Riven (1997)

One of the most beautiful games that has ever been made. Graphics, music, story : 10/10. I played it when it originally came in 1997 and it's beauty has haunted me ever since.
It has such an imaginative ,beautiful and original setting that despite it not having a very good image analysis - you will have to play the remake for a better screen resolution - it is still so worth your time.
Absolutely recommended.

nostalgic point and click puzzler game. forgot how good we have it today with hints and clues and checkpoints.

A classic of the Myst series from Cyan. What do I need to say more...

it's riven, the sequel to myst! it's good

Way better than Myst, since the whole world is an interconnected puzzle that respects the curiosity and intelligence of the player.

Banging my head again my table every puzzle, 10/10.

Incredible, incredible game. In the year 1997, you just make one of the best games ever. Thank you Cyan. I'll definitely play the rest of these series.

Still holds up in 2025. Masterpiece.

Riven is so amazing, it makes Myst look like child's play by comparison. Whereas the latter asked the player to observe carefully their surroundings, Riven demands observational skills be pushed to their utmost limits. You will quickly come to feel that not even a single screen is without meaning; not a single object without purpose. Just like in its predecessor, there are many levers and switches to be found, but don't expect them to lead to immediate gratification—this game is set up much differently, and attaining any sense of fulfilment is a significantly lengthier process, as it's built of larger, overarching puzzles.

Inevitably, this will lead to much wandering without a mechanism in sight. Thankfully, the world of the Fifth Age is so stunningly realised and open-ended, it's quite likely you'll come away enjoying yourself just with the sights and sounds alone. This involuntary sightseeing will naturally cause you to look at the same things again and again, eventually re-contextualising them, which is exactly what is expected. A truly remarkable achievement in so many ways, and easily one of the greatest (and most beautiful) games ever made. Be sure to take notes, and avoid guides at all costs—this is a once in a lifetime experience.

Rating: 9/10

Best game ever. Better puzzles than remake.

Several acclaimed indie games of the past decade like Outer Wilds, Void Stranger, Return of the Obra Dinn, and Case of the Golden Idol have intrigued players with their progression philosophy of gathering information. It does have an Achilles heel though: a tug-of-war between worldbuilding and progress-gating puzzles. The world should be intriguing, but when most of your puzzles are so elusive that their solutions have to be etched in stone somewhere, like in Outer Wilds or Void Stranger, I question why the creators didn’t just write a nonlinear novel. Freeform storytelling has existed for a long time. I’m not going to discredit this approach without offering an alternative though. Let’s rewind the clock to 1993, before I and most of you reading left the womb.

Myst, the best-selling PC game for nearly a decade, was about to be released. The grandfather of adventure puzzles, it threw you into a foreign universe with zero context. Exploring the iconic starting isle and tinkering with its machinery raised questions of all types. Why is there a hollow rocket next to a Greco-Roman temple library? What kind of discoveries did Atrus make? Why are his sons trapped inside books? All I will say is that the misplaced familiarity isn’t so confounding. The puzzles are different because of Atrus’ zeal to forge new worlds via linking books. A perfect excuse for designers Rand and Robyn Miller to stir their creative juices. After spending several hours with the game, the uncompromising dedication to environmental storytelling hit me. Everything is conveyed through visuals that the player must interpret before any semblance of a solution can be formulated.

This approach cemented the Miller brothers as strong game makers and storytellers, so it’s not surprising that Riven carries the same strengths. While it does abandon the environmental variety of its predecessor, it more than makes up for it in nuance. No puzzles for their own sake, only a rich world dripping with detail and history. Every machine, symbol, rock, tool, and door was labored over and pre-rendered without compromise. It’s staggering how much crisper it looks than its predecessor despite coming out only four years later. If it wasn’t for the SD image output, this could easily pass for a modern-looking title. I’m so thankful for all this detail because minus a few diary entries and cutscenes, Riven is all show and no tell. You need to study the environment carefully and visit each island multiple times before you even think about finishing the game. This is precisely what exploring an alien civilization would be like and I would love to see this in other games.

