Played this game a several years ago together with my: Mother, Brother, Sister. Solved every puzzle without outside help and we wrote everything down in a very large binder. we did the same for Myst and the Uru. One of my best experiences with games ever.
I always liked how the wahrk, after slamming into the glass, seems to give you a stern look and then nod to itself in satisfaction as it swims away. Every time after the first time I played it, anyway...Much too scary the first time.
I too failed to notice the images of the animals (saving the beetle). I just figured that the remaining animal was the fish, because it was the only other one we had seen in-game (hanging up in the village to dry). I often wondered where the other animals depicted on the Moiety stones (such as the 'elk') would fit into Riven's tiny biosphere.
My mum finished this game with no help. She bought it when it came out and really I was too young to be of much help, but she is the most stubborn person when it comes to figuring things out. It took her a long while but she completed it herself.
Only because you asked ... yes, I finished Riven without a "cheating". Not for lack of wanting, but because I didn't know such things existed. It wasn't until Revelations that someone told me there were Guidebooks out there. Even when I did finally know about the Guidebooks, I couldn't afford them. So, up until Uru, I didn't use any. Uru is the only Myst I never finished. My copy was damaged and I wasn't able to replace it. Never knew about the images, I thought it was just a sonic puzzle! The only part I REALLY had trouble with was the blasted map you covered in 17. Flame and bloody Flaming ashes, that drove me nutty!
I've played it twice without any hint or knowledge at all and the fish was the only one I did see. A fish doesn't need a sound so that's a clue as well. The first time I played it took me weeks, the second time a few less, as I had forgotten most of it. Loved it :) Thanks for filling in all the blanks.
@Mrgahoolefan It's either spelled Whark or Wahrk, the game uses both. The creatures I think you're talking about are Sunners, the frog-like creature is an Ytram (which is Marty spelled backwards; Marty O'Donnell was a sound designer on Riven), and I believe the fish (the first symbol) is called a Webber.
You have to arrive at this island for the first time from Gehn's rooms. If you used the underground maglev from the jungle to get there first, you won't see him. I'm not sure if there're other requirements.
I never noticed the shapes or the thing floating in the water, but I did remember reading in Gehn's journal that he found it in the water. I associated fish with water so I decided to just try all the fish tomes as my first and luckily it eventually worked.
I needed a hint to find the lever that raises the stairs to the upper floor on the dome, I figured out everything else. Well, except the shape you just showed in this video, I had no idea about it until now! I just guessed the last stone in the stone room, it didn't take that long. Can't believe I needed help to find the lever though, that's not even a puzzle really...
She is his prisoner, I guess he would want to make sure she hasn't escaped. On the other hand, if memory serves, he wanted to marry Catherine before she and Atrus double-crossed him, so there may be more to it...
Also: Well now you can say you "met" someone who finished the game without any hints. That was me, back when I was a teenager. Played through it by myself, refusing to look at guides. I think I noticed the ball floating in the water, though. The only place I got stuck was closing the doors behind me, as I mentioned in a previous video. :)
I almost forgot how cool the animals are in the Myst games. At least I remember there being more animals in the games starting with Riven. And they all look really cool. The Wharks are one of my favorite looking. Like a mix between...a shark, a walrus, and a a bit of whale.
I didn't get the shapes, but I ended up brute-forcing the fish eyeball. If you get the other four through sound association, then there are only about 30 possibilities or so.
I must confess that I made it through the entire game for my first time without a hintbook or anything of that sort...But I needed about half a year to finish it...and I felt dumb at the end that I could not make it sooner...
Whoa, for the longest time I couldn't figure out which colors belonged to which island when I tried doing the infamous waffle iron puzzle at the top of the giant dome. Then I read your description on this video and it was like hitting a brick wall. Can't believe it was so simple all along.
@Dilandau3000 lol well what is still weird is how the maglev to get onto the island is pretty close to the shore and then you go down the elevator, then leaving the island on the second maglev you find yourself coming out of a cliff at a fairly decent height
While we're talking about neat things, did you know there is an eastern egg at the chair? If you pull out the camera orb screen and press what looks like to be an screw in the down left corner, you'll be amazed =)
I also had to use a cheat sheet to get the fish symbol. It's nice to actually see in this video where it is revealed---I'm sure I didn't see it when I played the game. Must have given up trying the different views after a couple empty underwater scenes.
does anyone know that the hole over the orange room was shown in the book of Atrus? the pool of water that the gold elevator comes out of used to be in that hole, but Gehn changed the heat to make it lower.
