Riven: The Sequel to Myst

Riven was distributed initially on five compact discs and later released on a single DVD-ROM with a 14 minute making-of video. The Myst style of gameplay in which the player clicked on objects within prerendered still images and videos was maintained in this sequel, however it was enhanced with many animated scenes. It is widely regarded by players of Myst and other adventure games to be the most beautiful and difficult game in the Myst franchise.

Riven is also the name of the Age in which the majority of the game takes place. In the Myst storyline this was the fifth Age written by Gehn, father of Atrus, and like all of Gehn's Ages is unstable and doomed to die. Gehn coldly refers to it as simply "The Fifth Age." "Riven" is actually an English word meaning "violently divided, split or torn apart". This is applicable to the Age, which has been torn apart by the instabilities inherent in all Gehn's Ages; the world is physically split into five separate islands.

The name "Riven" could also be interpreted as having some connections with the number five. The word has five letters in it. In addition, the "V" in "Riven" is slightly larger then the other letters in the word when seen in-game or on its box art to show its emphasis. "V" is the Roman numeral for five. The complete title of the game, "Riven : The Sequel to Myst", is also made of five words.

The number five in general is so significant to the game, that a whole now-defunct site was devoted in detecting references of five in the game scenery, scenario, even the title and the package itself.

Riven's name is unique in the series in that it is the only game which isn't called Myst or Myst (number).

Riven is based on and expands the ultimate past and historical background of Myst, fully described in the two books (the third is Riven's sequel). Other than language there is other information available to the player. Items such as Gehn's journal and his book in the laboratory explain more of Gehn's past and his relationship with his wife, Keta.

The game introduces a great deal of information on the culture and language of D'ni. The D'ni language was first used in this game, both in written form and spoken by characters (poorly by Cho, a Rivenese person trained to speak basic D'ni phrases). The system of D'ni numerals and a system of symbols used for describing colors are also introduced, and it is necessary for the player to learn and apply them to complete the game.

The Story (Spoilers)

Riven starts right where Myst left off, in the basement of K'veer in D'ni where Atrus was imprisoned at the end of Myst. The player once again takes the role of the Stranger, Atrus's friend. Atrus needs the Stranger's help, as his wife Catherine is trapped on the Age of Riven, written by his mad father Gehn who has proclaimed himself God of Riven and rules over its inhabitants.

Because Atrus needs the Stranger to link to Riven, free Catherine, and trap Gehn, he equips the Stranger with a Trap Book, a book that "appears to be a linking book back into D'ni" but is "actually a one man prison." Atrus tells the Stranger that s/he must trap Gehn in this book, find Catherine, and then "signal" him, and without much more explanation sends the Stranger into the dying world of Riven to accomplish these tasks.

The stranger proceeds to accomplish the tasks set by Atrus. Catherine is found on a small island in the 5th age, which is only accessible by a Linking book from Gehn's 233rd age (headquarters). Catherine is released and Atrus is summoned. Whilst summoning Atrus the 5th age begins to collapse. Catherine and Atrus escape into another age and the Stranger falls into the void.

According to the Miller brothers, the original scripted ending would have been much longer and more difficult to create.

Alternate Endings
To see the main ending the player must trap Gehn and free Catherine before opening the star fissure. However, there are nine alternate endings:

• If the player fails to trap Gehn before opening the Star Fissure, Atrus simply arrives and asks the player where Catherine and the book are. In this alternative ending, a dawning horror appears on his face as Atrus says, "I don't understand!" "You never did!" cries Gehn, appearing behind him with a guard. As the world crumbles, Atrus is killed by a blowgun dart. Gehn retrieves the Linking Book, his gateway back to D'ni and freedom, and then walks close to the player, smiling. "I don't know what you thought you were doing," he says, vastly amused, "but... thank you!" Gesturing with the book, he adds, "I finally am... free..."
• If the player fails to rescue Catherine before opening the Star Fissure, Atrus arrives and says "I don't understand. You've captured Gehn, but... why did you signal me? There's no time left. The age is collapsing..." Atrus then uses the linking book to escape, not knowing the fate of his wife. You fall into the fissure and return home, but there is a sad voiceover explaining that Gehn was captured, but at a great cost.
• If the player traps himself in the trap book in the rebel world, a rebel picks up the book realizes the player has foolishly trapped himself, and throws the book into a fire.
• If the player traps himself in the trap book anywhere else in Riven, Gehn eventually discovers the book, has one of his lackeys touch it, realizes that the player was trying to trap him, and kills the player with a dart gun.
• If the player meets Gehn before retrieving the trap book, Gehn insists that Atrus must have given you a linking book and tells you to go get it. If the player then retrieves the book and traps himself in it anywhere but the Moiety age, Gehn discovers him in the same way as above but adds, "I see you've found the book."
• If the player refuses to enter the trap book after three encounters with Gehn, the player is shot with a dart gun when Gehn realizes that it must be a trap book.
• If the player traps Gehn in the trap book, but later releases him, Gehn thanks the player and mocks him for his stupidity.
• If the player traps Gehn in the trap book, but later releases him within the secret Moiety rebel world, Gehn thanks the player for not only releasing him but allowing him to destroy the alliance once and for all.
• Although it is not possible to free Catherine without trapping Gehn because the code to Catherine's cell is not generated by the game until the music box is discovered and thus cannot be bruteforced, the code to the star fissure is generated at the start of the game and thus can be bruteforced (or discovered before reverting to a previous version of the game). If the star fissure is opened before the player visits the Moiety age and recovers the trap book (and Catherine's journal which contains the code to the fissure), the player disappears into the fissure without Gehn or Atrus appearing; there is no voiceover.

Ages

Unlike Myst, the point of the game is not to travel to Ages, solve puzzles, return to the hub, and then go on. Almost all of the action takes place on Riven and its five islands. Most of the action consists of solving puzzles in order to access all of the islands through bridges and maglevs. Riven being a game in the Myst series, the player will find linking books which let him/her link to other worlds.

Riven includes the following Ages:

D'ni (K'veer) - the starting Age. There is nothing to do there, only the game's introduction.
Riven - or Gehn's 5th Age, where the main adventure takes place.
Gehn's 233rd Age - Gehn's headquarters.
Tay - or the Moiety Rebels' Age.

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