I'm sure I was about the same age. I remember having no idea what I was supposed to be doing. I just enjoyed exploring, riding the trams, and playing with all the contraptions.
@@fieryphoenix586 Haha yeah same here man. I also didn't have a clue what was going on and don't think i ever solved a single puzzle but it was awesome nonetheless! I'm 24 years old, understand these games came out in the late 90s - so dad must have just had this sitting around for a long time, I would have been playing somewhere between 2005-2008.
seriously one of those dream projects i never thought would happen. the original still holds up but seeing it realized in 3d is just amazing, and im hoping the full game has more subtle changes to the puzzles and gameplay to keep it fresh for returning players
This looks so much easier to play than the original. I grew up with Riven in the house, but my dad and I could never progress... Perhaps now we will beat it together as adults!
I've wondered if they would have some new puzzles or would have changed the puzzles slightly. There's already been a few changes, so perhaps you're right. Either way it's an amazing game.
Just played through the demo myself and was _really_ impressed. Sure, the animations are a bit lacking in my opinion even now - but so much worthwhile is there, that I can easily live with that. I especially was _really_ digging how different this new Riven is, making it an interesting and challenging even for old fans. Not just a rerun of the old, but something new and unique - loving it!
I wondered if anyone was going to catch that, LOL. I realized what I had said after uploading the video. Yes, Ti'ana is Atrus's grandmother. Atrus's mother died giving birth to him which is why his father hated him. Gehn blamed Atrus for the death of his wife. Good job catching it!
Except the Unreal engine is more than capable of rendering Lifelike people. They really didn't need to replace the full motion videos with these poor imitations.
I had heard some time ago of such a project but I didn't know a demo was already out. Unfortunately, it won't even start on my old PC, so thanks for your video! I enjoyed it a lot. If you're in the mood to read some more comment, here goes. Spoilers ahead for those who never played Riven. While there are some differences to the original game (and there should be), the dev's level of commitment and respect to Riven is amazing. With what we're seeing and hearing here, it feels like they really nailed the rich, organic atmosphere. To be able to freely move around the Age of Riven feels almost like sci-fi to me. I played the original as a teenager, and what we're seeing here is beyond what I could have imagined back then. I know that will certainly make a great argument for me to get a new PC and look for VR equipment! Some notes : in the original introduction scene, instead of linking to Tomahna, Atrus just holds Riven's linking book to the Stranger. Camera zooms in and we don't see Atrus leave at all ; I might be wrong but I believe Atrus was staying behind in D'ni because if he even stopped correcting the mistakes his father made when he wrote the book to Riven, the Age it described would crumble into the void. The second Myst novel depicts Gehn as a greedy, impatient man who overestimated his talent and self importance, so he pretty much botched the job when he created Riven trying to "make D'ni great again"! Another interesting detail, Atrus' voice has obviously been recast, but that of the Native Rivenese that greets the Stranger at the start sounds very much like it was taken from the original game's FMV scene, though his delivery (and indeed entire behaviour) has seemingly been sped up. If I'm wrong then the actor that dubs this Native sure has an incredible ear for detail. And finally, at 8:20 the whale creature whose name you're trying to think of is a Wahrk. As a lot of the Native artwork can attest, the Rivenese worshipped it. You may remember that in a later part of the game a few specific contraptions suggest that Gehn used the Riveneses' fear of the Wahrks against them. He pretty much fed malcontents, spies and other indesirables to the creatures in order to keep his subjects in check. As you can see I'm a huge Myst nerd, and Riven in particular, so this video was of a particular interest to me and I hope to see more of it ASAP!
The voice of Atrus is still Rand Miller, as in the original. As I understand from behind the scenes videos all of the original voice work is used with the new animated characters. They may have remastered the voice work to some extent.
@@TheMightyflint Do they honestly think they are going to retain the original fanbase when going fully CGI is what caused the fifth game to tank so hard?
@@protoborg The technology they are using is far better than Myst 5. Cyan has no choice given that the characters occupy a 3-dimensional world. That said, the Unreal 5 engine is capable of making very realistic characters (Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a great example), but Cyan is a smaller developer and may not have the physical technology needed to create a character of that fidelity. Maybe in the future we'll get updated character models. I'll take the characters to get the world of Riven.
