I hope this conversation will be released in full at some point!

I always felt that the journals were an integral part of both Myst and Riven. It was important to me to know what Atrus was thinking when writing the ages and then learning about Ghen, the D'ni and Catherine. It's the reason I bought the Myst Reader books. I wanted more.

I'm over 50 now and have been gaming for 40+ years since the Atari 2600. Riven is still to this day the game I enjoyed the most when I played it, and I have come back to it (and Myst and Exile and Revelation and End of Ages) over and over. I was following The Starry Expanse Project for years just crossing my fingers that it would come to fruition. I am beyond excited to be able to revisit Riven in a modern remake!

finding tear stains in gehns journal hit so hard in the original

It was Atrus' journals that inspired me to start keeping my own, which not only got me into creative writing in general, but has had an immeasurable positive impact on my mental health and development growing up. Thank you.

I’ve waited 30 years to hear these brilliant artists talk about the games that forever changed my perception on the potential of the medium. The ending to Riven is the most rewarding and emotionally satisfying narrative experience I’ve ever had with a game. It is the high standard that I’ve been chasing ever since.

I can't believe it. You guys, with Riven, provided me with some of the most amazing computer-related experiences of my childhood. I recently played it through in two days on Steam and I literally was reduced to a puddle of tears at the end. The atmosphere is like nothing I've ever experienced, it still feels much more like I "actually was there", rather than that I played a game. So many memories and emotions attached to it. Everything about it is just a masterpiece, also the soundtrack is the best ambient score I've ever heard. Riven was the reason I got into 3D modeling and rendering, and still do it for fun at times. I will surely play it again in a few years, it's every bit as amazing as it was soon three decades ago. THANK YOU for creating such beauty and inviting us to it!

The fact we got these men back in a room together talking about a masterpiece of theirs makes the world feel slightly less dark and dire.

It brings so much joy to my heart to see you three artists working together again!

So great seeing you guys reunited. A legacy unlike any other.

A big part of the series for me was the rating. Books have always been my special interest and sitting down and reading through the lore added to the immersion because it made me feel like I was there, in the world discovering all of these wonderful contraptions and journals.

Oh yes. After all years it is finally Happening. Can‘t wait.

+1 for journals AND the novels! Loved those.

These games are a massive part of my teenage years and I still watch play throughs now. Looking forward to seeing the revamp of this amazing game with the new music. Thank you for your creations.

Riven is probably the greatest puzzle adventure game of all time. Can't wait for the new version, and I loved seeing you guys sitting down together! I hope this full conversation gets released one day.

It's so good to hear and see these guys again. Thank you all for such wonderful memories and for all the hard work you put in back then AND now!

Richaaaaard! And Robyn! With Rand. AMAZING! Seeing these three guys together brings me a lot of joy. :)

Can't wait to watch the full conversation.

warms my heart!! cant wait to go back to the 5th age in VR!!!! you guys all look great too

Sharing to the Riven Remake Facebook fan group. Thank you for putting this video together.

Moving. Myst and Riven have become a part of me. I salute the makers - they created something imperishable.

You have no clue how happy this makes me. After all of the Myst remakes, I cannot helieve we are FINALLY getting Riven! I can't wait to replay it and actually edit an ending to my series 😂😂😂😂

I started with Myst in 1998. Played Riven and Uru and then all Mysts to V. It has been a great journey. Riven was by far the most epic, the most difficult, the most iconic game. It took me overall 2,5 months to complete (without cheating it). Damn I miss the times when adventures were a thing. Hard and mystical. I hope you can bring back the feeling guys :)

the first time i saw Riven was at a friends house and it took 5 CDS which was crazy to me, i'd never seen such a huge game. we were too young to understand what to do and never got far, didn't really read the journals just explored around but the world captivated me and the box art so iconic. ever since real myst i've been hoping for real riven and can't believe it's actually happening

This is nice but what I'd really want is another almost two hours long interview like the one Rand did about Myst for Ars Techinca's War Stories series; we need at least one of those for every game in the Myst series! :)

I was mystified (pun intended) when I was six years old watching my mom play Riven on our first PC back in '98. I messed around a lot by myself as I grew up even up through high school but I never could finish the game. Fast forward to 2022, I'm a Twitch streamer and I finally finished the game with no walkthrough or help, even read the journals and notes aloud. There's really no other game like Riven and now that I've completed it, I can easily say it's one of the greatest games of all time.

