"I am at rest, understanding that in Books, and Ages, and life... the ending can never truly be written"
Outstanding! The sequel takes the elements from the first game and cranks them up to 11. The result is an adventure full of mystery and wonder.
The best part of the Riven is... the Riven. The islands of the first Myst were quite barren. Like I wrote before: "mostly rocks with occasional buildings, plants and machinery to serve as decorations for the puzzles". Maybe I did it a disservice, discarding the bits of quite interesting aesthetics. But unlike the first game, Riven is full of it to the brim.
Right from the beginning of the game I was met with an interesting piece of the local lore. Then I was shown a local temple with a secret behind it. Immediately the picture started drawing itself in my head: what happened, who are the inhabitants, what are they doing. Then I was shown a variety of different locations, buildings, mechanisms and trinkets. No place was empty: bits of narrative design, parts of a puzzle, levers to move or just a beautiful view of this mysterious place. And every new place is encountered with nothing but an awe. The land of Riven is anything but barren.
And it was a delight to explore this world. Unlike the first game, where you travel by books, as in "poof' and you are there, in Riven you use a series of transport machines. And to add to the immersiveness, you are basically winding them up manually: enter, rotate the lever, turn the handle, flip the switch. This pseudo-hands-on really builds up the anticipation of the ride. And it does not disappoint: you start moving inside of the machine, you build up speed and you are already flying to the next island. The feel of wonder and adventure is through the roof.
And do not forget the complexity of its logic. Like in the first game - the meat of the game is its complex system of puzzles. All made of 3 main elements: observation, finding a pattern and execution. You need to understand the whole mechanism in order to make it work for you. And sometimes the keys to understanding lie elsewhere. In the first game you needed pen and paper to write down the hints. Here you need to record all you findings: symbols, patterns, colors, sounds. In the end your notes might look like a small adventure journal. And sometimes you need to connect the dots and deduce how to use this new information (figuring out the numbers was my favorite).
And again this sense of understanding is strengthened by the pseudo-hands-on mechanic. As if you not just watched it, you also turned it, poked it, pushed it, pulled it. As if you were holding the puzzle in your own hands. For me it was a delight to pull all these levers and contraptions. And when the result unfolded before me - it was the best "aha" moment.
But unfortunately the size of this world has a drawback I was afraid of: at some point it turned into "where am I supposed to go". The islands of the first Myst were small. And it was hard to get lost or miss a part of the puzzle. But here you've got a whole world of Riven with puzzles spread out across the islands. Sometimes you need to visit different islands to figure out the answer. And as a result it can be hard to receive positive feedback from advancing with the puzzle. And the worst part is that sometimes it is not obvious where can you go. I have spent hours trying to find out where to go next. Found all the hints, used all the mechanisms, but no idea where to advance next. At this point the "wonder and adventure" turned into fast-click, skip cut-scenes and "WHAT THE F@#$ DO I DO NEXT?!!". Turned out I had to close the door behind me to see the small corridors in the corners... when previously most of the doors closed behind me by themselves. facepalm hours... Also some buttons or levers can be hard to notice. Be it too dark or being somewhere on the edge of your view.
As for the story. You do not find a wall of text near the beginning like in the first game. You start with it. But unlike the "abstract stories of the past" from the Myst, here the texts relate closely to the events of the game. And later you find texts from other characters, letting you to explore their side of events. As a result it is better paced and does not feel boring. Also the puzzle hints are better interwoven into them.
The sound. Here is nothing new actually. Mostly it is ambiance. It is actually working towards the adventure feel, when you explore the island and digests your surroundings. The music is used when you discover a new place and it really adds to the feel of awe, when you uncover new mystery of the Riven.
In conclusion, I love the game. Unlike the first one, I had my frustration moments, bit it is all compensated with a feel of adventure. It was interesting to uncover new places, new lore and new mechanisms. Deducing the solution and drawing bigger picture of the world felt delightful. And touching all this machinery filled me with wonder and excitement. And nothing can replace all these "aha" moments, when I found the pattern of a puzzle instead of brute-forcing via "moon logic" item.
