This is what I like about you guys, I can get different opinions from different reviewers. You enjoy this game while Yahtzee was bored. Getting a different take based on a different person's perspective is nice. It gives me a broader view on what to expect.
I never cared much about him liking or loving games, it is just interesting or funny to hear his opinion. Outside reviews he tries to explain at greater length his position and it is always worth listen to, even if I strongly disagree. Yes, he is giving shit, but he is very laid back and honest about it.
Yahtzee did not understand what he was playing at all, and made no secret of that fact, but as a result his criticisms were vague and kind of irrelevent. I felt like he was really missing out on something truly great right under his nose. Some of it probably came from his experience with other adventure games, some from the fact that he didn't read the journal he was given at the start, which establishes your goal and begins to show you that Riven's universe has actual rules and a lot of attention to detail. -That this is a world that will reward your engagement with it and has been designed like a real place, built and transformed by its own inhabitants. It only SEEMS nonsensical at first glance, but manages to justify its own apparent madness. The worldbuilding is awesome; the entire thing from start to end is a narrative experience without fluff or filler. Yahtz's feedback seemed odd, like he wanted Riven to be a much more passive experience. Didn't expect that from him.
Figuring out the number system in the original Riven was the smartest any game has ever made me feel. Since then, I became a developer and long hours of "Why/How does this work?" with short bursts of "Oh that's how!" still gives me joy... The remake is really good, maybe even without the nostalgia.
When I learned how other numerology systems starting with Binary, then Octal (base 8) and then Hexadecimal (base 16), I was able to figure out D'ni numerology, or base 25. I was in college at the time, so figuring it out actually helped me with math and programming. We're so used to Arabic numerology (base 10) that we don't realize just how complicated numerology actually is.
Yeah, I played the original 25+ years ago and 8 hours is what I clocked. The ONE "puzzle" they altered most really throws a curve ball (or rather, a lack of balls, if you know, you know) at someone like me who played the original.
@@reeven1721 they also removed a bunch of puzzles that were just annoying like the levers in the village. I wish they had made learning the colors matter more
Riven is a game that was on my dad's video game shelf and I thought it was super neat. I barely got anywhere in it because I was a dumb kid. I had completely forgotten about it until I saw footage of the remake and went, "Hey wait a minute! I recognize this game."
The sound design made my mum come to the computer room multiple times and go “ITS CREEPING ME OUT” One of my favourite games, and I never got anything done in it. I just loved exploring it.
@@GothicOctopus I never played Riven (because even though we had it my dad was too ASD to let us play it until we beat Myst... and we never did fully beat Myst). HOWEVER, hearing the sound clips from Myst at the beginning of the video brought back SO MUCH anxiety from the days when I used to play it. Nothing bad ever happened to me playing that game. But the sound design alone was so dread-inducing to tiny me! ;;;>.< Also, I too am from the "computer room" era. Ours was also the laundry room. And there was an egg timer that sat next to the computer for measuring out "computer time." ;;>.
So glad to see Riven getting the recognition it deserves nowadays. The Myst series was so massive back then it outsold Doom, but isnt as widely remembered for some weird reason. Hopefully this begins to change with this remake and future Cyan projects, as their games are so unique and different nothing else comes close honestly, even with all the "myst-likes" out there.
I think as technology advanced, people were always trying to push the boundaries to provide new and exciting experiences. Riven was incredible for the time because it showed what kind of worldbuilding could be done with gameplay that didn't require insane reflexes. Just a mouse and your brain. It had a wide appeal for the PC market. But as tech evolved, it became harder to translate a simple immersive puzzle experience to screen without the mechanics feeling dated. Yes, games like Exile and Uru looked incredible for the time, but it came at the cost of gameplay and other games were providing a more universally dynamic experience. I suppose the genre of "survival horror" was the closest we got to a genre-successor. Games like resident evil were about slow, methodic resource gathering and puzzle solving but still had elements of modern gameplay in them. But now, we have VR tech and immersing yourself in a tangible world while relying on the limited functional gameplay that platform can provide has sort of given a rise to the need of games like Riven again. Look at how many "walking simulators" populate the oculus library and it's no wonder why these are seeing a second Renaissance.
Eh, puzzle and adventure games never really went anywhere. Their appeal just isnt in replayable gameplay the way doom is. So porting them isnt a niche fandom the way doom grew into... i dont think it has anything to do with graphics.
i can finally relive my childhood memory of seeing a cool box on my dad's shelf, installing it for like half a day because it came on 700 discs, and then playing it for 3 minutes and then turning it off because i didn't like it
I just reunited the two 'star-crossed' lovers last night. I didn't think they could recreate Riven in such beautiful detail, but they did. I even ended up taking the long routes to get around the world just to take it all in some more. Also, like you said there were some nice curve balls for us old-timers who've played many times. Well done video!
