Yeah, that was my conclusion as well, Myst was easy because the puzzles were limited in area, Riven was on another scale because it spanned multiple huge islands.
It would have flopped completely if released now, there were perks to having limited access to new games, instead of giving up when it was hard, I kept coming back because what else was I going to play.
Cant wait for the remake to see if I still remember everything. I think my mom might still have all my notes.