Haha! The way your face looked at 17:47 when you realized what the dome opened to was so perfect! Now that you actually made it here, I can tell you. When I first played the new Riven, I was totally taken back like you were when I saw how you just go in to the starry expanse just like that from Temple Island. I probably spent some time in there just admiring it. It was there how I learned that Prison Island can actually be the very first island you visit, and I took advantage of that. I LOVED that twist. I'm a guy who is also really big on sounds, so with this new game, there is one sound thing I absolutely LOVE in the new Riven. The "exterior/outside" sounds of the fire marble dome getting ready to close, which almost got no use in the original game (unless you closed it from the outside on purpose, but how many would do that?), gets used frequently in the new one. I've always loved that sound.
Cyan does sounds right, I am glad that they turned the domes on their head this time around as well as I didn't feel like they were utilized to their full potential in the original and I think the changes to them in this version are absolutely fantastic and make perfect sense in the world.
I really do think that Survey Island is where Cyan put the most effort into recreating iconic visual set-pieces from the original pixel-for-pixel; the jagged rocks, the golden elevator, the underwater throne, etc. Which is ironic, considering the changes that were made. I suspect that moving the location of the throne was as much a matter of making it physically fit into the island's 3D topography as it was including a new lock puzzle. I do miss the '3D Pin Art' of the map room from the original; changing the model map-islands to use rising metal blocks instead of manipulating Riven's weird water just doesn't have the same vibe. We are treated, however, with more up-close visuals of the Wahrk. Visiting Prison Island early was definitely a big surprise. Notably, you could've gone there at any time since accessing the Dome on Temple Island. Quite a change from only going there during the endgame in the original. Catherine's dialogue is also changed to give confused new players more direction as to what they are _supposed_ to be doing (i.e. recover the Trap Book from the Moiety to trap Gehn). We're even presented with a more up-close and detailed look at the stump of the "Great Tree" which the titular Prison is built upon, which is a nice world-building detail.
I like the direction that going to prison Island gives by going this early as well. It also has the payoff of finding the sound combination and thinking about it for the rest of the game, and then finding it in Ghen's lab at the end for a "Aha!" moment.
20:35 I was real worried you would leave without taking this path haha, glad chat was there for you
Haha! The way your face looked at 17:47 when you realized what the dome opened to was so perfect! Now that you actually made it here, I can tell you. When I first played the new Riven, I was totally taken back like you were when I saw how you just go in to the starry expanse just like that from Temple Island. I probably spent some time in there just admiring it. It was there how I learned that Prison Island can actually be the very first island you visit, and I took advantage of that. I LOVED that twist.
I'm a guy who is also really big on sounds, so with this new game, there is one sound thing I absolutely LOVE in the new Riven. The "exterior/outside" sounds of the fire marble dome getting ready to close, which almost got no use in the original game (unless you closed it from the outside on purpose, but how many would do that?), gets used frequently in the new one. I've always loved that sound.
Cyan does sounds right, I am glad that they turned the domes on their head this time around as well as I didn't feel like they were utilized to their full potential in the original and I think the changes to them in this version are absolutely fantastic and make perfect sense in the world.
1:00:20 wow, I didn't know about this
HaHa, yeah that was a fun little easter egg
I really do think that Survey Island is where Cyan put the most effort into recreating iconic visual set-pieces from the original pixel-for-pixel; the jagged rocks, the golden elevator, the underwater throne, etc. Which is ironic, considering the changes that were made. I suspect that moving the location of the throne was as much a matter of making it physically fit into the island's 3D topography as it was including a new lock puzzle. I do miss the '3D Pin Art' of the map room from the original; changing the model map-islands to use rising metal blocks instead of manipulating Riven's weird water just doesn't have the same vibe. We are treated, however, with more up-close visuals of the Wahrk.
Visiting Prison Island early was definitely a big surprise. Notably, you could've gone there at any time since accessing the Dome on Temple Island. Quite a change from only going there during the endgame in the original. Catherine's dialogue is also changed to give confused new players more direction as to what they are _supposed_ to be doing (i.e. recover the Trap Book from the Moiety to trap Gehn). We're even presented with a more up-close and detailed look at the stump of the "Great Tree" which the titular Prison is built upon, which is a nice world-building detail.
I like the direction that going to prison Island gives by going this early as well. It also has the payoff of finding the sound combination and thinking about it for the rest of the game, and then finding it in Ghen's lab at the end for a "Aha!" moment.