Thanks so much for the great review flotsam!

Thank you Drac!

Ana

It all sounds great! Thank you for your review, flotsam.

And thank you too, Drac.

Thanks flotsam (and Drac). It sounds good. I wish I could enjoy the open world exploration better without getting nauseous. I think I will replay the original soon and maybe someday, I will attempt this version.

Good review.

Excellent review, as always, thank you, flotsam !! 👍 (And Draclvr.)

Nice review, thank you

Great review, thank you!

Thank you.

Thank you much flotsam ! It's on my list -- again :>)

Me tooo, Drac! Hooked from then on. Thank you Drac, and Flotsam

Thanks flotsam and draclvr! Good review!!

I loved this remake. Strangely I didn't want it, until I played it...

I didn't want to play it, I was too scared they would have killed the essence of the original game. Even when you work with love and respect for an original work, not just trying to make money, you can still do the worst mistakes, and using a new technology/engine doesn't mean the result will be better. I know plenty of games remakes that disappointed me and that were terrible in 3d, while they were great games in 2d (or pseudo 2d). In addition I'm a big fan of prerendered graphics, it's the job I learned initially as a student (3d render engines) and I made photorealistic renders later as a job for 2 years before I became the solo indie dev that I am now. Riven original has always been a game that guided me, that impressed me, that I love not only for the clever content but also for the beauty of the art and the unique world. There's not 2 games like that, not even the other episodes in the series (this is my opinion! I like Exile though). Riven is the game that made me want to become an indie dev and create my own series of adventure games: what else can I say to describe the fascination I have for this game? I jumped into game making with passion and almost sacrificed my future for the love of Riven lol! And I know I'm not the only one, far from it (Neyyah!). Only a few rare other multimedia creations have such a place in my heart, such as Studio Ghibli's movies, because they are art, and for me Riven is art too. A piece of art that would deserve to be in a museum. However, like any other piece of art, it is dangerous to try to improve it or change it. So, yes, I love Riven but at the same time, curiously, I've never been a big fan like others can be. Never felt the need to read articles about it, enter a community of Riven fans, buy items, make a Riven collection, have all the disks versions... I have always stayed back from adoration, I just treasure my memories of it and the time I spent exploring it. I admire it as a piece of art, so the rest around it seems almost useless to me.

For all these reasons, when they announced the Remake, I thought "Oh yeah! But... Oh no! I'm sure they just want to make money!". There was such a big risk to kill the game, the piece of art, to destroy the community of fans, to make it a "good but forgettable" game, to move Riven from being a Legend to Just another game... I was following the Starry Expense fan project for years, and all of a sudden there was an official Remake? Sounded like a scam to me, a way to surf on the wave of remakes with modern 3d engines. For months I stopped looking for news and screenshots and started to cut myself from the frenesy preceding the release of Riven Remake. I didn't want to play it, didn't want to hear about this new version. I even thought I would never play it. In addition I have a 10 year old computer and thought I would not be able to. Then the game released, and I have purchased a copy, just to support Cyan as a way to say thanks for the original game.
Now that I had the game in my libreary, it wouldn't hurt to take a glimpse... I just started a new game to see how it works on my old computer, but didn't plan to play a lot. I saw the intro, already knew that I would be disappointed by the 3d characters compared to the original actors. Finally the new characters weren't so bad. Oh, finally the game is running quite well (I did a lot of sacrifices on the graphics quality for the game to run smoothly). Finally I started to realize: "Wait, I'm on Riven again". And finally I couldn't stop playing. It was wonderful, declicious. Moving freely and visiting the islands in this improved version was just incredible and... I couldn't stop!! It was the same place than in my memories (or almost) and the graphics quality was respected. All my fears started to vanish. I still was a bit reluctant with some of the changes, but I quickly changed my mind. I saw that I had just been a grumpy old guy and didn't imagine that they could succeed in making this Remake a good game. I played for 8 hours over a couple days. I didn't find it too much difficult, even easier than the original, but on the other hand I already knew most of the puzzles. What I didn't already know was fair and interesting, and added good things, making the game even more rich and logical.

I wish all adventure games could be like that, and that the Legend of Riven could stay alive among players (and young players particularly, just like I was when I first played Riven original around the age of 15). I wish it could attract new players, keep the first person adventure spirit alive and strong. The entire world needed this remake among the huge quantity of action, horror and killing games that compose the vast majority of the saturated video games market. Riven Remake changed my view over 3d remakes, and I wish Cyan will make a lot of money and will want to make new games with this level of quality and consistency. At least it has inspired me a lot, again. This new journey to Riven confirmed how much this game is important to me, and the flame in my heart is revived. I want to continue to create adventure games, even if I will never reach this level of quality as a solo developer. I'll do my best! Thanks Riven, you're definitely a piece of art to me, I love you!