Revisit of Riven, One of the Hardest Puzzle Games
I recently replayed Riven, the sequel to Myst. It’s still one of the hardest puzzle games around. Released in 1997, there wasn’t much help available on the internet back then. You either had to know a websites address, or take your chances with Alta Vista or Yahoo.
Today, there are plenty of guides, walkthroughs, or solutions online. The question is… do they take away from the game or not? The game designers envisioned the elation of solving the puzzles yourself. Which was certainly true of the original Myst.
A Sequel to Myst
I enjoyed Myst tremendously. Enough that I jumped at the chance to get Riven installed on my computer when it came out. Riven is a bit overwhelming at first. There’s so much to explore. So many puzzles are interlinked it’s hard to tell how much progress you’re making.
Which wasn’t the same experience from the Myst. Each Age had a way in and out by solving puzzles. With a clear goal of searching for lost pages. Riven on the other hand just starts with the general goal of trapping Gehn in a prison book then signaling Atrus.
It’s a bit like tasking someone who knows nothing about cars with changing the brakes. Without any instructions or even a clue what brakes are. Simply leave them in a garage with a car, brakes, and all the necessary tools.
Sure it might take them 20 or 30 hours to figure it out and change the brakes. Something anyone with training could do in under an hour. But what about that joy of discovery, the moments of epiphany when solution is found?
Having Fun
Personally, I just want to relax and have fun playing a game. Figuring out puzzles is fun. Learning a new numbering system, memorizing the sounds of 25 different species, or where those darn marbles go was not fun. It was exhausting.
Only from the dogma of not letting a game beat me was I able to finish this game. Riven is grueling. At least, without any help. Back to my example of changing the brakes on a car. Sure, given enough time anyone could probably figure out how wrenches work or where the brakes are on a car.
However, it takes a certain kind of perverse curiosity to commit the time it would take, without any assistance or guidance, to figure out every step necessary to change the brakes on a car.
I’m sure after the job was complete it would provide some elation knowing you did it all by yourself. Still, I can’t help thinking taking a shortcut or two doesn’t lessen the satisfaction of finishing Riven.
Making Discoveries
I remember figuring out how to count past ten in Riven. The Ah-Ha moment was nice but fleeting. Figuring out how the 3d map and squares relate to the position of each marble was also a good feeling. Figuring out which color marble to use proved to be incredibly frustrating.
I figured out which color marble to use for Jungle Island. But for the life of me I could not discern the difference between Crater Island and Temple Island well enough to tell which color went where.
There isn’t any way of knowing the colors associated with the last two islands. So at the end of the day, which color marbles to use winds up being a brute force attack or simply looking it up. But I’ll be darned if I felt any less satisfaction looking up the color of the other 4 marbles.
In fact I’d rather look it up than spend an hour trying different colors until I arrived at the solution. All that mattered was hearing that power generator start up. Then it was off to meet Gehn and wrap things up.
Summary
Overall, I enjoyed Riven as much as Myst. Riven took a bit longer to figure than Myst. But Riven is much bigger with more interlinking puzzles.
The puzzles in Myst require a few steps or stages. But the puzzles in Riven are often layered. Meaning the solution requires the discovery of several pieces to put together. Instead of flipping switch 1 then 2, then 3 to make something happening. You need to take clues 1, 2, and 3 together to arrive at the solution.
Which is definitely harder. So call for some help if need be. It’s no less satisfying than spending hours eventually stumbling on a solution.
In my experience, Riven is still one of the hardest puzzle games around. Riven definitely takes the original Myst to a new level and is well worth playing.
Revisit of Riven, One of the Hardest Puzzle Games brought to you by David M.
I’m David M. I’ve been playing video games a long time, my pong game was fire. Now, my kids run circles around me but we always have a good time. We mostly play party and family games. Strategy and battle games are still among my favorites. I like writing about games almost as much as I do playing them. My favorite games are: Moving Out 2, Out of Space and Overcooked All You Can Eat.
