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If you've played Myst, then you will probably be more prepared for
Riven than a non-Myst player. Generally the exploration of Riven
involves solving smaller puzzles that enable you to reach places you
couldn't reach before. Traveling to all various places will then supply
information necessary to solve some complex final puzzles. All the while
you'll learn more about the people and places - which will affect decisions
you'll be making.
As with Myst, brute force is not the way to go. Most of the difficult
puzzles have a variety of possible combinations. So many combinations, in
fact, that it would take months to work through them all. If you run
into such a puzzle, you must realize that you are expected to find
other information elsewhere that will make the solution more obvious.
Keep a journal to write down clues. Make diagrams and maps of buildings
and islands where appropriate. You will refer back to them again and
again. If you get frustrated, leave the game alone for a while then
come back. Don't give in to the temptation to completely spoil the
experience by getting hints for everythig. Better to enjoy the game.
The satisfaction when you finish will be much better.
- Touch everywhere. When walking along pathways, turn
right and left and see if there are ways to travel or little items
that you have overlooked. There are several places where you can
look up or down to see interesting or useful things.
Keep a sharp eye out for things that are unintentionally
camouflaged.
- Remember that this is a logical world. If you think like you're
really there, you'll gain a lot more insight. Virtually
every contraption has a useful purpose that you can figure out.
Remember these purposes because some of them will be very
important.
- There are some puzzles in Riven that, when solved, do not immediately
have a noticeable benefit to you. Remember how everything works
logically. If you think you've done something right, go look
around for things the "puzzle" might be connected to so you can
see if anything has changed.
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