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LTTP - Shenmue, what the hell is this?

i'm not one of those dudes that really get into games for the "mood" or "atmosphere" but Shenmue evokes a weird nostalgia for something I never had personally experienced. Roaming the streets aimlessly was my jam.

The OST is godly too.

outunderthestars said:
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Really wasn't that great then, doesn't even come close to holding up now. People just need to let it die.
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good shit coupled with your avatar.
 
I don't get the "you had to be there" posts. It's one way of acknowledging that the game hasn't aged all that well; at least that's how I interpret it.
 
I'm replaying Shenmue at the moment on my Dreamcast, and its flaws are apparent even if you aren't looking for them. The controls are super awkward; it's not at all obvious who knows who Charlie is, or where to find the Mad Angels; the voice acting is all over the place and the QTEs, as much as I like them, encourage trial and error rather than getting it right first time and feeling awesome.

But it was 1999... just look at what else came out that year. There was absolutely nothing like Shenmue - from what I remember, at least - and even now it would be a very bold statement to release such an ambitious game that relies heavily on the player's relationship with activities that are largely very tedious.

To say it's divisive is an understatement, but I really believe immersion is in the details, and that's one area where Shenmue really stands out. It doesn't quite make up for the discordant character interactions anymore, but at that point you've just got to roll with it.

It has aged surprisingly well for the kind of game it is, on what is now very limited hardware for that generation. I'm just playing it on RGB scart on my Bravia LED, and honestly I am very happy with the way it looks.

And the forklifts are a blast this time around for me. Managed to clear every crate on my first day :D
 
I have to say, Shenmue is one of my favourite games ever.
When I first played it, way back in the day, I couldn't get enough of it. I spent hours just wondering through the house, picking up EVERY object just to see if it did something.

I loved the little cut scenes that would take place, to be honest this game REWARDS exploration & patience, just wondering home on the right day and talking to Ine-san, "Oh Nozomi bought you flowers, they're at the alter" and then having a reflective moment where you pray to your late father. Amazing. But if you want linear gameplay, handholding and action 24/7 you WILL MISS OUT.

You interact with the daily livees of everone, and see friendships and relationships form around you. And man, what really grabbd me was the presentaion of Chinese culture and folklore, it was SOOOO COOL! I would take my Mirror to everyone in Yokosuka just to see if they had an opinion on it - and many of them did.

I replay it often, and am currently playing through 2 with my wife (her 1st playthrough). She isn't interested though. She isn't into games that much at all really anyway. I try to pursuade her, but she is like, well you do the running around, and then let me know when it's time to do something. But the walking around IS the game, and she misses out on everything that makes it special.

However I still love the game and enjoy my playthroughs. I have probably played Shenmue 1 & 2 over 15 times, and I still haven't seen everything in the games. As others have said it was groundbreaking at the time, but I still think it is a great game now, held back only by the bad controls, slight pacing issues and bad VA work (Sega's fault not the VA's).

Essentially it is marmite:

Marmite_500g_450_tcm28-293449.jpg
 
Kimosabae said:
I don't get the "You had to be there" comments, either. Even when the games released, I thought they were some of the absolute worst things publishing money could buy. Even for the time, the graphics were awful, the dialogue was awful, the protagonist was stoic and absolutely lacked charisma and the gameplay concept of "make monotony interesting" was console gaming's first "Stockholm's Syndrome: The Game". Everything I hate about cinematic gaming started here.

I can't roll my eyes hard enough every time I see this series' contingent moan about a sequel.

Sorry if I offend anyone, but I really hated these games.
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Excellent post. Hated the game on release for all the reasons this poster cites, hated it a year later trying to "give it another chance", and have never understood the adoration and worship and cult-elevation it has received since beyond "gamers sure do love Japan".
 
It has just aged really, really poorly. I had the same feelings as you, OP, when I played the game back in 2008 or so. I can appreciate how ahead of its time Shenmue was in terms of little details and mini-games within its open world, but otherwise it was just a plodding, bizarre mess. I mean, honestly. The endless dialog with all of the NPC's is just painful, albeit unintentionally hilarious at times.
 