Given that Riven came out before Morrowind and that it seems like this remake uses the same sound effects as the original Riven game, I think it may be the case that Morrowind actually borrowed the sound from Riven.
I was only 4 when Riven came out. It was the best mix of a terrible age to solve complex or obscured puzzles, and the best age to get lost in the mysteries and new settings. The whole game felt as close to stepping foot into a world crafted by the hand of god (game devs) where every element was considerately placed, like stepping into a painting (or placing your hand on a linking panel), rather than the procedural generation of today. This is one of the best examples I have of a game as art and I have never been able to match the feeling of absorption and immersion I felt playing it as a child for the first time. Cyan will forever be a favorite for their style and dedication.
Magnificently gorgeous on max settings. It was mesmerizing looking out into the ocean to see the fissure-like formations in the waves, being able to zoom in, feeling hundreds of moths flutter around you, etc. The new puzzle mechanics were pretty enjoyable having played the game as a kid.. That being said - the game does seem to be much easier with fewer dead ends. I also think there are fewer puzzles overall. Even so, I highly recommend it. It can't match The Witness in terms of puzzles, but the environments and creativity is off the charts.
Myst is a universe I have always known about and been fascinated with, but I won't say I grew up with it. That said, it is THE one fantasy universe I, as a fellow writer, wish I'd come up with.
It's not perfect, but Riven is still the adventure/puzzle game I hold as the gold standard for the genre. Fantastic game. Can't wait to try this remake.
Something I remember of the original was the technical issues. It was something that varied from one install to the next, e.g. I often got the wrong animation, such as the hangman game when moving the submarine, and my boss at the time had double playing of audio events. Still it was such an amazing game overall
Catherine A-posing for a single frame in the middle of her room before running in from the back door was a bigger jumpscare than the little village child used to be.
This is awesome but it makes me wonder why point and click adventure games haven't seen a renaissance with VR. This game looks like it would work well. Granted I'm not in the industry so I have no idea how difficult it would be
I had to use a guide since the beginning of Obduction, but hearing you say how it helps nudges new players I hope I can beat this new Riven without one.
All I am worried about is whether or not I will enjoy this now, it was an important part of my formative years, but I'm not sure I'm not ONLY riding this train for nostalgia. Either way great review and good work Cyan!
Aww bless, you were 10 when Riven came out 😊 It was nice to have this Bytesized as a counterpoint to Yahtzee's review - thanks JM8, and well done for doing your first one!
While I never played beyond Myst 1, I still followed the Myst games and it's still one of those franchises that lives rent free in a part of my mind palace =)
I was four years old when this game was first made, I barely, buy still remember my siting with my aunt as she played games like this. Looks like a fairly faithful remake, might wait for it to go on sale before trying it.
I've been on the fence on weather or not to pick this up. I had it on the PS1 when it was a 5 disk game and having to swap back and forth to try and solve multi island puzzles was maddening. The series as a whole was pretty cool, though. Shame to lose the live action actors, that really did personalize the game and give it a lived in feel. Like something I could walk into by accident if I wasnt careful.
I absolutely loved Myst back in the day, and the books were so great too, really captured something that made me who I am today... Despite all that I didn't really ever get much into riven, the only version I had was for PlayStation I believe and it just didn't hit right. I think I'll have to try to give this PC version a go
My dad randomly bought me an art book called From Myst to Riven as a kid. I’d never played either game and I never will as they’re just not my cup of tea, but I can confirm that they have nice artwork
I would prefer if they found a way to put live performance into the 3D environment by locking the camera angle. Obduction did this by putting a guy behind a window, as well as using a few holograms that make sense in the story.
Cheers, love your good blood videos, and now this game seems even more interesting. Wish they have keep the option to have the live-action sprites in the game lol but I understand why they went 3D sprites, with the original actors probably not being around/aged and replacements may have upset fans more, who knows.
I was 18 when the original came out. I really tore into the game, beating it right around 3 days of playing. Been a fan of the Myst series since the beginning, including the book series. Only missed Myst V: End of Ages and regret it.
I'm glad you mentioned the character design in Full CGI compared to the original... I understand why they did it, but the contrasts of the CGI characters to the beautiful backgrounds and environments are just to much for me, in my opinion...
Great review. I played the MYST games at about the same age. Read the books then to, which I'd recommend for anyone interested in the world and Atrius's backstory.
My understanding is that the old FMVs would not work in VR so that’s why they had to be replaced. But I agree they don’t look all that good and it’s the one visual flaw in otherwise excellent looking remaster.
