Gamertell

Journey to the West may be a staple of Chinese literature, but it is a tale that has certainly received a lot of love in Japan. The Ming Dynasty novel tells the tale of a monk, Xuanzang, who has been tasked with a holy pilgrimage to India to retrieve Buddhist sutras. He is accompanied by Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, three sinners seeking atonement by following as his guardians/disciples, and Yulong Santaizi, a dragon prince seeking atonement that has been reincarnated as a horse.

The story has found a special place in Japan, where it has been adapted into tv series, animes, mangas and video games. Some anime and manga series, while not inspired by Journey to the West, have episodes or segments inspired by the story.

Journey to the West has inspired quite a few interesting video game spin-offs. While only a few have received US releases, it is interesting to see how the story changed in each incarnation.

Saiyuuki World 2 (NES)

Did you ever play Whomp ‘Em on your NES? I bet you didn’t know that it only starred a Native American boy in the North American version. The Japanese version of the game was practically the same. It had the same gameplay at least, where you’d be journeying through levels, trying to earn new abilities.

The difference? In Japan Whomp ‘Em was Saiyuuji World 2 and starred Sun Wukong/Monkey King from the Journey to the West myth. There was a Japan-only prequel as well, called Saiyuuki World. So instead of following Xuanzang on his journey, Wukong becomes the star and is collecting abilities on a journey.

Dragon Ball Origins (DS)

The popular manga/anime series Dragon Ball was originally inspired by Journey to the West. Akira Toriyama based the character of Son Goku on Sun Wukong. He had a childlike attitude, incredible strength, a monkey tale, a staff that could extend on command and the ability to travel great distances with on a cloud. The initial quest to collect the seven Dragon Balls can be likened to the sutras being sought in Journey to the West.

While the majority of Dragon Ball games are fighting games, Dragon Ball Origins is an action rpg adaptation of the beginning of the series. Since it covers the first two major Dragon Ball arcs, it contains many Journey to the West found in the original series.

Saiyuki: Journey West

One of the most accurate video game adaptations of Journey to the West actually did receive a release outside of Japan. Koei released a strategic RPG called Saiyuki: Journey West. Players determine Sanzo’s (Xuanzang) gender at the beginning of the adventure, and then proceed to travel to India on a pilgrimage, fighting demons and monsters along the way. Sanzo is mainly a support character and magic user who backs up the party members.

The main party members are Son Goku (Wukong), Cho Hakkai (Bajie), Sha Gojo (Wujing) and Shu Ryorin. While Ryorin isn’t directly based on Santaizi, the fact that she is a dragon princess suggests she is inspired by the character. All of the party members have the ability to transform into an alternate form, a nod to the fact that Wukong, Bajie and Wujing had the ability to transform into different forms.

Gensoumaden Saiyuki games

Another incredibly popular manga/anime adaptation of Journey to the West is Kazuya Minekura’s Gensoumaden Saiyuki. It’s one of the closer adaptations of the story, though Minekura does take liberty with quite a few aspects. Genjou Sanzo (Xuanzang) has been charged with a holy quest to reclaim the sutras that have fallen into the hands of youkai and stop the resurrection of Gyumaoh. He is accompanied by Son Goku (Wukong), Cho Hakkai (Bajie) and Sha Gojyo (Wujing), and Hakkai’s pet dragon Hakuryuu (Santaizi) transforms into a jeep to drive them all around.

There have been a few games released based on the series, but two stand out as actually portraying part of the Journey to the West story. The first is Gensoumaden Saiyuki: Hangyaku no Toshin Taishi a GBA strategic rpg game where players go through part of the adventure chronicled in the anime/manga. The second is Saiyuki Reload an rpg adventure that has players going through a suplemental side story to the original series. A PS2 fighting game, Saiyuki Reload Gunlock, and a PSX game, Gensoumaden Saiyuuki, were also released.

S.Y.K ~Shinsetsu Saiyuuki~ (PS2)

Idea Factory has just announced that its next Otomate game, out August 13, 2009, is going to be S.Y.K. ~Shinsetsu Saiyuuki~. The latest adaptation of Journey to the West portrays Xuanzang as a young woman in priestess robes named Genjou. She is accompanied by four delinquent male guardians, Goku (Wukong), Hakkai (Baije), Gojou (Wujing) and Gyokuryu (Santaizi) on a journey to Tenjiku.

Like all otome games, S.Y.K. is going to be about building relationships with the characters. Genjou has to have a certain level of trust with her guardians in order to keep moving on her journey, and this is built by working on tasks with characters. Depending on choices players make, one of her guardians may also fall in love with her.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables reviews the PSP visual novel HimeHibi: Princess Days Portable.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables went over the differences between Japanese, Asian and Korean version PSP games.

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