RelentlessRolento said:
Played it years ago... To be entirely honest Shenmue II was where it's at. I was genuinely more engaged in SII than the first game.
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Yep. Shenmue 2 was awesome.

Why don't you try 2 OP? its a better experience. Better gameplay, and locations, and way more things to do.
 
Santar said:
One of the great things about Shenmue is how detailed it's world is.
You can explore almost any nook and cranny. Be it opening all the desk drawers in a house and finding stuff like candles, matches or other trinkets. Collect toys, take care of a stray cat etc. Not even modern games are that detailed in what you can actually do.

The game focused on creating a a "real" world which was not really done before to that scale in gaming before. I view Shenmue mostly as an adventure game (similar to Monkey Island), where you explore the town, talk with people, interspaced with some quick time events and fighting.

It's probably not for somebody who needs exciting stuff to happen often though..
It's not meant to be fast moving at all like not all movies are meant to be a Michael Bay spectacle.
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This is the key. Shenmue is very much a world that has been handcrafted throughout. Sure, people may think "It's Open World!~" but it's an entirely different genre than something like GTA.

And on the graphics: Few (non-PC) games were rendering that fidelity at 480p.
 
Kimosabae said:
I don't get the "You had to be there" comments, either. Even when the games released, I thought they were some of the absolute worst things publishing money could buy. Even for the time, the graphics were awful, the dialogue was awful, the protagonist was stoic and absolutely lacked charisma and the gameplay concept of "make monotony interesting" was console gaming's first "Stockholm's Syndrome: The Game". Everything I hate about cinematic gaming started here.

I can't roll my eyes hard enough every time I see this series' contingent moan about a sequel.

Sorry if I offend anyone, but I really hated these games.
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I never liked the game either BUT it did introduce a lot of concepts that pretty standard nowadays. So yes all that stuff was more impressive back then since it was really the first to do it all. Today there's many many games that do the same thing but way better.


edit: Also the OPs post made me feel old.
 
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared said:
I have played through the second one.
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and you didn't like it either?

i tried to go back to 1 and it was painful. 2 was much better and had a great time with.

But like other people echo. The game has a great attention to detail. All the things you can do for the time it was mind blowing.
 
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared said:
I have played through the second one.
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Then why do you complain that the story is about "buying a ticket"?

Why didn't you mention anything to do with the second game? Why do you think it's a "revenge plot" when the entire point of the second game is funneling Ryo to the understanding that revenge isn't the answer?
 
TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared said:
I have played through the second one.
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Try something else in that case. What sort of games do you usually play?

Krejlooc said:
Then why do you complain that the story is about "buying a ticket"?

Why didn't you mention anything to do with the second game? Why do you think it's a "revenge plot" when the entire point of the second game is funneling Ryo to the understanding that revenge isn't the answer?
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This man speaks the truth.
 
Shenmue is actually full of the most realistic people in gaming... Ryo's actions and emotions are very faithful to the Japanese culture he resides in. For example: Ryo's seemingly lack of affection.

slightly edited older quote of mine.

Spoilers for Shemue 1 and 2.
People seem to be annoyed that Ryo never makes any kind of advances on Nozomi but I've been thinking. From my knowledge of Japanese language and Japanese Culture I've learned that Public Displays of affection are not particularly common in Japan and that many people share their first kiss well after 18 years of age. (I also read a recent survey that seemed to indicate this)

What has this to do with anything?

Well, I have always considered Shenmue to be authentic and full of realism in regards to Japan, as especially considering the time frame it takes place in and how it can be compared to other games that share a similar setting. I think that Ryo's stance on love is much like his frustratingly limited social skills (in regards to those not knowledgeable in Japanese culture. ) I can understand how foreigners can be annoyed at how Ryo seems to only be able to say "I see" or "is that so?" at times. But in a Japanese mind frame, I find this to be completely normal. (From what I've gathered anyway)

For this reason I find Ryo's reaction to Nozomi's confession, given his frustrations at the time to be quite realistic.
I also feel that Ryo share these same sensibilities when it comes to Joy. He doesn't understand the social constructs in Hong Kong and is either oblivious or very reserved towards the obvious hints that she tries to give him because it's just not common to show public displays of affection where he grew up, kissing and holding hands are both rare, especially in the 80s.

