The Portopia Serial Murder Case

The Portopia Serial Murder Case
Cover art of the PC-6001 version
Developer(s)Chunsoft (Family Computer)
Publisher(s)Enix
Designer(s)Yuji Horii
Writer(s)Yuji Horii
Platform(s)PC-6001, PC-8801, FM-7, FM-8, MSX, Sharp X1, Family Computer, Mobile, Windows
Release
June 1983
  • PC-6001
    • JP: June 1983
    MSX
    • JP: June 1985
    Family Computer
    • JP: 29 November 1985
    First mobile version
    • JP: 26 November 2001 (i-mode)
    • JP: 3 April 2003 (EZweb)
    • JP: 1 May 2003 (Keitai)
    Second mobile version
    • JP: 13 January 2005 (EZweb)
    • JP: 19 July 2005 (i-mode)
    • JP: 18 January 2006 (Keitai)
    Square Enix AI Tech Preview
    • WW: 24 April 2023
Genre(s)Adventure, visual novel
Mode(s)Single-player

The Portopia Serial Murder Case[a] is a 1983 adventure game designed by Yuji Horii and published by Enix. It was first released on the NEC PC-6001 and has since been ported to other personal computers, the Family Computer (Famicom), mobile phone services and most recently, Windows as Square Enix showing off their natural language processing technology.

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, helping to define the visual novel genre as well as inspiring Japanese game designers such as Hideo Kojima and Eiji Aonuma.
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