Riviera: The Promised Land

Riviera: The Promised Land

One of the Game Boy Advance’s final and finest RPGs, Riviera: The Promised Land has been ported to the PSP and, at long last, secured a European release. The quirky RPG gameplay, morally complex narrative, colourful 2D sprites and endearing soundtrack have all been preserved in the transition and the PSP’s sumptuous widescreen display helps to make this the definitive Riviera experience.

Unlike most JRPGs you’re not given direct control of your character’s movement. Rather the game plays out rather like an ancient pen and paper RPG, with subtle menu selections triggering your character’s exploration and progression through houses, towns and dungeons.

In each screen your character Ein finds himself on, there are one or two arrows pointing off in different directions. Selecting these arrows moves Ein in that direction. There are two modes to examine screens in, ‘move’ and ‘look’. The second of these modes allows Ein to spot objects of interest that weren’t initially visible. These items show up as red menu items and, if you want to examine the item and pick it up you’ll need to spend ‘trigger points’ to do so. Trigger points must be earned through fighting monsters and, as soon as you run out of them, you won’t be able to examine any items in the environments.

In battles the game mechanics are straightforward. You’re able to take four items into a fight, including weapons and healing objects and fighting is simply a case of clicking on the monster you want to strike and engaging in a typical JRPG war of attrition. A special move gauge fills as you progress through fights and, when filled allows you to unleash previously learned special moves on enemies. You’re awarded grades for how quickly and efficiently you dispense of your foes and, the better you do, the more ‘trigger points’ you’ll earn. In this way the game builds up an interesting play off between battles and exploration, one feeding the other, and the system works well.

The game’s painted by beautiful, pin-sharp sprites and the oftentimes heavy themes of the plot are tempered throughout by moments of levity and romance. Characters speak to you through the game on almost every single screen, offering unique advice and insight in a way that builds emotional involvement in both the game and the non-player characters around you. The voice acting that repeats these lines varies wildly in quality but while it’s all stereotypical American drawl, it’s never so offensive to inspire you to turn it off.

Riviera is a good-looking and different RPG that only shows its age through its slightly crusty mechanics. Of course, this is the very same thing that will endear the game to JRPG fans and so it comes heartily recommended to the Final fantasy faithful.

3 out of 5