Most creative ideas originate from an inspiration, either a real or fictional topic. This includes modeling locations and stories on places and events in our history. Many video games take this form of inspiration by basing their worlds on true locations across the globe. Some of these locations are obvious while are others are more discrete. Let me explain a few games with real life locations to show you the inspirations which influenced their creation.
Pokémon Sword and Shield - Great Britain
Pokémon games occur in large areas called regions. These regions each have real world equivalents where the developers take inspiration. This includes the first region of Kanto in Pokémon Red and Blue being based on the Kanto region of Japan. The trend continues with the most recent games of Pokémon Sword and Shield based on Great Britain. As many know, Great Britain refers to the landmass of England, Scotland, Wales, and adoring islands. This is seen with the region’s shape being similar to the island, but flipped over. The British inspirations, however, are scattered all across Galar. Wyndon, a city similar to London, contains a large Ferris wheel and clock tower. Hammerlock contains a large castle-like structure similar to the architecture across Britain, such as Edinburgh. The similarities can also be seen in the games focus on sports, with Pokémon battles replacing the British soccer matches. This is reflected in the large stadiums with hundreds of fans to watch the monumental battles which would occur in these soccer stadiums. Lastly,
Great Britain similarities can be viewed through the Sword and Shield Expansion Pass in the two extra areas players can explore. The Isle of Armor, which is located off the coast of Galar, is based on the real world Isle of Man. Then, the Crown Tundra, which is situated at the southern end of Galar, shares many similarities with the adjourning country of Scotland. Though Pokémon may be done with Great Britain, it will be interesting to see the inspirations taken for the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Violet games and if any shared Spanish history could be portrayed in the Paldea region!
Horizon Forbidden West - Western America
After the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, Aloy travels further west in a post-apocalyptic America. The world experienced this disaster after robots, which were developed to help the environment, go rogue and destroy most life on Earth. After solving an issue of the robots becoming active once more in the future, Aloy now sets out to explore the western regions of this futuristic area to find the source of a plague that kills all life it infects. This territory, being based on Western America, contains many areas and monuments which exist in the real world. With the passage of time, however, many of these landmarks have deteriorated as they are overgrown or now found underwater. These familiar places include: Alcatraz Island, The Golden Gate Bridge, Sequoia National Park, and Zion National Park. If more Horizon games are produced, we will be able to see more areas of North America in this post-apocalyptic setting!
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Kyoto, Japan
For most of the games Zelda game series, they occur in the fantastical kingdom of Hyrule. This setting has been most recently been seen in the newest Zelda games, Breath of the Wild and its prequel, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Though both stories share a similar rendition of Hyrule, the version in Breath of the Wild was created based on inspirations of Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto, the once former capital of Japan, is located in the Kansai region of Japan. This historical city contains many temples and shines, which can be reflected in the many shrines throughout Hyrule. The largest inspiration,
however, is the shape of Hyrule the game's director took from Kyoto. Growing up in Kyoto himself, the director, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, decided to shape the map of Breath of the Wild based on real world map of Kyoto. Many of the special locations in the game are based on tourist attractions in the city, further displaying the similarities between Hyrule and this city. With a sequel to Breath of the Wild releasing soon, will will have to see how Hyrule changes and if more locations from Japan could be translated into the game!
Marvel's Spider-Man - New York City
In the comics, movies, and games, Spider-Man is one of the many characters who inhabits New York City. In Marvel's Spider-Man, the webslinger is fighting against his enemy Doctor Octavius and a masked gang known as the Inner Demons. During Spider-Man's adventures, he can explore this re-creation of New York City. With New York City being so large, however, the game focuses mostly on Manhattan. This can be reflected with the many landmarks scattered throughout this world. Some of these places include the World Trade Center, Battery Park, Governor's Island, and the many bridges which connect Manhattan to Brooklyn. The general shape of
Manhattan is also fairly accurate, but some sections of the city have been altered in size. This version of New York also includes many Marvel-inspired buildings and business, such as Avengers Tower and the Sanctum Sanctorum. If you wish to explore more of New York, there is the spin-off game, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which also occurs in Manhattan. There is also a sequel of the original game coming soon, so we will have to see what changes they make to this virtual re-creation of New York!
Splatoon - Tokyo, Japan
Though it may not be directly seen in the world of Splatoon, these games take place thousands of years after human extinction due to rising sea levels. After many years, marine creatures begin to evolve and take on a humanoid form. This results in the creation of Inklings and Octarians. These species later create the establishments of Inkopolis and Calamari County respectfully. In Splatoon, Inkopolis is the main setting of the games where the various features and locations can be accessed.
Though this city exists 12,000 years in the future, it bears similarity to the real life city of Tokyo in Japan. This can be seen with Inkopolis Tower resembling Tokyo Tower and the crossing in Inkopolis Plaza. The layout of Inkopolis is also similar to Shibuya, which is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. Now that I am done saying Inkopolis a few too many times, we can look forward to see how more real world locations look in this post-flood world in the upcoming Splatoon 3!
Our world has a long history and has various cultures across the globe that developers choose to use when they create their games. While some inspirations are very obvious, such as Marvel's Spider-Man, other are more hidden, such as Breath of the Wild. I hope as you continue to play videos, you notice what place in the world your games may be based on. The cities in our world each have special stories to tell, so I hope you appreciate their real life and virtual counterparts.