That elevator is a possible spatial anomaly: Notice that the water height at the two maglev stations are about the same, yet the elevator indicated that your are descending below sea level. Once you arrive at the maglev station used by the guilds-man, you are now about sea level again. Likely a result of Gehn's copy-pasta writing.
+Side Effects Included Ummm.... no, it's due to the special properties of the Waters of Riven. Remember that when they are heated, they rise up? Think about how hot the walls are in the connecting corridor.
Yes, I've heard that explanation and suppose it could work. I was mainly confused because when I played, the overworld didn't indicate clearly what was happening. It makes when considering the magma chamber on the first floor. I do also admit a comedic bias towards poking fun at Riven's poor writing.
I think they expected you to have read the books that were written. They explain so much that wasn't explained in the games. The Books and Games very much compliment each other. [wince] yeah, Riven had a few spots of poor writing, but on the whole, it was an amazing game for the time. It redefined computer gaming.
+Sebastian Elden Greenwood Well, I was referring to Gehn and his descriptive book writing more specifically. :D I have not thought much of the synopsis material, but got the chance to read through "The Book of Atrus" years ago. I enjoyed it enough that I got a copy of the Myst Reader for my book collection a few months ago.
I'm getting errors trying to edit the previous comment so I'll add another. I did not mean to say that I was referring to the game script writing, or any fridge logic that may be present there.
I played the game back in '99 and needed the hint for the fish too. That was the only hint I needed to finish the game but I was really upset with myself because I wanted to to get through it all on my own. But I don't know if I would ever have figured it out without that hint.
10 years later, I'll say that this is one game I finished with no help. Very proud of that. Took me a couple of months if I recall. Uru Prime I did, and To D'ni...but I needed loads of help with Path of the Shell. Not ashamed of that...that was a bitch.
I got this game recently, and was playing through this part at something like 3 in the morning. I annoyed the whark to the point of it head-butting the glass - wow, definitely raised my heart rate! Most modern games have nothing on a game like this in terms of emotional impact and vision, which is really a shame.
I did not need any hints or tips for either Myst I, II, or III. However, in watching you play Riven and shadyparadox play Exile, it is clear both of you have a better understanding of math--you with number bases and Shady P. with combinatorics. Also, through watching these LPs, I discovered a couple of dots I failed to connect, so to speak, though nothing that hindered solving the puzzles.
LOL the first time I played this game I accidentally did that to the whark, I was just curious to keep looking at him or her and when it rammed the glass I actually jumped back lol I wasn't expecting that!
This whole area with the elevator and the stairs leading up to the whark throne may be the single best area in Riven What happened to the 1990s?! That sense of wonder in games?
I solved Myst and Exhile without any hints. The only puzzle I needed to solve Riven was the wooden idol opening up by means of opening up the little lantern on the side. Yes, I know, I've been badgering you about opening it up for the unintiated!
My brother beat Riven without hints. He has an entire journal with all of his notes, as well as one for Myst and Exile. He had to use a hint for Exile, though, I believe
Ugh, i don't think i could walk through that orange hallway surrounded by magma in real life. I definitely wouldn't want to touch the windows. My fingers would probably burn off. D:
so what you're saying is that you solve problems using auditory learning rather than using the visual. for this game you need both in order to advance to the next level. also it would have been interesting if when the Whark crashed against the wall that the glass craked a bit under pressure since the island is slowly decaying.
It's definetly possible to finish Riven without any hints (I needed one to enter the lab, it's such a stupid thing to get stuck on...). Uru was waaay harder.
So, you come across another of Gehn's chairs (I like to call them thrones), in the middle of an island, that just happens to have a visual of Catherine's prison... Gehn, what are you doing in that chair!? O_O This reminds me of Friar's Keep in Dreamfall, where Zoe sees... Yeah. Adventure games are funny. XD
@Dilandau3000 Oh, so that's how you spell "Whark". I was thinking along the lines of "wark" and "work", but that didn't make any sense. Good to know how it's spelled. I'd also would like to know how to spell the word you used for those frog creatures, and the creatures on the fourth symbol of those eyeball things. I just call them platypuses, even though they're nothing like platypuses.
@AlasterNacht Sweet! Thanks for the info. I might be able to help out as well.. I do have experience with 3D modelling and texturing (just not for games)..
