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Simply the Best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 26 / 28
Date: February 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Pros:

1. Graphics that are fantastically detailed, intricate, and achingly beautiful. Some astonishing joy rides. Sound effects and music approach perfection.

2. Gameplay is wonderfully balanced. You are never bored, and only occasionally frustrated by the harder puzzles. All the puzzles are logical, and give you a great feeling of accomplishment when you solve them. There is a vast area to explore while you are figuring things out. You turn a corner, and startle mysterious creatures who are sunning themselves on a rock. You climb up another path, turn, and the view makes you gasp.

3. Riven creates a fantasy world that is alien; yet it evokes a sense of reality that is, in my experience, unparalleled in computer gaming. I wish I could find a way to live in Riven.

Cons:

1. If you like exploring new worlds by dashing through them and shooting things, you may find that the pace of this particular game is too slow.

2. While the storyline is intriguing, it is possible to nearly finish Riven before discovering the diaries that further explain the plot. I wish I had known more of the background of the story a little sooner in the game.

3. Riven is so immersive that you forget the everyday world. Your children will wonder why you haven't cooked dinner. Your friends will speculate as to why you have stopped answering the phone. Your spouse will become jealous of your relationship with a computer game (easiest solution: play it together).

Bottom Line: IMHO, this game is IT, the Numero Uno, the King. Nobody's made one better.

No violence, all brains & beauty

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 14
Date: November 15, 1999
Author: Amazon User

What a truly incredible, fun, graphically gorgeous, complicated, frustrating, rewarding experience. I recommend Riven without hesitation to anyone looking for a challenging & totally non-violent game. The puzzles are clever, the 'story' is intriguing, you will be totally hooked. Good for any age but younger kids (less than 10) will probably get too frustrated (see "The Manhole" for them, aslo by Broderbund I think).

More realistic, better puzzles, but less mystery than Myst

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: December 22, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Riven is, in many ways, what Myst would have been if Cyan (the game's creators) had had this degree of technology and experience the first time around. Not only are the sights very realistic, but the game design shows the wisdom that went into the production. There are puzzles, all right, but none of them sticks out like a sore thumb -- they're smoothly integrated into the environment. The payoffs are greatly satisfying and the solutions all follow a logic that can be deduced from attentive observation (take notes!) of the places around you.

And therein lies the caveat others have brought up: Some of the puzzles are very hard. The world of Riven is not a simple place; some puzzles have interconnections which are not apparent unless you are accustomed to hunting for patterns in the environment. A seasoned puzzle master (or research scientist) may work them out alone -- kudos to the user who solved them all in two days! -- but mere mortals may need at least a tiny hint or two. (My brief advice: When in doubt, click everywhere. And make your screen brighter than the game recommends. Some things are camouflaged, intentionally or not.) The best preparation for playing Riven, though, is to play Myst, which (in addition to telling you how you got to Riven) will attune your awareness to the kinds of patterns that hold true significance.

Sound esoteric? It can be. Solving Myst and Riven requires a level of attention that many people are unaccustomed to exercising -- especially for a computer game. As a previous reviewer said: "Not for the weak of mind." If you love an intellectual challenge, or if you're humble enough not to mind running off for a hint now and then, then your personal "system requirements" are good enough for Riven.

Speaking of system requirements, a note to Mac users: The Mac specs on the box specify a 100 MHz PowerPC and 4X CD-ROM, but I strongly suggest, from personal experience, a faster system. (Also, if you have a Mac and want to look for Myst, I suggest you find the original Mac version, not the flawed and badly misnamed "Masterpiece Edition." I've seen copies of the original on auction sites.)

Whatever your platform, Riven deserves the best speakers or headphones you can get. The audio, like the visuals, is impressively rich.

And by all means -- by ALL means -- go on to Myst III: Exile when you're finished.

Final note: If your computer has a DVD drive and you can get your hands on the DVD-ROM version of Riven (check those auction sites again), by all means do so. It's certainly nicer not to be interrupted by periodic requests to switch the CD in your drive (though the breakpoints are well-chosen and didn't ruin my CD-based playing), and you can watch the interesting "making of" documentary in a video DVD player.

