Our Chosen Game

Me and my team mate Liam chose to reinvent The Portopia Serial Murder Case, as we thought it would be a game that other teams would avoid as it is an old game. We like the concept of the game, and feel that the investigative genre hasn't been touched on as much as war games such as Medal of Honor. We have been discussing the limits we can push this genre to make something totally unique. As a starting point will thought of looking at these points:

• It is a game developed by Yuji Horir, what other games has he done?
• first person perspective/narrative
• Investigation adventure
• Looks?
• Story? Change the story, murder case?
• Retro way?
• Look at different art styles?
• Films, murder cases, what makes them interesting?
• Unique elements
• Murders committed using modern technology - the internet?
• Drawn quality of art
• Look at fictional and non- fictional murders
• Is this an exciting game?
• Would people be interested in this?

The Portopia Serial Murder Case
Firstly, We had a look at some game play of the original game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) from 1985.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6UQWvjC12I
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0xRqdy88cJujTY3_wSKES18RCTUv4EjnrIyyOsA8KGRc8LVyOA3vknQz4zTN7olmzTzoSurIXdIAjt-m2Cjm4T-mOf7a118pXvdidoO5xVEUoedssVGsm1uxjcwVByPyQVOa6Fhv2xf0/s1600/DSC01599.JPG
http://my.stratos.net/~hewston95/RTM29/RTM29.html
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/JPNcomputers/Japanesecomputers3.htm
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6120427/p-2.html


We learnt from this video that it is a 2D text based game, it uses low resolution graphics and the colours are very bold. As well as a sum of the games style I conducted some thorough research covering its art style, gameplay and narrative.  

The PSMC (Portopia Serial Murder Case) was an investigation adventure game designed by Yuji Horii, who works for Enix, a Japanese game design studio. It was released in 1985 on the SNES.
PSMC was very sophisticated for its time. The aim of the game was for the player to solve a murder mystery, by searching for clues. To find them the player must search an array of scenes/settings and interact with characters. The game follows a first person, perspective narrative. The game has a number of various events, which are followed through still pictures and text appearing on screen. The player is able to interact with the images and text by using the keyboard provided in the game. The keyboard isn't an actual keyboard; on screen the player gets a list of set commands, which must be examined and selected using the consoles controller. The aim of solving riddles in the game is finding the exact words to type. PSMC has an element of non-linear game play, giving the player a sense of freedom being able to travel between different areas in the 'open world', allowing the player to achieve objectives their own way. The dialogue is very important. The decisions the player makes redefines the outcome of certain events in the game. Depending on how you play the game the outcome can be frequently different. As a bonus, you have a phone, which you can use to call non playable character's and an inventory system that can be used to collect evidence. The game also features a point and click aspect. It allows the player to use a magnifying glass to search for clues, and when found, click to interact with them. There are also branching menu selections. The magnifying glass being one of them and the other is your character using his fists or a hammer to be used when carrying out an interrogation or beating suspects.

Although the game is fiction, it is set in real Japanese cities such as Kobe, Kyoto and Sumoto.
The detective in charge of the investigation is never seen. His assistant, Yasuhiko Mano is the character who initially speaks to you, giving you commands.

The game sold over 700,000 copies, making it very popular in Japan. The USP was the flexibility with how the player could solve the mysteries, its well told story line and the surprising twist ending. It was Square Enix's first real detective adventure game. Along with Super Mario Brothers it was inspired by Hideo Kojima, who was the creator of Metal Gear Solid. Hideo praised the game for its mystery, drama, humor and its proper background explanation behind murder's motives and expanded the potential of the game.

As a team, we had the idea of having a horror aspect in the narrative as we feel without this an investigation game may get boring. Also, it is a mixture of genres which we can explore in depth. We decided on having the majority of the game set in one area, a normal large family home, which hides some dark secrets. From this ideas came flowing and we picked some games to study as reference to our ideas. 

• Amnesia: The Dark Descent - In reference to the use of a house/mansion.

• LA.Noire - Investigative crime game, in reference to the use of clues and interrogation.

• Heavy Rain - In reference to the use of drama and third person view, as well as investigation.

• LOST The Game - In reference to the flashbacks used to gain clues.

• The Walking Dead - Episodic game, graphic novel art style, third person point and click adventure.

• Resident Evil 5 - In reference to the use of third person camera.

• Slender - In reference to the use of a torch, and the survival aspect of it.

• Alan Wake - The difference between light and day, and the horror aspect of the torch.

• Limbo -  The use of black and white in the art style.

• Silent Hill - The use of survival horror, with the use of a torch and third person.

• Borderlands - Graphic novel art style.

We also looked at some films which had similar ideas to our game characters and narrative.

• Memento - The use of memory loss.

• Flight Plan - The use of a missing child and a large plot twist.

• Wickerman - The use of crime investigation and cults.

• The Woman in Black - The horror style and use of a mansion.