Hang on, a whark has a horisontal tail flapper, a neck (judging from the movements), eyelids and no gills? That would make them whales, not fish! A form of whales that can breathe water - why not, it's even better :) (I haven't read any of the lore, so I judge only from the designs.)
ironically you could prob get the fish faster by just guessing every option for it in the moiety stone room than going through all the steps to find it the correct way. less satisfying though
At about 4:20 my 5 disc version of the game always freezes up. Something's wrong with disc 4, so I need a walkthrough to see the fire marble power code thing.
At the 3:15 minute mark, a character was spotted running to the mag-lev. How is this possible when you just left the mag-lev on the floor above? Did I miss something or has the game always been like this and I just didn’t make the connection until now?
Wow, I'd played through this game a number of times, but never saw that guy in white! Do you know what triggers that? Why wouldn't I have seen him? Really liking this LP, btw.
3:58 : I want this picture in super high res.. it's one of my favorite visuals of the whole game.. I really hope they'll do a high-res remake with the Myst 4 engine, or maybe a realRiven... prolly not, eh?.. :(
I don't see how you can complete this game with only one hint, I'm not saying you didn't, but myst games are searously hard. I'm 13 and I decided to watch your walkthrough on the first day. Does it ruin the experence?
Played this game a several years ago together with my: Mother, Brother, Sister. Solved every puzzle without outside help and we wrote everything down in a very large binder. we did the same for Myst and the Uru. One of my best experiences with games ever.
"Why isn't anyone in this game happy to see us?" XD This is a great walk through.
I always liked how the wahrk, after slamming into the glass, seems to give you a stern look and then nod to itself in satisfaction as it swims away. Every time after the first time I played it, anyway...Much too scary the first time.
I too failed to notice the images of the animals (saving the beetle). I just figured that the remaining animal was the fish, because it was the only other one we had seen in-game (hanging up in the village to dry). I often wondered where the other animals depicted on the Moiety stones (such as the 'elk') would fit into Riven's tiny biosphere.
My mum finished this game with no help. She bought it when it came out and really I was too young to be of much help, but she is the most stubborn person when it comes to figuring things out. It took her a long while but she completed it herself.
Only because you asked ... yes, I finished Riven without a "cheating". Not for lack of wanting, but because I didn't know such things existed. It wasn't until Revelations that someone told me there were Guidebooks out there. Even when I did finally know about the Guidebooks, I couldn't afford them. So, up until Uru, I didn't use any. Uru is the only Myst I never finished. My copy was damaged and I wasn't able to replace it.
Never knew about the images, I thought it was just a sonic puzzle! The only part I REALLY had trouble with was the blasted map you covered in 17. Flame and bloody Flaming ashes, that drove me nutty!
I've played it twice without any hint or knowledge at all and the fish was the only one I did see. A fish doesn't need a sound so that's a clue as well.
The first time I played it took me weeks, the second time a few less, as I had forgotten most of it. Loved it :) Thanks for filling in all the blanks.
The golden elevator is one of my favourite of all Myst 'effects'.
@Mrgahoolefan It's either spelled Whark or Wahrk, the game uses both. The creatures I think you're talking about are Sunners, the frog-like creature is an Ytram (which is Marty spelled backwards; Marty O'Donnell was a sound designer on Riven), and I believe the fish (the first symbol) is called a Webber.
You have to arrive at this island for the first time from Gehn's rooms. If you used the underground maglev from the jungle to get there first, you won't see him. I'm not sure if there're other requirements.
I think the survey room isn't below sea level. What you're looking into is the whark tank, and the water level in that is higher than the sea.
I never noticed the shapes or the thing floating in the water, but I did remember reading in Gehn's journal that he found it in the water. I associated fish with water so I decided to just try all the fish tomes as my first and luckily it eventually worked.
I needed a hint to find the lever that raises the stairs to the upper floor on the dome, I figured out everything else. Well, except the shape you just showed in this video, I had no idea about it until now! I just guessed the last stone in the stone room, it didn't take that long.
Can't believe I needed help to find the lever though, that's not even a puzzle really...
She is his prisoner, I guess he would want to make sure she hasn't escaped. On the other hand, if memory serves, he wanted to marry Catherine before she and Atrus double-crossed him, so there may be more to it...
Also: Well now you can say you "met" someone who finished the game without any hints. That was me, back when I was a teenager. Played through it by myself, refusing to look at guides. I think I noticed the ball floating in the water, though. The only place I got stuck was closing the doors behind me, as I mentioned in a previous video. :)
I almost forgot how cool the animals are in the Myst games. At least I remember there being more animals in the games starting with Riven. And they all look really cool. The Wharks are one of my favorite looking. Like a mix between...a shark, a walrus, and a a bit of whale.
