic because the recreation of Riven Island is in VR, this recreation comes at the price of the readability of the atmosphere. At instances, I may spend upwards of 15-20 minutes painfully operating in circles, not sure what to do subsequent. Not as a result of I used to be caught on a puzzle however for merely failing to note a tiny interactive panel, pipe, or button that its authentic pressured perspective may no less than subtly trace in the direction of.
Riven presents a variety of accessibility choices, with a free selection between synthetic stick-based locomotion and teleport-driven motion, easy or snap digital camera controls (with choices to alter how far the digital camera will snap with every motion), and the choice to exchange automobile and ladder motion with fast journey. You may also set a vignette whereas transferring to cut back movement illness
Quite a lot of accessibility choices are additionally provided, from subtitles to sound and shade context subtitles to information those that want it.
It’s points like this that lavatory down the expertise at a number of turns. Whereas the sport’s legacy already locations expectations upon it you should settle for to be able to respect it, whilst somebody who has accomplished Myst and its remake, I discovered myself pressured to depend on guides at its worst factors. It’s a recreation the place many puzzles require you to make bodily notes, a job made more durable in VR and never absolutely compensated for inside its in-game pocket book perform that means that you can screenshot factors of word for future reference.
In the end, it strips the satisfaction of discovering options, or the reward in taking your individual path via an unfamiliar land. Irrespective of how tactile or detailed this world feels, if it comes at the price of readability or accessibility it turns into a moot level. I discovered myself extra happy after I let myself step again from the puzzles and stare upon its environments reasonably than attempting to work together as meant, a world technically crafted with model however removed from the aim of the expertise.
Whereas the Myst remake has deserves that even newcomers can respect, those self same sensibilities collapse when coping with a extra complicated world and expertise like Riven. As technically completed as this recreation is, I reached the tip extra glad it was over than appreciating the expertise I had.
Riven – Closing Verdict
When Riven’s items click on into place, it reminds you of the marvel that gamers had with its authentic launch, made solely extra spectacular by the actual fact now you can attain out and contact it in any case these years. Cyan deserves a lot of that credit score, it did an amazing job in faithfully recreating this recreation from the bottom up with VR in thoughts. However the place Myst shined, Riven creaks beneath its age and such devoted recreation twists from a badge of honor to a burden.
In the long run, I got here away upset. A diehard fan of Riven could discover appreciation in its meticulous copy of a world from their reminiscences, but even then, it has points that maintain it again, a few of that are exacerbated by its in any other case profitable shift in perspective. In case you’re a newcomer to this world, the selection is apparent: as majestic as its world could also be, it’s troublesome to suggest.
UploadVR makes use of a 5-Star score system for our recreation evaluations – you’ll be able to learn a breakdown of every star score in our overview tips.
