We have been playing for a few days now, and are finally getting used to all of the changes in the 2024 version of Riven. It would be a total blast to play the VR version. Someday, perhaps! So far we have explored Temple Island, where one first arrives. There are many changes, though the landscape and transport systems remain largely intact. Some of the puzzles are virtually the same, while others have changed drastically. Those mysterious spinning fire marbles are even more mysterious now. Pathways have been changed, most noticeable within the largest dome on the island. Gehn's chair, where he can seem to appear to worshippers in the temple, is in an entirely new location now, though the temple itself remains unchanged.
The main difference is now those revolving fire marbles. In the old game they would open and.... in the new version they open and can be entered, descending into the starry abyss via catwalks and ladders. Gehn's idea to escape Riven was to create a linking book using the large central dome as the focus of power from the 5 spinning marbles. Once the five smaller spinning marbles have been mastered, it is very easy to hop from one island to another. We took our first trip.
We have also been to Jungle Island, likewise finding many changes there, too. Lots of mysterious religious figures, and lo and behold there is an inventory system now. While we always carried the special linking book, and a notebook given to us by Atrus at the beginning, there are now a few other things to carry, important to new aspects of the plot. Over on Boiler Island, there is a new and somewhat easier way to get into Gehn's laboratory, where we are now puzzling over the new puzzles. Moving in 360 degrees is fun, though the sky never changes, like it does in the revised Myst. All the water moves, though, and there are mysterious cracks in the ocean. We know that Gehn has not built a solid world, and there is much more evidence of that now. The original soundtrack is there, but there is some new material, too. Though players can turn in any direction, they are still mostly confined to the paths laid out in the original game, plus several new paths never seen before. Some amazing rendering work has been done here, and each day we look forward to playing some more. A final review will be posted here when we have finished the game.
It's strange to think that a masterpiece game like Riven can be improved. It's a bit like the Vivaldi Four Seasons, and what Max Richter has done with them. Bold, but very refreshing.
In film news, my festival choices are nearly complete. We are now on the final film. Before that we watched Daphne, a 2007 dramatization of the life of Daphne du Maurier. It's a fairly pedestrian look at her leanings towards lesbianism. When she sees the woman she will obsess over for many years (and who will reject her advances) she says she feels like an 18 year old boy. She prefers wearing trousers, and has a torrid affair with an older woman, an actress from her play. It's a pretty slim story, and I'm not sure that du Maurier fans will be too impressed. Read her works instead.
Next came the 2nd film in Obayashi's anti-war trilogy. Seven Weeks is from 2014, and tells the story, in its own unique way, of a 92 year old man who has died. As the family comes together for the funeral rituals (which last for seven weeks) viewers learn about his life, especially his wartime memories. There is a lot of fast talking in the film, putting subtitle readers at a disadvantage for enjoying the beautiful shots of local scenery, or even noting what is happening away from the centre of the screen. It is a complicated story, and often told in a complicated manner. The first film, Casting Blossoms To The Sky, though often avant garde in its storytelling, seemed more approachable and easier to sit back and enjoy. I enjoyed the present film a lot, but I feel that one viewing was not enough to make total sense of what the director was doing. I think perhaps a less experimental approach to the story would have been much better, leaving people with a better idea of what is going on.
A few weeks ago we watched The Third Murder, a great film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. This time it was the director's family drama After The Storm, from 2016. A man, divorced from his wife, gets to see his son once every month. He is behind on child support, and being threatened with the visits being stopped. He wrote a best selling novel years ago but has no responsible sense with money. He gambles at the track (bicycle races) and is working as a sleazy private detective. The storm in question is Typhoon #34. He, his former wife, and young son are forced to stay over at his mother's apartment during the storm. He is a loser, through and through, and we are happy that his wife managed to get away. It is the character of his mother that really steals the film away. What a great role for an elderly Asian woman to get! The actress is totally amazing, and we soon long for scenes that have her in them. Another interesting aspect of the film is the discussion the estranged husband and wife have during the storm, where he finally realizes that he and she are not meant to be together anymore. There is no shouting or screaming, as one would find in American breakup movies, and he doesn't get a gun and shoot her, his son, and then himself. This is a distinctly Japanese view of resolving problems, and is quite refreshing, especially when the man finally accepts his fate. Highly recommended. We are on the lookout for his other films.
After The Storm, showing on Mubi.
Mapman Mike
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