Mysterium 2023 - Riven Teaser and Q&A With Rand and Richard

Rand Miller and Richard Vander Wende show off new Riven content and answer fan questions at Cyan Worlds HQ.

[@woulfhound]

Lets not forget to pay our respects to John Keston and Sheila Goold! Riven would not be the same without their talent and contribution. RIP John and Sheila

[@henrywalton5967]

Great acting, John played that role absolutely perfectly.

[@Atolm4]

Fantastic, I feel that Riven-but-more is the best way this could go.

[@KororaPenguin]

RealMyst was Myst-but-more, after all.

[@mrkrinkle15]

Expanded lore, details and story is exactly what this needed to be. So grateful… Cyan knows their audience.

[@jeanlundi2141]

I'm a Riven fan first, Myst fan second, so I'm DELIGHTED to hear Richard was on board for this, and is in fact the creative director (seemingly) for this game. Riven was waaaay above all the other games for me, and that's in big part due to Richard's work. I never thought he'd work with Cyan again but here we are. I'd love to say I'm super excited....but not having live action characters is a really bad decision for me. So much of the presence and persoality of a character like Gehn, for example, comes from the actor.........how can they POSSIBLY think, it's the same experience with a 3d model?

[@KororaPenguin]

I wonder if they'll fix the issue with elevations in the cavern where Atrus nearly drowned.

[@Rompodable]

Well, we can only hope they go for the Unreal Engine 5 route and extensively use the metahuman stuff. Sure I loved the old live action but the tech available today could really increase the quality and put it to the level of live action.

[@Caldoric]

They could definitely use mocap (motion capture) to get a certain amount of the "human element" into the characters... It's pretty good these days, even a few KZbinrs are using it in their videos! Let alone some of the things they could do with VR...

[@MrSirSnoozealot]

The metahuman stuff is frankly amazing, as a self-described hater of uncanny valley. It's really a big step up I think than what we're used to@@Rompodable

[@ProfessorLycan]

I’m so happy with this right now that I could cry.

[@ramag.marcushohenecker7985]

Metoo

[@iHusk]

Here we have none other than Rand Miller is discussing a game under development called Riven, which is a sequel to a game that came out just a few short years ago called Myst. 1996 me would be flabbergasted at 2023 me, while 2005 me is intensely jealous. 2023 me is just happy to be here.

[@absentalpaca4809]

these screenshots have me SO excited to explore the new areas in the remake!

[@epicfox567]

This is crazy! An absolute dream of mine beyond what I could have imagined! So excited for he future of Cyan!

[@shaolinpunkFTW]

Happy to see Rand is looking very healthy :) Can't wait to play the Riven remake and here's to more games in the Myst universe!

[@hereticstanlyhalo6916]

Wow, I'm really loving this, it's not like a 1:1 remaster of the first game, it's like a 2:1 remaster, where they remaster everything we know and love, but then there's a lot there that's expanded and just fits right into the already established areas. And I fully support this, one of my favorite puzzle games out there. So excited this is a thing... maybe Exile is next... after that, those other games I didn't care for, but 1-2 are the best, and #3 is pretty decent all things considered.

[@henrywalton5967]

I do hope they will do Exile as well some day

[@jaymechanic1228]

I remember my dad playing the myst games and then got me into playing riven. Its a core memory. I just rang him to tell him about the new riven coming out...and he was still playing the OG last night on steam . Both of us cant wait for the cable cars !!!

[@TheBowersj]

First person here from the future, I gladly will say they delivered Riven in time for summer!

[@Jayy997]

Just played and finished the original Riven this week and holy shit that game was utterly transportative and brilliant even today. Just to confirm it's not nostalgia that makes the game great.

[@ProfessorLycan]

Can we get a 5 disc special edition as a sort of throw back to the og?

[@Edbrad]

😂 “CD ROM” 💿

[@henrywalton5967]

I want to buy that and I don't even have a cd drive haha

[@misteuraxe691]

I wish there would be 2 versions of riven: one of the remake (which looks STUNNING!) and one with the original design but 3d interactive (like they've done on realmyst).

[@AnOliviaShapedGremlin]

As much as I'm glad Cyan has a lot of enthusiasm about the remake and are adding their own touches, I'm a little sad it's not going to be the 100% faithful recreation the Starry Expanse team's version was going to be. I kind of just want to play the Riven of my childhood but in full 3D and with VR support, rather than something new and unique.

[@henrywalton5967]

I think the perfect option would be both, I'm sure initially they already had just a straight remaster of Riven. There could just be a selection at the start to choose the classic or new version. The classic version could even have a point and click option. I really hope they use the audio from the original because without that it's definitely going to feel too foreign 😬

[@AnOliviaShapedGremlin]

