Riviera: The Promised Land Critic Reviews

It's not going to satisfy if you're in the market for another "Golden Sun" game or a new "Tactics Ogre" game. Despite the screen shots, it is not a tactical RPG, and it breaks a number of genre conventions associated with traditional RPGs. It could be argued, however, that this is the best reason to buy Riviera, as it certainly allows for a very interesting and unique experience with an emphasis on strategy and a wonderful story.

If you own a GBA or a DS then be sure to check out Riviera if you can find a copy, you'll find a very fun and challenging game underneath its cutesy exterior, and clocking it at well over twenty hours for the first play through you'll be long entertained, even into your second time around when you seek out all the stuff you missed the first time.

The game also features some nice unlockables as well as multiple endings for every character in the party. And just in case you need another incentive, Atlus isn't shipping too many copies either, so grab it while you can.

The game ultimately exceeds expectations thanks to its engrossing story and superslick production values.

I was delighted to find such a different approach and concept that somehow worked so well. My only real complaint is the inventory system, and frankly that is in itself, trivial.

A fantastic storyline, beautiful art design and a soundtrack that will blow your mind are just a few of the factors that make Riviera one of the best RPGs on the GBA to date.

The storyline is captivating, the technical presentation is superb and the unique gameplay twists make for a fresh role-playing experience that's unlike any other currently available.

An exceptional adventure and worth a try for any RPG enthusiast.

The storyline ends up feeling quite fresh in the overused area. It is a refreshing storyline that will have you commit to playing it from beginning to the end, trying to unlock all aspects of the game.

This is a very well crafted game, and aside from the sound issues, fits perfectly into the GBA's hardware. Atlus did us all a favor by taking a chance on this and bringing it to North American shores. I can think of only one thing I want to do after playing through it and seeing one of the endings.

9 / 8 / 7 / 8 - 32 gold

Any RPG fan owes it to themselves to check it out for its strong story and offbeat, but fun, gameplay.

Simple game mechanics, wonderful visuals and a good story all give Riviera compelling elements that should delight RPG fans.

A merely solid game in a crowd of giants like "Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones." But for all that, it managed to etch itself a little place in my memory, and I can't help but recommend it to any RPGer with a little time and an open mind.

If you are looking for an out of the ordinary RPG for your GBA, Riviera will definitely fit the bill. Atlus, once again, has continued their legacy of making entertaining but slightly different games.

And despite the very real possibility of some people being put off by the huge amount of text to get through, I strongly feel that Riviera has quite a bit to offer-not only to people still hanging on to their GBAs, but to fans of RPG's in general.

An interesting, entertaining adventure in its own right. Atlus' latest probably won't be to everyone's tastes, but anyone looking for a lengthy, engrossing and above all unique handheld quest this summer would be remiss in passing it up.

A game that desperately tries to be different, but it just ends up making itself frustrating in areas that should be simple.

The plot takes a bit to get going but it eventually does move along, even if it's a story that you've probably experienced in some fashion in nearly every other Japanese RPG game in the past two decades.

This would have been a great RPG had it not used all the "uniqueness" that makes it annoying rather that a classic.