For decades now, Cyan Worlds’s Myst and Riven have occupied a strange but important corner of gaming history, helping define environmental storytelling and puzzle-driven exploration long before those ideas became mainstream. Revisiting both games in their modern remake form already felt worthwhile on flatscreen platforms, but the arrival of PSVR2 support in the new PS5 version adds another dimension entirely to worlds that were originally designed to draw players into isolated, tactile spaces filled with mechanical oddities and cryptic clues. Even now, both games retain an uncanny ability to make exploration feel intimate and unsettling at the same time, whether wandering Myst Island’s lonely pathways or descending deeper into Riven’s sprawling archipelago of collapsing civilizations and godlike manipulation. The transition to full 3D environments modernizes the experience considerably without losing the identity that made the originals memorable in the first place.
Myst remains the more approachable of the two games, functioning almost like an introduction to Cyan’s style of puzzle design. The structure is deceptively simple, asking players to move between distinct Ages while piecing together the history of a fractured family through journals, environmental clues, and strange machinery. The remake does a strong job of preserving the original atmosphere while expanding immersion through freely explorable environments, updated visual detail, and optional puzzle randomization that keeps returning veterans from sleepwalking through familiar solutions. With PSVR2 support enabled, Myst’s island environments become particularly effective because of their scale and sound design. Standing inside the planetarium or hearing the ambient creaking of wooden structures while physically leaning closer to inspect clues creates a level of presence the original game could only imply through static images. The soundtrack also continues to do a huge amount of heavy lifting, giving otherwise quiet environments a haunting personality that still holds up remarkably well.
Riven, meanwhile, feels considerably more ambitious and arguably benefits even more from the remake treatment. The original game already pushed environmental storytelling further than Myst ever did, and the remake expands that idea into something far more cohesive and immersive. The islands feel alive in a way Myst intentionally does not, with larger environments, more elaborate architecture, additional narrative scenes, and a stronger sense of cultural history woven into the puzzles themselves. Riven’s puzzle design is also substantially more demanding, often requiring careful observation, note-taking, and genuine deduction instead of simple experimentation. That complexity can be deeply rewarding once connections begin to click into place, especially in VR where interacting directly with levers, valves, rotating mechanisms, and environmental clues enhances the sense of discovery. At the same time, the game’s deliberate pacing and relentless opacity can become exhausting, particularly during longer puzzle chains where progress can stalls completely for a long time. Players looking for modern convenience or constant feedback may find Riven more frustrating than fascinating, and it’s hard to take notes when wearing a VR helmet.
Speaking of VR, the PSVR2 support delivers mixed results overall. On the positive side, both games run smoothly enough to remain comfortable during long sessions, and the sense of physical presence dramatically improves immersion. Simply walking through these iconic locations in full scale carries an undeniable appeal, and interactions like pulling switches, opening books, turning handles, or manipulating machinery generally feel satisfying. Riven in particular benefits from VR because its environments are denser and more layered, making exploration feel more tactile and believable. The addition of comfort options, movement settings, and accessibility tweaks also helps accommodate different playstyles. Yet despite those strengths, the VR support often feels technically compromised rather than fully optimized for Sony’s hardware. The soft image quality, aggressive upscaling, and persistent blur hanging over both games become difficult to ignore, especially in more detailed scenes where environmental clarity suffers noticeably.
That visual softness becomes the biggest disappointment because the underlying art direction remains excellent when seen in all their glorious detail. Myst’s surreal Ages still radiate atmosphere through rich color palettes and striking architecture, while Riven’s dense jungles, massive domes, and weathered industrial structures showcase Cyan’s remarkable environmental imagination. Unfortunately, the blurry presentation undermines some of that artistry in VR, occasionally making distant objects difficult to read and reducing the sharpness expected from modern high-end VR experiences. The issue is not outright performance instability – both games generally avoid major framerate problems – but rather a persistent lack of visual clarity that makes the VR presentation feel behind the curve technically. Darker areas also reveal noticeable mura effects, further emphasizing the limitations of the current implementation.
The controls and VR-specific mechanics land somewhere between impressive, functional and underdeveloped. Interaction itself often feels appropriately tactile, but the advanced haptics and adaptive triggers of the Sense controllers are barely utilized, which is surprising given how mechanically focused these games are. Ladder climbing is especially awkward in both titles, to the point where optional skipping features become tempting quality-of-life additions rather than accessibility extras. Some interactions also reveal the limits of the simulation, with objects snapping back into place rather than behaving naturally within the environment. Myst fares slightly better here because it allows more object interaction overall, while Riven’s more restrictive handling occasionally makes the world feel less reactive. Even so, there is still something uniquely satisfying about physically leaning toward a control panel, flipping switches manually, and slowly piecing together solutions through observation instead of waypoint markers or objective logs. The games fully commit to old-school puzzle design, for better and worse. Players unwilling to take notes or endure lengthy periods of confusion may bounce off them quickly, especially in VR where repeatedly removing the headset to jot things down becomes cumbersome unless you have a friend nearby to help you.
What ultimately makes these remakes worthwhile is that Myst and Riven remain fundamentally compelling experiences despite their flaws. Few games trust players as completely as these do, and even fewer build worlds that feel this mysterious without relying on combat, spectacle, or constant exposition. Myst still succeeds through atmosphere and elegant simplicity, while Riven evolves those ideas into something richer, denser, and far more intimidating. The remakes successfully modernize both classics without stripping away their identity, and VR undeniably strengthens their immersive qualities even when the technical presentation falls short of what the hardware should be capable of delivering. For puzzle enthusiasts willing to tolerate blurry visuals and occasionally clumsy VR implementation, these are still absorbing journeys into some of gaming’s most influential worlds. But there is also a lingering sense that these versions could have been truly definitive if the impressive world-building had been paired with equally polished VR technology.
Score: 7.3/10