Riven Introduction 

Without hyperbole, Riven is of higher quality than a lot of modern-day films.

So good. The music just makes it. Robyn Miller really outdid himself with this soundtrack. And I don't know what the hell Rand was talking about, he WAS Atrus!

Given how cheesy 90's FMV voice acting tends to be, I really appreciate the performances for Riven. Not to say that they're like- Oscar-worthy or anything, but they have a strong air of professionalism, and the characters are played straight enough that it's easy to take the narrative and world seriously. It never comes off as corny or cheesy, which is a real accomplishment for a game like this.

The atmosphere of this game is the pinnacle of adventure genre. Top notch music and sounds. Superb graphics and great story with brilliant puzzles. A masterpiece of masterpieces!

Goosebumps every time I watch this. So cinematic, and the timing of the music and the tone of voice is all just perfect. I hope that when 'The Starry Expanse' guys do this, they can duplicate it exactly!

I cannot count how many times I watched this intro. My favorite intro out of all the games I have played. I remember that I would watch it each time before plunging into Riven even during my first playthrough. I always played with curtains down and the intro would set a perfect tone for trying to figure out what the hell to do next in the game.

I'm told that Rand Miller was dissatisfied with his performance, and wished they had brought in a professional actor to play Atrus. ...Why?!

“I might be able to get you back to the place that you came from.” Once that music hits and you see the distorted Age nonsense coming at you…scarier than any Resident Evil. A pure masterpiece, lots of influence in the very best video game stories of the the past 30 years.

The scrambled image in the book is chilling, especially when you know the backstory of what waits on Age Five.

man i can't wait for the 3D remake

This intro always gives me the chills. Great intro!

As my username suggests, I absolutely adore everything Riven. I grew up with it and it shaped me. I mourn for gaming in this age, as it will almost never recapture the same awe Riven did for me. Taking the tram between islands, pausing to observe the scarab on the fence post, figuring out an entire language structure and numeric system in the classroom. It's all lost on today's demographic...

"theres also a chance i might be able to get you back to where you came from" is such a great line when you realise later in the game that The Stranger is most likely from Earth since the fissure leads back to earth, and The Stranger found the Myst book on the other side of the fissure.

When Atreus shows you the linking book to Riven and opens it: If you slow down the video you can see Ghen's eyes in many frames before the Riven logo flies towards the screen

Cyan must be using some divine rendering/audio engine. They have an incredible ability to generate emotion I never knew I had.

This is the best intro to any game I've seen

this series should be taught in schools as a way to teach logic, persistence, and solidarity

25 years later and we finally get to hear the first part of the music here in high quality!

"Thank God you've returned. I need your help." "Yeah, about that help thing. I'm kind of busy with work at the momen... " "You get to piss about exploring a bunch of cool islands that have seemingly loads of sweet puzzles to solve, but in reality are all part one or two larger puzzles... which hopefully you'll find deeply satisfying when you begin to figure things out. You also get to meet my wife, if... erm... that's something you've been dying to do. Oh, and then there's my farther who... " "You had me at piss!" "Oh, great. Well if you could just sign your name and place your hand here, we can get this whole thing started!" :)

He is writing in this intro because the Age of Riven is collapsing in on itself. He needs to keep writing in order to keep the Age stabilized long enough for the player to rescue Catherine.

Some of my earliest memories involve sitting next to my dad while he played Myst, when I was only a couple years old. I was six when this came out and boy, was I excited!

Boom! No slow intro, build up anything, with that first note the screen cuts to Atrus' prison and the game begins, such and incredible note to launch this masterpiece of a game!

Best intro ever...best adventure ever....

I keep getting recommended ASMR roleplay videos that all just remind me of this scene. The OG ASMRtist, Atrus.

The dialog script wording and delivery I feel are better here than the remake but still excited for it.

Still one of the best game openers of all time. Riven, as a study in ambience and atmosphere, was probably the strongest game of its time in that context. A lot of properties owe a debt of gratitude to what Cyan brought in Myst/Riven. (There were other great adventure games at the time, but nothing that came close to Cyan's aesthetic imo). EDIT: Like....even the opening logo with the music, come on.

Atrus: Thank God you've returned. Me, as a kid: This is my first game of this series. Who are you?

