Cosmic Star Heroine

[Elly]

do you like Phantasy Star?..
do you like Chrono Trigger?..
do you like Lunar?..
if you do, you may enjoy Cosmic Star Heroine... a game that incorporates elements of those games... the aesthetic and style of Phantasy Star, PS4 in particular... the combat transitions and team skill attacks of Chrono Trigger... and, the cut-scene styling of Lunar: Eternal Blue... all influenced this labor of love from Zeboyd Games...

i've been playing on it off and on since it released a few days ago and i totally get the feels from it that i got playing Phantasy Star IV and Chrono Trigger for the first time... it's on PS4 and Steam right now for $14.99, with a discount for PS+ members... i highly suggest this one, it has it's share of bugs and typos but the devs plan to have all that fixed by time they release a Limited Run physical copy, which of course means a couple more patches on the way, but at least they take fan feedback to fix the problems... loving this game, how many others have been playing it, or if not do you plan to give it a shot... turn-based JRPGs are not dead, i hope more devs show love of this level for the genre...

[Spuuky]

Great game. The combat system is one of the best in a turn-based RPG that I've played. I've been looking forward to this game for a long time, but it didn't disappoint me (so far, although I'm not terribly far into it yet, just a few hours).

This is the kind of game that the tiny minority of this forum who actually liked the older FF games (especially the SNES-era ones) should definitely get. Although as you said, it is more directly Phantasy Star and CT.

It's actually still 20% off for its release on Steam currently:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/256460/

[Vyk]

I've been watching this game, but I think you just sold it to me..

[Elly]

cool to see a couple people into it...
it is sad though on a site where i thought the majority seemed to lament the death of old-school JRPGs every time a WRPG or ARPG comes out, then all they wanna talk about is Dark Souls and Mass Trainwreck:SJW, not JRPGs when an awesome JRPG is released... maybe Spuuky's right and the old-school JRPG fans are a minority... oh well, at least i know a few people still like old-school JRPGs, and i'm sure those few will enjoy this truly awesome game...

[Vyk]

I've always found that odd myself. Pier Solar didn't get the attention I thought it would have when it made its way to PC (and I think consoles now?). Not that it was a perfect game, but it is something old-school JRPG fans were supposedly clamoring for. And yet Stardew Valley and Bravely Default blew away all expectations when they came out and were practically a phenomenon. I guess there's some magical variable that needs to be hit that nobody really knows about and some games catch it and others don't

Though now that I think about it, coming out the same time as Persona 5 may have been a misstep, as most JRPG fans will go with the heftier and flashier game from an old trustworthy developer

I feel your pain though. Every time I try to bring up a new hidden gem on this place that I know people will enjoy, they don't even pay attention and I get one or two replies and then the thread dies. But I appreciate that you reminding me the game existed :)

[Spuuky]

Well, I didn't actually like Pier Solar very much. I haven't made it super-far through the game because it just hasn't compelled me. I already like CSH a lot more than it.

[Wolf Kanno]

I feel like when people clamor for a game like "the good old days" they may be expecting AAA production values or at least a familiar company to be working on it. Not to mention that as an FF forum, most of us are probably more familiar with Nintendo RPGs so saying a game is like Phantasy Star or Shining Force will often illicit a very niche audience to begin with. Not to mention that most of the oldbie members who played these types of games no longer frequent the forum; so unless the game is emulating the PS1 era JRPG, it's not really going to win over the remaining people here.

Honestly, there are a lot of good throwback JRPGs in the indie scene, which is why I think people tend to gloss over them because almost all of them promote the fact that they play like those games you loved as a child, so they start to look the same to some people. Not to mention that I feel any marketing that promotes that your game plays like a more well known entry is kind of a bad choice. These games should probably be marketing what makes them unique or interesting on their own merits and just let the fans discover on their own what games it borrows ideas from. A game like I am Setsuna may have done better had it not been marketed as "Chrono Trigger with FFX's plot".

[Spuuky]

There are a lot of throwback JRPGs in the indie scene. I'm not sure I'm willing to agree that there are a lot of GOOD throwback JRPGs.

[Wolf Kanno]

There are a lot of throwback JRPGs in the indie scene. I'm not sure I'm willing to agree that there are a lot of GOOD throwback JRPGs.

I tend to be more forgiving with indie titles I guess, course it's not like the old games they are emulating were flawless either.

[Elly]

good points... releasing alongside Persona 5 may have been a bad decision that could ultimately lose game sales for CSH...
yeah maybe people shouldn't compare the game to those classics, because even though they evoke the same feel their systems are verry different in how they handle things... like for example there is no MP system... every character has one basic attack they can use over and over while all other attacks have a one-time charge to them, to replenish these charges you go into a defensive stance, basically block to recharge... there's even some skills that add up how many special charges you used up during battle and bases damage on that, making a really good final attack... so maybe focus on getting the games unique qualities out there as opposed to what feeling it evokes could be more beneficial...