I may be wrong about all this but from what I've learned it seems to make sense the way Ryo acts and just adds to the authenticity that I so love about the game. I feel like if I were in Japan in the 80's and walking down Dobuita, I'd feel exactly how I do while playing the game.

In conclusion, I appreciate Ryo's lack of balls.
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All the little things like this build into a realistic presentation of 80's Japanese lifestyle and culture and is even quite true in these modern times as well.
 
I prefer 2 l it's more streamlined and less frustrating at times to play. I also loved exploring Hong Kong. I had to play the Xbox version (which works on a 360) which only has English dialogue but it's not that bad.
 
Shenmue is the one game I'll never ever replay, even though I loved it so much back then. I know it won't hold up today. Shenmue's setting was breathtaking at release: An incredible detailed world, day/ night cycle, weather effects, many things you could do and places you could visit. Playing with little kittens, enjoying SEGA classics at the arcades or even collecting figurines. 15 years ago, only Shenmue could provide such an experience.

I don't want these memories to be shattered by playing a game that aged badly. Instead I'm holding out for Shenmue III, which I know will never see the day of light. But it is nice to reminisce - and to dream. Believe.
 
I love the game. I came into it loving adventure/point in click games. To me it was just that, an adventure game in a fully realized living world.

Exploration was amazing at the time, being able to enter buildings that had no relevance to your quest just because you could and explore, fantastic.

Of course the promise at the time was that this was just the beginning of a long journey, so it was rather exciting and the pacing was okay because the best was yet to come.

Yes it has flaws, but Shenmue was so far ahead of its time how could it not?
 
The controls aged poorly, and the voice acting is weird, but it's still my favorite game ever. It's one of the only games that I've played that really made me feel immersed in the world. The city is so well made, the characters felt alive and real, and it was really awesome to explore everything.

It's a shame that open world games today try to be bigger, instead of making smaller but really carefully crafted areas like Shenmue did. I really miss the feeling that Shenmue gave.
 
The best way to approach and understand shenmue is to realize it's a AAA budgeted Adventure game. It's got more in common with, say, Monkey Island than GTA.
 
Well, ive just noticed from your other thread that you dont like the library on the WiiU (Mario 3D world, wind waker, wonderful 101, captain toad, Zombie U or super mario bros U etc) and that you're fond of Halo, Gears of War, Minecraft, Titanfall and Sunset overdrive?

Im not surprised you dont like a game like Shenmue if those are your main choices of games. The fact that you dont even know Ryo's proper name after 30+ hours or that you thought the story revolved around a boat ticket should show you that 1) Shenmue isnt for you, and 2) You didnt understand Shenmue
 
LelouchViBritannia said:
Well, ive just noticed from your other thread that you dont like the library on the WiiU (Mario 3D world, wind waker, wonderful 101, captain toad, Zombie U or super mario bros U etc) and that your fond of Halo, Gears of War, Minecraft, Titanfall and Sunset overdrive?

Im not surprised you dont like a game like Shenmue if those are your main choices of games. The fact that you dont even know Ryo's proper name after 30+ hours or that you thought the story revolved around a boat ticket should show that you 1) Shenmue isnt for you, and 2) You didnt understand Shenmue
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Well that doesn't sound elitist at all :)
 
Shenmue was great. You really had to be there to appreciate how awesome (and ahead of its time) the game was.

But those daily forklift races were the fucking worst. One bump against anything and you would stop in your tracks, which means you lost the race.
 
you either love it or hate it, there's no middle ground with shenmue

i love it and the sequel, and could probably write an essay on why it's actually better than a bunch of narrative driven games today, but if you don't like it you don't like it

EDIT: you didn't have to just 'be there' to enjoy it either, i've seen threads on this very forum about how people have come to it very recently and loved it.
 