When I first played Riven, I was 8 years old, and since English isn't my first language that made the journals difficult to read. I was mesmerized by the world of Riven, but I had to sort of stumble through most of the game. It wasn't until I was 18 that I would finish Riven. Reading and understanding the journals was instrumental to understanding the world, and in turn that made it easier to intuit the puzzles. It was a magical eureka moment 10 years in the making.

I played Riven as a kid and loved the environments and puzzles without necessarily taking time to read the journals (possibly also because my parents told me the journals didn't have any necessary information). Last year I replayed the game and read through all the journals and was stunned to discover how much depth they added to the world and the characters. Myst's journals vaguely match up with the ages, but Riven's journals do so much work in establishing the overarching conflicts of the world. I am incredibly excited to play the new Riven as it is one of my favorite games.

Thankyou Cyan, Rand and the team for all you do! ❤ (and I love reading in games hehe)

I wanna say that I loved the whole 90s new-age feel to Myst and Riven (et al). These were beautiful, bright, somewhat spiritual, organic worlds, that were...well, just nice to be in.

I think it’s usually underestimated how much Richard brought to the project… probably we own to his inclusion at Cyan the game as we know it today. Myst matured so much, that the sequel could not be called Myst 2.

Wishlisted immediately. Excited!

The journals add so much to the game; they aren't just supplementary. If you skipped them I'd consider it an incomplete experience. I recall that reading them was integral to understanding what you needed to do, anyway. I can't imagine playing a MYST game and not consulting the books to find clues. Blurring or breaking the line between "puzzle gameplay" and storytelling is what makes these games so compelling. Why should gameplay and narrative be two separate things? Reading the Channelwood journal in MYST, when the text randomly changed colour, and a few pages later it was explained why, was such a delightful and simple moment and one of the most memorable of that game for me. I think the issue is all about expectations. Most games aren't very well written, and don't really integrate narrative so deeply. Knowing there's a small book's worth of reading material inside a game can seem off-putting for this reason, I think. In the context of actual books, it's no great task at all.

I love that you guys/gals are doing this. There are soooo many old school games that younger generations haven’t even heard of, much less played. Think of all the fun DOS games that if rebuilt from the ground up, and properly evolved with what is now possible could have a completely now life, either as a flatscreen game or VR (or both). If any of you have friends from old school LucasArts, I wouldn’t be sad if Day of the Tentacle was rebuilt in full first person VR, or Star Trek The 25th Anniversary, but in both cases, greatly evolved. In any case, I can’t wait for Riven and the rest of the Myst series to get the rebuild love treatment! Thank you all so much! 🎉

I Still own the special Riven boxset witch included: The game on 5 discs, the game Myst, the making of Riven on a disk, a journal notebook to write in and a flyer with Myst / Riven hints for both the games 😊 I loved the renewed Myst release and I cannot wait for revisiting Riven in a new format

I can't wait to play the new remaster! So exited for this!

Its a game about books and writing. I’m gonna read the journals

I'm very excited for this and have wishlisted it immediately. The original remains my favorite puzzle adventure game ever, so I am really interested in seeing how they have updated it. I had so much fun deciphering the D'ni numerals in the schoolhouse, and trying to figure out bits of the language. I was really into learning D'ni by the time URU came out, and it was all because of Riven (though I had also played the original Myst before that as well, and I loved the story it had and was super curious about the history behind it all, and Riven started to answer some of those questions which is why I loved it so much). What struck me most about Riven's design was how it felt like one giant puzzle with interconnected sub-puzzles within it, as opposed to having disconnected puzzle areas that, yes, are needed to solve a final puzzle, but aren't really integrated together in the same way that the Fire Marble Dome system was. It was really, really cool and gave the world more character of its own (and visually, it looked amazing for 1997). I do hope the topographic display is easier to read in the new version. That alone made solving the Golden Dome puzzle rather difficult, but the game was just outstanding regardless and John Keston's Gehn was great. I hope that whatever you've decided to do for his character in this remake he retains the same gravitas.

