Hoshi wo Miru Hito

Hoshi wo Miru Hito (which translates to and is sometimes referred to Stargazer, sometimes Stargazers) is an RPG infamous in Japan for its terrible interface, ugly graphics, unbalanced combat, snail's-pace walking speed, nigh-impossible puzzles... you get the picture.

Note to game developers: If your NPCs walk twice as fast as the player and your battle screen layout can't display the ones digit of HP, you might want to rethink your design a little.

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Prerelease Info Notes

Unused Ending#

The game has three used endings: the good ending where the psychics coexist on Aqua with the dolphins, the mediocre ending where they return to the space colony, and the bad ending where they're instantly wiped out by the dolphins. However, there's text in the game for a fourth ending starting at C79B:

たたかいのなかで そだったさいきくの
てきではなかった！

かれらは もう２どと
さいきっくのまえには あらわれない。

じんるいが、べつのせいぶつと
たいとうに つきあうには、
まだおさないようだ。

じんるいは、しゅぎょうを
つまねばならない。

さいきっくたちだけで、
あらたなるほしを、
めざして、たびだった！

ほんとうに これで
よかったのだろうか？

They were no match for
us psychics, who were
forged in the heat
of battle!

They would never appear
before the psychics
again.

It seems mankind
is still too young to
be able to co-exist with 
another species.

They must learn much
to improve this if they
are to advance.

The psychics left for
a new star by
themselves! 

Was that really for
the best?

The text implies that at some point there was going to be an actual final battle if the player chose to fight the dolphins (an unused enemy sprite seen below could be used as evidence), with the ending changing depending on whether the party won or lost. As it is, the game just jumps straight to the "bad" ending after making the last dialogue choice.

Unused NPC Dialogue#

When reading the minds of the robot NPCs in Ark City, most of them speak in short hex strings, but one robot in the hospital gives this oddly-verbose line of dialogue (which is shared with a human NPC in the cockpit area):

すぺーすころにーでの　たびも
おしまいに　ちかずいている。　
あと　わずかで、あたらしいわくせいに　つく。

This space colony's
trip is nearing its end.
Our arrival on a new
planet is imminent.

This is likely due to a pointer error, as adjacent to the robot's spoken dialogue is an unused line that was likely intended for it, at 93D4:

ぱぴぷぺぽ

Beep boop bop

Developer Credits#

At 1C018:

1987. Another Ltd.      

And at 1FB9A:

1987ANOTHERltd.

Alternate Palettes#

All enemies in the game (save for the cut dolphin boss) have two sets of palette data. The second set may have been intended for stronger "palette swap" variants, but there is no code that activates it, nor are there names or stats for any potential enemy variants.

Used

Unused

Unused Sprite#

Starting at 1C306 is a palette and graphics for an unused dolphin enemy, likely intended for the cut final boss battle. The sprite and palette are the only remnants that exist; there is no associated data for name, stats, or AI pattern. It also lacks an alternative palette.