Outstanding! The sequel takes the elements from the first game and cranks them up to 11. The result is an adventure full of mystery and wonder.
The best part of the Riven is... the Riven. The islands of the first Myst were quite barren. Like I wrote before: "mostly rocks with occasional buildings, plants and machinery to serve as decorations for the puzzles". Maybe I did it a disservice, discarding the bits of quite interesting aesthetics. But unlike the first game, Riven is full of it to the brim.
Right from the beginning of the game I was met with an interesting piece of the local lore. Then I was shown a local temple with a secret behind it. Immediately the picture started drawing itself in my head: what happened, who are the inhabitants, what are they doing. Then I was shown a variety of different locations, buildings, mechanisms and trinkets. No place was empty: bits of narrative design, parts of a puzzle, levers to move or just a beautiful view of this mysterious place. And every new place is encountered with nothing but an awe. The land of Riven is anything but barren.
And it was a delight to explore this world. Unlike the first game, where you travel by books, as in "poof' and you are there, in Riven you use a series of transport machines. And to add to the immersiveness, you are basically winding them up manually: enter, rotate the lever, turn the handle, flip the switch. This pseudo-hands-on really builds up the anticipation of the ride. And it does not disappoint: you start moving inside of the machine, you build up speed and you are already flying to the next island. The feel of wonder and adventure is through the roof.
And do not forget the complexity of its logic. Like in the first game - the meat of the game is its complex system of puzzles. All made of 3 main elements: observation, finding a pattern and execution. You need to understand the whole mechanism in order to make it work for you. And sometimes the keys to understanding lie elsewhere. In the first game you needed pen and paper to write down the hints. Here you need to record all you findings: symbols, patterns, colors, sounds. In the end your notes might look like a small adventure journal. And sometimes you need to connect the dots and deduce how to use this new information (figuring out the numbers was my favorite).
And again this sense of understanding is strengthened by the pseudo-hands-on mechanic. As if you not just watched it, you also turned it, poked it, pushed it, pulled it. As if you were holding the puzzle in your own hands. For me it was a delight to pull all these levers and contraptions. And when the result unfolded before me - it was the best "aha" moment.
But unfortunately the size of this world has a drawback I was afraid of: at some point it turned into "where am I supposed to go". The islands of the first Myst were small. And it was hard to get lost or miss a part of the puzzle. But here you've got a whole world of Riven with puzzles spread out across the islands. Sometimes you need to visit different islands to figure out the answer. And as a result it can be hard to receive positive feedback from advancing with the puzzle. And the worst part is that sometimes it is not obvious where can you go. I have spent hours trying to find out where to go next. Found all the hints, used all the mechanisms, but no idea where to advance next. At this point the "wonder and adventure" turned into fast-click, skip cut-scenes and "WHAT THE F@#$ DO I DO NEXT?!!". Turned out I had to close the door behind me to see the small corridors in the corners... when previously most of the doors closed behind me by themselves. facepalm hours... Also some buttons or levers can be hard to notice. Be it too dark or being somewhere on the edge of your view.
As for the story. You do not find a wall of text near the beginning like in the first game. You start with it. But unlike the "abstract stories of the past" from the Myst, here the texts relate closely to the events of the game. And later you find texts from other characters, letting you to explore their side of events. As a result it is better paced and does not feel boring. Also the puzzle hints are better interwoven into them.
The sound. Here is nothing new actually. Mostly it is ambiance. It is actually working towards the adventure feel, when you explore the island and digests your surroundings. The music is used when you discover a new place and it really adds to the feel of awe, when you uncover new mystery of the Riven.
In conclusion, I love the game. Unlike the first one, I had my frustration moments, bit it is all compensated with a feel of adventure. It was interesting to uncover new places, new lore and new mechanisms. Deducing the solution and drawing bigger picture of the world felt delightful. And touching all this machinery filled me with wonder and excitement. And nothing can replace all these "aha" moments, when I found the pattern of a puzzle instead of brute-forcing via "moon logic" item.