By Mike Brinker - July 21, 2005

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An Introduction To Riviera

Riviera: The Promised Land, developed by Sting and published by Atlas, is a finely crafted RPG for the Game Boy Advance System. It places striking, beautiful characters and a seemingly simplistic story into the palm of your hand. Riviera hit the shelves in late June of this year, so if you're looking for big and bold RPG action in portable bite-size chunks, your search is over.

From a plotline perspective, Riviera takes a pretty standard approach.  The story of Riviera starts 1,000 years ago during the great battle of Ragnarok. Fought between the Demons of Utgard and the Gods of Asgard, it reached biblical proportions. As demons gained the upper hand, the gods created a powerful force of Grim Angels to drive back their enemies. Each angel wields a unique weapon called a “Diviner.” After the demons' defeat, their power and that of the gods was sealed away in the land of Riviera, entrusted to the Sprites for protection. As time crawls forward, the enemy slowly returns. In a desperate act, the Seven Magi decide to actuate the Retribution using a powerful death angel armed with a Diviner.

 The game begins with two angels and a cat journeying towards the promised land. Their quest: turn the tide of a second coming.   This small fragment begins the story and the tutorial, throwing the player straight into battle as enemies lurk at Heaven's Gate. In true RPG fashion, the player chooses to either fight or cast spells. Before going into battle, your party can either fight or run. When choosing the former, the options given allow you to pick four items, including weapons and potions. This adds a nice level of difficulty and uncertainty before entering battle. Before battle, the enemies point value is indicated. This clues the player in on the strength of the enemy.

As characters exchange blows during battle, an "Over Drive" meter at the top of the screen rises with each successful strike. When full, it allows your character to unleash a powerful attack. The unique feature of the over meter is that it's shared among party members. Once its maximum capacity is reached, it shatters and is unusable.   As is standard in many RPGs, each fight sequence is followed by a tally of elapsed time, the skill level achieved, and the win/loss status of the fight. Once this is calculated, you receive a ranking. This determines how many “TP points” are received.

TP points are an interesting feature. They seem to be a double-edged sword that allows your character/party to further explore the world. This is crucial because it costs points to view different areas and unlock or find other items. With mini games thrown into the mix, this gem of an idea can be a bit frustrating. Spending TP points to search the realm doesn’t always yield results, however.  For example, TP points are necessary for viewing the sky, and dirt on the ground; however, there's no guarantee you'll find anything interesting. Some of these choices also unlock different pathways, adding a bit of replay value to the game. Not all areas can be explored if you lack TP points, creating another level of uncertainty to your journey.

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1: An Introduction To Riviera 2: Conclusion