Exploring and problem-solving through visuals alone will not be for everyone. Even I had to use a guide at times, but I can’t fault obscurity when it results in a hypnotizing work of art. Besides, I made more than enough solo progress to feel satisfied once the credits rolled. Steel thy mind, click everywhere, and take plenty of notes. Assimilate yourself into the Fifth Age, and its enigmas will eventually crumble before you.

Very good story ! :P

Iconic for the genre. If you can beat the game without a guide you deserve to be in Mensa

Great game, and quite challenging. Artwok is amazing but keep in mind this is no 3D game, all scenes are prerendered. This might not be for everyone, but those who are up for the challenge will be greatly rewarded!

Fun game. Slower paced. Moderately creepy but not too scary for most kids. Great challenging puzzles. A classic so the images can be a bit grainy on newer large screens.

a legendary classic. play it for the beautiful art, compelling world, and interesting puzzles

While the world building, story, exploration, and (most) puzzles were very good, I can't recommend this. While the experience started out quite enjoyable, a few cryptic puzzles and let down the experience as the game went on. In particular, there was one "puzzle" involving finding a hidden button with no indication of its placement in order to unlock the fish statue elevator , as well as finding a vent that was hidden only due to the restrictive camera in the room with the frog bait trap . Additionally, mistaking a button for a non-interactable light also led to much frustration for one of the later puzzles. While not huge on their own, these annoyances added up to a reluctance to play and a desire to just see the game through and be done with it.

The "slideshow" style gameplay didn't annoy me on its own, but the issues it raised with exploration and in key parts was a huge letdown. Even if you don't think it would annoy you, I still don't recommend for the reasons above.

From what I heard, the remake removes the button "puzzle", and the free form camera likely removes the issue of the vent, though I haven't played to confirm. If you want to experience this game without frustration, consider buying the remake.

Look, its fine. But after playing Myst, Riven just doesn't measure up. There's no exploring multiple Ages, many of the puzzles feel incredibly disconnected from the world, and a few times I just missed a lever costing me lots of time as I wandered.

It just doesn't live up to Myst.

Nothing like playing the original RIven (1997). really I appreciate the live acting parts especially because I like being immersed within the narrative of the game despite its age.

Fantastic adventure game with enough challenges in the puzzles.

I played this games many years ago on PC when i was having to use the CD Rom discs and now that I'm playing it again on steam it just brings back so many memories that i had forgotten about it really is a great game, i may look at getting the updated version at some point but really enjoying the nostalgia of the original

I give this game a rank S.
Masterpiece - buy it now!!!
See my profile for more details about my reviews.

Note: do NOT buy or play this game unless you are interested in historical/retro gaming. Instead, if you only intend to discover the series Myst with its first game, and its sequel, Riven, I invite you to play the 2024 version. Masterpiece entirely redone, updated, etc. See my review of it.

Hem is live on Hem & Watch

While Riven might not be for everyone due to its confusing nature, the puzzles are some of the most involved I've seen in a video game and thus extremely satisfying to figure out. Additionally, the game is just stunning. The environments, the animation, and the sound design culminates in probably the greatest atmosphere I've seen in a game.

Riven is visually amazing. That was said many times when the game was released. Rand and Robyn Miller are the genius developers behind the Myst series. The lore behind the series is epic. There was three books based on the games. They tell how the worlds Myst and Riven came to be. The civilization of the D'ni is really interesting and imaginative. Puzzle games are challenging for me, I made it through Myst and Riven. It is some very memorable storytelling. The games combined with the books make a great experience gaming.

