Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth

"Something’s just not right… in the hate this game gets"

Hoshigami is the story of a blond-haired soldier boy who fights against an evil that is using mystical crystal-like things from a time long past. Sound familiar? Yup, it looks like FFT, and sounds like FFT, but it isn't. Instead, it's a flawed but impressive first attempt from a burgeoning developer. And it gets hate. A lot of hate. Because Hoshigami is hard. Capital H. Little A. Little R. Little D. Period. This is a game that does not forgive stupidity or lazy thinking, like some of Atlus' other PS1 SRPG releases like Kartia or Brigandine. Ignorance is punished through horrible deaths and competence is rewarded with a great experience. Any looking for an overly cake-walk of a game should look elsewhere, since Hoshigami is like a fine wine that requires familiarity to really appreciate it for what it is in comparison to the cheap spritzers of so many other SRPGs.

Story:

At first, it shows some glimmers of promise, but it falls into the traps of almost every other RPG in existence by relying on cheap cliché to get things through. But that's okay. SRPGs are all about gameplay and battles lasting half and hour. It's the experience that matters. However, Hoshigami has an interesting quirk to it, by having most decisions in dialogue affect the rest of the game in terms of who can be recruited when. This has the effect of changing many things down the line, and allows for a lot more freedom in terms of recruitment than the standard “Person joins you now automatically” thing that many SRPGs do. While it is a little hassling to get the best ending (chances are, for almost any player, a FAQ will be mandatory since it is very strict on how to get that ending and nigh-any deviation will result in the normal ending), it's also more worthwhile by giving the game one last plot twist that makes up for all the clichés of the rest. Unlike many SRPGs, getting the best ending in Hoshigami gives a sense of satisfaction for a job well done instead of a twinge of annoyance that it's all over now.

Graphics

Hoshigami is damn nice looking for a PS1 era game. It's not flashy, but spells are quick and pretty, the sprites are detailed enough, and the character designs are memorable but not over the top. Textures are varied and well-rendered by the game's engine, creating battlefields that are just as nice, or nicer, than those of the oft-compared to FFT.

Gameplay

Now, this is what turns off most people. The gameplay in Hoshigami is very unforgiving. Bluntly said, this is not a game for SRPG beginners. This is a game like Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, that expects the player to understand how things work in one instance after they're introduced and deal with difficulty. That's fine, though, since good, challenging SRPGs are rare enough, and even rarer in terms of ones localised into English. The coinfeigm system rewards the player with powerful spells through trial and error, and has lots of modifiers as to what begets what. However, the depth present in the creation of new coins through seals is remarkable and a pleasant surprise.

Battles suffer from some slight problems in terms of enemy level, but are nothing major. For a competent player, there's no real problem with the way that fights are geared to the strongest character you have's level, and for those who need more practice, the presence of level caps allows the player to get by anything by that old standby of overlevelling instead of relying on strategy. In any case, whether by brains or brawn, the battles of Hoshigami are nicely laid out and very fun.

Music

The music's not bad. It's not that great either, as it's very apparent that the composers are novices, and the short lengths and mediocre synth used doesn't help the cause. However, it's not outright terrible, and gets the job done. Some tracks, like the Theme of Hoshigami, are nicely enough arranged, and could have been very interesting with a real orchestra. Of all the areas of this game that could have been improved, the music is probably the section that stands out the most. It's no gamebreaker, though, and the lack of outright terrible tracks (read: I wanna take you for a ride –calibur tracks) doesn't lower it past middling.

Others

There's great replay value in Hoshigami through exploring the different paths through the game's dialogue. Switiching up Elena for Tinn early on, getting Leimrey back, and the like make for entertaining changes to the experience, and give this game far more things to look forward to once an initial play has honed the ability. While all of the branches lead to the same endings, it's still refreshing to see so much variability out of battle in a SRPG, and more than makes up for the way that they all come together at the end for the same conclusion.

Out of the SRPGs that were released on PS1, this is, hands down, the one that needs a “Expert Level” label shoved onto it. It's great, but it's not for beginners. However, thanks to the broadening releases of SRPGs during the PS2 generation, experience with SRPG systems is more common now, and Hoshigami may well be able to appeal to more players than it could have at the time of release with less SRPGs available in English. If you're looking for something to really make you think and force you to deal with it on its terms instead of coddling you through things, then this game is for you.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/21/05