The Portopia Serial Murder Case

Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Japanese: ポートピア連続殺人事件), often translated to The Portopia Serial Murder Case in English, is an adventure game designed by Yuji Horii and published by Enix. It was first released on the NEC PC-6001 in June 1983, and has since been ported to other personal computers, the Nintendo Famicom, and mobile phone services.

Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken
Cover art of the NEC PC-6001 version
Developer(s)Chunsoft
Publisher(s)Enix
Designer(s)Yuji Horii
Writer(s)Yuji Horii
Platform(s)PC-6001, PC-8801, FM-7, FM-8, MSX, Sharp X1, Famicom, Mobile
Release
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

In the game, the player must resolve a murder mystery by searching for clues, exploring different areas, interacting with characters, and solving item-based puzzles. The game features first-person graphics, nonlinear gameplay, an open world, conversations with non-player characters, branching dialogue choices, suspect interrogations, nonlinear storytelling, and plot twists. The Famicom version also features a command menu system, point-and-click interface, and 3D dungeon maze. Upon its release, The Portopia Serial Murder Case was well received in Japan. It became an influential title and helped define the visual novel genre.

Gameplay
The crime scene in the original version of the game on the PC-6001.

The Portopia Serial Murder Case follows a first-person perspective and narrative. The various events are described with still pictures and text messages. The player interacts with the game using a verb-noun parser which requires typing precise commands with the keyboard. Finding the exact words to type is considered part of the riddles that must be solved. While sound effects are present, the game lacks music and a save function.[1] It features a conversation system with branching dialogue choices, where the story develops through entering commands and receiving answers to them from the player's sidekick or non-player characters.[2][3][4]

The game features nonlinear gameplay,[5][3][4] allowing multiple different ways to achieve objectives.[6] This includes travelling between different areas in an open world and making choices that determine the dialogues and order of events as well as alternative endings depending on who the player identifies as the culprit.[7][4][5] However, only one of the characters is the true culprit, while the others are red herrings; if the player closes the case with the wrong culprit, then the player will face criticism from the police chief and need to re-open the case. The game includes a phone that could be used to manually dial any number, which is needed to contact several non-player characters.[2] The game also features an inventory system requiring the examination and collection of items, which could be used as evidence later in the game.[7]

With no keyboard, the Famicom version replaces the verb-noun parser with a menu list of fourteen set commands selectable with the gamepad.[1] This is similar to the command selection menu system introduced in Yuji Horii's murder mystery adventure game Okhotsk ni Kiyu: Hokkaido Rensa Satsujin Jiken, which was released in 1984,[8] in between the PC and Famicom releases of Portopia. One of the commands on the menu allowed the player to use a point-and-click interface, using the D-pad to move a cursor on the screen in order to look for clues and hotspots.[1][4] The Famicom version of Portopia also features branching menu selections, which includes using the pointer as a magnifying glass to investigate objects, which is needed to find hidden clues, and as a fist or hammer to hit anything or anyone, which could be used to carry out beatings during suspect interrogations.[2][4] Additional sequences were also added, notably an underground dungeon maze,[1] with a style similar to role-playing video games.[9]

Setting and characters

Although the story of the game is fictional, it is set in real Japanese cities; mainly Kobe, in addition to a few sequences in Kyoto and Sumoto.[1] The president of a successful bank company, Kouzou Yamakawa (山川耕造), is found dead by his secretary Fumie Sawaki (さわき　ふみえ) inside a locked room in his mansion. Signs seem to indicate that Kouzou stabbed himself; however, the police sends a detective to investigate further.[10]

The detective in charge of the case is an unnamed, unseen and silent protagonist who essentially embodies the player, and is simply referred to as Boss (ボス).[10][5][4] He works with an assistant named Yasuhiko Mano (間野康彦), nicknamed Yasu (ヤス), who is the one who actually speaks and executes most of the player's commands.[1] Other characters include, among others, Yukiko (ゆきこ), daughter of a man named Hirata (ひらた); Toshiyuki (としゆき), Kouzou's nephew and heir;[10] and Okoi (おこい), a stripper.[10][2]

Development and release
Artwork for the second mobile version of the game. Yasu is in the center, wearing a black suit and white shirt.

