Riviera: The Promised Land

"A charming little game"

Riviera, developed by Sting, is a remake of a WonderSwan game of the same name. It centers around an angel named Ein and the return of the demons, which had been sealed away long ago by the gods. Ein is to travel to the heavenly isle Riviera, the legacy of the gods, and find a way to seal away the demons again. Obviously there's more, but you'll have to find that out for yourself, won't you?

Graphics - 10/10
Riviera puts the graphical capabilities of the GBA to good use. The entire game is done in gorgeous 2-D, with well drawn backgrounds and character designs in a standard anime style. Both enemy and character sprites are detailed and well animated, as well as attacks and special skills. Level designs and landscapes, while sometimes repetitive, are nonetheless magnificent; the backgrounds are very vibrant and well detailed. To top it off, important scenes and character portraits are done in high quality CG stills, which you can enjoy over and over again in the Extra Content collection (more on that later).

Sound – 9/10
In terms of sound quality, Riviera puts up a strong showing, although this is somewhat affected by the GBA's sound capabilities. The songs are very catchy and suit the moods of the areas perfectly. In Riviera's soundtrack, you will find everything from energetic battle themes to cheerful ditties, and each and every one of these tracks is memorable and enjoyable. In addition, Riviera features voice clips during battles, although these are not as impressive as the soundtrack. While there are no glaring problems with the voice acting, some of the voice actors just don't seem to fit their characters, in my opinion. Also, there are some clips that just sound silly, but these are few and far between. Overall, though, the Riviera's sounds are very agreeable and not at all annoying.

Story – 7/10
Riviera's storyline, while not flawed, is still nothing special. Anyone who is familiar with a typical RPG storyline will be able to roughly predict the plot within fifteen minutes of beginning the game. Also, the writing in Riviera seems to have needed a few more edits, as several scenes in the game that should be dramatic just end up as underwhelming. Still, Riviera's “save the world” plot is well executed, despite not being anything out of the ordinary.

The characters are the real draw in this category. Even though their backstories are not well developed at all, you will still find yourself charmed by your main characters. I won't go into details here, but there's nothing quite like watching your various characters' personalities bounce off of each other.

One point worthy of notice is Riviera's affection system. Much like the Star Ocean games, each of the four girls in the game has an invisible number that rises or falls depending on how much they like Ein. This number can be changed by your dialogue choices, and a portion of the game's ending will change depending on how much each of the girls likes you.

Gameplay – 10/10
Riviera's gameplay is easily its best feature, as it is quite different from the typical system. The battle and character growth systems are highly item-based; when you go into battle, you must choose four items to bring with you, such as weapons or healing items. These items serve as your battle commands. Each item has a different effect depending on which character uses it; for example, one character may be able to slash with a sword, while another may only be able to throw it for low damage. Also, each item, with one exception, can only be used a certain number of times before it breaks. As for growth, characters do not grow by gaining experience levels, as in most other RPGs. Instead, each character can learn Overskills from certain types of items by using these items in a battle. When a character has used an item enough times, they will learn an Overskill, which is a special attack that can be used during battles, and they will receive a stat boost. As you gain new items and advance through the game, these stat boosts will get larger. Overall, this system is very effective, as it keeps the pacing and difficulty of the game right where they should be. The limit of items to use in battle forces you to think carefully in advance, yet it does not place any unfair handicap on the player. It may seem stupid to have a usage limit on every item, but you are given ample replacements; I have never managed to run out of a critical item through use.

Gameplay outside of battle is also quite different from the normal RPG. There is no overworld map; instead, the game is composed of several large stages, each of which is a complete chapter of the game. In between stages, you are returned to the only town, where you can interact with various people. You cannot revisit finished areas and each stage has a limited number of battles, but this does not restrict character growth in any way, as you are provided with a practice mode to learn Overskills in. This does result in the possibility of missing items, however, which is mildly annoying. Also, you cannot move your character in the traditional sense; rather, your character is stationary in the middle of the screen and actions that can be taken, such as move one screen over or open a chest, are displayed as options for you to choose. I personally found this to be no big deal; in fact, it makes it much easier to interact with a stage.

One major complaint I do have, though, is that the battles crawl at a snail's pace. Special attack animations, while pretty, only add to this problem. I really would have loved it if the designers had increased the speed of battles significantly.

Length/Replayability – 9/10
Riviera is not a particularly long game; my average completion time was around twenty hours. However, there is enormous replay value in the form of six endings to be viewed. Also adding to replay value is the Extra Content menu, which is unlocked as you find certain items in the game and carries over from save to save. Extra Content stores things like viewed CG scenes, the sound test, items acquired, and high scores, and it will take several playthroughs to completely fill every Extra Content item. Overall, there is a lot to do, and Riviera will keep you entertained for quite some time.

Overall (not an average) – 9/10
Riviera is definitely worth your time and money. While I wish the story was stronger, the characters, gameplay, and sound and graphics make up for that; you will not regret playing this game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/06/05