Riven is not so much a sequel to Myst as it is a sequel to Myst: The Book of Atrus, a prequel to the computer game published by Hyperion in 1995. The book tells of an epic struggle between father and son—Ghen and Atrus—torn apart from the very start. Overcome with grief from his wife’s death during childbirth, Ghen abandoned his infant son and headed back to D’ni to study its ancient culture. Atrus remained with his grandmother, Anna, until many years later when Ghen reemerged to reclaim his son and teach him the D'ni art of creating worlds with the written word. Atrus soon discovers his father to be megalomaniacal, abusing worlds and their inhabitants to further his own goals. Worse yet, Atrus finds Ghen to have a very fragile grasp of D’ni book writing, a weakness which leads all his father’s worlds to an eventual collapse. A visit to the Fifth Age reveals the full impact of Ghen’s ignorance—a fissure filled with stars has begun to tear through the land. The natives to this island world appropriately named the land “Riven”, meaning “split apart”. It is here where Atrus meets Katran—or Catherine, as we know her—and together they conspire to trap Ghen on Riven without a Linking Book. As Atrus and Catherine escape to Myst Island, the Linking Book falls into the starry fissure.
In this context, Myst is a mere diversion from the central story. Thirty years later, you find the Linking Book that fell into the fissure. You are transported to Myst, where you find Atrus has confined his two sons, Sirrus and Achenar, in prison books. (The boys apparently have a little of their grandfather in them, destroying many of Atrus’ book worlds.) Catherine has long since left Myst and Atrus has retreated to D’ni, where you find him hard at work at the end of your adventure.
 
And so begins Riven. We learn that Catherine, fearing for the safety of her people, returned to Riven to survey its rate of geological decay. Atrus has had little to choice but to remain in D’ni, writing makeshift repairs to the world to delay its inevitable collapse. Atrus needs help, however, and you’ve shown up just in time. Catherine took no Linking Book with her lest Ghen acquire it and return to D’ni. As Atrus’ envoy your goals are clear: lure Ghen into a prison book, locate Catherine, and signal Atrus to return to Riven with a Linking Book so you may all escape.
Fittingly, this story about magical books has you reading a great deal of the time. The narrative is related principally through the journals of the three main characters. Occasionally—once at the beginning and several times nearing the climax—we come face to face with the characters and are treated to brief soliloquies which further the plot.
Sights and sounds
Riven’s interface is minimalist; like Myst, it remains a series of still images peppered with animation which you navigate by pointing and clicking. The animations are far larger and more plentiful this time around, however, including beautiful, full screen cinematic transitions that whisk you from island to island. Additionally, Riven’s advanced modelling and greater color depth provide a vivid realism that far surpasses its predecessor—and any existing title in the genre.
As Rand Miller said in a recent Wired article, Riven is not so much a game as it is an “immersive environment”. Flies buzz around you as you walk through a lush forest, natives scurry into their cliff-bound dwellings as you approach, and water laps against a sandy shore as two marine mammals sun themselves on a warm rock.
 
The attention to detail in Riven is unparalleled. So real are the vistas, so convincing are the interiors, so perfectly imperfect are the objects you’ll find it hard to believe the images are computer generated and not photographs. To enhance realism, Riven’s creators sought out and photographed fascinating real-world textures: rusted metal, sun-dried rock faces and tree bark, to name a few. These textures were then scanned at high resolution and applied to three dimensional objects with little or no tiling. The result is a very rich world with very little visual repetition.
Like Myst before it, Riven’s crowning touch is its intense aural experience. From the distant cry of a bird to the metallic screeching of heavy machinery, Riven’s soundscape is as rich and detailed as its landscapes. Completing your total immersion into this foreign and yet familiar world is another beautiful, haunted soundtrack by Robyn Miller.
The challenges
Much of the game’s puzzles concern the navigation of the islands of Riven; to that end, they are not as challenging as they are a tedious application of the obvious. A lever will lower a submarine; using the submarine will take you to a switch room which extends submarine docks; extending the submarine docks will give you access to the schoolhouse, and so on. Still, these seemingly menial tasks provide the player with a thrill of discovery and a sense of accomplishment.
 
There are only four pivotal puzzles in Riven, and perhaps too predictably, each is concerned with the deciphering and entering of a code. However, the complexity of these puzzles will even strain the brains of seasoned gamers. To meet these challenges and progress to the end of the game, you’ll need to keep your wits about you, reading every bit of information you come across and closely noting the interrelationship of many variables. The clues are hidden virtually everywhere; what is child’s play for some inhabitants of Riven might well be your key to success.
Riven is equipped with several possible endings, from eternal imprisonment to the ultimate, bells-and-whistles finale. Unless you’ve been abusing illegal substances, however, the path to the definitive conclusion is painfully clear. (Those among us with a morbid fascination will delight in purposely throwing the game to view its alternate endings.)
Conclusions
In many senses, Riven is a triumph; another labor of love from the Millers, whose obsessive attention to detail and unbridled creativity transports us to another world for all-too-brief a time. Unlike Myst, however, Riven fails to reinvent gaming as we know it. Though the visuals have been enhanced, gameplay remains passively explorative rather than truly interactive. Riven is perhaps best regarded as a living picture book; an immersive environment meant to be examined more so than a game to be played. Nevertheless, it leaves us wanting more.
Pros:
• Stunning full color graphics.
• Haunting soundtrack and rich sound effects.
• Phenomenal incorporation of animation and video.
• Randomized puzzle components lead to unique, unshareable solutions.
• Much, much better ending than Myst.
Cons:
• The easier puzzles are often nothing more than tasks which facilitate navigation.
• The harder puzzles are principally concerned with deciphering and entering codes.
• The correct course of action through the final few sequences may be too obvious.
• Several extremely intriguing areas are impermeable and cannot be explored.
• Many curious objects can only be looked at; clicking on them does nothing.
• Little background given as to why Ghen and Atrus are at odds; to fully
understand, you must read Myst: The Book of Atrus.