Yeah it's not for you.

I think I picked it up used and cheap out of curiosity. I don't remember other games I was playing around that time giving me the same vibes. Most were much more simple in scope and plot.

Teenage me got to temporarily live in/explore the weirdness of Japan while also trying to figure out how the story was going to end. I had a ball for the most part.
 
jamsy said:
Shenmue was great. You really had to be there to appreciate how awesome (and ahead of its time) the game was.

But those daily forklift races were the fucking worst. One bump against anything and you would stop in your tracks, which means you lost the race.
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Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who loves the forklift part. Besides, with the races, you don't want to win. You want to get in each place so that you have one of each figure.
 
LelouchViBritannia said:
Shenmue is a true masterpiece.

Shenmue's plot is simple but its executed perfectly. It's a game that demands patience and delivers massively. For me personally, this is the most immersive video game ever. Every aspect of the title is full of detail and love.

Ryo initially appears bland as he had his father taken away from him. This resulted in him shutting him self off from the world and focusing solely on revenge. Eventually, and this is especially the case in Shenmue 2 disk 4, you start to notice him changing as he speaks to Shenhua. He reflects on everything that has happened in his life and starts show compassion, warmth and love towards his friends and those that he encountered.
The relationships he develops from the masters in Hong Kong also slowly changes his way of thinking and helps him grow as a person

The character interactions with Fuku-san, Goro, Tom, Megumi, the kitten, Ren, Joy etc, and especially, the sad love story with Nozomi were amazing.

70 man battles, getting chased by that fat shit Dou Niu whilst being handcuffed to Ren, getting various jobs, playing in the arcade, buying toy capsules, and looking for them sexy sailors were so much fun. Shenmue 2 disk 3 and especially disk 4 blew me away.

I have not seen a game ever do what Shenmue Disk 4 did. It's like the mother of all social links (Persona related) mixed with amazing character development.

Shenmue's soundtrack to this day is one of the greatest soundtracks ever created.

Overall, it depends on your preference in gaming. Shenmue certainly isn't for everyone. You either love it or hate it. Its a niche title and that's fine. The voice acting is silly by today's standards, but back then you were just happy that a game had voice acting.

The controls have aged terribly as has other games from that era (Original Resident Evil), and most certainly need to be revamped if an HD release is scheduled.

I think those that could see what Yu Suzuki was trying to accomplish were in for a real treat. Those that can't see the magic of Shenmue might find more joy in the Yakuza series as its more action orientated than exploration.

Overall, everyone has there own opinion on the franchise. I loved it.
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Love
 
Shenmue is, I think, the definitive 'you had to be there' game. At the time, such attention to detail, the freedom to waste time in endless ways, and the sheer amount of fully-voiced characters to meet and interact with was totally mindblowing.

Now, it's not anything nearly so special (although it still boasts a unique quirky style and charm), and it's awkward, cheesy, and repetitive to boot.

I still love it, though.
 
Kimosabae said:
I don't get the "You had to be there" comments, either. Even when the games released, I thought they were some of the absolute worst things publishing money could buy. Even for the time, the graphics were awful, the dialogue was awful, the protagonist was stoic and absolutely lacked charisma and the gameplay concept of "make monotony interesting" was console gaming's first "Stockholm's Syndrome: The Game". Everything I hate about cinematic gaming started here.

I can't roll my eyes hard enough every time I see this series' contingent moan about a sequel.

Sorry if I offend anyone, but I really hated these games.
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Graphics were awful? Lol, you're out of your fucking mind.
The game hasn't aged well, that much is obvious, but yeah, you had to be there.
 
I was there for Shenmue 1 and 2 when they came out... I never got it. I never understood it. Even the hype at the time baffled me. It's a niche game with a very very loud vocal but small fan base.
 
Also Shenmue was originally intended to be a very lengthy series so it's no surprise the first two games may have been slower. Look at Xenosaga which was in the same boat except they threw together a third installment to finish it up which ended up making the story feel extremely rushed
 
outunderthestars said:
Really wasn't that great then, doesn't even come close to holding up now. People just need to let it die.
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It's a polarizing game. There are people who like it, and then there are people who hate nice things.

