Review: Riven
- Guilherme Ribeiro
- Jun 22
- 3 min read
The enigmatic and mysterious story continues.
THE GAME
Riven is a puzzle game developed and published by Cyan Worlds, Inc. Following the events of Myst, a new adventure full of mysteries and intrigue begins. With a new quest and new puzzles, visit Riven, a mysterious world on the brink of collapse. Explore diverse environments and uncover the secrets of Riven.
MY IMPRESSIONS
Like its predecessor Myst, Riven is back completely revamped and much more player-friendly. With a larger scope than Myst, Riven presents a vast world, full of different paths that can even be a little daunting in the sense that the player can go in so many directions that they may feel a little lost. The environments remain full of strangeness, with mysterious locations, bizarre objects, and intriguing landscapes that dictate the game's atmosphere.
The game is in Brazilian Portuguese, which is great for players to understand the clues and puzzle hints, as well as follow Riven's story. The feeling of arriving in a new world where you don't understand anything that's happening or where you should go is something that will accompany you throughout your journey, always observing and noting everything you find in this world because everything can be a clue or an important piece to solve a puzzle. With different mechanics being introduced, Riven's range of challenge is much greater than Myst's, but it functions as an additional level of difficulty, as if Myst introduces you to this world and Riven elevates you to another level.
The difficulty level remains excellent, because if you enjoyed Myst, Riven will make you use your brain even more. If you haven't played Myst, but like a good game with puzzles and secrets, Riven will be a good challenge, but I believe playing Myst before Riven is a great way to enjoy this saga.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Like its predecessor, Riven has a large portion of its achievements tied to its story and puzzle solving. And just like in Myst, there are achievements where the player will need to interact or perform specific actions. One in particular, without giving away too many spoilers, requires the player to stand still for 15 minutes looking at a specific object, which, for me, is the type of achievement that doesn't appeal to me as much. Getting 100% of the achievements might require the player to play a few times, as inevitably some things will go unnoticed at first, so completing all the achievements will be an added challenge to Riven's puzzle challenges.
CONCLUSION
Even though the difficulty increases in Riven, I felt more cornered when entering this world. The feeling of choosing one path while others exist leaves me unsure of what to do, with many elements that may or may not be important now or in the future. Of course, both Myst and Riven are games designed for you to take notes because everything can be useful, but Myst was more restrained, while Riven is bold, leaving clues scattered around, perhaps even to encourage players to return and discover new things with each new playthrough. Still, it's a great puzzle game that leaves the player very intrigued and prompts them to think.
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