Line #32 VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cosmic_star_heroine_header.jpg]]
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3	''Cosmic Star Heroine'' is Creator/ZeboydGames' first full-fledged EasternRPG. After a successful Website/{{Kickstarter}} campaign that ended in October 2013 with more than $130,000 raised, the game was finally released on April 11, 2017 on Platform/{{Steam}} and Platform/PlayStation4, later coming to Platform/NintendoSwitch on August 14, 2018.
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5	Alyssa L'Salle, the titular heroine, is one of the best agents of the Agency for Peace and Intelligence (API) set on planet Araenu. After uncovering a conspiracy, she is outed as a spy by her own government and forced to flee, crossing paths with a terrorist organization and several new friends and foes, while the API's men are still on her toes. What's the mystery behind the kidnappings and strange experiments that unfold on three separate planets?
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7	''Cosmic Star Heroine'' is, like the previous Zeboyd productions, a throwback to classic 16-bit [=JRPGs=], but much longer and more epic in scope than those, and with a refined and more complex battle system.
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9	!!The game contains examples of:
10	* ActionGirl: Alyssa is this, being one of the best agents on her planet.
11	* AlwaysNight: Araenu is described as a planet of endless night.
12	* {{Animesque}}: The main characters' portraits are drawn in a Japanese-inspired style, as a homage to the origin of those games CSH takes inspiration from.
13	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: A staple of Zeboyd Games.
14	** You can save whenever, change the difficulty on the fly, the enemy encounters are clearly visible on the map and, while the encounters are finite, if you need to grind you can select in the menu the option to fight "virtual" battles against enemies you've already defeated.
15	** Z'xorv's Murder works on ''everything'', which is a huge help in shortening fights against the countless bulky, but relatively unthreatening enemies you encounter around the time he learns the skill, regardless of the difficulty setting.
16	* BadassCape: Alien bounty hunter Z'xorv is quite fond of these.
17	* BadassInANiceSuit: Borisusovsky AKA "Sue", the HuskyRusskie API agent in a snazzy black suit and sunglasses, who joins Alyssa's group after she uncovers the cospiracy. He only needs his punches to defeat enemies.
18	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: After being defeated, [[spoiler:Director Steele]] blows himself up rather than suffer the indignity of being killed by the heroes. He was pretty much gone crazy at that point.
19	* BizarreAlienBiology: The inhabitants of planet Nuluup start their lives as regular humanoids, then they die, at which point their spiritual essence gets brought together again and given new form by being put in a special suit that gives them a humanoid ghostly shape. Basically, like the ectoplasmatic guy from ''Hellboy II''. Their condition makes them attuned to both the physical and spiritual worlds, and this becomes a plot point.
20	* BodyguardingABadass: One of the guards in the API base will ask why they even need guards when most people there are trained killers who can protect themselves.
21	* BonusDungeon: Unicorp [=HQ=], available right before PointOfNoReturn VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. It features enemies that possess tons of HP and are more than likely [[OneHitKO to drop your party members' health below zero with one attack]], as well as the most brutal {{Superboss}} in the game.
22	* BraggingRightsReward:
23	** The Lovecraft Satchel you get from defeating Cthulhu. It gives Alyssa a massive ''twenty points to every stat'', by you're just about done with the game by the time you're strong enough to beat him.
24	** Defeating [[spoiler:T in Unicorp [=HQ=]]] gives you '''tons of credits''', but you get them right before the PointOfNoReturn VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, so it's very doubtable that you would need them.
25	* BrainInAJar: An one-time enemy is a vehicle armed with missiles and operated by a brain in a dome. Its description states that the brain is robotic too.
26	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Arete]] has been this for quite a while, though they're sane enough to keep up a guise of sanity.
27	* CantDropTheHero: Nope, you can't get rid of Alyssa.
28	* CarryTheOne: An agent in the base is trying to work out an equation and says that if he carries the one there will 100% chance of the base spontaneously bursting into flames. He then says everyone knows you don't carry the one in temporal-displacement mathematics.
29	* ContractualBossImmunity: Averted. Due to the way ailments work, bosses just take more uses of ailment skills to hit them with it. Z'xorv's Murder skill will also always work on every single enemy in the game, provided the conditions for it to trigger an instant kill are met.
30	* DanceBattler: Clarke the robot, another member of the party, is more or less this.
31	* DugTooDeep: The Zanzaran Mines are abandoned because the miners have inadvertently unleashed all manners of ghosts and demons. One NPC even says the very trope name.
32	* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Whenever you encounter an enemy, the elements they're weak to are shown just under their health. Hitting these weaknesses is a major part of the combat system. Arete even learns a move that ''adds'' a random elemental weakness to an enemy.
33	* EnemyMine: [[spoiler:The now-directorless API]] joins forces with you at the end.
34	* FaceHeelTurn: [[spoiler:Arete, the leader of the resistance, betrays the heroes in the end.]]