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!LOVED IT!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 10
Date: May 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Everybody sais this game is tricky. I must say this was harder than MYST, but I love there games. The graphics were so amazing. At some point you would feel scared because no one is there to help you. You are deserted in this game. I had the soulutions gide, but I only used the part that just told you what you had to acomplish. If you use to much of the book it will be not much fun because you will rely on the book so much. I liked how Ghen has his own "age". All of the diffrent adventures are difficult. When you first start the game, and you look around, it may seem overwhelming to you, but things will unfold. I thought learning about the Dn'i numbers were pretty neat. What the secret of this game is, is to always take notes and save the game. You never know what will happen. You must also have patience to finish this game because it will get very hard at times. When those times happen, it would be a good idea to look at the hint book. I would recomend the stratagy guide because it will tell you what you will have to do to go on to the next level. MYST did not have the great suspense as RIVEN does, but it sure has the adventure. I would strongly suggest that you compleat MYST before you move on because some of the stuff will not make any sense. I have just ordered MYST 3:EXILE-COLLECTER'S EDITION. If you have an old computer, it probably won't work. Hope you enjoy the world of RIVEN!(it you liked my review, please hit "yes" below, thanks!)

The computer game for people who don't like computer games.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: May 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

What more can I say that hasn't already been said about this incredible game. I'm not into computer games and only bought this because the store wouldn't give me a refund on a returned item. It sat on the shelf, unopened, for a month - then I opened the box and my life wasn't the same for the next week (or so).

The immediate thing I liked about Riven was its first person perspective - no figure or character to control just an environment to explore as if you were really there. Secondly, there's no instruction or rule book. This game doesn't patronize the user - you are dropped into a strange and exotic world and it's up to you to discover why you're there and what you have to do. It's this journey of discovery that's so addictive. The superior quality of the graphics and sound just add to the effect - you MUST play Riven with the lights turned down and with a decent pair of headphones (I literally jumped out of my chair when my partner tapped me on the shoulder!)

I would also suggest avoiding the online hint sites - the thrill of Riven is solving the puzzles after being stumped for hours - when you crack the solution to entering the Moiety Age (Circle of Stones) it'll make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

If you read a lot, you'll love this game. It requires thought and concentration and patience - take plenty of notes, examine everything, including the notebooks (there's a lot of reading in Riven). Those with short attention spans will get bored with Riven very quickly, but for me, I lived and breathed its world for hours (much to the annoyance of my partner). The solution to one of the puzzles came to me whilst shopping!

One final note - play Myst first. It's a bit of a letdown after Riven, and it will prime you for this superior sequel.

Next up: Myst III: Exile - I cannot wait!

Thank God for sequels!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: January 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Having finished Myst some time ago, I have been desperately searching for something, anything with which to challenge my brain. Luckily Riven, the sequel to Myst, is here! I immediately bought it, but to my utter frustration, the sound card in my computer did not support Riven. I immediately fixed the problem (I bought a new computer) and having been living in the blissful agony that is Riven. The game, as most other reviewers have verified, is not for the weak of mind. You have to thoroughly devote yourself to figuring out all the puzzles. Also, be prepared to have your life entirely consumed by Riven. It gets very addictive, very quickly. I recommend beginning with Myst as that is set up in a more linear fashion (in other words, cause and effect on the island Myst is more obvious than on Riven). I am trying to play Riven as slowly as possible in order to prolong the sweet agony of solving the game. I just hope Cyan comes out with another edition soon so that my addiction can continue.

Probably the best game I've ever played.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: April 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