Riven is just a masterpiece.

Starry Expanse better not change this! They gotta include that iconic Cyan intro before the scene too! Perfect music, perfect performance by Miller, and all-round brilliant sound design.

Still the greatest game of all time

I love the theme that plays when the camera zooms in on the linking image, as well as the theme to this whole intro. Too bad it isn't on the soundtrack. I also am driven to wonder what the linking image would look like if Riven was undamaged.

I just started playing the remake, and this is what I miss the most - the environments in the new game are FANTASTIC and very true to the original, but the 3D models they use instead of actors… Just isn't the same.

Cutscene Ends. Game Begins. Get Trapped Immediately!!!

I loved Riven! It was the best of the Myst series as far as I'm concerned.

It's a shame that the beautifuls introductions with real characters were lost in the new version🤣🤣

Great intro. I vaguely remember playing Riven but I never finished it. RIP gg.

When I was 8 years old. This riven game makes me go to sleep.

There's an independent team working on it called Starry Expanse, not gonna be done for another couple years but they seem really committed and appreciative of the original game.

Chills. Every time

I love how you’re told both nothing and everything. You could say that about all Cyan games I guess. This is how to tell a story properly. Not through endless mysteries or narration or tutorials.

epic intro, right up there with the daggerfall intro.

Who's here from the teaser for the remake? I hope this scene still has the same oomph when it becomes 3D, considering that I used to think that 3D Atrus looked a little like Hank Hill.

The BEST of the BEST!!!!

They definitely should have stuck with this narrative on the new redone Riven. The game looks fantastic, but this was so much more dramatic.

For the future, Freemake, SUPER, and Quicktime (even the free Windows version) itself can all join videos almost flawlessly. For Quicktime, move the seekbar all the way to the end, then drag and drop the second video onto it. Then do the same for the third video, fourth video, etc. Trying to use File>Save will give you the "Upgrade to Pro!" message, however if you close Quicktime, it'll ask if you want to save or not. Press save and choose to save it as a self contained movie. Then press OK and volia, videos joined.

ja good memories of 1997 was 15 then, game took me almost 2 years to complete had to figure everything out myself no internet where i was. the whole game was amazing it was years ahead of its time just look at those graphics, i would've like more interaction with the people on the island more story but can't complain, epic game!

I have to say, playing the demo for the remake… something is lost. In this version, Atrus sounds lost. His love is missing, his father is the kidnapper, and Atrus is hoping and praying that his plan will work. You really get a sense that he’s winging this, and really isn’t confident it will work. The remake though, it sounds like Atrus has everything all planned out perfectly and he’s just hanging out. Also, I dislike how they abandoned the concept of Atrus remaining in D’ni to keep writing in the Riven book. Like, the canon is that Gehn wrote things very coldly and clinically, and this caused his worlds to be very fragile and temperamental. Riven is one of those just hanging on by a thread, which is why Atrus has to keep writing to keep correcting everything going wrong with Riven. Don’t get me wrong, the game is astoundingly beautiful, but I just feel by the intro that something is lost, and it is sticking with me after this superb intro from 1997.

i wish i played this when it came out. what was it like then, like nothing before right?

How time flies.

Rand Miller best actor

When writing linking books, what happens if you run out of pages before you're done creating the book's world?

This was perfect

wouldnt it be great if they made a acutally myst movie

this & myst intro are the best

i wanted to hear the discussion with the Riven Native. D'ni has such a cool language!

This original is way better than the current remake 😕

which soundtrack track is that opening?

Best intro

prachtige game en de muziek...

Riven isn't my favorite game in the series. But that's like saying that white chocolate is my least favorite form of chocolate: still amazing, but marginally less so.

It's a good thing this game is on Steam now

"I need your hyalp!"

so touching a book.. leaves it behind but what about the belongings of the player.. wouldn't that deattach when crossing over like when they hold the book in hand

.Shorah

@0:48 Oh no, guys! An old needs Tim Schafer our help!

and its all happening again

oooooh, interesting!

Same here.

1997... i was born in that year! :D

Cyan worlds is the best :)

i was born in 1997 :D

:P

Why must he always be writing?!

prachtige game en de muziek...