I really liked this. The differentiation between the new version and old is notable. I think if I was going to play it I would play the original version. I feel like losing the character acting of the original version is too great a loss just to get freedom of movement and better graphics.
I agree that the characters were not rendered with quite the level of realism that I would have liked. I assume that probably had something to do with VR performance constraints, but I am just speculating.
@@Rhodochrone Yes, I am well aware that Cyan Worlds is not a large studio. However, while I don't know what Cyan's budget for Riven was, we have seen more realistic character rendering from studios of a similar size. Indika is a recent example I would point you to where the characters are (in my opinion) rendered far more realistically (by a small studio, in a similar engine). It's hard to know the reason for certain but again I would put my money on performance constraints imposed by VR which is very demanding on the GPU because of the very high resolution and minimum frame rate target. But I could be mistaken, of course, you'd have to ask Cyan. Maybe it just wasn't a priority for them since there's very few character moments in the game. Whatever the reason is, I don't think it actually has that much to do with Cyan being a small studio.
"myst was a bold development that took no prisoners" ok canonically, it took AT LEAST three prisoners. You even said this while showing WHERE the prisoners were!!
Is there a Myst remaster? I feel like people have been working on this world of games in such a subtle manner that I haven't heard about it. I played Myst and Riven when they came out in the 90s and I was not only _fascinated_ by the world/universe, but also the technology behind the images. The puzzles fascinated me regardless of how hard they were. I remember being stuck on one particular puzzle in Riven which I finally solved because I was showing someone the game on my PC. I said, "It's such a beautiful game, isn't it? And you REALLY have to pay attention, because clues are everywhere. You really have to think outside of the box. Like, check this out... When I spin this orb here, it makes a sound... And even something like that sound could be a clue... Like... Um...... Wait a minute... That sound...... It sounds like...... It sounds exactly like...... OH MY GOD! I'M SO SORRY! I have to play this game RIGHT NOW!!! I am SO SORRY! I can't explain why, but you have to let me be for now! I'll talk with you later!" 🤪
Yeah, there's a clip from the Myst remaster right at the beginning. Both games can now be played in full 3D, and even in VR if you have a headset. Actually there's two Myst 3D remakes. The older one is realMyst, which adds a tiny extra Age to visit, but doesn't support VR.
This is realistically 10-15 hrs for someone who has never played before. Also the criticism of the CD characters is way too harsh across the board. I think it's maybe slightly less charming, but given the tiny amount of resources they had, they did a damn good job and it works for me. Also if anyone has a real solution for how to re-use or even film new flat footage and insert that into a 3d traversable world that also must work in VR, be my guest.
6 Hours? wow you must be really good! Or I just suck that bad. I just solved it yesterday (looks at my stack of post-it notes) The Totems and invisible paint threw me for a good loop. But I never felt hopelessly lost in this version. The original 1990's version had me break down and buy a cheat book... and even knowing the answers I could not see myself figuring out the end marble puzzle.
No! The ages are not created by the author of the descriptive book! That is heresy! They already exist as branches of the Great Tree created by Yavo in the beginning.
You might want to consider listening to this in the background instead of watching it if you're sensitive to spoilers. Just showing certain areas kind of spoils certain aspects of the game.
I was torn on whether to wait for the remake or go for the original back in February - I ended up playing the original, but this remake looks stunning. I have to agree that the live actors give the characters some je-ne-sais-quois factor, though - the animated ones just don't look as good.
I thought the Riven 97’ gameplay was the game we got. I was like wow this indie game is going back 30 years to create this retro look! Disappointed myself.
Problem is, Rand does not look like Atrus anymore (and definitely not 90s Atrus), and if you want to see nerd riots, just announce you're recasting that role. :P
@@anyGould Why wouldn't sensible people be happy to see a recasting of an old game? They've already altered so many other things, like how the age doesn't need constant attention to not break apart. Seeing how Atrus locked himself in another age where he can't get to Riven's linking book.
Atrus wasn't locked away from anything. He went back to Myst for a bit but there's a book right there back to D'ni and the Riven book. And he obviously went back to keep an eye on it at some point to keep watch for your signal.
@@Mirality Atrus locked himself away. In that box on the table. In the original he's sat there writing in Riven's book, but because the game is fully 3D and they needed Atrus out of the way so they didn't have to animate dynamic idle animations, they put him in a book inside a box.
