Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth

"Will you love it or hate it? It all depends on the flip of a coin..."

Most people say this game is ''too hard.'' I say go play some of the earlier Final Fantasies. People compare Hoshigami too much to Final Fantasy Tactics, as if Hoshigami was meant to be exactly the same. Of course, they share a few systems, but Hoshigami definitely requires more thought and strategy.

Hoshigami had a nice concept...however there were just too many fatal flaws in the end for me to enjoy it as much as I enjoyed other games of this genre.

Story: 7

There's really not much you can do with a Strategy RPG's story that ISN'T war-related. In Hoshigami, the Empire of Valaim is trying to seize ancient Ixian ruins to conquer the continent of Mardias. They have taken substantial territory from the kingdoms of Gerauld and Nightweld, and have become extremely powerful. They use Coinfeigms in battle, which leaves them almost unmatched. The war is obviously being manipulated (as shown from an early scene.)

You play as a young mercenary named Fazz, who is from the village of Dissoal, in Nightweld. Fazz is asked by Reuperl of the Order of Da Nante (knights) to help Nightweld hold off the Valaimian army at the Tower of Wind and do several other tasks.

The situation rapidly escalates as it gets personal for Fazz. He goes on a quest to unite the nations against Valaim, with the fate of the continent in the balance.

You see, using Coinfeigms is sapping away the very energy of the planet. Continued use will result in the planet's death (anybody thinking Mako Reactors right now?) So basically, Fazz uses Coinfeigms to stop Coinfeigms. Destroy Valaim and save the world, yada yada yada.

There are a variety of storyline characters that you meet. The face portraits are nice (they actually have noses, unlike FFT,) and some important scenes display full-body anime portraits conversing (not animated, however.) All in all, a textbook Strategy RPG storyline.

The only thing is that Strategy RPGs (and RPGs in general) are known for twisted plots...this game had very few twists. Straightforwardness was just REALLY boring to me.

Gameplay: 4

The one part that really irks me is Hoshigami's battle system. Hoshigami's battle sequences take place on a grid much like a chessboard, where you control up to 7 allied units, and are usually outnumbered (which can be worked around with the right spells/strategy.) Terrain and obstacles hamper the power and success of certain weapons and magic. You can choose from 6 commands: Move, Attack, Item, CF (Coinfeigm, like magic,) Status, and End. There are no special skills like in other strategy RPGs; even the special storyline characters get only these 6 options.

Attacking uses a power gauge to measure the amount of damage you will do--hit it just as it fills up to the far right end and you do a substantially more powerful attack than if you hit the when the gauge was half full. SO you can't just sit back and hope to do the most damage, you have to pay attention.

You use a RAP (Ready-for-Action-Point) system to determine how much you can move, attack, use magic, or items, etc. per turn. Each character starts a turn with 100 RAP points to do one or more of these actions. Moving, spell, and item RAP cost are very strict: if it exceeds 100 points total, you can't do it. You can, however, attack at full power and exceed 100 used RAP points, but your turn will come slower.

The only annoying thing about the battle system is that you have to ''lock in'' your decisions with messages amounting to ''are you sure you want to face this way?'' or ''are you sure you want to cast this magic?'' Annoying, and unfortunately I found no way to disable these ''lock in'' windows for an excruciatingly long time. Oh yeah, it's a hassle.

Coinfeigms are much like FF VII's Materia system, with a twist: you enhance their power by engraving seals (which you either buy or win) on them to up their stats. This process can become tedious (fighting to get the more rare seals.) You can buy the lowest level seals and coins in almost any town.

There is a limited Job system based on 6 Deities that you can choose to worship, each gives bonuses in a certain weapon class, stats, and maximizes damage against a certain other Deity. Special characters have nothing truly unique about them save increased stats, and most of your fighting is done with hired mercenaries. There are no special skills in the game. It's really too straightforward.

One quirk is that, for the majority of the game, you cannot revive fallen allies. You must develop a Revive spell from a very high level Cure coin or wait and win it after a certain battle late in the game. Needless to say, it can be frustrating to lose a great character to a stray arrow and not be able to do anything but reset.

The battle system could have been done better (less ''lock in'' messages,) but overall, it's effective, and the lack of revival means you have to pay more attention and allocate your items/spells more carefully than if a character who died simply came back to life once the battle ended.

Graphics: 4

Hoshigami uses sprites on 3-D backgrounds with a variety of terrain, from hills and waterfalls to urban battles, and even a burned-out village. The only places you can do random battles are in a Tower of Trials, which have incredibly drab, dungeon-like backgrounds that get old fast. Unfortunately, you must use these towers if you want to get good seals (which make good coins.) So the boring backgrounds here are a necessary evil.

Coinfeigms have rather nice spell effects, and the attack and item animations are nothing to laugh at either.

The battlefields and character battle sprites remind me quite a bit of FFT.

There is no sprite change when you change deity or weapon. That was a BIG let-down. Also, you only fight humans and there are only so many costumes. Ho hum.

Also, all the weapons of a particular type look the same. There's no armor change either. MORE YAWNING.

Sound: 2

The music is nothing you'll want to download and play over and over; some of the tracks during major battles sound more like something you would hear on a picnic. They're all rather short and replay a lot, especially since the battles take awhile to complete. Other times, the music is very appropriate and suits what is going on. It really depends on the mission and background. For the most part, though, mute it and put on a CD.

The attack sound effects are appropriate (swish followed by a hitting sound, different for each weapon) and casting a Coinfeigm produces a quiet, ethereal sound followed by the sound of the spell.

Replay Value: 5

Hoshigami has multiple endings, based on choices you make regarding game dialogue and which special characters are alive and in your party at the end of the game. Certain endings are also determined by what Deity a certain character worships.

Hoshigami has less customization and possible combinations than most strategy games. I was disappointed by no real Job-type system. The Deity system easily falls short.

To Buy or To Rent?

I would suggest renting Hoshigami before you buy it. Strategy RPGs aren't for people who like to go through things fast, charging up the middle. The battle system takes some getting used to, as does the music. If you can get through it, there's a good chance you'll want to do so again just to see the different endings. This game has a decent challenge, so it's at least worth renting for a few days.

Overall: 4

Hoshigami, for me, sadly did not live up to the expectations and hype advertised. It is a decent game, but the lack of revival for the better part of the game will turn off quite a few players. I also found it hard to get into the game, and not knowing about turning off the confirmation messages really pushed me over the edge.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/01, Updated 01/01/03