Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth - Is it really that bad?

[Ando85]

I'm no stranger to tactical role playing games and have quite a few in my collection. My favorite include Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together, Fire Emblem series, Jeanne d'Arc, and Vandal Hearts 1 and 2. One game however in my collection that I have yet to play is Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth for the PS1. I seem to hear nothing but bad things about it and notice it gets slammed on every review I have seen for it.

Thing is I really enjoyed Stella Deus: Gate of Eternity which I hear is somewhat of a spiritual successor. I was thinking of popping in Hoshigami and giving it a whirl but would like to know what other people here think of the game.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

I tried it back when I was fresh from Final Fantasy Tactics and desperate for another isometric strategy game like it. The problems I remember are as follows:

-Permadeath. No wait period or chance to revive fallen units. Just death, and unlike Fire Emblem you aren't given huge numbers of characters to compensate, and your characters are even more fragile than in those games.
-Vastly increased difficulty. Now FFT had some hard battles early on, but this one puts you in a 5 versus 10 fight in the SECOND mission! By comparison, the most lopsided story battle in FFT was 5 versus 8, and that was a good ways in where you could grind.
-A 'eco-sensitive' storyline. Maybe it gets better later- I couldn't stand to play all the way through, but all I found was a general anti-pollution theme about as subtle as Great Greed.

Apparently the sequel is an improvement in every way, so maybe check that one out instead.

 

[Ando85]

I tried it back when I was fresh from Final Fantasy Tactics and desperate for another isometric strategy game like it. The problems I remember are as follows:

-Permadeath. No wait period or chance to revive fallen units. Just death, and unlike Fire Emblem you aren't given huge numbers of characters to compensate, and your characters are even more fragile than in those games.
-Vastly increased difficulty. Now FFT had some hard battles early on, but this one puts you in a 5 versus 10 fight in the SECOND mission! By comparison, the most lopsided story battle in FFT was 5 versus 8, and that was a good ways in where you could grind.
-A 'eco-sensitive' storyline. Maybe it gets better later- I couldn't stand to play all the way through, but all I found was a general anti-pollution theme about as subtle as Great Greed.

Apparently the sequel is an improvement in every way, so maybe check that one out instead.

Yeah seems the game requires the utmost patience. I wonder if it would hold my attention. You say the sequel is better? Are you talking about the DS game?

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Yeah seems the game requires the utmost patience. I wonder if it would hold my attention. You say the sequel is better? Are you talking about the DS game?

No, this one:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/StellaDeusTheGateOfEternity

Haven't played. Still not a 'stellar' game apparently, but not so hard that you'll scream trying to get what meagre reward the next part of the plot is. Death is now only punished by the loss of that character for the rest of the battle (still no revives) and a small drop in their Luck stat. It's on PS2 and Playstation Network.

 

[Ando85]

Yeah seems the game requires the utmost patience. I wonder if it would hold my attention. You say the sequel is better? Are you talking about the DS game?

No, this one:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/StellaDeusTheGateOfEternity

Haven't played. Still not a 'stellar' game apparently, but not so hard that you'll scream trying to get what meagre reward the next part of the plot is. Death is now only punished by the loss of that character for the rest of the battle (still no revives) and a small drop in their Luck stat. It's on PS2 and Playstation Network.

Oh yeah, I mentioned that game in my original post near the bottom. I loved Stella Deus which is one reason I thought I'd might like Hoshigami despite its harsh criticism. I found Stella Deus to be rather straightforward and traditional gameplay wise but that is not a bad thing. I often recommend it to people looking for a solid SRPG as it isn't very popularly known.