I imported it, and the atmosphere changes a lot when you have the original voices in there.On top of that, I really liked the fighting engine. It doesn't get a whole lot of time to flex in the first Shenmue, but the 70 man battle can be really amazing when you get the mechanics down. It felt very close to where a 3d SoR game should go. Unlike the super trash that was Fighting Force.
 
stuminus3 said:
Yeah I'd much rather play modern video games where you don't spend hours and hours doing stupid mindless pointless boring shit over and over again.
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Beutiful. My attempt:

Yeah, I'd rather play modern video games where you spend hours and hours stabbing and shooting in order to level up over and over again.
 
I think it's incredible, but I can see how some might not get into it. For me, exploring that rich world was enough to forgive its flaws. It's probably my favorite game.

I don't like the sequel as much because the increased scope meant they couldn't focus nearly as much on the details.
 
Laevateinn said:
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who loves the forklift part. Besides, with the races, you don't want to win. You want to get in each place so that you have one of each figure.
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Hmm, pretty sure I remember that you had to win at least once to progress at one point...
 
My third favourite game of all time. I'd do just about anything for a third in the series and for HD remasters of the first two games. I've got my eye on a modified DC with VGA built in so I can play the first again.
 
Shenmue is my favorite game of all time. Why? Because it's the closest to a game being real life (that wasn't like the SIMS). People get mad at the boring forklift stuff, guess what, people do that...now, to live. You had to walk everywhere or take the bus because he didn't have a car. You went to the corner store. There's just all these things that makes it like...wow, I'm living this guy's life.

No, it's not for everyone, but no game is. People will complain about controls and graphics and all that jazz, that wasn't the point of the game, in my opinion. It was the story and you being able to live that story. It's slow paced because life is slow paced. Most people aren't agents and have access to crazy stuff. This was also the 1980s. No internet, no cell phones, etc...

As much as people want to hate on it as a game...the people who love shenmue don't care (well to a certain extent) that another game is made, we want to know what happens. Be it a book, manga, anime, and hope fully game. The people who like this game got entranced in the world of Shenmue. The characters, the routines, what you can and couldn't do. How people reacted towards you, or you acted towards people. We never knew if the game was going to be totally realistic or was there going to be super powers with the mirrors. There's so much mystery with the game and we were left with the biggest cliffhanger of all time. Halo 2 was a big cliffhanger because you wanted to play more, Shenmue 2 was a huge cliffhanger because you wanted to KNOW more (and I love Halo lore). Actually seeing the Shenmue tree and not getting a total grasp of its significance for it to be the title of the game. Heart wrecking.

I'm not mad nor care that you don't like Shenmue, I'm just letting you know that the people who love it, and yea I'm speaking for all of them because I feel like it (even tho I may be wrong), we love it because it's the closest story and representation of a story in a game that one can see as being true to life. I don't think any other game captures that.
 
It's the Super Mario 64 of 3D adventure games

While some games (especially open world) have taken Shenmue's ground breaking/innovative gameplay elements and improved upon them, Shenmue's attention to detail put's it in a class of its own.


The days would pass and the seasons would change; if you really wanted to you could wait until spring (the game is set during winter). All the NPCs had their own lives too; in many other games characters would simply walk in a certain pattern or stand there all day, while in Shenmue people came out of their houses around 9am, went shopping, chatted with their friends, headed to the bar at night and then walked home. If it was raining they had raincoats, and add to this that the characters had more than one stock phrase all voiced in English!
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http://www.polygon.com/2014/3/19/5527120/yu-suzuki-shenmue-gdc-2014-classic-game-postmortem

At the time, vast amounts of data were required to achieve the kind of open world Suzuki wanted with Shenmue — at the time, 50 or 60 CD-ROMs would have been required to ship Shenmue as it was being developed. The team started developing new data compression algorithms to make the game fit onto less discs. Developers worked with professional interior decorators to design rooms and furniture to create realistic interior areas for players to move through.
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