Thank you. Yes, you can bet I'll be playing the full game when it's released! I do work also, so not sure if it will be super fast, but it will be done. :)
@@slbagwell i'll be getting the game day of release too, like yourself i work and have to be in the right mood to play a game, they did an amazing job making the 360 envioment look exactly like the old photos that really draws you back in to riven i can't wait :)
The new version looks great. Honestly a little apprehensive that the marble puzzle looks simplified (although I still have nightmares from doing it the first time). For me the only big disappointment is the choice to use CGI animated characters. I loved the FMV in all the Myst and other Cyan games that used them, and I find I can get very immersed in the game world until a CGI NPC shows up, and that just breaks it for me.
I tend to agree with you. Much prefer the FMV, but then that makes me think maybe they'll be a few different choices in this new version. Still prefer the FMV over CGI
@@slbagwell Okay, I just played the demo myself yesterday, and it's growing on me more. FMV would be nicer but I'm getting more excited to try the full game when it comes out. It was interesting to see the changes on Temple Island vs. the original version of the game.
Hm. Kind of a missed opportunity on the character animations, here. In the original FMV version, Cho clearly struggles while snatching the Linking Book from us. It's implied that the Stranger is (obviously) trying to recoil away or to prevent Cho from grabbing it. The sound of the cage's bars rattling kind of sells it. In here? Cyan could've almost put a "Yoink!" sound effect, there. Still, this is a lot better than back in the Myst remake.
What gets me is that the animations feel uncanny valley to me. I cant put my finger on it. Part of it is how the heads face directly at you but there is something else.
@@Zoly633 Yeah, it's a whole lot of little things that don't quite add up. Atrus is jittery and he doesn't cast shadows on the table. Cho is a little too animated, in the exaggerated way of somebody doing a performance in a mocap suit. Cho's hair is static so it looks like a piece of plastic, and the shaders aren't quite there. The character work feels a bit behind what's state of the art these days (Hellblade did a great job, and that came out in 2017).
@@jasonjong4973 I'm willing to concede that Cyan are environment artists first and foremost, but if their future titles are all going to be in Real-Time 3D, they really need to poach some Unreal devs and some character artists. The Riven remake looks stunning - apart from its characters.
@@jasonjong4973 having seen how smooth and good animations are in Uru I imagine that the current animations for Riven are simply unfinished. At least I hope so. Very much comes off as raw mocap data currently…and ya i realize the shadows and shaders arnt doing what they should. Which gives me hope that the demo is just an older build of the game which is pretty common.
@@Zoly633 Yeah, agreed. But I mostly want to just wander around beautiful islands, the tiling water texture actually bothers me more than janky characters.
I also played part of the demo, but I couldn’t find the throne room as you did to get to the Maglev (what you called the “mover”). In the original game, you could walk back to the gold dome from paper island.
So, my question is what happens if you don’t destroy the bridge between paper island and the gold dome? There must be a lever somewhere to lower the last drawbridge. Perhaps on the bridge itself!
You can raise the bridge in the "projection cage room" because Ghen would raise it to block exit from the temple while projecting his god like image. He did not want his followers to exit the temple and find him, and possibly question his godhood.
Okay that's more changes that I would have expected, but perhaps preventing us taking the tram before we understood the 5 room will help new players focus
The fact you could just wander off in the original in pretty much any direction was great too. Felt more like a real world and not a linear set of puzzles to complete.
Honestly I would have been fine with them locking the player in place just for the character scenes so we could get live actors. It's disappointing. Everything else looks great.
The Myst series of graphic adventure puzzle video games includes the following games: Myst: The first game in the series, released in 1993 by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller and their company Cyan, Inc.. An updated version, Myst: Masterpiece Edition, was released in 2000 with improved images, sound effects, and a remastered score. Riven: The second game in the series, released in 1997. Myst III: Exile: The third game in the series, released in 2001. Myst IV: Revelation: Released in 2004. Myst V: End of Ages: Released in 2005. Myst: The Book of Atrus: A prequel to the first game that introduces new and old characters.
