Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth

"Hoshigami, not what I expected it to be, but a good game nonetheless..."

Ahhhh, Hoshigami. After hearing about this game for the first time in late September, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Finally, I thought to myself, I'll have something to play that kept me on the edge of my seat like Final Fantasy Tactics did. Well, along comes December, and, well, Hoshigami was not what I really expected it to be, but it is a game that I believe will keep you playing for hours at a time.

Gameplay:8

I would have given this a 9, but there are a few flaws that bug me. For one, a lot of the battle action is button smashing. Now at first it gets annoying. The game basically treats you like a little kid. ''Proceed?'' You'll be seeing that word a lot. But after a short while, you learn to ignore that, and in a way I'm glad they put that in. It has saved me from making a few mistakes, some that I would have regretted. Basically, I was annoyed at first, but after a few battles I got the hang of it and it didn't bother me anymore.

The Tower of Trials is another thing that can be annoying. It's just floor after floor of fighting, mostly the same people over and over again. The only thing that could have made it better would be if you could save after every floor. That's the only problem I have with it. Fighting the battles is not bad, just fighting them over and over is.

The death of your characters is something else that bothers me. Once a character is dead, he is no more. Well, in real life, that makes sense, but this is a video game we're talking about here. It would be nice if there was a way to revive your characters early on in the game. The only way that I know how is to get a coin that auto-revives, but that's not available until late in the game.

And finally, we come to the battles. Remember one thing, always level up. You'll find out that it's very important in Hoshigami, especially considering that you're almost always outnumbered 2:1. Working on coins is also essential. You'll love figuring out different engraving combinations to make your coins stronger. It gives you a lot of options. There is also one plus to the battles, and that is that you can do multiple things on 1 turn. You could move, then attack, then move again if you wanted. It's the nicest feature in Hoshigami's battle system.

Music: 5

It's the same stuff over and over again. It really gets aggravating. You should do what I do, just turn down the TV volume, pick a good CD (or MP3, whichever works better), and blast it! It'll make you feel more relaxed too.

Story: 8

I'm not too far into the game, but I can honestly say that I like the story. I've read a few spoilers, and I can say that you will be pleasantly surprised to see what happens later on. I know I will, and I already know what happens.

Basically, there are 3 kingdoms, 1 is the strongest, there is war between them, and the main hero, Fazz, sets out to stop war by destroying the strongest one. Pretty typical of a Strategy/RPG, but like so many other games, Hoshigami pulls it off in its own unique way.

Graphics: 8

Imagine Final Fantasy Tactics meets Final Fantasy Tactics (sounds weird, but if you see the game, you'll understand). The battle scenes are nice, the world map is ok, and the coin animations could be better, but I'm satisfied with them. I'm particularly fond of conversation scenes. I like how you can see the picture of the character in full screen. It adds to the game.

Replay Value: 6

After you finish this game, odds are you won't be a rush to start a new file. It's a nice game while it lasted, and maybe in a few months when you're bored you'll want to play it again. I know I will.

To rent or buy?

Definitely rent first. If you're not sure you'll like the game, the safest thing to do is rent. This is one of those cases where renting it is the smart thing to do.

Overall, after getting over the few hangovers of the game, I realized that this is in fact a very good game, and I'm glad I made the choice to purchase it. I recommend this game to most people. It's not for the faint of heart, but for true gamers.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/29/01, Updated 12/29/01