The location of the book has nothing to do with the location of the person. He's locking the book away from *you*, so that you can't follow him and have to go to Riven. He's not locked up at all and can come back whenever he wants. And he made that box, so he knows how to open it to recover the book -- or he can just bring another linking book with him when he returns.
do I miss the somewhat harder puzzles.. sure.. do I like the 3D character models? not really.. they still look better than the disaster that was the Myst remake.. but.. it's still a great game.. and I still hope they do Exile and Relevation as well.. maybe even End of Ages.... or just.. you know.. MAKE NEW GAMES IN THE D'NI UNIVERSE...
ah man, the terrible character models ruin it for me. I remember being stuck at the original because never realized you are meant to click under a wooden door to...get under it
Fraid not. From what I heard this needed to run on the quest, and that limited what they could do with the human models. FMV style / quality wouldn't have been possible.
sadly no. one of the reasons, I suggest sticking to the original point-and-click version. This new 3D version is looking well made and beautiful but still does not bring the atmosphere of the original for me. Also they sadly downgraded the difficulty quit a bit.
@@TheZaius FMV wasn't a gimmick, it was a necessity for having fluid movement in the art and game style they were using. The old footage could not have been made 3d, and the loss of two of the actors and the ageing of the rest means they couldn't have just rerecorded 3d footage with the same cast. It is a shame, if true, that things might have been toned down to run on lower hardware, but the plus side is more people get to experience this game. Regardless, VR is something many Riven fans truly wanted, so gimmick or not I'm glad to have the opportunity to experience it.
It looks really beautiful, but I genuinely do feel that taking away the live action performances takes away a part of the soul of the game, and it's one of the special little things that makes the myst games what they are... I know doing fresh captures probably wasn't feasible given the time that's passed, but, it's still sad to see them go.
Yeah, even if they were trying to say the mechanics matured over the last game its a bad metaphor. You don't call mario odyssey the older brother of mario 64
It's not hard to imagine it going from "bigger and better brother" to "bigger brother" to "older brother" in editing. Also, while the game of Riven is newer than Myst, the age of Riven did indeed come first.
This is what I like about you guys, I can get different opinions from different reviewers. You enjoy this game while Yahtzee was bored. Getting a different take based on a different person's perspective is nice. It gives me a broader view on what to expect.
Yahtzee is a fun guy to listen to, not someone who's advice I'd take. Lots of games we love he regularly shits on.
@@SnafuWarrior he makes money shitting on things in funny ways. He’s more of a comedian than a reviewer.
I find that strange given his background with adventure games let alone the praises he sang to Talos Principle 2 last year which owes a lot to this.
I never cared much about him liking or loving games, it is just interesting or funny to hear his opinion. Outside reviews he tries to explain at greater length his position and it is always worth listen to, even if I strongly disagree. Yes, he is giving shit, but he is very laid back and honest about it.
Yahtzee did not understand what he was playing at all, and made no secret of that fact, but as a result his criticisms were vague and kind of irrelevent. I felt like he was really missing out on something truly great right under his nose.
Some of it probably came from his experience with other adventure games, some from the fact that he didn't read the journal he was given at the start, which establishes your goal and begins to show you that Riven's universe has actual rules and a lot of attention to detail. -That this is a world that will reward your engagement with it and has been designed like a real place, built and transformed by its own inhabitants. It only SEEMS nonsensical at first glance, but manages to justify its own apparent madness. The worldbuilding is awesome; the entire thing from start to end is a narrative experience without fluff or filler.
Yahtz's feedback seemed odd, like he wanted Riven to be a much more passive experience. Didn't expect that from him.
Figuring out the number system in the original Riven was the smartest any game has ever made me feel. Since then, I became a developer and long hours of "Why/How does this work?" with short bursts of "Oh that's how!" still gives me joy... The remake is really good, maybe even without the nostalgia.
That moment is in my top five gaming moments ever.
When I learned how other numerology systems starting with Binary, then Octal (base 8) and then Hexadecimal (base 16), I was able to figure out D'ni numerology, or base 25. I was in college at the time, so figuring it out actually helped me with math and programming. We're so used to Arabic numerology (base 10) that we don't realize just how complicated numerology actually is.
If you like this sort of thing, check out Obduction, which incidentally was also made by Cyan.
A keystone of my childhood. Not that i ever actually solved much of anything as a kid.
Same. Maybe I'll actually be able to finish it this time.
I finished it together with my mom back in the day. Took us a couple of years, but we did it!
would've written effectively the same comment if i didn't see it here first :P
@@MariaVosa There is a good chance, since they did downgrade the difficulty quite a bit.
I beat it when I was 12. It took me three weeks, and I kept a journal the whole time.
I think it’s going to be a lot more than six hours for anyone who hasn’t played the heck out of the original 😂
Yeah, I played the original 25+ years ago and 8 hours is what I clocked. The ONE "puzzle" they altered most really throws a curve ball (or rather, a lack of balls, if you know, you know) at someone like me who played the original.
@reeven1721 for sure, I slammed in the usual 5, saw the achieve pop up, and went "oh!... crap"
@@reeven1721 they also removed a bunch of puzzles that were just annoying like the levers in the village.
