Riviera: The Promised Land

"It's not perfect, but it's still an enjoyable game."

Introduction: Riviera: The Promised Land is an RPG for the Game Boy Advance system developed by Atlus. There are lots of RPGs floating around nowadays, so how does this title stack up? Read on to find out.

Gameplay: 8/10. This game has done well with innovation. One of the first things you'll notice in this game is the way you explore the dungeons. Instead of moving the characters around directly like in the Final Fantasy series, you'll be presented with what is called the "move" screen. It shows the directions you can move. For example, you push the up arrow to go up, left to go left, etc. You use these buttons to go to the different rooms in the dungeons you visit. The other, more interesting, screen is called "look." You can access it by pushing A, and it allows you to interact with the objects in the room. You use this screen to open chests, search grass, look at statues, etc.

Now, let's move to the main portion of gameplay, the battles. They have been innovated too. First of all, you can only take 4 items into battle with you. The items can be weapons, potions, or whatever. Each main character does different things with each weapon, and each weapon has an "endurance" amount. When it hits zero, the weapon shatters and can never be used again.
The way you "level up" in this game is by using certain weapons a certain number of times. If a character has an exp. bar for a weapon, you can fill that bar by using the weapon. Once it is full, you'll gain stats based on the overdrive skill you learn by mastering the weapon.

The battles take place in a turn-based fashion, and are preset, not random, so if you run into an enemy, you'll have to defeat it in order to proceed. If you lose, you can try again with the enemy's hp reduced by a set amount. If you win, you'll get a battle ranking and an item based on that rank. The battles can be entertaining, but they can also be repetitive.

Story: 7.5/10. Basically, the story is ripped out of Norse Mythology. The gods of Asgard and the demons of Utgard are fighting in a fierce war known as "Ragnarok." (The day of doom in Norse Mythology.) When they started to lose, the gods gave up their lives to create the Grim Angels, who defeated the demons and sealed them away, but the gods soon followed. Now, the demons have started to return. So two Grim Angels, Ein and Ledah, have been selected to go to Riviera and activate the Retribution, which is supposed to stop the demons. As it goes on, Ein starts to wonder about the mission, and it kinda goes from there. It's not the best story in the world, and most of the plot twists can be seen from a mile away, but it's not horrible either.

Graphics: 9/10. The graphics are well done here. The surroundings are well done, the character graphics are nicely done too. There are also still Cinema Galleries and character attack pictures that are colorful and enjoyable. These are well done for a GBA game.

Sound: 9/10. First of all, this score wouldn't have gotten a 9 if it weren't for one thing: voice acting. Yup, real voice acting. You'll only hear it during battle, but when you do hear it, it's very nice and well done. (Plus, if you dislike the voices for some reason, you can turn them off in the options menu.) The music and sounds overall are well done and make the experience more enjoyable.

Replayability. 8/10. This is not a long game. It'll probably only take around 20-30 hours to beat it on your first playthrough, unless you get stuck or something. But since you can use Practice mode to train your characters, and you can restart a battle with enemy HP reduced if you lose, you probably won't be stuck for long. It can also be repetitive, which will kill this value for some. Still, it has unlockable extras, and alternate endings, which are nice and give you something new to do next time. (Plus, since the endings are determined by which girl likes you the most, it's fun to make some girls like you and others loathe you.) You'll probably play it through at least twice if you like it.

Rent or Buy?
My final recommendation: If you can, you may want to rent it first, just to make sure you like it. If you enjoy it, pick it up, but from what I've heard, this game is getting harder and harder to find.

I want to warn you now though, if you're planning to buy this game for someone else, you'll probably want to make sure they're a teen, just like the rating recommends. There are some swear words, but they're relatively mild. There is a pentangle in it, (you know, the star in the circle) during an enemy attack when they summon another enemy. There are also two "bathing" scenes, it doesn't show TOO much, but it's not really appropriate for younger children.

Overall, this is a good game that can bring lots of entertainment.
Final: 8/10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/23/05