Hoshi Wo Miru Hito

''Hoshi wo Miru Hito'' (星をみるひと ^?, "Stargazer") is a 1987 Japanese video game for the Famicom home console. Developed by Another and published by HOT B, it is based on the 1984 video game ''Psychic City''. The game is a science fiction RPG where players use psychic powers to fight enemies.

Reviewers noted the often confusing and highly difficult gameplay. Japanese gamers have dubbed it "Densetsu no Kusoge" (伝説のクソゲー, ).

Development

The game is developed by game developer Another, and is based on the earlier 1984 cyberpunk-themed computer role-playing game ''Psychic City''.

Psychic City was a 1984 PC-8801 role-playing game set in New York where everyone had psychic powers.

The game's copyright is owned by City Connection Co., Ltd. as of 2016.

Story

The game is set in a cyberpunk-style future world in which the supercomputer Crew III has brainwashed Earth's population into driving themselves to extinction. The only ones who can resist Crew III are those with extrasensory perception, whom Crew III has sent a team of bounty hunters to wipe out. By the time the game begins, only four psychics --- who, incidentally, are the four player characters --- are known to remain: the children Minami, Shiba, Misa, and Aine. The four must journey to Ark City, and eventually, outer space, in order to defeat Crew III.

In the end, however, the party learns that Crew III didn't exist; rather, the humans were being brainwashed by a race of sapient dolphins who, depending on the player's choices, want to either annihilate or befriend the human race.

Gameplay

''Hoshi wo Miru Hito'' is a science fiction RPG infamous for its difficult gameplay and elements that make the game confusing and cryptic. For example, at the beginning of the game, the player is put into the field map without any explanation on any goals, and the entrance to the first town the player needs to visit is not displayed on the field map at all. There is no "escape" command; the player needs to learn a specific ESP skill by levelling up in order to escape from battles.

In the early part of the game, there is only a single way to restore health, which is a single spot within the first town.

Game over occurs when all the players characters reaches zero hit points. Early in the game, it's very easy to die due to poor balancing, powerful enemies, and inability to escape from battles, but later in the game the player's characters become strong enough that it's very difficult to kill the entire party.

Release

The game was published on October 27, 1987 for the Famicom home console, and published by HOT B. The game was only released in Japan. In 2004, a free fan game remake was created, titled ''STARGAZER.''

On February 27, 2013, the soundtrack was released on the compact disc ''Rom Cassette Disc In HOT-B''. The four disc album is a compilation of music from Hot B's games. The soundtrack was released by City Connection through the "Claris Disk" label. On October 19, 2015, the album was made available for download.

In 2020, it was announced that City Connection would give the game a worldwide release for the Nintendo Switch developed by Empty Clip Studios using the Arsenal emulation software enigne. It was released in Japan on July 30, 2020 but was never released elsewhere.

Reception

Reviewers complained about the balance of the game's systems, but praised the science fiction scenario. Due to these issues, the game has been listed as a Kusoge game.

Upon release, in the "Cross Review" section of ''Weekly Famitsu'', four reviewers gave it a scores of 4, 5, 6, 4 for a total of 19 out of 40. Readers of ''Family Computer Magazine'' voted to score the game 16.08 out of 30 points.

The 2016 mook ''Nostalgic Famicom Perfect Guide'' ranked the game as #5 for in its "Impossible Game Ranking" of Famicom games. It suggested the game was impossible without a strategy guide, and when facing the strongest enemies in the game will lead to complete destruction of the player and there's little the player can do to prevent this.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoshi wo Miru Hito
Hot B games
Japan-exclusive video games
Nintendo Entertainment System games
Nintendo Entertainment System-only games
Japanese role-playing video games
Role-playing video games
Video games about psychic powers
Video games developed in Japan
1987 video games