I wish they had made learning the colors matter more
i had played the original and it still took me 15 hours lol
Riven is a game that was on my dad's video game shelf and I thought it was super neat. I barely got anywhere in it because I was a dumb kid. I had completely forgotten about it until I saw footage of the remake and went, "Hey wait a minute! I recognize this game."
Welcome and that was an incredible video let alone a first video!
Javed is Good Blood! He's done all our branding :)
@@SecondWindGroup how do you pronounce the name? Like shaved or jav-ed?
@@JULR0W I think it's like Jar-ved
@@SecondWindGroup I thought I recognized his voice! Awesome to see him in this new gig.
@@JULR0W Jav-ed.
The sound design made my mum come to the computer room multiple times and go “ITS CREEPING ME OUT”
One of my favourite games, and I never got anything done in it. I just loved exploring it.
THE COMPUTER ROOM™
@@JULR0W I don’t even know what you’re talking about but 10/10
@@GothicOctopus The fact you had a designated computer room was their joke. It's very 90s
@@Crispman_777 well… I am a 90’s kid and my mum adopted “the computer room” from my father..
So.
Spot on!
@@GothicOctopus I never played Riven (because even though we had it my dad was too ASD to let us play it until we beat Myst... and we never did fully beat Myst).
HOWEVER, hearing the sound clips from Myst at the beginning of the video brought back SO MUCH anxiety from the days when I used to play it. Nothing bad ever happened to me playing that game. But the sound design alone was so dread-inducing to tiny me! ;;;>.<
Also, I too am from the "computer room" era. Ours was also the laundry room. And there was an egg timer that sat next to the computer for measuring out "computer time." ;;>.
Fantastic first bytesized! Love your voice and hope to see many more reviews from you!
If you haven't yet, check out "Good Blood" for more of Javed's voice. He's the writer and speaker for that series, and his pieces are great there too!
So glad to see Riven getting the recognition it deserves nowadays. The Myst series was so massive back then it outsold Doom, but isnt as widely remembered for some weird reason. Hopefully this begins to change with this remake and future Cyan projects, as their games are so unique and different nothing else comes close honestly, even with all the "myst-likes" out there.
The reason is just because it's harder to create clones of. Imo. Mere exposure effect
@@seanrshivers Only Myst clone I can remember was a spoof that had John Goodman in it called Pyst.
I think as technology advanced, people were always trying to push the boundaries to provide new and exciting experiences. Riven was incredible for the time because it showed what kind of worldbuilding could be done with gameplay that didn't require insane reflexes. Just a mouse and your brain. It had a wide appeal for the PC market. But as tech evolved, it became harder to translate a simple immersive puzzle experience to screen without the mechanics feeling dated. Yes, games like Exile and Uru looked incredible for the time, but it came at the cost of gameplay and other games were providing a more universally dynamic experience.
I suppose the genre of "survival horror" was the closest we got to a genre-successor. Games like resident evil were about slow, methodic resource gathering and puzzle solving but still had elements of modern gameplay in them.
But now, we have VR tech and immersing yourself in a tangible world while relying on the limited functional gameplay that platform can provide has sort of given a rise to the need of games like Riven again. Look at how many "walking simulators" populate the oculus library and it's no wonder why these are seeing a second Renaissance.
Eh, puzzle and adventure games never really went anywhere. Their appeal just isnt in replayable gameplay the way doom is. So porting them isnt a niche fandom the way doom grew into... i dont think it has anything to do with graphics.
Seeing so many people talking about Riven, playing it, streaming it, it's honestly really exciting!
Great review, and I love that little glimpse into Javed's childhood.
i can finally relive my childhood memory of seeing a cool box on my dad's shelf, installing it for like half a day because it came on 700 discs, and then playing it for 3 minutes and then turning it off because i didn't like it
This was so cool hearing Javed talk about Riven on Bytesized here😊💖😄
Love Riven so much, glad you guys are covering it! I really hope this remakes reaches a greater audience
Thanks for the review! You have a fantastic voice and diction, and I think you nailed your debut. Looking forward to more of your videos
I just reunited the two 'star-crossed' lovers last night. I didn't think they could recreate Riven in such beautiful detail, but they did. I even ended up taking the long routes to get around the world just to take it all in some more. Also, like you said there were some nice curve balls for us old-timers who've played many times. Well done video!
Shame what happened with their sons.
1:38 That's the Morrowind page-turn sound effect!
im a big fan of both myst and morrowind and i didnt notice this until now lmao. Seems to be a very popular stock sound huh
Given that Riven came out before Morrowind and that it seems like this remake uses the same sound effects as the original Riven game, I think it may be the case that Morrowind actually borrowed the sound from Riven.
