"Riviera, my new favorite RPG..."

After hearing good things about this game and being a fan of Atlus' games, I decided to purchase this game. I was a little skeptical about this new Quest system but it turned out to be very fun. Now on to the review.....

Graphics-9

The graphics in Riviera are great. During talking sequences each character has a highly detailed portrait that changes with their emotion. The locations you travel through are all unique and very interesting. Rivieras graphics look hand drawn. I was excited to progress through the game to see what the next stage would look like.
The fighting in Riviera also has good graphics. Lighting, fire, ice, etc. all look colorful and realistic. The menus are decent and the pictures that pop-up after some parts of the story look very nice.

Story-10

The story in Riviera is great. Riviera is a land of peaceful creatures. Mysteriously, Demons appear in Riviera. You take the role of Ein, a Dark Angel sent from the Asgard, the realm of gods. You are accompanied by a fellow Dark Angel, Ledah. The seven Magi of Asgard fear the demons return so they order Ein and Ledah to reactivate the Destruction. It will destroy all of Riviera and its demons. There is one problem though. All of the innocent being in Riviera would be destroyed too. Ein doesn't like the idea of this but reluctantly continues anyway. After some stuff happens, Ein gets split up from Ledah and believes he must save Riviera from the demons before the destruction is activated. Will you ever see Ledah again? Should you listen to the Gods? Will Riviera survive? Play the game to find out.

Gameplay-10

The best part of Riviera is not only the unique battle system, but the way Ein can interact with the environment.
You can't move freely in Riviera, you move around using a menu in which you can observe object and interact with them. For example, if you see a sword in the ground, you might have to press A ten times real fast. While in another part of the game you must press UP, DOWN, A, B, RIGHT, to get out of the way of a falling boulder. Its fun to see what everything in a room does.
The battle system Riviera is fun. You bring four items or weapons into battle, which everyone can use. You level up weapons to fight with. Each time you level up a weapon you get a skill and you gain stat points in health, attack, etc. So late in the game, you have a lot of skills and weapons. The fighting is turned based, but with the weapons system, it makes it fun to level up your weapons. Unfortunatley, can only hold 15 items or weapons at a time.

Sound-8

Riviera has great music and sounds. Parts of the game are voice acted. The voice acting is very understandable and cute. During battle different songs play and I found myself humming them after I was done playing. While exploring, calm music plays. This really sets the mood to keep exploring.

Extras/Unlockables-9

The pictures can be unlocked and viewed at any time, via the menu. Along with pictures, you can unlock voice clips, item lists, extra stages, and more. To get everything you need to play the game more that once.

Length/Replay-16 hours/High

With multiple playthroughs required to get everything, this game will last you a long time. There are seven chapters, which take about two hours each to complete. It can take more or less time depending on how much you train.

Overall, this game has turned out to be my favorite game for GBA. I would recommend to buy this game because it is unique and fun. Unless you despise RPG's this game would be a great addition to your GBA library.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/14/05