In the 90's I was obsessed with the original Myst and Riven. I wanted nothing more than to visit them for real. This is as close as I am going to get to that, and I am very grateful for it.
I am several hours into the game at this time of writing. Cyan has done an amazing job getting a graphically demanding game to run decently well on Quest standalone (I am using a Quest 3.) I've noticed a few issues such as visible LOD mesh and particle effect pop-in, the water looks pretty bad compared to the PC version, and there's occasional stuttering when moving quickly, but nothing has really broken my immersion too badly. But the extreme draw distance with the level of detail they've achieved is incredible.
I think the CG humans are much improved over Myst (2021), they still look a bit videogame-y but so far have been good enough. It's a shame, but necessary, to lose the original FMV performances, and I think the new actors and mocap performance matching to original audio has worked pretty well, although I haven't got far enough in the game yet to see all the new material.
The VR controls work well for the most part. I have had a few issues such as a particular puzzle involving sliding tiles being difficult to control, and the hotspots for book pages being a bit difficult to grab, but I managed.
Also, the initial game load time is painfully slow and doesn't seem to load if the app isn't forgrounded, so you just have to stare at the loading bar for several minutes when launching the game. But for me, these issues are minor nitpicks that don't really tarnish the experience much, which is why I am leaving a 5-star review.
I am loving that the game is both such a familiar and nostalgic recreation of one of my favorite games of all time, but also has many bold changes from the original. Some are necessary to adapt the game to realtime 3D/VR, while others I've seen look like they have been made to flesh out the world and the story and provide a sense of wonder, mystery, and discovery for seasoned fans. It's kind of like playing the game for the first time again, which is an incredible gift.
I am so happy that they got the original creative leads back together for the remake (Rand Miller, Robyn Miller, and Richard Vander Wende.) I think they have been able to make the new content fit well into the original vision for the game because of this, and the respect that newer Cyantists have for this game as well.
All in all, I am loving this experience, and I can't wait to finish the game. Thank you so much, Cyan, for making my childhood dream a reality - I've been waiting for this totally immersive experience of Riven for almost 30 years!