Hoshi Wo Miru Hito

Hoshi Wo Miru Hito
Developer(s)	Another
Publisher(s)	HOT B
Platforms	NES
Release date(s)	JP: October 27, 1987
Genre(s)	Role-playing game

Hoshi wo Miru Hito (星をみるひと^?, "People who watch stars") 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 role playing video game where players use psychic powers to defeat enemies.

Reviewers noted the often confusing and highly difficult gameplay. It is often referred to as a "kusoge" game.

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 everyone has extrasensory perception. These powers can also be used by the player characters when they confront the various monsters in the game through combat. In order to accomplish this, the player's characters must go to the Ark City and eventually to outer space.

Gameplay

Hoshi wo Miru Hito is a science fiction role playing game. It is known for its very 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. At the beginning of the game, there is no ability to escape from battle. However, later in the game the player will level up and learn an extrasensory perception skill that allows to escape 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 highly powerful enemies, 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. 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.