Sometimes the best way to remake a game is to present it as originally intended with a modern flair.

Leave the experience mostly untouched, let players either reminisce about the game that once was or see what all the fuss was about to begin with.

In some cases, you also get a Final Fantasy 7 Remake which fundamentally changes the core game at just about every level, even the story, while maintaining the character base and familiar areas you know and love.

With Riven, we’re getting something in-between. A modern-day reimagining of the classic 1997 point and click puzzler, with a visual style that ebs and glows with a 2024 lick of paint. A clear representation of the game (some of us) played back in the day and were in awe of (minus the 12 CDs) but with some added puzzles, environments and a clearer narrative direction.

Riven Remake, for my money, is the best way to handle a revamp of a classic game. You’re giving something new to diehard fans while updating a product to a level that really takes advantage of modern hardware and at the same time presenting a solid enough foundation and base for new players to get onboard and immerse themselves in a game that gets talked about endlessly in ‘Greatest of all time’ lists.

It looks good, sounds great, plays well and still holds up amazingly despite how far forward the genre has come over the last twenty years.

While this was the official sequel to Myst, Riven really carved its own path and became its own critical darling in many ways. The games themselves, while they link, are self contained adventures that really delve deep into lore, go hard on puzzle solving, and really want you to explore and take in their breathtaking, cinematic worlds.

But beyond the visual upgrades you’d expect, Cyan have even revamped the control system of Riven by allowing full freedom of movement through the environment. Previously, players would click the direction they want to walk on screen and you’d watch on as you walk forward in a stunted, awkward way. Full freedom of movement is how we play today through FPS games and other action-oriented titles, and has translated beautifully here.

Riven’s environment, as ever, is also a joy to explore. So many gaming worlds feel sort of similar or repetitive, but Riven’s unique architectural style with its animatronics, unique cast, and full-fledged puzzles just really stick in your memory and really inspire you to see it through to the end.

The environments themselves are also a beautiful combination of stunning mountain vistas, gorgeous forestry and plant life and wide open spaces with stunning water views. The ripple effects on the waves are just mesmerising at times, and the detail all around you at every point just provides constant fulfilment.

It’s interesting to note as well that the game does still maintain much of what made it so taxing back in the day, really getting the player to focus on the small details, keep notes and retain information from previous interactions to get you through. That’s a fascinating challenge for modern gamers who are used to having key information recorded in snippets that’s easily accessible, whereas Riven still very much puts you in charge of your own investigation.

Sometimes it’s also to a fault, though, such as the extended travel sequences which are a bit too drawn out at points and definitely give off that feel of a retro-styled game.

Riven really exudes a level of quality few games can match. And if you are so inclined, there’s even an option to play in VR, so you can see the game as never before, playing in a way that would have been totally unimaginable back in the 90s.

Its puzzles are definitely not for the light hearted, and at times some of the visual aspects of the game do go at odds with each other. At once, the remake of Riven can feel like a brand new, epic puzzle adventure, built for 2024 and at other times, really feel a product of its times through some of stuttering and inconsistencies.

But this is also a must-play for anyone who has never visited Riven, who loves deep puzzle driven experiences and truly relishes a game that takes its time to build a world, tell a story, and doesn’t always spell things out for you, allowing you to learn more about Riven and what drives it for yourself.