Riven: The Sequel to Myst
Description official descriptions
After the Stranger has rescued Atrus, the master of "linking books", from the imprisonment caused by his sons, a new task awaits the hero. Atrus's wife, Catherine, has been taken by Gehn, his own father. Gehn has appointed himself as the one to rule the Age of Riven, and has driven his world to collapse. Now he holds Catherine hostage on Riven, hoping that his son will restore the book link to the Age and free him from there. The Stranger is requested by Atrus to travel to Riven and find a way to rescue Catherine.
Riven is a sequel to Myst, and is very similar to its predecessor in gameplay style, controls, and visual presentation. The game world is presented as a series of computer-generated still screens; the player explores it in a point-and-click fashion. Interaction with the environment is possible only when said environment is highlighted as a "hot spot", and is also performed by simple clicking. Like its predecessor, Riven is heavy on puzzles, which rarely include using inventory items, but usually involve understanding and manipulating the complex environments and machinery of the game world.
Spellings
- リヴン ザ シークェル トゥー ミスト - Japanese spelling
- 神秘岛II - 星空断层 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
- 迷霧之島II - Chinese spelling (traditional)
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Credits (Windows version)
243 People (174 developers, 69 thanks) · View all
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[ full credits ] |
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 83% (based on 42 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 153 ratings with 10 reviews)
The Good
Riven is the highly anticipated sequal to the award-winning game Myst.
In the game you are transported to the world of Riven to rescue Catherine, Atrus's wife from the first game. But as you land in the world, you find yourself trapped in a cage, with your book on the other side of the bars. A strangely dressed man appears, and is killed in front of your eyes, as an unseen assailant drags his lifeless body away. The bars of your cage open, and your quest starts...
Thus begins your stay in the IMMENSE world of Riven. And when I say immense, I mean IMMENSE. The game is huge. I wish I had a DVD-ROM in my computer, because the game comes on 5 - count 'em - 5 CD's. Riven's world consists of 5 islands, therefore you have 1 Island per CD. This is one of those few games (along with multimedia intensive games such as the Later parts of the Wing Commander series or Phantasmagoria) that seems like it would be better if it were on DVD. No disk swapping! :)
The graphics are in one word - breathtaking. If you thought the quality of graphics in Myst were incredible, it seems that Cyan outdid themselves this time. Beautiful locations take you throughout the world. And if you like rollercoasters, then you'll love the modes of transportation between the islands. The sensation of traveling between the islands is eerie. Cyan's work on this part alone is worth checking it out. Each locale, each picture has significance, just like in Myst.
The sound, again, is incredible. Each sound has a purpose (like Myst), and the background music (which I found out can actually be purchased as a soundtrack), is fantastic.
There is a lot more interaction with people in this game, unlike the original. The world is alive. You meet people, you talk with them (sorta) and you learn informaton. The is this one part where you see someone, but they end up runnign away from you. So what do you do? Obviously you follow them. But it's this type of interaction that makes the game feel, not like a game, but alive.
The Bad
The conrtol, the control, the control. The contol problems that plagued the original are apparent here as well. It's not quite as bad, but the problems are still there, especially with going up and down stairs.
The Bottom Line
If you absolutely hated Myst, then don't bother with Riven. It's more of the game, and you'll have absolutely no fun.
But if you enjoyed Myst (like I did), then by all means play Riven. You'll love it.
Windows · by Chris Martin (1155) · 2001
A wonderful game that should be in every gamers shelf
The Good
Beautiful graphics, great sound and CHALLENGING puzzles. Even if you don't have I clue of where you are going you are still going to be amazed of the beautiful environment. If you didn't play Myst yet it doesn't matter you won't be confused at all and in riven there is people you can have contact with unlike Myst. Riven comes pact with 5 cd's.
The Bad
The game is very difficult and the puzzles are unrelated to the plot.
The Bottom Line
You gotta give this game a try but if your the kinda guy that doesn't like thinking stay away from this game if not then your in for a good time.
Windows · by Djinn (11) · 2000
The Good
Fantastic environments. Amazing graphics and sound. And the inventions. The different ways of travel like the mine cart. And the unique puzzles. Simply amazing.
The Bad
What's not to like about it? OK maybe some the puzzles were too irritating. And maybe it's too easy to get stuck. But that's it.
The Bottom Line
If you like myst you'll love this. Just because it's so fun. Plus the ways to get a new ending are genius.
Windows · by the_needle2.0 (2) · 2007
Trivia
Saturn version
While the Mac, Windows and Playstation versions were released on five CDs, the Sega Saturn version was released on only four. The layout is as follows:
Disc 1: Intro, Temple Island
Disc 2: Jungle Island, Tay
Disc 3: Book Assembly Island, Survey Island
Disc 4: Prison Island, 233rd Age
The bad endings originally on Disc 5 are now on every disc.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for this game was composed and performed by Robyn Miller. Also, this soundtrack contains recently recovered d'ni archaeological information. Release date is 1998.
Tracklist: 1. Link 2. Atrus Theme 3. Gateroom 4. Jungle Totem 5. Survey Island Theme 6. Temple 7. Village Entrance Theme 8. Moeity Caves 9. Moeity Theme 10. Boat Ride 11. Moeity Prison 12. The Red Cave 13. Wahrk Room 14. Catherine's Prelude 15. Catherine's Theme 16. Catherine's Freedom 17. Gehn Speaks 18. Gehn's Theme 19. Fissure 20. Bonus Track
Awards
- Computer Gaming World
- November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #12 Top Vaporware Title in Computer Game History
Information also contributed by MAT and Techademus
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Related Sites +
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Acclaim website
Official Acclaim site for Riven. -
GameFAQs
Walkthroughs and tips for Riven. -
Riven EPK (archived)
Electronic press kit for the game featuring in game footage, behind the scenes look and more. -
Riven UHS Hints
A collection of hints for the game provided by the Universal Hint System (UHS). UHS hints are structured in such a way as not to give away the answer immediately but, instead, to provide the player with increasingly more revealing hints before finally providing a complete solution. -
Riven X (archived)
An open source project that allows Macintosh users to run both the CD and DVD versions of Riven on their modern operating systems. -
The Myst Guidebook
The Riven subsection of the Guidebook fansite that provides information about the game and a brief background on the game's production in addition to game hints and a walkthrough. -
The Starry Expanse Project
A fan-organized project attempting re-create Riven as a realtime 3D game in a fashion similar to realMYST. The project is currently still active. -
Zarf's Review
An unscored review of the Macintosh version of Riven by IF-creator Andrew Plotkin (November, 1997)."
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by MAT.
iPhone added by Techademus. SEGA Saturn added by Kohler 86. Windows Mobile added by Kabushi. Macintosh added by Xoleras. PlayStation added by Grant McLellan. iPad added by me3D31337.
Additional contributors: Swordmaster, Jeanne, Apogee IV, chirinea, Zeppin, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Nightson Blaze, Techademus, HelloMrKearns.
Game added April 2, 2000. Last modified March 20, 2024.