35	* FutureFoodIsArtificial: An agent at the base drinks "nutrient-rich wonder sludge".
36	* GameBreakingBug: If you use a skill that kills Clarke and he's your only living party member, there's a chance that he'll remain dead if you retry the battle.
37	* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: As per Zeboyd Games' tradition, most bosses in the game are just "there" without any foreshadowing. For example, the Nightmare, the Holographic Knight, the Shade, not to speak of the optional bosses like the giant mutant squirrel. The weirdest example has got to be the Gunmancy ultimate test on Nuluup: to pass it you have to defeat three doglike creatures in samurai armor named "Rosie"... Sorry, what?
38	* GratuitousEnglish / GratuitousJapanese: Lauren's song is one of these. Averted, however, in her dialogue.
39	* HarderThanHard: The Super Spy difficulty violently hates your guts and will try to flatten you at any opportunity. It does, however, play completely fair while doing so.
40	* HiveMind: The Scimerex, a race of insectoid aliens, are organized in one of these, but they still have their individual identities. One of them, Psybe, becomes a party member. Unlike most examples in media, they are peaceful and have a mostly spiritual connection to one another.
41	* {{Homage}}:
42	** The whole game is a homage to ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar''. For a more specific example, the Freedom Festival is basically CT's Millennium Fair under another name.
43	** [[https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/297484/7_classic_RPGs_that_inspired_Cosmic_Star_Heroine.php This article]] details other sources of inspiration.
44	** One optional sub-quest set in a police station full of zombies is ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' in all but name.
45	** Z'xorv looks fairly similar to the titular alien from ''Film/{{Zeiram}}'', at least to how it looks like in the beginning.
46	* HuntingTheRogue: Early on, protagonist Alyssa and her friends defect from API upon discovering their director's plot to use the MindControlDevice to TakeOverTheWorld. Alyssa's ensuing travel through Araenu is spent mostly on fleeing from the director's death squads.
47	* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: [[EasierThanEasy Tourist]], Agent, Heroine and [[HarderThanHard Super Spy]].
48	* KarmaHoudini: [[TheDragon Echo]] never gets any comeuppance for attempting to assassinate Alyssa and [[spoiler:poisoning the mayor on the planet Nuluup]].
49	* LateCharacterSyndrome: Defied. You're forced to use the final three characters for a segment.
50	* LuckBasedMission: Until you get a full party, fights on Super Spy are purely dependent on the RNG not screwing you over.
51	* MacGuffin: The Lumina device, a thing that can be used to control anyone's mind and of course fell into the wrong hands.
52	* MakeMyMonsterGrow: The Blobmith, a presumably artificial summoned creature that can grow in seconds to {{kaiju}} proportions. It is fought in a very unusual boss battle.
53	* MasterOfAll: Alyssa. While her individual stats aren't the highest, she's still one of the best characters in each stat and has an incredibly versatile moveset that lets her run any role.
54	* MatterReplicator: An agent complains that the cafeteria doesn't have a "food reparticulator".
55	* MechanicallyUnusualFighter: Clarke, whose moveset is centered around him dying and cheating death.
56	* MythologyGag: Numerous references to past Zeboyd Games' titles show up in this game.
57	** Lita and Dem from ''VideoGame/BreathOfDeathVII'' appear as {{Optional Boss}}es in this game. Dem is even fought in a remake of the first cave in the game. Also, before the fight with Dem, you also fight Chief Troll and two trolls, who appear as WarmUpBoss and starter enemies, respectively.
58	** Characters from ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'' also appear in this game. October appears as a recruit available by default, Paws appears as an optional [[DuelBoss Duel]] MiniBoss, and after the battle, the player can collect the tuft of green fur from him, which is necessary for scavenger hunt. Later, he can be recruited as a crewmember. Umi appears in a hotel as a non-recruitable NPC where she says she's waiting for...her travelling companion. And finally, Cthulhu himself makes an appearance as an OptionalBoss. In the mansion, portraits of Cthulhu and October make appearance, and in Enzo's office, there are capsules containing enemies from this game, such as Scream Cone and Brainsquid. Ultharians (Paws' species) also appear in this game as [=NPCs=], with Wild Ultharians appearing as enemies.
59	** In the VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, you can find a letter from Molly the Were-Zompire in one of the chests.
60	* NeonCity: Araenu is a planet with aesthetics inspired by CyberPunk, including city alleys full of neon lights.
61	* NoHeroDiscount: Dave complains that the agents have to buy their own equipment and says "Long live capitalism".
62	* NominalImportance:
63	** Several of the NPC that aren't named just "Man/Woman/Robot" etc. can be recruited to be part of the protagonists' crew on the spaceship they stole. They will give some additional effects during the battle, one at a time.