The game was conceived by Yuji Horii around 1981, when he was 27 years old, shortly after he bought his first computer and learned to program with it by modifying other games.[9] During this time, he read a PC magazine article about a computer game genre in the United States, text adventures. Horii noticed the lack of such games in the Japanese market and decided to create an adventure game of his own.[9][3] Horii also cited the manga authors Tetsuya Chiba, Mitsuru Adachi and Katsuhiro Otomo as influences.[11] The game was developed using the BASIC programming language.[12]

Horii wanted to expand on the adventure game genre with his own ideas.[3] One such concept was to create "a program in which the story would develop through entering a command and by receiving an answer to it."[9] His idea was for "a game that progresses through conversations between a human and a computer." He "started to get more ambitious," and thought he "could make the computer converse" if enough data is entered, attempting to create an artificial intelligence language algorithm. However, he realized this was not possible on computers at the time, so he created "dialogue for the computer beforehand" where the player "could type in some words, and the computer would reply back with some reaction." Another concept was that, in contrast to other "very linear" stories in adventure games at the time, his idea was for branching, non-linear storytelling, where "the main scenario should only take up about 20% of the game’s content, and the remaining 80% should be in response to the various actions of the player." However, due to PC memory limitations, he was only able to create several short branching scenarios, which he still found more interesting than one long linear scenario. He also conceived of a graphical format, with a picture on-screen representing what's happening and a command menu system to select an action, which later became the standard format for Japanese adventure games.[3]

Following its 1983 release,[2] the game was ported to various Japanese personal computers.[13] A Famicom port was then released in 1985 and was the first adventure game to be released on that platform. The Famicom version was also the first collaboration between Yuuji Horii and Koichi Nakamura of Chunsoft, before Dragon Quest.[14] The Famicom version was programmed by Nakamura, who was 19 years old at the time.[2] This version of Portopia changed the interface, adopting the command menu system that Horii created for the 1984 adventure game Okhotsk ni Kiyu: Hokkaido Rensa Satsujin Jiken. Due to frustration with text-based entry, admitting he was never able to get very far in adventure games because of it, Horii created a command menu system for Hokkaido, which was later used in the Famicom version of Portopia. Horii also noted that, for the Famicom versions of both Portopia and Hokkaido, he wanted to make them appealing to a more mature audience, beyond the Famicom's typical younger audience.[2][3] He was also playing Wizardry at the time, inspiring him to include a 3D dungeon maze in the Famicom version of Portopia.[1][9] The game was never released in the Western world, largely due to its mature content, involving themes such as murder, suicide, fraud, bankruptcy, interrogation beatings, drug dealings, and a strip club.[2] The lack of a Western release prompted ROM hacking group DvD Translations to develop an unofficial translation of the Famicom version.[9]

The first mobile phone version of the game was branded as a part of a Horii Yūji Gekijō (堀井雄二劇場, "Yūji Horii Theater") trilogy along with mobile versions of Hokkaido Rensa Satsujin Okhotsk ni Kiyu and Karuizawa Yūkai Annai. It was released in 2003 on EZweb and Yahoo! Keitai services. It features a list of set commands similar to the Famicom version but also improved graphics, no free-moving cursor, and a save function.[13] The games of the trilogy, which was retitled Yuuji Horii Mysteries (堀井雄二ミステリーズ), were re-released in 2005 and 2006 on the same services. The second Portopia version possesses the same content as the first mobile one, in addition to updated graphics, background music, a bonus function obtained after completing the game, and a hint option which nullifies the ending bonus if it is used too frequently.[1][10]

Reception and legacy

The Famicom version of the game sold 700,000 copies.[1] The game was well received in Japan for allowing multiple ways to achieve objectives, its well-told storyline, and its surprising twist ending.[6] The Japanese press described it as "a game without game over" because "there was technically no way to lose."[9] According to Square Enix, it was "the first real detective adventure" game.[15] The game, along with Super Mario Bros., inspired Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series, to enter the video game industry. He praised Portopia for its mystery, drama, humor, 3D dungeons, for providing a proper background and explanation behind the murderer's motives, and expanding the potential of video games.[16] Kojima considers it one of the three most influential games he's played, with its influence evident in his games, including the Metal Gear series and Snatcher.[2][5][17] The PC-6001 version of Portopia Serial Murder Case is included as a hidden secret in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.[18][4] Portopia was also one of the first video games ever played by Nintendo's Eiji Aonuma, who went on to become the director of The Legend of Zelda series starting with Ocarina of Time.[19] Portopia's influence is also evident in Horii's own later work, including the seminal role-playing game Dragon Quest, which used storytelling techniques and the menu interface from Portopia.[20] John Szczepaniak of Retro Gamer considers it "one of the most influential games" as it was responsible for defining the visual novel genre, comparing it to the role of Super Mario Bros., Tetris and Street Fighter in defining their own respective genres (platform game, puzzle game, and fighting game, respectively).[2]