[Vyk]

I tried the game. Happy to have given them money, I love the look and style, the combat ideas are interesting, there's a lot of good ideas. But sadly I don't think the game is for me. But at least gave it a shot

[Lyndis Highwind]

I don't think it's totally lost on everyone. I like all the games Elly mentioned, and I'm not even twenty years old yet. I am interested in CSH and I would like to play it someday.

[Spuuky]

I tried the game. Happy to have given them money, I love the look and style, the combat ideas are interesting, there's a lot of good ideas. But sadly I don't think the game is for me. But at least gave it a shotOut of curiosity, what is it lacking or doing wrong that pushes you away? I personally can think of several problems with the game from my perspective, they just are significantly outweighed by the parts I like. But I'm curious to hear what yours are.

[Depression Moon]

Do you get to fight in space?

[Vyk]

I tried the game. Happy to have given them money, I love the look and style, the combat ideas are interesting, there's a lot of good ideas. But sadly I don't think the game is for me. But at least gave it a shotOut of curiosity, what is it lacking or doing wrong that pushes you away? I personally can think of several problems with the game from my perspective, they just are significantly outweighed by the parts I like. But I'm curious to hear what yours are.
Yeah I didn't want to turn negative on the thread, since like I said I appreciate it's existence, so listing a bunch of complaints sounded like it may derail a thread about a game already struggling to gain traction. So I'll just spoiler it

Sadly it's the writing. I'm sure a lot of it is intentional camp, but good-bad writing is subjective, campy fun bad writing is subjective, and cringe-bad writing is subjective. So I can totally see how people would adore the campiness of it. But it seemed more like bad fanfiction writing to me than intentionally campy writing, or genuine effort that went wrong kinda campy writing. Either way, it just seemed silly to me and made it hard to invest in anything. The plot convenience character showing up for the intro, the bad guys being called Bad Guy, the "get in and get out without being noticed" set-up that leads to "Hey bossman, Imma beatchu!". I dunno, as someone maybe not great at writing, but who has at least studdied writing, it was very much just "set it up, knock it down" without any obvious writing or editing talent, and I couldn't help but facepalm more than giggle. And I am very particular about my enjoyment of certain campy things, so I wouldn't dream of saying I'm any kind of authority on this. It's not the game's fault at all. I'm super picky. But I feel like I'd get more enjoyment out of it if I were tipsy. Which I may still try. Honestly I only got past the intro portion. So there's definitely still plenty of game in there left to impress me

[Spuuky]

I can certainly see that. I will say that the intro is the weakest part in that regard that I've played (not done with the game yet), but it sort of stays that way to some degree. Unrelated to that, I do think the combat system in particular becomes a lot more interesting with more options, later.

Basically, my feelings about the game in summation that is relevant to me:

Graphics and visual style: good
Audio effects and music: hit and miss
Combat system: great
Pacing: kind of bad
Writing and story: indifferent

For me, that adds up to something I enjoy.


Do you get to fight in space?I haven't had a fight "in space" yet (just on the surfaces of some alien planets). But I'm not done with it, as I said. Who knows! I do have a spacecraft, after all.

[Elly]

i've finished 3 planets and have an asteroid to go to, i haven't come across any space combat, kinda wish there were vehicles like in PS4... i can totally see someone not gelling with the writing, that's the number one complaint i see from most reviews, that it was bare-bones, no real meat to it... honestly i too would have like a more fleshed out story... the Team Attacks are pretty nice but you have to keep a certain shield equipped on Alysa to use them... but as i said earlier Cosmic Star Heroine, like other games, has it's quirks and flaws but for me there's enough there to keep me hooked on trying to Platinum it...

[Vyk]

Well, I tested it and got a healthy buzz going and fired the game up again. Didn't realize I'd only played 15 minutes before writing it off. But you're right, the cheese factor in the writing is definitely dialed back on the second mission. And the music and atmosphere are beautiful. I know I would have loved this game back in the day. So I'll give it an extended time to pull me in. And even if it doesn't stick, I feel better giving it a more fair shake this time. But you're right. I know there's probably a lot of people on this forum who would love this game and will probably never know it exists. That's how Freedom Planet was for me. I love the older 2D Sonic games, and that game took the formula up to 11. And had its own brand of cheesey dialog and surprisingly compelling drama here and there, and I felt like anyone who even mildly enjoyed an old Sonic gamew as probably doing themselves a disservice by not looking into it. That means little in the grand scheme of things, but at least this game is in good company. Nothing wrong with being a hidden gem I suppose, I just hope the developer does alright at least