Riven review: Groundbreaking mystery ready to wreck your head all over again

What sounds encouraging when written down feels anything but when delivered by a mysterious bearded stranger as he sends you to a surreal planet to search for a missing woman named Catherine. You accept his request more in hope than expectation of making it out alive when he intimates strongly that this a one-way trip for now.

Millions of gamers have already taken that journey, of course, for this is a comprehensive remake of the 1997 original, itself a sequel to the wildly successful Myst. These two smash hits defined a genre of puzzle games that aspired to be photo-realistic, built without combat and freighted with near-inscrutable riddles.

Developer Cyan Worlds went on create several more Myst spin-offs but few had the impact of its first efforts. While Myst and Riven were visually remarkable for their time, they were fashioned from static imagery interspersed with live-action characters, both of which look hopelessly outdated now.

So Cyan Worlds reconvened a few years ago with a Riven remake in mind, only to realise 99pc of the original art assets had not survived. Freed by this misfortune, the 2024 version has been reconstructed in full 3D while adhering closely to the point’n’click mechanics and story beats of 1997.

Thus, you arrive seeking Catherine at a series of strange, interconnected islands filled with cryptic machines, enigmatic runes and meandering paths. The world has its own language of symbols, a parallel dimension hidden in giant rotating spheres and many, many contraptions that invite you to prod at their levers and buttons.

In the old days, a physical notebook would have been mandatory to track all Riven’s secrets. Even now, just jotting down the frequently perplexing hints is advised – despite a useful screenshot function to track your discoveries. To defeat those who would just lazily follow an internet walkthrough, some elements of the puzzles have been randomised to ensure you interpret the clues for yourself.

Riven may be a stark, lonely world in which you encounter just rare glimpses of other people (and a few curious creatures). But it possesses an unexpected beauty, juxtaposing striking landscapes with ornate steampunk machinery – all underpinned by a gently melancholic soundtrack.

The puzzles remain as pleasantly headwrecking as ever, sometimes relying on noticing tiny details, other times requiring meticulous deductions based on trial and error. Few could blame you for sneaking the odd look at a walkthrough that at least points you in the direction of a solution.

The developers acknowledge they’ve applied several tweaks to modernise the game. “This is not the same old Riven, but we hope you’re as surprised and intrigued by the new one as we were,” they say.

On the evidence of my playthrough, you won’t mind getting stuck in this captivating prison with no hope of release.