The guildsman that runs away from us always reminded me of the windmill guy from Legacy of Time. Looks like nasty weather!
"so named because it's an elevator that's gold." 😂
I didn't get the shapes, but I ended up brute-forcing the fish eyeball. If you get the other four through sound association, then there are only about 30 possibilities or so.
"We've located Catherine's prison...even though we don't know where it is!" Classic.
I finished it without any hint when I was 14 in 2000 :)
+caner aktas wow!
kesin bitirmişsindir evet
I must confess that I made it through the entire game for my first time without a hintbook or anything of that sort...But I needed about half a year to finish it...and I felt dumb at the end that I could not make it sooner...
Whoa, for the longest time I couldn't figure out which colors belonged to which island when I tried doing the infamous waffle iron puzzle at the top of the giant dome. Then I read your description on this video and it was like hitting a brick wall. Can't believe it was so simple all along.
@Dilandau3000 lol well what is still weird is how the maglev to get onto the island is pretty close to the shore and then you go down the elevator, then leaving the island on the second maglev you find yourself coming out of a cliff at a fairly decent height
While we're talking about neat things, did you know there is an eastern egg at the chair? If you pull out the camera orb screen and press what looks like to be an screw in the down left corner, you'll be amazed =)
I also had to use a cheat sheet to get the fish symbol. It's nice to actually see in this video where it is revealed---I'm sure I didn't see it when I played the game. Must have given up trying the different views after a couple empty underwater scenes.
does anyone know that the hole over the orange room was shown in the book of Atrus? the pool of water that the gold elevator comes out of used to be in that hole, but Gehn changed the heat to make it lower.
Am I the only one who thought the Golden Elevator was vaguely reminiscent of the TARDIS?
That elevator is a possible spatial anomaly: Notice that the water height at the two maglev stations are about the same, yet the elevator indicated that your are descending below sea level. Once you arrive at the maglev station used by the guilds-man, you are now about sea level again. Likely a result of Gehn's copy-pasta writing.
+Side Effects Included Ummm.... no, it's due to the special properties of the Waters of Riven. Remember that when they are heated, they rise up? Think about how hot the walls are in the connecting corridor.
Yes, I've heard that explanation and suppose it could work. I was mainly confused because when I played, the overworld didn't indicate clearly what was happening. It makes when considering the magma chamber on the first floor. I do also admit a comedic bias towards poking fun at Riven's poor writing.
I think they expected you to have read the books that were written. They explain so much that wasn't explained in the games. The Books and Games very much compliment each other.
[wince] yeah, Riven had a few spots of poor writing, but on the whole, it was an amazing game for the time. It redefined computer gaming.
+Sebastian Elden Greenwood Well, I was referring to Gehn and his descriptive book writing more specifically. :D I have not thought much of the synopsis material, but got the chance to read through "The Book of Atrus" years ago. I enjoyed it enough that I got a copy of the Myst Reader for my book collection a few months ago.
I'm getting errors trying to edit the previous comment so I'll add another. I did not mean to say that I was referring to the game script writing, or any fridge logic that may be present there.
I played the game back in '99 and needed the hint for the fish too. That was the only hint I needed to finish the game but I was really upset with myself because I wanted to to get through it all on my own. But I don't know if I would ever have figured it out without that hint.
10 years later, I'll say that this is one game I finished with no help. Very proud of that. Took me a couple of months if I recall. Uru Prime I did, and To D'ni...but I needed loads of help with Path of the Shell. Not ashamed of that...that was a bitch.
I got this game recently, and was playing through this part at something like 3 in the morning. I annoyed the whark to the point of it head-butting the glass - wow, definitely raised my heart rate! Most modern games have nothing on a game like this in terms of emotional impact and vision, which is really a shame.
I did not need any hints or tips for either Myst I, II, or III. However, in watching you play Riven and shadyparadox play Exile, it is clear both of you have a better understanding of math--you with number bases and Shady P. with combinatorics. Also, through watching these LPs, I discovered a couple of dots I failed to connect, so to speak, though nothing that hindered solving the puzzles.
The rules of Heffayguap
Heffaghuap is our master
Heffaghuap created us
Heffaghuap defeated Atrus...er, I mean Gehn
I finished the game without using a hintbook. But I also didn't find the fish. I used trial and error and boy, it took forever.
LOL the first time I played this game I accidentally did that to the whark, I was just curious to keep looking at him or her and when it rammed the glass I actually jumped back lol I wasn't expecting that!