It's a stock sound from Sound Ideas. Almost every sound you've heard across movies and games likely comes from their libraries.
They shoulda replaced it with The Wilhelm
@@NovanByworks I'm gonna bet the "wind howling" noise also comes from there. I remember it from Stronghold and it's always reminded me of that game
I was only 4 when Riven came out. It was the best mix of a terrible age to solve complex or obscured puzzles, and the best age to get lost in the mysteries and new settings. The whole game felt as close to stepping foot into a world crafted by the hand of god (game devs) where every element was considerately placed, like stepping into a painting (or placing your hand on a linking panel), rather than the procedural generation of today. This is one of the best examples I have of a game as art and I have never been able to match the feeling of absorption and immersion I felt playing it as a child for the first time. Cyan will forever be a favorite for their style and dedication.
This was me with Myst - just sitting looking at videos I could control was amazing
Magnificently gorgeous on max settings. It was mesmerizing looking out into the ocean to see the fissure-like formations in the waves, being able to zoom in, feeling hundreds of moths flutter around you, etc. The new puzzle mechanics were pretty enjoyable having played the game as a kid.. That being said - the game does seem to be much easier with fewer dead ends. I also think there are fewer puzzles overall. Even so, I highly recommend it. It can't match The Witness in terms of puzzles, but the environments and creativity is off the charts.
Myst is a universe I have always known about and been fascinated with, but I won't say I grew up with it. That said, it is THE one fantasy universe I, as a fellow writer, wish I'd come up with.
Got the book series too?
Javed has an amazing voice for this kind of review, hands down. Level of Frost I would say.
The best way to experience it is in VR.
It's not perfect, but Riven is still the adventure/puzzle game I hold as the gold standard for the genre. Fantastic game. Can't wait to try this remake.
Something I remember of the original was the technical issues. It was something that varied from one install to the next, e.g. I often got the wrong animation, such as the hangman game when moving the submarine, and my boss at the time had double playing of audio events. Still it was such an amazing game overall
Catherine A-posing for a single frame in the middle of her room before running in from the back door was a bigger jumpscare than the little village child used to be.
I really like the subject and laid-back narration. Writing is good too, especially being concise. Short but sweet.
No mention of the native VR support...
Was curious. Glad I saw the byte sized review.
This is awesome but it makes me wonder why point and click adventure games haven't seen a renaissance with VR. This game looks like it would work well. Granted I'm not in the industry so I have no idea how difficult it would be
There's VR support including a native Quest version, yes.
It's wild to see all of it in motion. Glad to hear it's a great reinvention of the original game.
I had to use a guide since the beginning of Obduction, but hearing you say how it helps nudges new players I hope I can beat this new Riven without one.
I've played this game the first time only a few years ago and became a Myst fan! So happy this remake exists!
Sublime review. You've earned a sub
All I am worried about is whether or not I will enjoy this now, it was an important part of my formative years, but I'm not sure I'm not ONLY riding this train for nostalgia. Either way great review and good work Cyan!
Time to get a pc again.
This looks great, I need to finally play the full Myst series. The world is fascinating.
Aww bless, you were 10 when Riven came out 😊
It was nice to have this Bytesized as a counterpoint to Yahtzee's review - thanks JM8, and well done for doing your first one!
Javed and JM8 are not the same person.
Jesse and Jesse and Jess are spelt the same way but you're confusing JM8 with Javed.
While I never played beyond Myst 1, I still followed the Myst games and it's still one of those franchises that lives rent free in a part of my mind palace =)
I was four years old when this game was first made, I barely, buy still remember my siting with my aunt as she played games like this. Looks like a fairly faithful remake, might wait for it to go on sale before trying it.
I've been on the fence on weather or not to pick this up. I had it on the PS1 when it was a 5 disk game and having to swap back and forth to try and solve multi island puzzles was maddening. The series as a whole was pretty cool, though. Shame to lose the live action actors, that really did personalize the game and give it a lived in feel. Like something I could walk into by accident if I wasnt careful.
Finally, wholesome bitesized game reviews.
I absolutely loved Myst back in the day, and the books were so great too, really captured something that made me who I am today... Despite all that I didn't really ever get much into riven, the only version I had was for PlayStation I believe and it just didn't hit right. I think I'll have to try to give this PC version a go
As well as Myst, I really hope they bring this to console. Really love puzzle games but so many are PC only.
My dad randomly bought me an art book called From Myst to Riven as a kid. I’d never played either game and I never will as they’re just not my cup of tea, but I can confirm that they have nice artwork
I would prefer if they found a way to put live performance into the 3D environment by locking the camera angle. Obduction did this by putting a guy behind a window, as well as using a few holograms that make sense in the story.
