A lot of classics have been re-released for the modern day handheld console recently with fine examples such as the early “Final Fantasy” series and “Tales of Phantasia”. Belonging to long running RPG series, these titles would prickle the interest of Western gamers instantly. But then there are also the ones that don’t belong to a series and had never reached the Western stores before. One such title is “Riviera: The Promised Land”, a unique RPG developed originally by Sting for the Wonderswan Colour four years ago. It wasn’t until last year did it receive a full English translation when the game was remade for the GBA. Now we have a third remake available for the PSP and just like Tales of Phantasia’s PSP remake, it’s been given the full voice acting treatment too along with a handful of new event illustrations.

For those of you who haven’t played Riviera before, the story tells of how a great war known as “Ragnarok” occurred between the Gods of Asgard and demons a long time ago. With the demons gaining the winning edge, the Gods decided to use their last resort which was to create entities known as the “Grim Angels” by sacrificing their own lives. Yielding sacred weapons, the Grim Angels managed to turn the tide. The demons were sealed away back to their own land and the place became known as “Riviera”.


Grim Angels are on the move once again.
A thousand years have passed and there are signs of the demons returning in Riviera. Acting as proxies of the demised Gods, the Seven Magi call upon the Grim Angels once again. They are ordered to carry out “Retribution” and thus our tale begins with Ein and Ledah who set out on their mission.

So, what’s so unique about this RPG that makes it stand out? Well, unlike most RPGs where you can freely control your party of characters to travel around environments and interact with objects, things work slightly differently in Riviera. Appearing on every screen are small boxes of text known as “Triggers” and, there are basically two modes you can use while exploring the world which are “Quest Mode” and “Move Mode”. During Move Mode, things are very much like one of those visual novel games such as Phoenix Wright. Arrows appear with the name of locations or actions next to them and using the D-Pad, you can choose where to go or what to do next. A mini map in the top corner of the screen keeps track of where you’ve been to so that you can’t get lost.


Triggers are how you interact with the world of Riviera.
Quest Mode on the other hand, allows you to interact with objects such as treasure chests at the cost of TP (Trigger Points) which can be earned from battles. Don’t be mistaken that all you’ll get in return for checking things is a box full of text because the sheer number of little events that can occur during your Riviera adventure is simply amazing! So many different things can happen depending on what you do! For example, although some chests are safe to open others are locked with traps. Whenever you find one with a trap, a sudden key sequence flashes on your screen briefly and you have to press them quickly before the time runs out. If you manage to do so successfully, you can claim the item but if not, you could find your stats lowered. Most of the time you only have one shot at these key tapping events.