I love exploring the worlds Cyan have created, especially now in VR. I feel like I'm actually there in VR.

Definitely enjoyed the journals

I played Riven as a teen. I had previous brief experience with Myst when my father borrowed it from a coworker, but got lost in the Selenitic maze and wasn't able to finish. It fascinated me, though, and I dived in when I received Riven as a birthday gift. To this day, I'm proud that I completed the game without any outside help. When I finished the marble puzzle, I felt like a genius! I'm hoping to share Myst and Riven with my own kids soon. If possible, I'm hoping that the remake can flesh out Catherine's character more. She is such a mysterious force in the Book of Atrus, but comparatively in the original game she's more of a Princess Peach. I was struck by a retrospective playthrough I watched recently on KZfaq. The player just gave brief summaries of the journals and didn't bother to visit Catherine in prison before unlocking the elevator, and I was struck by how terse (by modern standards) the player's interactions with her can be, as she doesn't even react much to meeting this strange person from another dimension who magically appears to free her. I imagine that any elaboration on the original story will have to come through the journals unless they cast new actors or fully commit to realtime 3D characters (I wasn't too impressed with the models and animation in the newest Myst remake). I'm not sure how a "use the original FMV" option would even work, given the sequences with Cho, Catherine, and Ghen getting up close to the player and, in Ghen's case, walking around the character. The original video has limited resolution and is formatted for static screen positions, and the original actors have aged 27 years or have passed away (John Keston and Sheila Goold), making taking new footage impossible.

Loved the journals in the games, even as a kid. The Book of Atrus was the first novel I read as a kid, it was way beyond my reading level but I was fascinated by it!

1:39 It's the same appeal of Lord of the Rings: You can read the book and enjoy it, but then there are the Appendices, Unfinished Tales and the Tolkien Bible, The Silmarillion. All that extra information is there IF you want it, but the work stands on its own without it. Loved Riven and am thrilled it's getting a remaster! I read every page of the journals, and made my own book of maps, notes, and sketches. Can't wait to do it all again.

Good to see you three together again

When I first played Myst, I didn't read the books. I just sped through the pages to find the hints for the puzzles because I was told by family that the books had the key to the puzzles. It wasn't until a later playthrough that I took the time to actually read the books and get valuable insight and the mechanics of an age. Now, every time I replay Myst I take the time to read each book before I get to their respective age, tower rotations, and the puzzle to get to the age. It just seems like the right way to play the game and to immerse oneself. Even if I've already read the books countless times now. Similarly, I read all the journals in Riven. I carried on with that tradition even for Exile, Revelations, Uru, and Myst V. Even in other games that offer lore and background information via books and articles I'll read them, possibly thanks to Myst. I think the nature of the Myst games lend themselves to reading the books. It feels almost integral to the gameplay somehow. That we're in a world where books have a certain power and art to them, so you'd be amiss NOT reading through them. It's also great for the immersion I think. Anyway, I'm hoping this discussion between the three comes out in full in some fashion in the future, because it'd certainly be interesting. Much like reading a journal from Myst. Maybe as part of Riven 2024's side content?

I’m already super excited!

Full conversation, soon, please 😊

Stuff like journals not being forced on players is a win win. It means players who really don't want to read it aren't forced to do something they don't want to, and even some of those players might give them a read on a whim and find it's actually super interesting, and the fact that they themselves went out of their way to read it of their own volition makes the things you learn from the journals even more special. Some might think the difference between something being optional and mandatory isn't that big if you were going to do it anyway, but really letting the player make choices of their own volition makes the things they do choose to put their time into all the more special, even if there was no way they WEREN'T going to read it.

