Hoshi wo Miru Hito

Hoshi wo Miru Hito
Cover art
Developer(s)	Another[1]
Publisher(s)	HOT・B[2]
Platform(s)	Family Computer[1]
Release date(s)	JP October 27, 1987[1]
Genre(s)	Role-playing game[1]
Mode(s)	Single-player only[3]
Distribution	1-megabit cartridge

Hoshi wo Miru Hito (星をみるひと, "Stargazers")^[4] is a role-playing video game produced and sold exclusively in Japan for the Family Computer in 1987. Published by HOT・B, it is based on their earlier 1984 cyberpunk-themed computer role-playing game Psychic City.^[5]

The game is set in a decadent cyberpunk-style future world in which everyone has extrasensory perception.^[5] These powers can also be used by the player characters when they confront the various monsters in the game through combat.^[5] The eventual target of the game is to defeat the villains. In order to accomplish this, the player's characters must go to the Ark City and eventually to outer space.^[5] Unlike the Final Fantasy series, the game does not give the player an automatic "game over" when it is impossible to win the battle.^[5] This makes it possible for players to accidentally walk into a walking dead situation every time they are forced to do battle with the game's monsters.

Gameplay

Maps

The opening screen of the game. A lush forest is located near a wasteland while an invisible village awaits the player directly to the left.

Immediately after the start, the hero is sent out into the overworld after given relatively few instructions regarding the game. Heading towards the first city is tricky because it's "hidden through some sort of supernatural power." No option to restore the player's lost hit points exist in the first town of the game. The character speed is very slow; it takes ½ of a second to move into a single square. Non-player characters in town have a tendency to walk twice as fast as the player; causing them to catch up to the player at inopportune moments.

If the player fails to escape from a bad situation using the "teleport" spell, he is not sent to the original location. A fixed point in the field is chosen instead. For example, out of town and into the second city, where there is not a town, the town was returned to in the first place. In some cases, they have never been out of place going ahead on the story. Since the middle needed to open the door "ID Card" is the strongest class of parallel equipment, it is expensive for the number of times the player will use it and it's disposable. And once we open the doors so that the player can enter the room, he is trapped in a door with only one card. To join fellow characters are seen playing normally again, the player would need to acquire four "Silver ID cards." Obtaining the clearly critical items, "a point on the map is made through time." Completely invisible, but only slightly to get the sound effects yet.

In a certain field, nothing reminds the player that he is taking on damage with every step that he takes. No message is displayed until one of the characters are killed.

Combat

Because combat situations cannot be canceled, high-risk behavior proves to be useless even if the command doesn't take any of the player's magic points to use. Some of the enemies eventually rise to the level of hero; it is impossible to escape early. There is no one that can defeat the enemy with a much weaker initial character in a safe manner. Unfortunately after the game started, the player meets a strong Drummond. The player could cause damage to the Drummond's unarmed attacks, regardless of the level of character. Even from levels 0 through 3 (which are basically beginners' levels), the attacks are constantly occurring.

Frog is to buy weapons and armor and other equipment be removed next. Was equipped with things before you buy new equipment that will automatically be sold without a message stating that the sale this time, is easily mistaken for being destroyed. Moreover, even if equipped with weapons, weapon power and character of the "skill" (the other common RPG's "power" parameter falls) is low, if there is no damage to the enemy instead. Buy the cheapest weapon in the first village, "Reina Cancer" and equipped to become the enemy of fixed zero damage to most of the bare state (3-0 damage) becomes more unfavorable. Do not remove equipment.

Enemies, such as "Man, etc. Further" can cause players to become sick; forcing them to consume the "potassium" item thrown at them. Potassium is a negative item when used carelessly. Any action done while poisoned will give the player a serious disease; rendering them unable to recover in combat. This condition would eventually result in the player dying like the "Condemned" status in Final Fantasy VI.

Endings

There are three different endings, though they differ by text only.

Characters

Minami

Minami is the main character and is a typical school boy who has access to psychic powers.

Johei

Minami's right hand man. He is able to get his friends out of trouble by lying.

Jennie

A girl with psychic powers who can walk through certain floors without taking damage. Her steps are very cumbersome and difficult, making Jennie the slowest character in the game. She is an important character who can clear many of the quests found in the earlier parts of the game with little or no difficulty. She is happy, carefree, and inspiring to others.

Dolphin family

A family of dolphins that are smarter than human beings. The human race would not have progressed if they had not co-existed with them. These dolphins were assistants to the environment so that everyone could co-exist on their "Aqua Planet". They share the same psychic bonds with human psychics.

Orca family

Also more intelligent than humans, they distrust the human psychics and in conflict with the dolphins. Orcas do not wish to co-exist peacefully with humans and would prefer to have the planet all to themselves, similar to the apes in the 1968 film Planet of the Apes.

Related games

The game is based on an older Japanese cyberpunk RPG, Psychic City,^[5] released by HOT・B in 1984 for the FM-7^[6] and NEC PC-8801 computer platforms. In contrast to the fantasy theme used in other early RPGs such as Hydlide and The Black Onyx, Psychic City was a science fiction RPG set in a post-apocalyptic New York devastated by World War III and where the protagonist fights using psychic/telepathic abilities.^[7]

In 2004, some Japanese fans made a free software remake of Hoshi wo Miru Hito, entitled STARGAZER. It is entirely in Japanese.^[8]

References

External links

• Hoshi wo Miru Hito fan site (Japanese)
• STARGAZER remake (Japanese)