Seven days ago I decided to play Riven for the first time, after buying it in a discount bin two years ago. I had tried to play it, but I was bored, and at that time, AFAIK, I had doom 3 or something as brand new, and it was left picking up dust in my shelf.

Anyway, I started playing. At first I was again impressed with the quality of the drawings and the rendering. Of course, being almost forced to use 800x600 (or 640x480?) made me think a couple of times before actually saying the graphs are good, then I remembered this game went to the stores with Quake 2, in 1998, and I was like "damn, yes, the graphics are hot".

The story sucks big time. I dont like it. But if you're into clicking and adventuring it is good. Not as good as Rama, the game, but hey, it is nice for a look or two. I have adventured on the five (six, seven?) islands and I have had some moments of fun, even though I'm sure that Cyan could have used more quicktime videos to make the game more enjoyable, or at least more lifelike.

Also, you're so lonely in the game - it is kind of stupid to walk walk walk, save the world, walk walk walk, see someone hiding, walk walk walk, someone talks to you, walk walk walk there's a bettle, walk walk walk, endgame.

Endgame which, IMO, was also ... disappointing.

But the eye candy goes well. Also I handt tried anything new in a while.

Anyone played it? Has comments? Spoilers to share? Thoughts?

I liked it a lot - but then again, I'm a Myst fan. The series is renowned for it's attention to spoiling the senses (not only the eyes but also the ears - I think the background music & sounds are usually very well done). Using live actors also is nice.

In fact I don't know if your version of riven had "The Making of Riven" bonus CD, but they explained how they used real world textures, going to New Mexico to take pictures of navajo adobe huts, and then mapping these on the virtual structures in the game (the village of riven). The care that is taken is amazing, it's apple graphics rather than PC graphics so to speak.

This makes that there is always an element of scouting out an unfamiliar but stunning world in the Myst series, but of course also the puzzles which can be fiendishly difficult. And it also nice to see how some seemingly random things can get significance later on when solving puzzles.

I haven't gotten round to playing Uru or Myst V yet - I feel the go to far from the original ones in certain aspects, but I played Myst, Riven, Myst III & Myst IV

I have that. ^_^

I always got stuck with Riven...in fact I even got stuck when I resorted to a walkthough at the points I was stuck at. :unsure:

Still, it's a good puzzle-solving game, although I prefer the likes of the Monkey Island or Broken Sword games to it.

I've played the first few Myst games.

I played Myst and Riven and enjoyed them. I started Exile which was the third in the set I bought, but since I was playing them so close together, and they were so similar, I lost interest. Its been a while, so I don't remember any good info to share, though! :embarrassed:

@Lestat: no, no extra CD. I have, though, read every and all magazine at the time of the launch (because it was launched so close to quake 2, which was my favourite most hyped game of all times at those days, even though it leasted only until I got my hands on Unreal, but that's another story) and I know the work was really detailed. I like the eye candy, and the puzzles, but hey! As Ravager, I had to resort to walkthroughs twice - first because of certain vaults, and afterwards because of fear of returning to a certain place to meet a certain person, but then, I noticed that the end of the game was really near and I have saved, so I said "heh, lets go" and did it even though the walkthrough hasnt quite answered my questions. Yes, some puzzles are a pain, specially the one related to the dome, the maps, the coloured dots and activating the power to the islands vaults. Btw, SPOILERS AHEAD. I had pinpointed the location of most of the vaults, knew what they were for, had the code, yet I hadnt been able to power them. Then eventually I stumbled upon the mechanism, and then I've related it to the map island (because I noticed the darker patterns around the "map" in the machinery you gotta activate with the coloured balls) but then I had to go FIVE times to map island to chart all the places. Also, I have had to write that all down - and one thing that confused me the most is that you cant just write something, you dont have a notebook, nor a quest log or anything - and that's confusing, because you're so hopeless in such a big world that relating the maps to the machinery could take a really long time.

@Chat: First time I've attempted it, I got stuck on every puzzle... hehehehe...

@Shana: Today, after the experience, I'm still bored with Myst to a certain extent. But I'd buy Exile to play when i'm bored at all the other games. The thing I'm thinking here is that the replayability value of this game goes down to zero - once you solve a puzzle, you just know how to solve it and presto (despite the number system and the passwords changing from game to game).

(some spoilers might follow)

Well, I like the way how they have you use deductive reasoning without feeding you the clues. Like how you learn about the numbers that are used in Riven through the device in the class room close to the village. As you first stumble on this, it doesn't seem important, but deducing the number system is necessary for at least two puzzles if I remember well. And the stone circle puzzle that requires hints of the wooden balls is much easier if you listened to the environment (when rolled, the balls make the sound of animals you encountered during your wanderings). I like it the way they require you to integrate information you found on a several places and might not seem relevant at the time to solve the puzzles. It's true that you better play the game with a notepad at hand.

As for using walkthroughs - only when I was reallllllly stuck - which can happen from time to time - and then even only to get through it little by little. In that Myst IV (and III?) was nice: it offered you the possibility to ask for hints (of three different levels - obscure, fairly clear, and telling you what you had to do next).

And it is nice to go back to if you haven't played it for a while - I think I played Riven three times over the years.


As for the others, Myst is pure nostalgia now, Exile, I found a bit less engaging, but Myst IV Revelation, with the brothers Sirrus & Achenar being back, is a very strong one in the series with very nice animations in it and an extremely good music score, but the puzzles are really a challenge (but luckily there's the hint system).

Riven was, I think, the game that got me into gaming. I played it with my mom... fun times. Got stuck a helluva lot.

IMO Riven is a goddamn bloody brilliant game... it's a real challenge to get through, even WITH the walkthroughs. Myst was, I think, a lot less polished and just never gripped me the same way Riven did. Same with Myst III: Exile, though it was prettier. Never played the others.

Did you see the 'Making Of Myst' video? They made that game on a real shoestring budget, only for it to become one of the bestselling games of the '90s of any genre.

Ick. I absolutely hated the puzzle with the coloured dots, I was never able to figure that one out on my own. :rolleyes:

I might try Myst IV at some point, I notice they're selling all 5 games together now....and Myst did reach the PSP, though I don't know how well it did on there.

Although I woulndt vote against buying the games, Chat, if I were you I'd buy the PC version, because the PSP version is told to have issues with resolution being poor, making the game harder.

Oh, I already have the PC version, I was just wondering what it would be like on the PSP. ;)
I probably wouldn't buy it, though.

I have never thought to replay either game, but I'll probably start Exile again, now. I'm glad you started this thread!! ^_^