Riviera: The Promised Land (PSP)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Kevin VanOrd
• Reviewed on: 08/08/2007
• Released on: 07/11/2007
• Originally published on GameSpot: Riviera: The Promised Land (PSP) Review

Tales of demons and angels struggling for superiority have existed for millennia. The theme is certainly no stranger to role-playing games, so it's a true wonder that Riviera: The Promised Land makes such a traditional yarn seem fresh. Here is a good-versus-evil saga that isn't afraid to explore shades of gray. Are the forces of heaven always to be trusted? How many innocent lives should be lost for the sake of the greater good? Lead character Ein confronts these questions and many more, yet the sweet charm of his supporting all-girl cast balances out these heavy subjects with liberal doses of humor and romance.

Not that this is the first time this particular story has been told. Riviera was originally released in 2005 for the Game Boy Advance, and has now been updated for the Sony PSP. The improvements aren't sweeping but they're solid, particularly in the background visuals. On the GBA, Riviera was stunning to look at, and the artwork has been masterfully reworked. Crumbling castle walls and dusky forests are lushly drawn, with particular emphasis on glowing lighting and muted colors. Character sprites, while impressive on the GBA, don't hold up quite so well now. They're noticeably pixelated and the animations are a little stiff. The soundtrack has also been improved, and it's sweeping and dramatic, as any good RPG soundtrack should be. There's also a ton of speech. The voice acting is not always consistent, but while none of it is outstanding, none of it will force you to turn down your volume, either.

Riviera features a lot of familiar gameplay wrapped into a streamlined mix. Exploration is not handled in the typical manner of freely wandering about locales to pick up quests and talk to other characters. Instead, you are limited to look mode and move mode. In move mode, you simply choose which direction you want your party to head in, and they move to the next area. In look mode, the game identifies objects or people of interest, and you select them to initiate dialogue or otherwise interact with them. You can't do so freely, however. Many of these objects require you to spend trigger points, which you earn by performing well in battle. This will often force you to make blind decisions. If you have a single trigger point left, do you open a chest or do you inspect a statue? It's impossible to know what the benefit (or in some cases, detriment) will be until you try. It's a clever system, and depending on what you investigate, you may find new areas or better loot--or you may trigger a trap or disturb a demon.

The end result is streamlined and accessible, but also remarkably linear. There are numerous side areas and other goodies to find by spending trigger points, but overall, the game pushes you along a single path from beginning to end. While there are a few side missions, they are optional and you can complete some of them just by pressing forward naturally. If you like to unboundedly explore every nook and cranny in your RPGs or return to vistas you've already visited, Riviera will disappoint you in this regard. On the other hand, you won't be bombarded by the usual annoying random encounters, since each battle is scripted and feels relevant to the story.

Combat, too, is highly focused and restricted. Before each battle, you choose three party members and four items from your inventory, put the characters in a simple formation, and engage. It's the game's most strategic ingredient, since each party member is adept with particular weapons; and in some cases, how one character uses a particular item may be different than how another character does. For example, Ein will use a staff to bash enemies, Cierra will cast offensive magic with it, and Fia will use it to heal party members. Items are freely usable by any member in the party during battle, since they don't have individual inventories.

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