The events of Riven directly follow Myst's canonical ending in which the player (unofficially known as ' The Stranger') frees Atrus from an imprisonment which had been orchestrated by his two scheming sons, Sirrus and Achenar. Story Riven received praise for its distinctive visual aesthetics The game does not track any gameplay objectives, requiring players to explore the five islands of Riven with little guidance in order to solve puzzles and eventually arrive at one of a number of possible endings.Īs with its predecessor, Riven also includes a “Zip Mode” for fast transitions through previously explored areas. Progress is technically non-linear and, aside from sparse conversations with a handful of non-playable characters, completely player-driven.

Players explore the world of Riven by clicking on different areas of the screen in order to turn, walk, and interact with objects in the environment. Like Myst before it, Riven is a first-person point-and-click adventure game set across several pre-rendered environments. Although generally well-received by critics, Riven also garnered some negative criticism in regards to its aging presentation and mechanics, which were largely identical to those of its 1993 predecessor Myst, as well as the obtuse nature of some of its puzzles. Riven was a commercial success, becoming the highest-selling game in 1997 despite its late October release the game went on to sell roughly 1.5 million copies in the first year after its initial release. Riven was later released on a single DVD-ROM with enhanced visuals, which also eliminated the necessity to swap discs. Due to their relatively limited storage capacity, several discs were necessary to contain the large amount of streaming video integrated into Riven's various scenes. The game's initial release consisted of five CD-ROMs which were swapped during transitions between certain areas of the game. Former Industrial Light & Magic employee Richard Vander Wende also joined Cyan Worlds for the project, lending his own unique aesthetic style to Riven in an effort to visually differentiate the game from the environments of Myst.

Riven: The Sequel to Myst is a puzzle adventure game developed by Cyan Worlds and originally published by Red Orb Entertainment in 1997 as the direct sequel to the highly successful Myst.ĭevelopment of Riven took place over more than three years, and the game's scope expanded due to a much larger budget and development team when compared with Myst's. Overview Bridge approach from Boiler Island to Temple Island's 'Super Dome'

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