Riven (Legacy) for Mobile 12+

I was so happy to find Myst AND Riven on the App Store! They are the OGs and will never get old! Takes me back to when they were first released but I only got to play Myst twice back then at a friend’s place. I actually prefer playing it on my iPhone and iPad than on PC. I wish they brought all the other instalments out cos I’d buy them straight away...

Cyan (Riven) created a 'world' that is unforgettable and one that I wanted to return to. Now it's here and after 14 years it hasn't lost its ability to evoke feelings of both wonder and peace. The only issue is the resolution for iPad - at 2x - it is blocky and blurry. Such a shame. I understand from cyan related blogs that it won't be possible to create high res version, but that some improvement is being planned through changes to file compression. I would have no issue with downloading a larger file if it meant improved resolution. However, the marketplace might disagree. Thanks to Cyan for making this other 'world' accessible.

I was thrilled to see Riven on the app store, and the developers have made some reasonable compromises to squeeze the game onto the iPhone. So I appreciate the effort.

Unfortunately, at version 1.0, the implementation has some fairly critical issues - looks like an absence of QA.

The main issue, which is a show-stopper, is the constantly-appearing radioactive-green "hint" circles, which I've found no way to disable, and which seriously disrupt both the gameplay and the game's appearance. Presumably the shake detection is buggy, causing the circles to appear with even the slightest movement of the device - now, they appear on every frame, making the visuals look extremely unappealing. Whoever decided bright green circles was a good idea was gravely mistaken!

It's also arbitrarily missing some of the immersive niceties of the desktop version, like the rippling water which I have no doubt the iPhone's processor would manage just fine. Hopefully this will emerge in updates.

So, it's okay. But if you're a newcomer to Riven, don't spoil it by getting this version: Get the desktop version. I'm happy to change that opinion if the developers fix the outstanding issues, though.