Aaand those fears have been validated! The remake is a cut down, linearized version of the original with puzzles that don't fit into the world nearly as well as the original ones did, and tries to rationalize and over-explain all the magic out of the world like many of Cyan's more recent games, as if that was ever what made Riven so unique and immersive. Apparently Cyan have either forgotten (Or perhaps never really understood in the first place) why the original Riven is seen as one of the best adventure games of all time. It was the freedom to explore and get lost in the world, the sense of wonder, the way the puzzles were so well integrated in the world and the setting that they no longer even felt like puzzles, and the little details (Often doubling as subtle hints) scattered everywhere that added to the sense of being in a living, breathing world and made Riven feel so lived in. It wasn't necessarily even about the puzzles themselves (Though they were fantastic), or it being more "realistic" or mechanical in tone than Myst. (And it certainly wasn't about trying to anticipate and plug every potential plot-hole, and pre-nitpicking every little lore detail to keep the URU fans happy). I feel like Cyan have really lost sight of what makes a good puzzle/adventure game over the years, and it's unfortunate to see that this is their idea of a "perfected" Riven - one that handholds the player to such an extent so that now no one can get lost, or frustrated, or confused, or consequently experience any sense of adventure or achievement after overcoming any of the former. A lot of people absolutely hated the original Riven for exactly the same reasons that made it so captivating and beloved to its fans. It got plenty of bad reviews from people who thought it was too difficult or too easy to get lost in. But it succeeded not just despite that polarization but *because* of it. People loved *and* hated its difficulty. People loved *and* hated how well integrated and easy to miss the puzzles were. If it had tried to be safe and somewhat appeal to everyone (Even those who also hated Myst for the exact reasons it was so successful) instead of being bold and pushing boundaries, it wouldn't have left such a mark - it would have likely received a few more positive reviews, but it would have been quickly forgotten. I think Cyan have made a big risk trying to risk nothing this time around...

[@AtrusDesign]

I’d prefer a 1 to 1 version, not sure modifies are good here. Or you do a new Riven version or you do a1 to 1. This sort of Hybrid doesn’t convince me. Btw happy they are working on it. And I really hope they will use real actors. The Seventh Guest remake show it is possibile have 3d fmv in a VR experience.

[@gb7418]

No actors?? Some things just shouldn’t be done in Riven, and cgi people is one

[@jebwu8648]

I agree.

[@kbsanders]

Catherine getting on the elevator and speaking to me with urgency as the music builds is a vivid memory I'll never forget.

[@mxmagpie7037]

Heck! Yes!!! I am so endeared by the audience responses! It's so awesome to see as Mysterium's pretty hard to attend from the UK. The new lore is gonna scratch all the narrative itches!!

[@marcobucci]

Can’t wait for this. Hope you guys take all the time you need to nail it!

[@ChaoThing]

I would sell my soul to Rand for free.

[@jonnyfavors7585]

Where your soul will end up in a prison book....well thought out!

[@chrismedeiros3201]

Rand is such a good sport!

[@EvanBorden]

This is going to be an instant buy for me when it comes out.

[@purefoldnz3070]

10 months later we are closer to a release.

[@gb7418]

I love the good puzzle bad puzzle axiom!

[@DownhillAllTheWay]

I'm really looking forward to playing this with my grandson, who played Riven a couple of years ago and thinks it was the best game ever. I plated it when it first came out, and I also think of it as the most enjoyablle game I've played. When will it be available, and how do I get it?

[@wysiwyg2006]

love Atrus. i mean Rand

[@raeraeraeth]

Bring back the East Path!

[@henrywalton5967]

Always wanted to explore that area

[@muninraven3327]

Honestly, I would buy a new version of Riven if it did nothing more than find a satisfying lore friendly way of adding more mini puzzles and areas to get lost in. That is it. I have not been a friend of the remaster/remake trend so far. I know those terms are separate in application, yet they still boil down to different sides of a old coin. Riven aside, I would genuinely pay current top indie prices for a new Super Metroid that just added more Super Metroid, rather than mess with a graphical overhaul that ruins everything. The only one that did almost everything right was the recent Tomb Raider trilogy, when played using the original controls. That was bliss to me.

[@robdye5228]

The Book of Marim would be nice but I really want the Book of Ghen. There's a lot of missing details between the escape from D'ni with Ana up until he returned to take Atrus with him.

[@jebwu8648]

Exactly a book of Gehn would be really nice, we would be able to see the amad people and how he met Keta.

[@gymnodinium9]

Yusss, more Gehn!!

[@atticuskaphaem9405]

1:06:42 🤣🤣🤣 Silly RAWA

[@TheFreestyleStorm]

HJAHAHA

[@kylehc15]

i wonder if they will do it like the first games remastered where they had a random option for new game players that allready beat the game before and makes the puzzles random for the answers ect so you cant use the same answers each time give it more replay value and if riven get something simular it be nice and im also wondering if they will add the last age into myst that shows the island of riven or a beach of some kind like the original myst got for dlc right before riven came out

[@Planetdune]

Why is Richard so uneasy? He seems to stutter, has a hard time talking and keeps standing up.. not that there is a second chair...

[@Peffra]

Weirdly there is a second chair all the way on the right

[@goodiesguy]

Disappointed the original FMV's won't be used :(

[@gregkrazanski]

how on earth would that even be possible lol. super low res 2d videos in 3d space. not possible to make that look good

[@MrCoggibird]

whats with the only 720p upload in 2023? Super low quality camera, maybe spring for a new camera to film this year's event?

[@TronSAHeroXYZ]

Riven is great. Myst has many unseen ties to Kingdom Hearts.