Journals? ABSOLUTELY! Not to mention the three book series! Looking forward to this!

I loved the journals, i felt like I was immersed into the journey

Thank God you’ve returned

Wishlisted it 3 weeks ago :D Would be nice to see the whole conversation

We want more! This game shaped my life, I played this my senior year and high school and went to college to become an architect partly because of your world building. Any chance this will be on consoles?

Nope, loved every moment of reading those journals

thank you so much - such a fan of the world, story, game - so much meaning. Myst and Riven will be the first games my children my play, Fez in there somewhere too :)

I love the journals... though i'll admit that i also loved the ability to have them narrated introduced in Myst IV. XD

Major hype for this

I have to say, the sense of an authentic world was stronger in Riven than Myst. You can feel it in everywhere you go, and it’s what makes Riven my favorite game in the series. Myst’s ages have visible story but they are comparatively one-dimensional.

What I encourage you guys to consider is to record professional voice actors READING those journals, so the player can both listen to AND read the text. Good voice actors can add another dimension to the understanding of and impart emotional nuance to the text. I think this would greatly enhance to impact of the journals on the experience of the story and the players' immersion in it.

This is awesome :)

So is this a completely new video? In my veins, blood is mixed with Riven. It haunts me from the very first second, the Cyan logo, that is. I am addicted to Riven through my life. First experienced as a child, still haunts me (39yold)

I hope you give accessibility options for the journals this time, like changing the font or text size, or even allowing character voice-over. Sometimes reading that much (especially in script) on the screen can cause eye strain.

Tony Fryman cameo!

Atrus is back!

Whoa, Robyn’s glasses are awesome.

Actually reading the journals is required to complete the game as they contain puzzle solutions and vital information about how the trap book works in order to outwit ghen at the end

More please!

On the topic of journals: Reading Catherine's handwriting is a legitimate puzzle, and I hope it's horrendous in the remake as well.

Watching this video is like seeing your divorced parents get back together again 🥲

Journals is great, VR implementation to read them, not great. (Using Index controllers) VR require too much force to hold, easy to drop and difficult to turn pages. 📖

so what happens now?

It's a tease!

But when is Project Green Tea coming out?

i drove up to cyan headquarters and stopped to take a picture outside. they all saw me through those front windows and i heard car doors locking all around me. such a warm welcome.

U guys need to watch sven groots lets play of ur games he doing it well

Sirrus?!? Is that you?!?

Release the Remake already!!! 😫😫😫😫

❤

Journals? AB-SO-LU-TELY! The whole charm of these Myst games was the whole world you became part of. As someone else said under another Riven video: you didn't PLAY Riven. You VISITED Riven. That's made possible because of the journals and everything, and I must say, also the live action mixing in. Really, having these CGI people instead of real filmed actors is totally a let-down. It was a let-down in End of Ages, and I really hoped that that lesson would be learned by now. NOTHING makes the worlds come alive like real people in the settings. Seriously guys, do yourselves a huge favour and mix in the actors again.

For the full interview, please turn down Rand's microphone or up Richard's and Robyn's, it's a bit annoying

truth is they don't make memorable games like this anymore I think the closest for originality was The Witness.

Awesome to see you guys back together! (please let someone professional produce your videos next time. this is substandard)

Here are the reasons people hate journals: 1) Difficult to read fonts 2) No voice-over reading them Address either one of them (or both) and you'll make the gamer's experience much more enjoyable!

🫶

If they’re going to remake this game, I hope someone on the team learns the difference between a frog and a salamander.

Riven on neurolink...

I have never made ANY progress in this game. This is a hard mother fucker of a game.

they are so effing high

Two german bros wearing glasses

Anyone can remake a game using AI. I don't understand how people use AI and still show their faces in public.

oof, using AI failed you so much you gotta remake games you already made...

I've seen other games doing something clever with journals: they have them read to you. So it's like you hear the original writer reading to you what the wrote (examples: Myst IV, Lighthouse, etc.)

❤