No. The Book of Atrus was an actual book. The only other game they released was Uru: Ages of Myst. The Book of Atrus was more backstory than anything else.
Woah... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fJOVeKHJVIU.html - Did the original game show off the ending this early? I know without context you wouldn't know what you're seeing, but I'm kind of surprised you see what is ultimately the end game objective this early.
No teleportation, but yes types of locomotion. This was a demo. It stopped us just as we were about to ride to the neighboring island. In the full game we'll be able to go to all the islands.
Yes. I mention that 3 is in the Exile as I'm playing the Demo.... couldn't remember the name of it at first, but then I did. I have played all the Myst games and recorded them including a good portion of URU... you can find them if you search my channel. I'm a huge Cyan fan. I've played (and recorded) Obduction and Firmament also. :)
The FMV characters in the original were a major part of what made the games so unique and feel so REAL. Turning them into poorly modelled and animated plastic 3D animations kills this game for me. Terrible design decision.
@@gregkrazanski Most of the FMVs happen when the player is immobile, even placing them in as 2D sprites would be possible, and far simpler than (badly) modelling, animating, and rendering 3D. Obviously the originals would be too low res but they could be upscaled or reshot. The option to have the original video clips was in remastered Myst, why not this game too? Lazy. And while I’m going off on one, even the start sequence is seriously lacking in the movie quality atmosphere of the original, which is a reliable indicator of the quality of the rest of the game. The original was an astonishing success because it was a labour of love by both Millers. Whereas this is a milking exercise, and it shows, before even being released.
I agree!!! I am a HUGE Riven fan. This is a no go. I was SO confident that Cyan would find an elegant way to implement real looking characters into their 3d world.
@@Rhodochrone Lol hardly scathing. Having worked in the digital media industry for over 25 years (now happily retired) and initially inspired by Robyn and Rand’s work on Cosmic Osmo, believe it or not (you won’t), I know how easily it could’ve been done, IF they had put a little more thought and effort in. If that makes you feel a little sick, I would suggest sitting down with your head between your knees.
It sucks they removed the FMV of the people. The CGI is...not so good. I understand they wanted to update this, but the videos in the updated Myst were vastly better than this. Granted, they are just faces, but still they retained more the real-time feel. That was why Myst 5 did so poorly; Myst fans LIKE real actors. It gives the game a better sense of immersion. Did you ever actually play Riven? You keep talking about how things are new when they aren't. It makes me wonder if your mind is slipping or if you just never actually played the game in its original form. - The "little room" is through the door on the OTHER SIDE of the temple. You simply never bothered to get close enough to see it. (See correction below) - The wooden door leading to the beach from the five-sided room is NOT new. It was always there. You could always see it through the little lens on the wall. - All of the islands have a spinning dome. It is where you get the parts of the code to open the Starry Expanse telescope. The main puzzle of the game is stopping the domes at the right point. - I have played Riven many times. I can assure you there were no pictures of the developer's kids. I don't know where you are getting that notion but it just isn't true. - The Golden dome is NOT different. You were always able to go into the middle like that. In fact, it was part of finding the solution to one of the puzzles. - No. You didn't have to extend the outer walkway inside the golden dome. You had to extend the CENTRAL walkway toward the linking book to Ghen's age. Also the linking book in the middle is NOT to a "secret age". It always connected to Ghen's 233rd Age. - Correction: They DID change the path to Ghen's "throne room". - The "throne" has a button you can press to activate Ghen's message to the Rivenese people in the temple. The round "medallion" that descends in front of you when you sit on the throne has a red button in the middle of it. - The raised bridge (it collapsed when you routed steam to it) from the lower path out of the golden dome was crossable. You just had to get to that island first. You could then lower it from the other side in order to return to the lower path of the golden dome. - The thing up on the rock near the tram station is a viewer. It is likely meant to view the golden dome's "spin" code or to view the island across from the golden as it is hard to tell which way it is actually pointing.
I actually have. I've been told all my life that I have a nice voice and be in broadcasting in some way. Just not sure how all the asmr works. But thank you.
