Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth

"Dive into Mardias and be the Hoshigami!"

The real score I would give this game is a 9.5 but since decimals aren't allowed well... Anyway, this game really is a great one. It is very underrated because people say it is to hard, hopefully I can show the goodness that this game has to offer in hopes of encouraging people to buy this great game.

Story: 10
It is excellent in my opinion, I would probably say about 95% of the strategy games out in the world are based on war so I can't deduct because of that. You carry out the role of the player Fazz in the world of Mardias. Eons ago the world of Ixia existed where people and the elemental spirits lived in harmony. The certain special people who communicated with these spirits were called the Hoshigami. Eventually, humans began to create especially powerful Coinfeigms which are the magical stones that allow the elements to be controlled. These powerful Coinfeigms are known as Marselva. The creator and one time Hoshigami was Villa and he challenged the Spirit's power. The King of Ixia known as Sarnus, gathered the 6 Hoshigami and fought a brutal war with Villa and eventually emerged victorious after forging a pact with the spirits. After that, you have the current events of Mardias and the 3 kingdoms that have developed. Nightweld, Gerauld and Valaim reign superior. With the help of the forbidden coinfeigms that were supposed to be non existant, Valaim started a war with the other two countries and began a ruthless crusade to take over Mardias. Now as Fazz you are to protect Mardias before it is destroyed.

Music: 9
I loved the music in this game, I don't really know why but I did. The songs are very simple and tend to be repeated a lot within the course of the game. If you don't like the songs then you probably will be playing the game muted because you will be hearing the same ones over and over again. They aren't masterpieces but they are very good and I felt it was a good thing to regress to a simpler style rather then the intricate orchestra of other games.

Gameplay: 9
Here is where the game really shines and is the reason along with the story to get this game. The old system of Move, Attack, Wait repeat has been upgraded to a very nice and new system. It is called the RAP or Ready Act Points. You start every character round with 100 RAP and as you conduct your actions you lose a portion of these points. So you can conduct several attacks as long as you have sufficient RAP, this is very handy for when you don't have to move and a strong enemy is at hand. You can not go over 100 with any action except for regular physical hits, however this does have a consequence as your turn will come much slower. Magic has been replaced by Coinfeigms but it is essentially the same. Coins are customizable from the cost to the area effect to damage and more. A new feature which determines your stats is the Devotion system. Each character worships a certain deity and according to that deity is how your stats progress and witch skills you can acquire.

Graphics: 9
The graphics in this game are very nice in my opinion. They seemed to be toned up a bit from FFT's character sprites and the backgrounds look better. The one thing that bugs me is the fact that the little battle sprites dont have noses but thats is made up for by the face portraits =P

Difficulty: 1 or 10
this is the factor that will determine whether you should play this game or not. Full time strategy gamers who have versed themselves in Vandal Hearts, Tactics Ogre, Kartia and Final Fantasy tactics will enjoy this one but you will need to know how to use your coins to your advantage as you are almost always outnumbered and the enemy usually has the advantage in terms of equipment and stats.

Replay: 9
This game has multiple choices that affect which characters you get and changes the storyline in ways. There are many ways to go by but the game time is taxing as it can take 50+ hours easily to beat this game. Definitely a great game to delve into

Rent or Buy?
I suggest you rent the game first and see if it is manageable, If you are able to beat a couple of the story battles easily then you will probably be capable of getting into the game. A very important thing is to TURN OFF NAVIGATION AS SOON AS YOU START. these messages get very annoying in battle and are easily side stepped by just thinking a bit before you make your moves

So that is it, I definitely suggest trying this great game as it is highly rewarding.
Overall Score: 9.5 (not an average)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/02, Updated 01/02/02