Riven Remake Launches on Steam to Comfortable 95% Rating

The Riven remake has finally launched on Steam more than two decades after the release of the original game and already has a comfortable 95% on Valve's gaming platform.

The latest release polishes the 25-year-old puzzle game, sands off some of the rough edges, and polishes everything else. The Riven remake offers players free movement around a real-time 3D reinvention of the original point-and-click title's shimmering archipelago.

Riven Remake Launches on Steam

Prior to the release of the full game, a demo version of the Riven remake was available on Steam that gave players a glimpse of what they could experience. The world inside the game feels much more distinct today than it did when the original game launched in 1997.

The Myst games unfold in a universe of pocket dimensions or so-called "Ages" that are accessed by diving into the pages of magic books.

They are made up of obscure, half-real mechanisms where generations of artisanal explorers and inventors work to reclaim lost knowledge, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.

In the Riven remake, you take control of a nameless Stranger who is asked by Myst's benevolent patriarch Atrus to rescue his wife, Catherine. The latter is in an Age that was created by the former's wayward father.

The game is all about exploring the archipelago and poking around at exquisite, weather-worn brass instruments in order to open doors and reach different islands. The world of Riven is a mesmerizing place but can sometimes feel frustrating to unravel.

Another thing that makes Riven feel odd to some players is the translation of the original game's static environment art into real-time 3D. While the remake itself is beautiful some people have felt uneasy about failing to match their perspective to the old frozen images.

Even when on relatively lowly modern hardware, the Riven remake still manages to look amazing with how it shows its world. The game's introduction is a narratively dense and somewhat confusing experience, even for longtime fans, said PCGamer.

A Beautiful But Confusing Puzzle Game

At the start, you are given barely described tools so that you can go on a journey to free Catherine. Shortly after, you are quickly trapped, robbed, and become the sole witness of a murder, released, and then left by your lonesome with nothing in your possession but a satchel and some notes.

The wild and chaotic series of events perfectly sets the tone for the Riven remake and everything follows after the initial encounter. What you need to know is that not knowing where you are and what you need to do is actually what the game wants you to feel.

Similar to its predecessor, Myst, Riven makes it so that you are simply thrown into the deep end. It is a puzzle game that places you inside its world with a moment of exposition and then you are left to your own devices, if you have any.

In the Riven remake, players are given little guidance, no real idea of how to complete their objective, and where to actually start exploring to move forward with the storyline, according to PCGamesN.