Riviera: The Promised Land draws from diverse mythologies, most prominently
Norse, incorporating concepts such as
Ragnarök and
Yggdrasil into its story. The game takes place mostly on the continent of Riviera, with the characters visiting various locales such as a
sinking city, a forest, and an abandoned cemetery.
Characters (from left to right) : Ein, Fia, Lina, Serene and Cierra-->
Riviera offers a cast of six playable characters. is a Grim Angel, who sacrificed his black wings in order to receive his Diviner,
Einherjar. He wears shorts, a vest, gloves, a cape and a scarf; he has grey-black hair and deep blue eyes. He appears to be an average teenage boy and is quite naive, an attribute that annoys both his partners Ledah and Rose. In battle, his primary weapons are swords. is a teenage girl with a caring personality. She wears a long green skirt, and a black vest over a long-sleeved white blouse. She has long green hair tied with a matching ribbon and green eyes. Originally, she shared a house with Lina, but later made room for Ein, Cierra and Serene. She is, like Ein, kind and noble, sometimes stern and serious, and she can cook and mix herbs well, along with being the only character with healing spells. She is extremely mature, despite being the youngest of Ein's four female companions. Sometimes Fia shows signs of shyness toward others, especially Ein, for whom she nurses a soft spot. In battle, her primary weapons are rapiers and swords. is a sweet, childlike and energetic teenage girl. She wears a flamboyant yellow short-skirt and overcoat. She has brown eyes and orange hair tied into pigtails. Lina enjoys eating, going on adventurous treasure hunts and playing lively games with her friends; she is ignorant about household chores. She constantly gets into situations in which she embarrasses herself, especially around Ein, for whom she hosts a secret infatuation. Her primary weapon in battle are bows and other long range weapons. is an outgoing, tomboy-ish teenage girl, the same age as Ein. She is an Arc, unlike the majority of the inhabitants of Riviera, who are Sprites. She used to live on Rosalina Island with other Arcs until her entire tribe was killed by the Grim Angel Malice. She alone survives and joins Ein, for whom she develops an infatuation. Serene has large, batlike wings, a trait shared by Arcs. She wears a helmet adorned with a pair of fake cat ears on her shoulder-length dark blue/indigo hair and has blue eyes. She wears a long pale blue vest over a black body-suit and a dark blue shawl. In battle, her primary weapons are scythes and other pole-arms. is a kind, thoughtful
witch. She is the older sister figure of the group and possesses amazing magical powers. She is always optimistic but sometimes clumsy. She rescued Rose after she and Ein were separated, although she accidentally fed her a potion that removed Rose's ability to talk. For enjoyment, she studies and plays with magic. Cierra wears a typical witch's conical hat, red boots, and a revealing, serrated red dress. Her primary weapons in battle are staves and other magical weapons. is an experienced warrior and one of three Grim Angels shown in the game. He is a strong, loyal, and very solitary man. It is suggested that he is much older than Ein and his companions, given his experience, and the choice of voice actors for him in the GBA and PSP remakes, but this is debatable. He follows the order of the seven Magi without question. This is because he traded his emotions for his Diviner, Lorelei, preventing him from reconsidering the orders given to him. Ledah is shown as aloof, cynical, and pragmatic. The above characters are the only
playable characters in the game.
Riviera has several dozen supporting characters, notably Rose (Ein's familiar); Hector (the game's main
villain); Malice (grim angel and Hector's henchwoman); Ursula, guardian spirit of Riviera; and the Four Accursed, who act as
Stage bosses. There are also numerous Elendian citizens,
fairies and
undines who help Ein along the way.
Story A thousand years before the game takes place, a war known as
Ragnarok took place. The gods of
Asgard were attacked and overrun by demons from
Utgard. In desperation, the gods broke an ancient covenant; they sacrificed their lives to create black-winged reapers that came to be known as Grim Angels. Each was armed with a "Diviner", a sacred weapon with which they easily vanquished the demons. After the war ended,
Utgard was renamed Riviera and turned into a beautiful paradise. The gods left their knowledge and authority in the
stewardship of seven Magi and their power in the care of the Sprites, the inhabitants of a peaceful Riviera. After a thousand years of peace, rumors of the demons’ return surfaced. Hector, one of the Seven Magi, sends the Grim Angels Ein and Ledah to Riviera, accompanied by Ein's familiar, Rose. They are ordered to activate the "Retribution", a hidden power of the gods which would eliminate the demons but destroy Riviera in the process. At the end of Heaven's Gate, they meet Ursula, the guardian of Riviera. Ein falls in battle and is taken to
Yggdrasil, the heart of Riviera, by Ursula. Discovering that he has a good heart, she entrusts him with the protection of Riviera. Ein wakes up suffering from amnesia and able to recall neither his purpose nor his origin. He is nursed by Fia and Lina, residents of Elendia, which is a village near Yggdrasil. News about the rebirth of the "Accursed" – the "progenitors of evil" – reaches them and they set out to investigate. Eventually, they defeat all four and meet Serene, Cierra and even Rose along the way. Meanwhile, Ledah searches for Yggdrasil, so that he may activate the "Retribution". Ein now expects to live peacefully in Elendia with his new-found friends, but Ursula informs them that Ledah has breached Yggdrasil and intends to destroy the three "Aquariums", the sources of Yggdrasil's power, in an attempt to activate the Retribution. The six companions (Ein, Lina, Fia, Serene, Cierra and Rose) head out to Yggdrasil. Although they manage to subdue Ledah in battle, it is the Grim Angel Malice, Hector's pawn, who deals the fatal blow. A dying Ledah warns them that Hector has tricked them all this time: he does not fulfill the will of the gods, but seeks ultimate power for himself. They pursue Malice, but are unable to prevent her from destroying the last Aquarium. They battle her, and eventually Ledah appears to intercept one of Malice's attacks. Ledah dies soon after, telling Ein to stop Hector. The companions then race to the "Maze of Shadows" where Seth, the Sealed One, is imprisoned. There, Hector takes the life of Malice and the girl that Ein has become closest to; the last two souls required to unleash Seth. Hector intends to become the one True God, and to this end he fuses his body with that of Seth to become Seth-Rah. However, Ein and his companions are able to defeat Seth-Rah, and afterwards they are teleported back to Yggdrasil by Ursula just before the entire Maze collapses. Upon their return, Ursula reveals that, with the death of her counterpart Seth, she too will cease to exist. Before disappearing, she resurrects the girl that Hector killed, and also charges Ein, Fia, Lina, Serene, Cierra and Rose with the continued protection of Riviera. Since
Riviera is a
renai, the player can achieve multiple endings depending on his responses to his companions. Depending upon them, an ending may be achieved with Ein and the girl of choice having a special scene together. The ending with Rose is a hidden ending, as it was not in the original
WSC game, and Rose doesn't have a trust stat in the game. The last frame also tells (no matter what the ending) that Rose becomes a historian in later life and records their adventures. ==Development==