Cheers, love your good blood videos, and now this game seems even more interesting. Wish they have keep the option to have the live-action sprites in the game lol but I understand why they went 3D sprites, with the original actors probably not being around/aged and replacements may have upset fans more, who knows.
I was 18 when the original came out. I really tore into the game, beating it right around 3 days of playing. Been a fan of the Myst series since the beginning, including the book series. Only missed Myst V: End of Ages and regret it.
I think most would agree you've played the best there is on offer, but 5 is still out there and it's currently on sale for 5 or less currency!
I'm glad you mentioned the character design in Full CGI compared to the original... I understand why they did it, but the contrasts of the CGI characters to the beautiful backgrounds and environments are just to much for me, in my opinion...
Great review. I played the MYST games at about the same age. Read the books then to, which I'd recommend for anyone interested in the world and Atrius's backstory.
My understanding is that the old FMVs would not work in VR so that’s why they had to be replaced. But I agree they don’t look all that good and it’s the one visual flaw in otherwise excellent looking remaster.
I really liked this. The differentiation between the new version and old is notable. I think if I was going to play it I would play the original version. I feel like losing the character acting of the original version is too great a loss just to get freedom of movement and better graphics.
I agree that the characters were not rendered with quite the level of realism that I would have liked. I assume that probably had something to do with VR performance constraints, but I am just speculating.
budget, target hardware, team size, dev time, all very limited. it's not a big studio at all.
@@Rhodochrone Yes, I am well aware that Cyan Worlds is not a large studio. However, while I don't know what Cyan's budget for Riven was, we have seen more realistic character rendering from studios of a similar size. Indika is a recent example I would point you to where the characters are (in my opinion) rendered far more realistically (by a small studio, in a similar engine).
It's hard to know the reason for certain but again I would put my money on performance constraints imposed by VR which is very demanding on the GPU because of the very high resolution and minimum frame rate target. But I could be mistaken, of course, you'd have to ask Cyan. Maybe it just wasn't a priority for them since there's very few character moments in the game. Whatever the reason is, I don't think it actually has that much to do with Cyan being a small studio.
"myst was a bold development that took no prisoners" ok canonically, it took AT LEAST three prisoners. You even said this while showing WHERE the prisoners were!!
It would've been a bear to recapture the fine nuance of live acting without more live actors.
Is there a Myst remaster? I feel like people have been working on this world of games in such a subtle manner that I haven't heard about it. I played Myst and Riven when they came out in the 90s and I was not only _fascinated_ by the world/universe, but also the technology behind the images. The puzzles fascinated me regardless of how hard they were. I remember being stuck on one particular puzzle in Riven which I finally solved because I was showing someone the game on my PC. I said, "It's such a beautiful game, isn't it? And you REALLY have to pay attention, because clues are everywhere. You really have to think outside of the box. Like, check this out... When I spin this orb here, it makes a sound... And even something like that sound could be a clue... Like... Um...... Wait a minute... That sound...... It sounds like...... It sounds exactly like...... OH MY GOD! I'M SO SORRY! I have to play this game RIGHT NOW!!! I am SO SORRY! I can't explain why, but you have to let me be for now! I'll talk with you later!" 🤪
Yeah, there's a clip from the Myst remaster right at the beginning. Both games can now be played in full 3D, and even in VR if you have a headset.
Actually there's two Myst 3D remakes. The older one is realMyst, which adds a tiny extra Age to visit, but doesn't support VR.
@@Mirality Thanks! 😎☮
Playing through the original Riven took me waaaay longer than 6 hours. Curious how quickly new players will get through this remake.
I miss FMV games so much. Gabriel Knight, Riven even Night Trap.
I know this is off topic, but can you guys review Repella Fella. Its actually a pretty cool indie game.
Riven is only 6 hours long??? Wild.
A mate and I took about 3 months to beat this game.
Getting a game on multiple disks really felt like you were in for an epic adventure, because of course you were.
Great review for a great game!
Thanks for the review. Wouldn't it be younger brother?
This is realistically 10-15 hrs for someone who has never played before.
Also the criticism of the CD characters is way too harsh across the board. I think it's maybe slightly less charming, but given the tiny amount of resources they had, they did a damn good job and it works for me. Also if anyone has a real solution for how to re-use or even film new flat footage and insert that into a 3d traversable world that also must work in VR, be my guest.
6 Hours? wow you must be really good! Or I just suck that bad.
I just solved it yesterday (looks at my stack of post-it notes) The Totems and invisible paint threw me for a good loop. But I never felt hopelessly lost in this version.
The original 1990's version had me break down and buy a cheat book... and even knowing the answers I could not see myself figuring out the end marble puzzle.
No! The ages are not created by the author of the descriptive book! That is heresy! They already exist as branches of the Great Tree created by Yavo in the beginning.