64	** Jaxx Blasterfist, on the other hand, isn't recruitable and doesn't matter at all; just an assassin sent by the API to get rid of Alyssa in the early part of the game, and an optional encounter too.
65	* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname:
66	** Arete, the leader of the terrorist group Astrea. Her real name is unknown. Although an ApocalypticLog found on the abandoned lab on Rhomu during an optional mission near the end of the game implies that her name is [[spoiler:Lisa Ananke.]]
67	** Borisusovsky is usually called Sue by the others and the interface, mostly because his name is too long.
68	* OnlyOneName: Most of the characters, except for Alyssa L'Salle, Lauren Gambino and Orson Bolibar.
69	* PermanentlyMissableContent: A few things are only doable early on. These are proving the innocence of an NPC, giving 3000 credits to a homeless woman, and not paying to do the fight in the fair. Though you can give the credits shortly after the event in the fair without any issues, the other two become this then.
70	* PreFinalBoss: Before the fight with [[spoiler: [[MechanicalAbomination Eternity]], the true BigBad of the game, the party initially fights the [[EvilFormerFriend Integrated Arete]], who [[ManInTheMachine uploaded herself into the Eternity's schemes]]. After her defeat, the machine explodes, killing her, after which her posthumous message plays that her integration allowed her cybernetics to upload the ComputerVirus into the Eternity's schemes, making it vulnerable enough to defeat.]]
71	* RecursiveCanon: It's possible to catch an agent playing ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'' but that game's version of Cthulhu later shows up as a boss.
72	* RedHerring: [[spoiler:Yes, the game just handed you Arete's ultimate weapon. No, this does not mean she's coming back. You end up killing her in the room ''immediately after'' receiving this weapon.]]
73	* SciFiKitchenSink: With some FantasyKitchenSink as well. Alyssa knows or will meet in her travels robots, cyborgs, mutants, aliens, ghosts, [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs alien ghosts]], demons, zombies, mecha, kaiju, [[SerialEscalation Cthulhu]]...
74	* SequentialBoss: The final boss battle.
75	* SkewedPriorities: Just before the PointOfNoReturn VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, it is possible to talk with Dave and unlock his additional mission. While our heroes are trying to save the galaxy, Dave is worried about... someone one-upping all of his high scores at the local arcade.
76	* SpaceWestern: The cities under the surface of planet Rhomu are Wild West towns In Space, complete with sheriff, bandits, bounty hunters, saloons and so on.
77	* StatusEffects: There are several.
78	** Stunned, Charmed, Poison: These are pretty self-explanatory. The latter only works on organic creatures and is permanent.
79	** Rust: Only works on robots. Halves defenses, reduces turn frequency, and is permanent.
80	** Cursed: Only works on spectral creatures. 15% damage penalty, lowers ailment resistance, and is permanent.
81	** Vulnerable: Next hit causes double damage.
82	** Disarm: 35% damage penalty for one turn.
83	** Enrage: All hits target the attacker if possible, 25% damage penalty on attacks that hit multiple targets.
84	* StarterVillainStays: Groff Brokston, leader of the terrorist group who appears as the StarterVillain in the game's BatmanColdOpen, returns later in the game as a powerful adversary, piloting a HumongousMecha to destroy the city. After his mech is defeated in the SequentialBoss battle, he reveals himself and, right before Alyssa L'Salle kills him, he ends up summoning his pet and turning it into a {{Kaiju}} to [[TakingYouWithMe posthumously finish what he started]].
85	* SuddenlyVoiced: The game has no voice acting, however when the heroes first meet Lauren (the informant, secret agent and singer) at the Nightshade club we can hear [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrYMQvK1H-Q&feature=youtu.be one of her songs]] during the cutscene. It's written and performed by none other than Creator/LauraShigihara, better known to gamers as the Sunflower from ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies''.
86	* SunglassesAtNight: Sue and the API's director Steele are never seen without their sunglasses. It could be that they hide some cybernetic modifications. [[spoiler:Though in the ending sequence we get to see Sue's eyes.]]
87	* TitleDrop: The last episode is titled "Cosmic Star Heroine".
88	* UniqueEnemy: The semifinal dungeon has a mimic-lookalike that clashes with the game's treasure chests called Pandora's Box. It has ten HP and goes down to any attack that isn't Pacifist Smash and serves seemingly no purpose.
89	* UselessUsefulSpell: The way ailments work, they "seem" bad due to their short durations, but a crucial turn skip or a vulnerable on a Hyper turn with a buffed character using a Burst ability can make them pretty good.
90	* WhateverMancy: Gunmancy, or the art of summoning guns, that originated on planet Nuluup. Alyssa's friend Chahn is a practitioner.
91	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The ending cutscene shows what the various party members are up to after having defeated the final enemy and saved the galaxy... They pretty much go on doing the same things they did before [[spoiler:except for Sue, who's now become the API's new director.]]
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Context VideoGame / CosmicStarHeroine