I totally agree. The thing about Myst and Riven is that they really are full of the kinds of things that players will naturally try to circumvent by looking up solutions: non-obvious interactable objects, branching paths, easy to accidentally backtrack. Basically, full of ways to feel like you are wasting your time. The concessions that Outer Wilds and The Witness make are naturally related to this. Particularly with the latter, Jon Blow stated how much they changed the game to make it clear that the panels were the only thing that needed to be interacted with, and the game makes it very clear from the beginning that each panel can be approached independently. It's only with the game's environmental puzzles that this starts to devolve, but they are not necessary by any means. Outer Wilds also does a great job of making you feel like you are getting something significant from each time loop.
But I must agree with you, the ship has sailed with this kind of game. You can of course go back and enjoy it but you do so with the knowledge that you can be doing other things that feel as meaningful but without the feeling of frustration.
Another similar example are MMOs. When I was a kid, my dad and I were really into Star Wars Galaxies. Well, people made emulation projects to go back and play it, but it's just not the same for various reasons. I feel the same way with World of Warcraft. It is almost more stark than Riven, because you not only miss the word of mouth and lack of easy "cheating" aspects, but you also feel the distinct lack of open socialising in modern online gameplay.
A good example of the opposite would be old Nintendo games. Super Mario Bros 3 is still one of the best 2D Mario games of all time, and in no sense when playing it do you feel compelled towards a modern experience.
I had a similar experience when I bought an iOS remake of legend of Zelda three… Within an hour I found myself circling the border of the accessible area of the game looking for the door or NPC interaction I was missing. Absolutely Not fun. I chalked it up to gameplay of a bygone era and gave the rest a miss.
But I must agree with you, the ship has sailed with this kind of game. You can of course go back and enjoy it but you do so with the knowledge that you can be doing other things that feel as meaningful but without the feeling of frustration.
Another similar example are MMOs. When I was a kid, my dad and I were really into Star Wars Galaxies. Well, people made emulation projects to go back and play it, but it's just not the same for various reasons. I feel the same way with World of Warcraft. It is almost more stark than Riven, because you not only miss the word of mouth and lack of easy "cheating" aspects, but you also feel the distinct lack of open socialising in modern online gameplay.
A good example of the opposite would be old Nintendo games. Super Mario Bros 3 is still one of the best 2D Mario games of all time, and in no sense when playing it do you feel compelled towards a modern experience.