You might want to consider listening to this in the background instead of watching it if you're sensitive to spoilers. Just showing certain areas kind of spoils certain aspects of the game.
Reading steam reviews shows that gamers just arent as resilient as they used to be, this game can be brutally hard and people arent having it.
Great video!
I was torn on whether to wait for the remake or go for the original back in February - I ended up playing the original, but this remake looks stunning. I have to agree that the live actors give the characters some je-ne-sais-quois factor, though - the animated ones just don't look as good.
I'm more interested to hear what HBomberguy thinks
Now this is a wonderful Remake; unlike the regurgitation of TLoU.
I thought the Riven 97’ gameplay was the game we got. I was like wow this indie game is going back 30 years to create this retro look!
Disappointed myself.
Loved these games.
Should have kept the fmv it’s always a riot
6 hrs?? That's a speedrun
wouldn't Riven be the little brother since it was born second? just sayin
@CappyLarou was about to comment that myself, must've slipped through the cracks during the editing process...
I wish they tried to do modern fmvs instead of 3d animations, because it all feels way more out of place than the 3d fish in the original Riven.
Problem is, Rand does not look like Atrus anymore (and definitely not 90s Atrus), and if you want to see nerd riots, just announce you're recasting that role. :P
@@anyGould Why wouldn't sensible people be happy to see a recasting of an old game? They've already altered so many other things, like how the age doesn't need constant attention to not break apart.
Seeing how Atrus locked himself in another age where he can't get to Riven's linking book.
Atrus wasn't locked away from anything. He went back to Myst for a bit but there's a book right there back to D'ni and the Riven book. And he obviously went back to keep an eye on it at some point to keep watch for your signal.
@@Mirality Atrus locked himself away. In that box on the table. In the original he's sat there writing in Riven's book, but because the game is fully 3D and they needed Atrus out of the way so they didn't have to animate dynamic idle animations, they put him in a book inside a box.
The location of the book has nothing to do with the location of the person. He's locking the book away from *you*, so that you can't follow him and have to go to Riven. He's not locked up at all and can come back whenever he wants. And he made that box, so he knows how to open it to recover the book -- or he can just bring another linking book with him when he returns.
do I miss the somewhat harder puzzles.. sure.. do I like the 3D character models? not really.. they still look better than the disaster that was the Myst remake.. but.. it's still a great game.. and I still hope they do Exile and Relevation as well.. maybe even End of Ages.... or just.. you know.. MAKE NEW GAMES IN THE D'NI UNIVERSE...
Surely, Riven is Myst’s younger brother ;-)
ah man, the terrible character models ruin it for me. I remember being stuck at the original because never realized you are meant to click under a wooden door to...get under it
I want to get it and play it again. But I can't get over how bad the characters look
N8ce
No live actors???
Fraid not. From what I heard this needed to run on the quest, and that limited what they could do with the human models. FMV style / quality wouldn't have been possible.
sadly no. one of the reasons, I suggest sticking to the original point-and-click version. This new 3D version is looking well made and beautiful but still does not bring the atmosphere of the original for me. Also they sadly downgraded the difficulty quit a bit.
@@Atolm4 They swapped out one established gimmick for another gimmick...
Lame.
@@TheZaius FMV wasn't a gimmick, it was a necessity for having fluid movement in the art and game style they were using. The old footage could not have been made 3d, and the loss of two of the actors and the ageing of the rest means they couldn't have just rerecorded 3d footage with the same cast. It is a shame, if true, that things might have been toned down to run on lower hardware, but the plus side is more people get to experience this game. Regardless, VR is something many Riven fans truly wanted, so gimmick or not I'm glad to have the opportunity to experience it.
Wouldn't Riven be Myst's younger brother?
whats the big deal with this? looks like a late era ps4 game
bunch of old people with nostalgia blindness for an era where this was the peak of gaming.
It looks really beautiful, but I genuinely do feel that taking away the live action performances takes away a part of the soul of the game, and it's one of the special little things that makes the myst games what they are... I know doing fresh captures probably wasn't feasible given the time that's passed, but, it's still sad to see them go.
Anyone else get completely distracted by them calling the original Riven the "older" brother to Myst @0:30?
No, because I understand that humans make mistakes. I'm not going to be a nit-picky ass when I know what they meant.
“Older brother” was intentional. It was larger and more mature. Not relating to the ‘time’ it was created
Yeah, even if they were trying to say the mechanics matured over the last game its a bad metaphor. You don't call mario odyssey the older brother of mario 64
It's not hard to imagine it going from "bigger and better brother" to "bigger brother" to "older brother" in editing. Also, while the game of Riven is newer than Myst, the age of Riven did indeed come first.
cool first lol