There are cheap substitutes for every aspect of the Christian life. Whatever God does, Satan tries to mimic. He can even feign repentance and revival.
Of course, it is not genuine revival, only a hollow impersonation. In Satan’s version, people appear to have returned to God. They can claim to be sorry for their sin. There is often tears. Yet it is not real. Often the anguish is because of the consequence of their sin, rather than for their sin itself. There may be a sense of guilt, but not conviction. There may also be pledges of fresh commitment, but these are a mirage. Such proclamations will evaporate like the morning dew. It makes a great show in church, but it is nothing more than religious hype.
Kind-hearted people can be fooled into assuming that the professed repentance is genuine. But the truth is it is only skin deep. The heart is unaffected. The moment soon passes and the life of sin is resumed.
We might assume that partial revival is better than no revival at all. But there really is no such thing. If our heart is not fully for God, then we have not returned to Him. We may have thought about returning. We may have expressed a desire to return. We may even have performed outward acts that give the impression of returning, But unless our hearts are once again wholly for God, we have not experienced genuine revival.