I got nostalgic for Riviera: The Promised Land
Since I’ve played it so often, I don’t have much to say about it. I first picked this up in… 2005-ish? Summer of 2005, I believe. It was my first “dating sim-ish” kind of game, the first time my attitude towards my party members had actually affected the ending I got. I had no idea things would turn out that way, but I just went along being nice to Lina and before I knew it, I’d gotten a treasure hunter ending with her. I was hooked!
I immediately started a new game, which also makes Riviera the first game I ever did back-to-back playthroughs for. This time I went for Serene because, like, who doesn’t go for Serene? Got her, yippee, then right away I started another playthrough! I was going for Cierra this time, but then I stopped myself halfway though like, “WTH are you doing? How can you play the same game three times in a row like this? Stop touching that game. Stop it!”
You’ve gotta understand, that was the first time a game had ever had that effect on me, I thought I was going crazy or something. So, believe it or not, I forced myself to stop playing and lent the game to a friend I knew wouldn’t return it. And that was it for Riviera and me until now. Looking back, what the heck was wrong with me?
Anyway, so I got a little wistful late last year and got a rom and played it. It was surprisingly hard to get through, for an unexpected reason: I remember just about everything that ever happened in the game. It’s been almost 7 years, but I still remembered most of the dungeons, most of the skits, the soundtracks, even which way to go and which way not to go. I guess I did play it 2.5 times, it’s only to be expected. The nostalgia trip was fun, though. And now I know I wasn’t crazy. It’s not the best game in the world – the story is cheesy as hell, the Practice Battle system makes things a little too easy and that 15-item limit just has to go. But even after all these years I had a blast with the characters and their interactions, the soundtrack, all the hidden items and traps… All still fun for me to explore after all this time.
I also got to reminisce about the days when I thought Sting was a great developer, based on just this game alone. That was before I went on to play Yggdra Union… Stupidly confusing stupidly complicated randomly hard battle system… no, we won’t talk about that game today. It’s like the same way Imageepoch publicly soiled themselves with Final Promise Story. Except I forgave them once I played Criminal Girls while Sting has yet to redeem itself. They’ve got other things like Blaze Union and Gloria Union, but I’m not touching them. A while ago I was downloading random ISOs and came across an SRPG called Gungnir. Oh, a new SRPG, downloaded, fired it up… Sting. *florporplorpl* my gaming boner wilted on the spot.
Yes, I Mad. Although I suppose 6 years is a rather long time to hold a grudge… And maybe I just sucked at YU… No, forget it, I Still Mad. …Yeah, definitely still mad.
Well, that was a nice trip down Memory Lane, but I can’t stay in the past forever. Next up, I’ve been exploring the Wand of Fortune fandisc, Mirai e no Prologue. More about that once I’ve fooled around with it a little more.
I remember Riviera. It’s too original for me, really. I’ve really tried hard with the PSP version, but I guess it’s not my kind of game. I was also very interested in Knights of the Knightmare, but the 1-hour tutorial didn’t help either (but I’m determined to play it as soon as I get my DS alive again)
About Sting… My favorite game by them is Baroque, I love it (I can’t explain why since it’s quite boring and unplayable), so Sting has disappointed me MANY times after that, since nothing is remotely similar. I want more games with that kind of atmosphere X_X
Yeah, Riviera isn’t for everyone. No need to force yourself. I’d heard about Baroque but I had no idea it was by Sting. “Boring and unplayable” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement though. I’ll give that one a pass.
Baroque feels more like it was developed by Atlus, if I may throw in my opinion. When Atlus US announced it for localisation, I at first thought it was developed by Atlus JP, actually.. I figured out it wasn’t when I saw the credits in the game, but still, it totally feels more like a game by Atlus than Sting. But I dropped it quickly, I just can’t get into rougelikes. Not my kind of game.
I’m not too fond of most of their titles, Knights of the Nightmare was really confusing (and stressy..) so I dropped it quickly. But I read that Gungnir is more traditional and less confusing gameplay-wise, so I’d like to give it a chance when Atlus releases it. ^^
But for now I just wish Corpse Party would be added to the (European) Vita PSN store, so I can finally play it… D:
While my enthusiasm for Gungir did wane after seeing the Sting logo, I don’t give up on SRPGs that easily, so I did play the first battle. They threw 100 different tutorial screens at me during it, all of which I successfully ignored but none of which boded well for the future. Plus the story was some hackneyed fantasy racism fantasy classism crap and they talked a ton both before and after the battle. I hear it’s coming out in English later this year, but I’m not even going to pirate it.
Whats with them and their hours long tutorials? Seriously. D:
I do enjoy long talky cutscenes tho, story doesn’t sound that interesting tho. :/
They seem to have added Corpse Party to the European PSN stores last night tho, so I know what I’ll be playing the next few days. :>
Enjoy yourself. I don’t like horror games and I don’t like visual novels, so that’s another game I won’t be touching.
Well, it’s not really a traditional visual novel. There is quite a bit of gameplay, I think this was originally made with RPG maker, so you have these retro sprites and you run around and pick up stuff, search for clues and try not do die… I don’t do well with horror games usually, but this is more of a creepy Japanese ghost story than what you usual call a horror game and the story is told VN style, yeah, but well…. almost every RPG does that as well.. it definitely does have enough gameplay to keep me interested and it’s not that long and not that pricey, so I’m happy with it. Even tho I just died in the first chapter. :>
I finished playing the PSP version not so long ago and totally adored it! I didn’t manage to win the ladies’ affections significantly and was instead treated to the “True Rose ending”, which is a rather satisfying outcome given that it’s supposed to be the canonical ending…^^ But I’m certainly going to play Riviera again and try my best to woo sweet, lovely Serene. I’m now really curious about the other Dept Heaven games, namely Yggdra Union, Gungnir and Knights in the Nightmare, which I actually own but yet have to play… I hope I will love them as much as Riviera!
I hated the little I played of all the other games in the series. I liked Riviera’s short, sweet and simple nature but the rest are too dark and complicated. I hope you enjoy them more than I did.