GAMES AND GADGETS

While Riviera The Promised Land still doesn't compare, in terms of graphics that is, to my favorite PSP RPG game of all time, Brave Story: New Traveler, the gameplay and the overall story is still good enough for me compared with Jeanne D'Arc.

The graphics of Riviera is not 3D, I don't think it's even 2D. It's just some comic book art drawing that can move around, however, I have to say that I'm an anime fan and even if the characters are not moving and is obviously pixilated, I love the way they're drawn.

Riviera the promised land also offered me an interesting gameplay which is a total deviation from traditional RPG games. At first, it was pretty frustrating since items are limited (e.g., sword can only be used 10 times, etc) and you really have to think about your battle plan since you're scored in the end and your battle score would be the basis of how much of the area you can explore. However, because of that, it just made the game that much interesting, for me, that is. Traditional RPG gamers would get frustrated and easily bored as the characters do nothing but walk around and you don't get to interact, kinda like Jeanne D'Arc.

What's challenging about Riviera is that you can actually miss items in treasure chests and the level of your characters would depend on how many items you've uncovered which makes exploring and doing well in battle a must. I have also recently found out that the way you play the game and the score would result in different endings so for hard core gamers who absolutely needs to finish every detail in the game, Riviera would be a challenge and you now have a reason to play it over and over again.

The overall story is also quite good and there are hints of several love angles which makes the game more interesting as the game uncovers though sometimes predictable.

I would have to give Riviera: The Promised Land a 4 out of 5 stars mainly for the gameplay alone.