Overall my feeling towards this game is mixed, but leaning towards the positive. I liked the exploration and puzzles, but the limitation of point and click slideshow did take form my enjoyment (I think this is something the remake rectifies by allowing full first person view movement and real-time graphics. but I haven't played it yet so I don't know). This issue of P&C controls makes it difficult to discern what are the interactable elements in screen. While playing I will solve a puzzle, then I will be confused when I don't see any reaction or effect happening (which makes me think that I've made a mistake), then after wasting a lot of time trying to resolve the issue. I will look up the solution online to find that I missed a small button or didn't realize that the yellow circular light was actually a switch.
Another issue I had were the hand written journals, the fonts for some letters were difficult to read which made reading them takes double the time, since I'm not familiar with these types of fonts. I do realize that having these kind of hand written notes give the game more style and enrich its atmosphere and characters, and while the issue is a purely a lack of skill on my part. I feel having the option of easily legible letters would have been appreciated.

I was looking to get the re-release version. I saw this was bundled with other Myst games and bought the bundle. Only the find out the bundled the Riven is the 1997 version. I duped myself for not carefully looking before I bought the bundle. If you want to play the game exactly as it as 27 yrs ago, this one is it.

My username is Hektor RIVEN, shall I explain further?

One of the most mesmerising things my childhood eyes got to see.

Absolutely punishing puzzles to my childhood self, who refused to ever take notes for a game. A great sequel to Myst!

Beautiful game, but they put an evil door near the beginning. Notes will be your friend, but make sure to write them in something you can also draw in.

graphics are cool, game is challanging

great puzzle game. stunning visuals and clever solutions to puzzles

For those looking at the game, please note the following. This game available in the 1990's was state of the art. It was awesome. It is literally a world with sight, sound, design and rules. All of these were combined in an excellent manner. But please note, current games have much better graphics and continuity. So if you compare to games of today, it is a bit dated. I would actually recommend the 2024 version as it has been developed with current tech.

With all that said, this is a beautiful game. It has great continuity between areas and it is a work of Art. Some of the puzzles are very difficult. Make sure you inspect everything. Look up, down, and side to side. When you open doors, close them. I would say most people could not finish this in a day. It has a great amount of depth.

Hope this helps all. Enjoy.

I played this with a friend years ago and really enjoyed trying to figure out what to do and the screen being 1st person. It's a game that takes patience and some immersion. They have apparently updated the graphics in the newer, more expansive version that I hope to try soon, but this is still surprisingly good.

The first time I heard of the Myst series was on promotional VHS tape that came with a Sega Saturn magazine I bought as a teenager. Young me at that age wasn't interested in this sort of game then. I'm older now and after noticing it on sale nostalgia kicked in and I purchased this and its prequel Myst to see what the fuss was all about.

Riven turned out to be a very fun brain tester than I expected. The story focuses on trying to trap one of the characters in a book and report back to the man who sent you to the strange archipelago called Riven. You explore the world by clicking through a series of static images from the first-person perspective and solve puzzles along the way in order to achieve this goal.

The visuals, while somewhat dated are clear and far better than its predecessor, Myst. Riven runs fine on Windows 10 with no crashes. The puzzles are clever and involve clicking on specific identifiable objects to find out what they affect. There are some codes to remember as well so I would recommend keeping a pen and paper handy to jot them down, or if it helps you map out the islands.Not to give away too much but part of the puzzle is figuring out what symbols you come across mean. I will say no more...

It took me about 9 or 10 hours to finish, stepping away from time to time to do household chores, so not a long game, but may take you longer if you reach a point where you're stuck on what to do. There can be quite a lot of back tracking in this game depending on how you play but the way the game is laid out doesn't make it too confusing to figure out where in the world you are.

All in all if you were a fan of the original or fancy some nostalgia from a game you didn't try in the 90's Riven is a good distraction. Anyone else under 30 may be better off looking at the more modern remakes. It stands up better as a game than the original Myst, purely because Myst looks very dated and only took me about 2 hours to finish. Also, once you've figured out the puzzles and explored the world there isn't much reason to replay, bar allowing someone else to have a go.

One my FAVORITE games of all times, STILL haven't solved most of the puzzles since I first played it 2004.

Just incredible, enjoy getting absorbed in the intricate world and environmental puzzles.