A compendium of references to Portugal in Japanese video games
The beginning of the historical relations between Portugal and Japan dates to the year 1541, when a Portuguese ship washed ashore at Jingujiura. Nearly sixty Japanese words are of Portuguese origin. A variety of Japanese traditions and culinary delights were introduced by Portuguese traders, sailors and missionaries. But in what way has this cultural exchange extended to the more recent phenomenon of Japanese digital games? As a portuguese devotee of Japanese culture, the topic seemed relevant enough to merit some additional exploration.
To my knowledge, the first significant reference to Portugal in Japanese video game is found in Koei's The Age of Discovery from 1990, a game published in the west under the title Uncharted Waters. The main character is a disgraced Portuguese nobleman named Leon Ferrero who resorts to maritime exploration, trade and naval warfare to restore his family's good name and prestige.
Its 1993 sequel, known in the west as New Horizons, diversifies the base game structure of the original by including multiple characters to select from, each with their own story and mission. Among them is the tale of João Franco, the son of the original episode's protagonist Leon, who sets out to discover the mysterious location of the fabled Atlantis, no less.
As the Daikoukai Jidai series progressed, developers seemed less concerned with historical authenticity. More than any of the previous episodes, Porto Estado seems to get some basic historic facts wrong for it is set to take place during the Tokugawa Era (1603-1868) while referring to Oda Nobunaga as the emperor of Japan and portraying events that lead to the birth of the Iberian Union under King Philip II that is recorded to have happened much earlier in 1580. As with the previous episodes, the player can choose from a list of characters, among which the young, affable Portuguese noble Rafael Castor. Both this name and the game's title, which literally translates to Port State, are written in perfectly correct Portuguese. As is the name of the 2006 PSP/DS release, Rota Nova, meaning New Route.
Another meaningful reference can be found a year later in ArtDink's 1991 strategy game The Atlas, in which the player takes on the role of a 15th century explorer with a five year contract with the King of Portugal to discover and chart lands around the Iberian Peninsula.
In 1998, ArtDink recreated the game for contemporary systems and published as Neo Atlas. The protagonist is a Portuguese trading company owner seeking business expansion opportunities in remote territories, as well as discover and chart hitherto unknown parts of the globe. A similar premise is found in a later sequel, Neo Atlas III.
Apart from nautical strategy games, a few other titles exist where mentions to the Portuguese territory, language and culture can be traced.
Galvanized by the success of Cyan's world-renowned point and click adventure CD-ROMs, Sony Computer Entertainment helped to publish The Book of Watermarks, a game designed by a miniscule Tokyo-based studio named Watermarks that is brimming with interesting first and second-hand references to Shakespeare's The Tempest. The objective of this visually impressive pre-rendered journey is to aid in the recovery of a series of ancient tomes, each including the nuclear bases of knowledge for mankind.
The very first lost volume is named the Book of Navigators, said to be owned by the historical Infante Dom Henrique from the 15th century, condensing information on shipbuilding, oceanography, geography and astronomy. While a purely fictitious book, the reference to Prince Henry is historically accurate, him being a pivotal figure in the early age of Portuguese maritime discoveries, the governor of the Order of Christ who at once built and ruined his reputation through his various campaigns in the African continent.
Atlus' futuristic vision of Earth in Maken X includes a most unexpected tour of Europe, with a mandatory stop in Lisbon. Inexplicably, the developers got its geographic location wrong and moved to all the way to the northern Spanish region of Léon. The level, itself, boasts a reasonably accurate depiction of one of the city's oldest quarters, Alfama, and the architectural styles found therein.
Although I could not discern any actual references in the game itself, the Grandia II soundtrack by the veteran composer Noriyuki Iwadare contains two themes whose lyrics are written in Portuguese: A Deus, a double-entendre that can be translated to both farewell and to God; and Canção do Povo, meaning People's Song. Also, the name of the official soundtrack is named Melodia, which translates to Melody as you'd expect. Both themes were performed by guest singer Kaori Kawasumi, who took on the composer's challenge to sing them despite her not knowing the language.
She was coached and assisted by José Álvarez and Motoi Sato from the Portuguese Arts and Culture Center in Japan, whom she thanks in the acknowledgement section. The Grandia II Special Package edition booklet contains a page with two photos of Portugal, one for the Jéronimos Monastery in Lisbon and the other, seemingly, for the Moorish Castle in the nearby town of Sintra.
The last Pomping World (a.ka. Buster Bros/Pang) that Mitchell Corporation ever produced before shutting down was the 2010 DS European exclusive Magical Michael. It includes two levels set in Portugal, one in Lisbon by the Belém tower, a nautical landmark, and the other in the Sintra National Palace. Their representation is at once pleasingly stylized and true to life.
This final reference is found in Spike Chunsoft's third installment of their successful visual novel series, Nyūdanganronpa V3 Minna No Koroshiai Shin Gakki. Among the dozens of MonoMono machine items that can be acquired, one is a weathercock styled after a traditional Portuguese folktale hero, the Galo de Barcelos, meaning the rooster of Barcelos, a town in Northern Portugal.
As per the description, this animal became famous through an age-old tale involving a man wrongly sentenced to death who seconds before his execution remarked he was as certain to be innocent as it was certain that a nearby rooster would sing. Because the bird did crow, much to everyone's amazement, he was exonerated. Thus, the black rooster became a symbol for truth.
I would like to thank @diogojira and @DanielOlimac for their assistance in making this article possible.
Screenshots from the 2023 release of the classic arcade from Mitchell Corporation:
Cannon Dancer / Osman
You can watch our playthrough video here: https://youtu.be/mJcvd8b496Y
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Many ex-Capcom staff including Kouichi Yotsui (credited as Isuke), worked on the original arcade version of Strider and designed Osman as an unofficial sequel to Strider. Yotsui directed both titles.
In contrast to Strider's futuristic Kazakh-Soviet setting, Osman is set in a neon-lit cyberpunk Arabian setting, while Strider Hiryu is replaced by a Middle Eastern protagonist named Kirin who fights without any weapons. 1UP.com included the game in its "Games to Play Before You Die" list. The game's bizarre plot supposedly mocks director Kouichi Yotsui's experience at Capcom after Strider. - Wikipedia
