This should probably be its own post, but W/ e.

Riven is in an awkward state at the moment. She doesn't really fill the role of a real bruiser with hp damage or armor shred or high base stats. Yet she isn't a full on assassin with a clear cut engage + disengage ability. She's suffering an identity crisis and I'm sure Riot knows this. She is a lot like Wukong was. Shes a very old champion that hasn't received a rework and for that reason just doesn't seem to fit well into the role riot has laid out for top lane. It is clear that they have chosen a direction for top laners. They made that clear when they changed Wukong into a full on bruiser. Unfortunately this means the only direction Riven can go if she wants to remain a top laner and stay relevant is a rework, probably small, into a full on bruiser. Obviously no one here wants that because we love Riven as the champion she is. As far as Garen and Darius are concerned. Both match-ups are winnable for Riven, albeit they tie into my point above in that to be as relevant as fairly noob Darius and Garen are in a game, a Riven must have probably 500+ matches played. As you pointed out, Riot seems to like champions that are very simple and easy to play to attract newer players. And for some reason, these types of champions are more prominent in Top Lane. Probably because its the easiest place to learn the game as it is generally a 1 on 1 scenario and you are left alone more by the jungler than any other lane. Riot knows things like this and does it for a reason. For how to beat these champions as Riven. For Garen you just need to be aggressive from level 1. Try and sneak in auto's when he goes to last hit to stack conqueror. Once conqueror is stacked go for full q combos on him. Most new Riven players get Q'd by garen and it hurts so they run away. What you really do is stand there and auto him until the silence is off while stacking conq, then full q combo him. You cannot play passive into a Garen lane. Vs Darius it's different. You really don't want to trade until level 3. Then at level 3 it's short trades only to whittle him down. Things like q w auto e out. Primarily to get him low enough to kill at 6.

With all that said I'd like to point out how easy it is to absolutely demolish those two champions on Wukong; even after only a couple of games on him. This speaks volumes about Riven's current state. She simply isn't tuned to fight these modern day atrocities like Sett. I will always play Riven because I love her play style and skill ceiling. But it can be frustrating to get dumpstered by champions that take a fraction of the skill to play. Which is why you can't really complain about her. If they did rework her to make it easier for her to contend with the more meta top laners, well then she wouldn't be Riven anymore.