In both Myst and Riven you are dropped into an alien world with no idea what is going on, what you are supposed to do, or how to start "playing." The best you can do is stumble around and try to figure out what happened to you -- which puts you directly into the character the game designers created. The incredible graphics and sound of this game (DO play with the best headphones you have if you don't have fantastic speakers) divorce you from the real world and draw you into Riven -- you can be paralyzed with fear, incredibly nervous, or totally overjoyed within seconds of starting play. The emotional effect this game had on me is shocking -- there were points when I was so scared I had to turn the sound off and remind myself that I was not, in fact, about to be eaten. Riven is different from myst in that there are animals and people -- you are not the only thing alive in this world (save those two butterflies in Myst, it was just you). None of these animals (or people) attack you -- there's no fighting in this game -- but their presence creates a feeling of danger as well as eerieness that myst lacked. Later on you do have the opportunity to interact with people, and you can die -- but, as in Myst, in these later stages it is not too difficult to pick the correct action. The puzzles are harder than those in myst, but less arbitrary; luck plays a smaller part, and logic a larger one. It is possible to get incredibly frustrated, or stuck in the position of going over the same ground dozens (or hundreds) of times and not seeing anything new; when this happens, take a long break. The answers are never too hard to find. The details and story are much richer than in myst, and the world is much more explorable; there are a couple of notable exceptions, however, when I would have killed to be able to explore further in a particular direction. There are a couple of misleading dead ends as well, but for the most part the puzzle design isn't too cruel. As with Myst, play with everything and write it all down; Riven gives you the added bonus of being able to see and understand the people who inhabit its world and apply this reference to the puzzles.

Simply terrific

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: June 06, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I don't play computer games. Like, at all. Except for Myst, and now Riven. They are intelligent, require thought, and immerse you in a fascinating world of the Miller's imagination. I was delighted with Riven, but I was having a hell of a time getting through it - and my partner was stuck too - then we started playing it together. My intuition, his straightforward logic, and our mutual enjoyment of the glorious world of Riven - not only did we get to play a terrific game, it helped us see the strengths of our differences! Challenging, clever, overwhelming graphics and so-realistic sounds, the world of Riven is addictive in the best way. Only problem is, there's no room for a sequel. Rats.... but I would recommend Riven and Myst to any thinking adult who just doesn't understand the appeal of those mindless 'shoot 'em up' computer games. This one's different. This one is terrific. Buy it, play it, live it.

"Riven": An Even More Engaging Experience

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: January 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

"Riven" is a continuation of the popular role-playing game, "Myst." I didn't think it could outdo its predecessor, as most sequels are never able to quite live up to the original. But "Riven" more than met that task. In fact, "Riven" so surpasses "Myst" in scope, storyline and task that it's almost boggling.

The game opens with you returning to D'Ni again after transporting through the linking book in the Library on Myst Island. The ever-knowledgeable Atrus, played by Rand Miller, thanks you for coming back and says he needs your help. And from then the race is on: You need to find his wife Catherine who is trapped in a prison somewhere on the Riven Age. Her captor turns out to be Atrus' father, Gehn, a madman who wants to destroy his own son. Along the way, you encounter people, puzzles, awesome creatures (like Sunners and Wahrks), and dazzling special effects.

Just like on Myst Island, the clues you discover on the five islands in Riven are what reveal the story to you. "Riven" is increasingly more complex than "Myst" in that regard. Everything is just bigger and, in my opinion, better. The graphics have improved tremendously; the Quicktime videos used for all the animations in the game are improved; the puzzles are harder and are more integrated into the storyline than ever before; and there is actually character interaction in this game - much more so than simply meeting people through Prison Books, like in "Myst."

"Riven" is definitely habit-forming. The first time I played it, I ended up just walking around and looking at everything before I decided to actually begin my journey on rescuing Catherine. When you step out into the open a few minutes after the real action begins, the sense of "this is gonna be bigger and more immersive than Myst" sets in.

I cannot say enough positive things about "Riven." I end up playing it more than "Myst" and have sometimes preferred it over "Myst III: Exile." To say I am fascinated with everything on those five islands is an understatement. I sometimes with I could actually go to the Riven Age and explore; that's how seriously disturbed I really am!

In short, if you love the "Myst Phenomenon," get "Riven." "Riven" improves upon pretty much everything that made "Myst" such an awesome success. Let it capture your heart and your imagination like it did mine.

The Great Escape

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 23, 1999
Author: Amazon User

Imagine what it would be like to be the only living intelligent being in a strange and mysterious world and the only tool you have to discover it's secrets and get back to your own world is your grey matter. One of the best things about this game, aside from absolute non-violence, is that you cannot be hurt or killed and have to start over. You can explore to your hearts' content and never fear anything. It certainly is extremely challenging and requires intelligence and reasoning. It is not a game for the average person. It has been a year since I finished the challenge and I still miss the adventure. I have yet to find anything as satisfying and enjoyable.

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