Hoshi wo Miru Hito
It all started in 1987. A company called Hot-B sees how well a certain little RPG is doing sales-wise, and decides they want in on that action. Taking inspiration from a PC RPG they made some time back, Hot-B creates a science-fiction RPG known as Hoshi wo Miru Hito, or, when translated, Stargazer. It's the gripping tale of a dystopian future, where an evil supercomputer known as Crew III has brainwashed the last of the Earth's population into subservient slaves, slowly driving themselves to extinction without realizing it. The only people immune to the treacherous computer's mind control are Psychics, who are quickly captured and killed by the computer's team of bounty hunters, the Death Psychics. All would be lost... were it not for the fact four psychics remain, four children with great power who are the only line of defense standing against the evil computer.
Sounds thrilling, right? Well, I hope you enjoyed that story, because none of it is ever brought up again in-game. As soon as you press start, you're in the middle of an empty field in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by enemies that can kill you in one shot. Oh, and you're at level 0 and can do about... 1 damage, if any at all. Good luck.
Hoshi wo Miru Hito is known as "densetsu no kusoge" , translated to "legendary shitty game", and for good reason. It would take an entire Wiki (or atleast a whole page) in and of itself to cover all the glaring flaws this game has to offer, but... that's how the Japanese fans like it. A patch was actually released to balance the game and improve the graphics, and there even exists a Fan Remake that actually takes advantage of the story, adds some clever puzzles, and makes the gameplay more akin to the SaGa series. If you intend on playing the game, do yourself a favor and play the remake instead. For everyone else, here's a list of tropes.
- Barrier Maiden: What Misa is to the party. She's the only one in the group who can cross damage floors without taking damage. Not particularly useful in the Famicom game, but needed in the remake.
- No kidding, one Speedrun of the game totally ignores picking up Misa in the first place!
- Genki Girl: What Aine is implied to be in the Famicom version, and what she is in the PC remake.
- Multiple Endings: Both games. In the Famicom game's case, it was actually an early example of such a thing happening at all... too bad you'd have to be masochistic to play that far and enjoy it.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: It seems as soon as you need some new power to get past an obstacle, there's a new party member nearby with exactly the power you need.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Arguably applies to the whole party, but especially in Minami's case. His power allows you to destroy obstacles in the team's way.
- Sapient Cetaceans: There is no evil supercomputer. It's just a front for super-intelligent dolphins who want to either annihilate or befriend the last of the human race, depending on the party's final choice.
- In case you want to see it for yourself: YouTube.
- Telepathy: Aine's main power.
The original Famicom game provides examples of:
- All There in the Manual: The plot described above. As soon as you start the game, you're in the middle of a field with no story on instruction.
- Guide Dang It: How do you find the Oxygen Pipe, the item that allows you to breathe in space for the final area of the game? Walk on a random tile in a hard-to-reach dungeon with only a beep to let you know when you have it. Good luck finding it without a guide or map nearby.
- Obvious Beta: Try playing this and tell us this isn't the case.
- Well, that, or They Just Didn't Care.
- Password Save: How the game would save your progress. I say WOULD because it hardly ever works correctly. All that grinding from level 0 to level 1? Won't save. That potion you have to create to save a nearby village? Nope. The item that allows you to enter the final area of the game? Good luck finding it again!
- Psychic Powers: All four main characters have these.
- Real Is Brown: In this case, the game may be far ahead of it's time... the palette of varying shades of brown, green, and yellow make the game seem incredibly realistic.
- The Slow Walk: Literally. Your main character, supposed to be a young boy, moves slower than old men with canes.
- With This Herring: As stated above, you start out at level 0 and can do 1 damage, if any at all. you need 100 experience to reach level 1. There's also an enemy that can petrify you, and unlike Final Fantasy, all you can do is watch as the enemy tears you to shreds, with nothing you can do to stop it. Have fun!
The remake provides examples of:
- New and Improved: This remake over the original, obviously.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Minami's hair is a dark blue, though the rest of the party has a rainbow of unusually vibrant colors as well... Shiba's hair is green, Misa's is pink, and Aine's is orange.