How tough will it be to get everything in Riviera? Options

[Cyath]

Finishing up Yggdra Union now (around BF 44) and I am going to move on to Riviera next...I've heard tell that Riviera's a lot easier on completionists, but how much easier? ^_^

Actually I generally just play through RPGs normally and don't bother too much with the sidequests/extra stuff unless it's really interesting...but for games as good as YU and Riviera I tend to go the extra mile and try to see all the endings/get ultimate weapons etc. Will it be really hard to do that in Riviera? Will I need to S-Rank every battle and hoard TPs like there's no tomorrow?

No need for specific answers...I just want a general "feel" of the game so that I don't play a chapter or 2 and find myself having to restart (like I did for YU) The FAQs aren't that helpful because many of them are spoiler-ridden. :(

[Dr Strum]

since one playthrough of Riviera only takes about nine hours.

Maybe on an emulator, after having played through a few times already. I don't know about the former, but the latter is definitely not true in his situation.

but Yggdra Union takes a lot longer, and you have to play through multiple times to get certain items because if you get one item you can't get the other, etc.

You only need to play through twice to get all items in YU. Technically, you only have to play through BF33 the second time around, if you make sure to keep a save at BF43 for getting both items in BF43/44, you get all other items and endings.
In Riviera you must play to the end to get everything, though with very careful planning you shouldn't need to repeat the first five or six chapters, but that still leaves seven (and maybe six) that you have to go through six times to get all the endings, and that's provided you got everything else in the game.

[Yuka]

since one playthrough of Riviera only takes about nine hours.

Maybe on an emulator, after having played through a few times already. I don't know about the former, but the latter is definitely not true in his situation.

The very first time I beat Riviera was when I actually got a hard copy of the game, and I beat it in about nine hours or so. It might have been a little bit longer, maybe like eleven, but it didn't require an extensive amount of time, like Yggdra Union does.