Man, I remember this part. Used to freak out every time the whark came and smashed into the glass.
2:32 Is that a Are You Being Served? reference lol!
This whole area with the elevator and the stairs leading up to the whark throne may be the single best area in Riven
What happened to the 1990s?! That sense of wonder in games?
I solved Myst and Exhile without any hints. The only puzzle I needed to solve Riven was the wooden idol opening up by means of opening up the little lantern on the side. Yes, I know, I've been badgering you about opening it up for the unintiated!
The game arbitrarily switches between wahrk and whark. I picked the latter. :)
Haha, cool. I never knew you could annoy the Whark like that.
My brother beat Riven without hints. He has an entire journal with all of his notes, as well as one for Myst and Exile. He had to use a hint for Exile, though, I believe
Ugh, i don't think i could walk through that orange hallway surrounded by magma in real life. I definitely wouldn't want to touch the windows. My fingers would probably burn off. D:
09:55 "Now all you did was give yourself a headache" ;D
so what you're saying is that you solve problems using auditory learning rather than using the visual. for this game you need both in order to advance to the next level.
also it would have been interesting if when the Whark crashed against the wall that the glass craked a bit under pressure since the island is slowly decaying.
It's definetly possible to finish Riven without any hints (I needed one to enter the lab, it's such a stupid thing to get stuck on...). Uru was waaay harder.
So, you come across another of Gehn's chairs (I like to call them thrones), in the middle of an island, that just happens to have a visual of Catherine's prison...
Gehn, what are you doing in that chair!? O_O
This reminds me of Friar's Keep in Dreamfall, where Zoe sees... Yeah.
Adventure games are funny. XD
actully i heard a therory that guy who ran away from you was ghen himself.
I also finished Riven without tips or hints,good game.I wish I could get it to run on Windows 7.
@Dilandau3000 Oh, so that's how you spell "Whark". I was thinking along the lines of "wark" and "work", but that didn't make any sense. Good to know how it's spelled. I'd also would like to know how to spell the word you used for those frog creatures, and the creatures on the fourth symbol of those eyeball things. I just call them platypuses, even though they're nothing like platypuses.
@AlasterNacht Sweet! Thanks for the info. I might be able to help out as well.. I do have experience with 3D modelling and texturing (just not for games)..
Hang on, a whark has a horisontal tail flapper, a neck (judging from the movements), eyelids and no gills? That would make them whales, not fish! A form of whales that can breathe water - why not, it's even better :)
(I haven't read any of the lore, so I judge only from the designs.)
ironically you could prob get the fish faster by just guessing every option for it in the moiety stone room than going through all the steps to find it the correct way. less satisfying though
Notice the number of sides in that room?
At about 4:20 my 5 disc version of the game always freezes up. Something's wrong with disc 4, so I need a walkthrough to see the fire marble power code thing.
First reaction to the gold elevator:
"It's the Doctor!"
I think the Whark is supposed to be a combination of a shark and a whale.
At the 3:15 minute mark, a character was spotted running to the mag-lev. How is this possible when you just left the mag-lev on the floor above? Did I miss something or has the game always been like this and I just didn’t make the connection until now?
Wow, I'd played through this game a number of times, but never saw that guy in white! Do you know what triggers that? Why wouldn't I have seen him?
Really liking this LP, btw.
I finished the game without any hints Christmas of 1997.
3:58 : I want this picture in super high res.. it's one of my favorite visuals of the whole game..
I really hope they'll do a high-res remake with the Myst 4 engine, or maybe a realRiven... prolly not, eh?.. :(
In riven everything comes in five right? Why not call the whark five times? Except of running out of time.
Hey, I bet Rand Miller finished this game without hints.
Whats that Whark's problem?
its a fish woot
I don't see how you can complete this game with only one hint, I'm not saying you didn't, but myst games are searously hard. I'm 13 and I decided to watch your walkthrough on the first day. Does it ruin the experence?
1:40 you called it the golden elevator, but the Dr. Who Tardis also comes to mind...
I hate every chair in Myst series.
honestly i never beat this game even with a freaken hint book :(
WTH a Tardis is doing in Riven?
I won this game in 10 days. No hint guide at all for any of the game.
She is his ex-fiance don'chya know.
I love ticking off the Whark.
I love all the fantasy creatures in Riven.
Must admit I needed a hint or two, do not worship meeee!
lol
the most hardest puzzel are thos diní numbers i cant still know how they work
I can't complete this game without hint book but I still want to be worshiped.
@Dilandau3000 EWWWW!!!!
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