Or Hoshigami Remix Ruining Blue Earth, I'm not entirely sure.
BTW, I've never played the original Hoshigami for the PS1, but I did search for some pictures...the box claims the localization (once by Atlus, now by Arc System Works) was redone, as well as the character art...from what I've seen, the character art was a lot better on the PS1, but I think that's also due to small DS screens.
So, Hoshigami is a strategic RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics, you have a world map to go around, towns where to recruit new soldier and shop for new items and spells and you follow a story with multiple endings.
Even without having played the original title, I can very well say that nothing much has changed since it, in fact this new version feels like a very lazy port with minimal use of DS features and a poor adaptation to a portable console.
Battles are set on a decent-looking 3D background with small 2D sprites, many transparency/special effects have been lost, for example movement and attack range are displayed in a solid blue/red tile rather than alpha-ed tile and the lower screen is filled with even smaller icons and gauges.
There's the turn indicator, the RAP gauge (basically a gauge that indicates how long it will take for the character to act again), number of steps taken, order menus and of course the current battlefield.
The upper screen remains black for most of the time, and is only used to show character status (BTW, there's also health bars above the sprites so it's kinda useless) and attack stats (hit percentage, possible damage, enemy status) when performing physical or magic attacks.
The lower screen is crammed with all boxes and gauges found on the original PS release, but unfortunately the DS hasn't the same viewable area of a TV, everything is small and very confused, and it's impossible not to think why developers haven't put the upper screen to a better use.
Touchscreen use is lackluster, too, but so far I've only seen a strategic title making full use of this feature, and it's Advance Wars...confirming a selection requires a double tap, and since the hit boxes are small, it's better to use the D-pad and buttons to navigate through the entire game...especially when moving requires an extra convalidation, further slowing down battles.
No use of the microphone whatsoever, but there's a limited wi-fi option in which players can exchange items.
The battles feel a lot like PS-age strategic RPGs and are totally unsuited for a portable console: no pause, no quicksave during battles and the rhythm is slow and often you're outnumbered by the enemies, and going through all their turns is just a pain...you have no ability to speed up enemy turns and although all animations are rather short, it's easy to get bored of them, especially when an army of identical sprites pull out the same maneuver until mission is completed.
The fact that the game was not optimized for a portable console comes is further cemented by multiple missions without in-between saves...yes, you can put the DS in standby, but what about low batteries or the simplest fact that I want to change games without finishing a mission but without being forced to begin it again? This is a concern I had with Etrian Odissey too, but EO is an engaging game, while Hoshigami is basically an old game lazily ported to a portable system, with no extra flavour to make it stand out...in fact, the experience is quite forgettable after all those years.
About the character art: it's anime-ish, styled by nowadays standard and it feels a bit hollow...also, all of those sprites seem to have been badly resized for DS use, with huge jaggies, bad dithering and loss of detail that makes them extremely rubbish.
However, the game has some strong points, mostly in weapon usage...each weapon type (daggers, swords, axes, flails, spears, arcs, boomerangs) are well designed and each work in its own unique way, and the RAP system, which uses fatigue to balance movement and attacks, is interesting, but those two aren't enough to keep the game afloat.
The RAP system, for example, sometime forces the player to move OR to attack, and when outnumbered this is a very difficult choice to make, especially if there's a key character in danger. Magic are also too weak for how they are managed: stored in coins, they can be usually cast once, maybe twice for low-power spells, and are then useless or the rest of the battle, making (your) mages pretty useless.
The game promises multiple endings and "the one true ending", but I doubt someone will have the willingness to play through it multiple times...in fact, I continue to play it as it's just arrived and right now I haven't nothing else to play of the DS.
BTW, I've never played the original Hoshigami for the PS1, but I did search for some pictures...the box claims the localization (once by Atlus, now by Arc System Works) was redone, as well as the character art...from what I've seen, the character art was a lot better on the PS1, but I think that's also due to small DS screens.
So, Hoshigami is a strategic RPG like Final Fantasy Tactics, you have a world map to go around, towns where to recruit new soldier and shop for new items and spells and you follow a story with multiple endings.
Even without having played the original title, I can very well say that nothing much has changed since it, in fact this new version feels like a very lazy port with minimal use of DS features and a poor adaptation to a portable console.
Battles are set on a decent-looking 3D background with small 2D sprites, many transparency/special effects have been lost, for example movement and attack range are displayed in a solid blue/red tile rather than alpha-ed tile and the lower screen is filled with even smaller icons and gauges.
There's the turn indicator, the RAP gauge (basically a gauge that indicates how long it will take for the character to act again), number of steps taken, order menus and of course the current battlefield.
The upper screen remains black for most of the time, and is only used to show character status (BTW, there's also health bars above the sprites so it's kinda useless) and attack stats (hit percentage, possible damage, enemy status) when performing physical or magic attacks.
The lower screen is crammed with all boxes and gauges found on the original PS release, but unfortunately the DS hasn't the same viewable area of a TV, everything is small and very confused, and it's impossible not to think why developers haven't put the upper screen to a better use.
Touchscreen use is lackluster, too, but so far I've only seen a strategic title making full use of this feature, and it's Advance Wars...confirming a selection requires a double tap, and since the hit boxes are small, it's better to use the D-pad and buttons to navigate through the entire game...especially when moving requires an extra convalidation, further slowing down battles.
No use of the microphone whatsoever, but there's a limited wi-fi option in which players can exchange items.
The battles feel a lot like PS-age strategic RPGs and are totally unsuited for a portable console: no pause, no quicksave during battles and the rhythm is slow and often you're outnumbered by the enemies, and going through all their turns is just a pain...you have no ability to speed up enemy turns and although all animations are rather short, it's easy to get bored of them, especially when an army of identical sprites pull out the same maneuver until mission is completed.
The fact that the game was not optimized for a portable console comes is further cemented by multiple missions without in-between saves...yes, you can put the DS in standby, but what about low batteries or the simplest fact that I want to change games without finishing a mission but without being forced to begin it again? This is a concern I had with Etrian Odissey too, but EO is an engaging game, while Hoshigami is basically an old game lazily ported to a portable system, with no extra flavour to make it stand out...in fact, the experience is quite forgettable after all those years.
About the character art: it's anime-ish, styled by nowadays standard and it feels a bit hollow...also, all of those sprites seem to have been badly resized for DS use, with huge jaggies, bad dithering and loss of detail that makes them extremely rubbish.
However, the game has some strong points, mostly in weapon usage...each weapon type (daggers, swords, axes, flails, spears, arcs, boomerangs) are well designed and each work in its own unique way, and the RAP system, which uses fatigue to balance movement and attacks, is interesting, but those two aren't enough to keep the game afloat.
The RAP system, for example, sometime forces the player to move OR to attack, and when outnumbered this is a very difficult choice to make, especially if there's a key character in danger. Magic are also too weak for how they are managed: stored in coins, they can be usually cast once, maybe twice for low-power spells, and are then useless or the rest of the battle, making (your) mages pretty useless.
The game promises multiple endings and "the one true ending", but I doubt someone will have the willingness to play through it multiple times...in fact, I continue to play it as it's just arrived and right now I haven't nothing else to play of the DS.
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