In 2003, The Portopia Serial Murder Case ranked 19th in a poll to determine the thirty best Famicom games; the poll was conducted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography as part of its "Level X" exhibition.[21] The English-language webzine Retrogaming Times Monthly compared the game to the later-released Shadowgate where the player must examine and collect objects and find their true purpose later on, and recommended Portopia to fans of "slower paced games that require [players] to think through puzzles".[7] John Szczepaniak praised its pacing and quality of writing,[9] and considers the gameplay and plot to be sophisticated for its time.[2] He noted that it contains elements found in a number of later titles, including Déjà Vu, Snatcher, 428: Shibuya Scramble, and Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.[2] 1UP also noted that Portopia is similar to ICOM Simulations' Déjà Vu released several years later.[20] Nintendo's successful Famicom Detective Club series of adventure games were also inspired by Portopia.[22] USgamer compared it to the later Police Quest adventure games and CSI television series, as well as classic Sherlock Holmes novels.[23] According to Official Xbox Magazine, Portopia's features, such as point-and-click, murder mystery plot, open world, suspect interrogations, nonlinear gameplay, dialogue choices, and alternate endings, are "standard for 2015, but way ahead of its time in 1983", comparing it to L.A. Noire.[4] Peter Tieryas gave Portopia a positive retrospective review, stating that, while its "influence is undeniable, it's the tragic back story, the strange vicissitudes the characters face, the uncanny freedom to investigate, and the haunting uncovering of the killer that makes it so special."[5]

References
  1. Gameman (6 September 2005). "{title}" 「ポートピア連続殺人事件」の舞台を巡る. ITmedia +D Games (in Japanese). ITmedia. p. 1. Archived from the original on 19 February 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2007. (Translation)
  2. Szczepaniak, John (February 2011). "Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken". Retro Gamer. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011. (Reprinted at John Szczepaniak. "Retro Gamer 85". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.)
  3. "The Possibilities of Adventure Games with Yuji Horii of Enix and Rika Suzuki of Riverhillsoft". Beep. 1987. Archived from the original on 31 May 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  4. "Megal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain". Official Xbox Magazine. Christmas 2015.
  5. Peter Tieryas (5 April 2015), "THE MURDER MYSTERY FROM THE CREATOR OF DRAGON QUEST", Entropy, archived from the original on 22 February 2017, retrieved 22 February 2017
  6. Szczepaniak, John. "Retro Japanese Computers: Gaming's Final Frontier". Hardcore Gaming 101. p. 3. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2011. Reprinted from "Retro Japanese Computers: Gaming's Final Frontier", Retro Gamer (67), p. 2009
  7. Jacobi, Scott (October 2006). "Nintendo Realm - November to December 1985". Retrogaming Times Monthly (29). Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  8. "北海道連鎖殺人 オホーツクに消ゆ". Enterbrain. Archived from the original on 1 August 2003. Retrieved 20 September 2011. (Translation Archived 12 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
  9. Szczepaniak, John. "Before They Were Famouos". Retro Gamer. Imagine Publishing (35): 76.
  10. "{title}" ポートピア連続殺人事件 (in Japanese). Square Enix. Archived from the original on 9 August 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  11. "59 Developers, 20 Questions: 1985 Interview Special". Beep. October 1985. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  12. Szczepaniak, John (28 April 2014). "BASIC's 50th anniversary draws near". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  13. "事件だヤス! iモード「ポートピア」配信開始". ITmedia +D Games (in Japanese). ITmedia. 26 November 2001. Archived from the original on 26 January 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  14. Ryozo, Ota (13 January 2005). "「ポートピア連続殺人事件」にグラフィックなどを一新したBREW版". ケータイ (in Japanese). Impress Group. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  15. "ポートピア連続殺人事件". Square Enix. Archived from the original on 10 December 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  16. Kasavin, Greg (21 March 2005). ""Everything is Possible": Inside the Minds of Gaming's Master Storytellers". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  17. Michael McWhertor (5 October 2011). "The Four Video Games That Shaped Metal Gear Creator Hideo Kojima". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 23 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  18. MGS 5 fans are starting to unravel the secret game Kojima hid in its code Archived 30 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine, GamesRadar
  19. Latest Zelda’s making process & “Ocarina of Time” proposal disclosed (Nintendo Eiji Aonuma x SQEX Jin Fujisawa) (interview) Archived 25 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, DenfaminicoGamer, 9 June 2017
  20. "East and West, Warrior and Quest: A Dragon Quest Retrospective - An anniversary look back at the most influential console RPG ever made". 1UP.com. May 2011. p. 2. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 28 December 2011.
  21. "Japanese Famicom Top 30". 1UP.com. Ziff Davis. 1 January 2000. Archived from the original on 15 August 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  22. Parish, Jeremy (21 March 2013). "Review: Bending Genres in Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  23. Kat Bailey (17 March 2015). "You're a Loose Cannon: The Challenge of Making a Good Police Game". USgamer. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.

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