Riven 2024

Riven belongs to a rare breed of games. I'll be the first to admit that point-and-click adventures have never been my favorite – but Riven almost changed that for good. If you love solving puzzles and exploring mysterious (and trippy) mystical lands, you're in for a treat with this one.

Where modern games bombard you with tutorials and quest markers, Riven just... trusts you. It's refreshing, really. The whole game feels like discovering some ancient civilization, except instead of just looking at artifacts in a museum, you get to play with all the weird machinery and figure out how everything works.

Make it Make Sense

You know that moment in adventure games where you have to use a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle to cross a zip line? Yeah, Riven doesn't do that. I quit so many adventure games before for moments like those – and I was really enjoying those Deponia adventures and even Return to Monkey Island!

Every puzzle here feels like it belongs. These aren't just random brain teasers – they're actual mechanisms built by people who lived in this world. Everything has a sense of purpose and connection in this world, and that makes the puzzles feel all the more rewarding.

Oh, and if you noticed that the game looks familiar, then that must be because you're acquainted with Riven's prequel – the always enigmatic Myst.

If Looks Could Kill

For a game from the 90s, Riven is stupidly pretty. Seriously. While other games from that era have aged about as well as milk under the sun, Riven still manages to drop your jaw. The new remake makes everything even prettier, but even the original version holds up surprisingly well.

Every scene feels like it was crafted by actual artists, not just game designers. You've got these massive wooden structures that look like they might collapse any second, weird mechanical doodads that somehow feel both alien and practical, and vistas that'll make you wish you could actually visit this place. Makes you wonder why some modern games can't nail this atmosphere this well.

The only thing that comes closer in terms of visuals would be The Talos Principle, but I'm still a sucker for that early-90s retro CGI look Riven goes for.

Minimalistic Storytelling

Here's where Riven really shows up its predecessor, Myst. Instead of making you read through a bunch of journals (though there's still some of that), Riven lets its world do the talking. Every broken machine, every worn-down path, every weird symbol scratched into a wall - it's all telling you something.

You won't get any lengthy exposition dumps like in Syberia. This game respects your time – and your brain – enough to let you piece things together yourself. It's kind of like being a detective in a world where everything's a clue, you just have to learn how to spot them. And no, that's not me taking a shot at Jack Orlando. Though I probably should.

Pros

• Puzzles feel difficult but with logical solutions
• Gorgeous visuals
• Minimalistic storytelling that keeps you engaged

Cons

• Definitely demands some patience from the player
• Might feel too slow for some modern gamers