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LTTP: Shenmue

Timo

Member
I finally beat the original Shenmue on the Dreamcast tonight. The reason i popped it in was because of the ps2 vs. dc thread. Heh.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the last bit. I thought the driving controls for the motorcycle bit were a little wonky, but the scene with Ryo and Nozomi on the motorcycle was really nice. I dunno if i was just getting used to it, but the voice acting wasn't quite as bad near the end.

I plan on starting 2 up soon, I've had it for the Xbox for quite some time, I just wanted to beat the original first. Whats the word on the online one? I haven't heard about it in forever. And, what about 3?

One final question: How did this cost $70 million? I'm not trolling or anything, I just can't see how this cost $70 million. Does that include the development costs from the Saturn version too or what?
 
This thread had better, and WILL end well :D

Shenmue along with its sequel are two of the most underrated games ever.

Shenmue Online is being dev'd by a Korean Sweatshop as opposed to AM2 and henceforth, is doomed to an eternity of suck.

PS: In before "How about a game of Lucky Hit?"
 
I thought it was 20-25 million. Anyway, yeah, it includes all the development costs. Did it include what they created for Shenmue 2 as well? I know they had sequences and models ready for the 2nd before the first finished.

The second kicks all kinds of ass. One of my favorite games ever. But no, don't expect anything else ever. Not unless a miracle happens.
 
Shenmue 1 Is still one of my favorite games ever. First time i ever felt the whole "Movie" like feeling in a Videogame. Kicking Chais ass felt soo good :lol Hated that bastard.

Alas i dont think there will be a 3 anytime soon.
 
Official budget is more like 20 million for the first game. Obviously, the art assets took forever to make, as did a lot of the NPC AI and scripting. Developing the engine itself was probably quite expensive.

No money was spent on making a fun game.....or hiring competent voice actors.
 
Great game. I got it for Christmas and basically played non-stop till I beat it. The story just really grabbed me for some reason.
 
When you hear the development budget stories, you must take this into consideration:

The game was developed to near completion on the Saturn only to be restarted from the ground up for the DC. This is one of the big reasons why the game cost so much to make.
 
The people who hate Shenmue are the ones who just started mindlessly knocking on every door they could find and got bored of it.
 
polyh3dron said:
The people who hate Shenmue are the ones who just started mindlessly knocking on every door they could find and got bored of it.

junior_samples-dunce.jpg
 
The first one BLEW me away. Just an incredible piece of priceless art.

I couldn't really get into the 2nd one as much :/ I was angry to see it on the Xbox.
 
I liked the idea, and the world was pretty cool...it's just a pity about some of the design choices, ie Ryo controls like a freaking Mack Truck.
 
KLoNe said:
I couldn't really get into the 2nd one as much :/ I was angry to see it on the Xbox.

Same here. I loved the first one but something about the second one just prevented me from getting into it. Ive tried to play through it multiple times but I just cant get very far.
 
Playing through the 2nd game in Japanese with English subs on Dreamcast is the way it was meant to be played, dammit. I have the Xbox version, but I'm more forgiving of shitty acting when I can't tell how bad it is.
 
Yes Shenmue rocks.
The game's atmosphere and the "fighting system integrated into a free roaming game" thing were very unique at the time.

I want to play it in Japanese really badly.
 
Am I the only one who loved the japanese voices in Shenmue II? (Even if the game was no longer storywise in japan) I'd recommend you to play number 2 on Dreamcast. Shenmue I & II are my two favourite games ever.
 
TheGreatDave said:
Playing through the 2nd game in Japanese with English subs on Dreamcast is the way it was meant to be played, dammit. I have the Xbox version, but I'm more forgiving of shitty acting when I can't tell how bad it is.


Everyone keeps bitching about how fucking retarded the VO work in the Xbox version of Shenmue 2 is but then completely overlook the fact that the VO in the original Shenmue on the Dreamcast was equally as shitty.

There's nothing good about this series. Nothing.
 
Hitler Stole My Potato said:
Everyone keeps bitching about how fucking retarded the VO work in the Xbox version of Shenmue 2 is but then completely overlook the fact that the VO in the original Shenmue on the Dreamcast was equally as shitty.

There's nothing good about this series. Nothing.
Amen brother.
 
Hitler Stole My Potato said:
Everyone keeps bitching about how fucking retarded the VO work in the Xbox version of Shenmue 2 is but then completely overlook the fact that the VO in the original Shenmue on the Dreamcast was equally as shitty.

There's nothing good about this series. Nothing.

Sure it was shitty, but you know...it was 99, it looked gorgeous (and still does to me in many ways) and it was easier to overlook. By the time it was out on Xbox and I'd played through in Japanese, the voices just killed the atmosphere.
 
KTallguy said:
Yes Shenmue rocks.
The game's atmosphere and the "fighting system integrated into a free roaming game" thing were very unique at the time.

I want to play it in Japanese really badly.

2005-11-11-24-1.jpg


Bad. Badly is an adverb, so you are saying that you want to play the game in Japanese with very poor skill.



KissKissBangBang.jpg
 
Hitler Stole My Potato said:
Everyone keeps bitching about how fucking retarded the VO work in the Xbox version of Shenmue 2 is but then completely overlook the fact that the VO in the original Shenmue on the Dreamcast was equally as shitty.
I always laugh when I hear the game described as "immersive" or "cinematic". Immersive? Yeah, nothing makes me feel immersed in a world with more than monotone robo- voices, awkward dialogue, terrible translation, and load times around every corner. Cinematic? The "acting" is worse than a high-school play and the plot progression is awful, with a pretty heavy focus on mundane activities and ultra-bland interrogation of people with irritating voices.
 
border said:
I always laugh when I hear the game described as "immersive" or "cinematic". Immersive? Yeah, nothing makes me feel immersed in a world with more than monotone robo- voices, awkward dialogue, terrible translation, and load times around every corner. Cinematic? The "acting" is worse than a high-school play and the plot progression is awful, with a pretty heavy focus on mundane activities and ultra-bland interrogation of people with irritating voices.
dude, it's a style. If you can't appreciate it, that's your problem.
 
Date of Lies said:
dude, it's a style.
"Incompetence" is a style? Even the game's biggest fans would not say the clusterf*ck of a translation and awful delivery of voice actors was some kind of conscious stylistic decision. It's a ridiculous flaw that you either choose to accept or not accept, but I certainly doubt Yu Suzuki was sitting in the voice actor's studio actually telling people to speak in stammered, toneless half-fragmented sentences.
 
Shenmue 1 and 2 are amazing. Two of the greatest games I have ever played and probably ever will play.

Shenmue games > *


*
 
The problem with Shenmue II is that it took away many of the SMALL things that made the original so appealing. No more interacting with objects (what is there, one light switch in the whole game?), no more dynamic weather, no more kitty, no more forklift (I liked it), no more payphones, no more Nozomi, no more Tom...
 
I was so hyped for the first one, and this eventually ended in a dissapointement. I thought the game was good, but not as good as what I would have hoped, and not what I had waited for. The pace of the game was too slow and when finally things were starting to roll in, it was finished.

The second one I had no expectation, and ended up liking it a lot more then the first one. It was longer, and because the background story was already covered in the first one, they were able to make it more action-packed. The second one is definitely better. The end was awful though.
discussing while walking for an hour! FUN!
 
None of this is standard usage, but "badly" in this case is an adverb of the verb "want". He wants badly to play the game.
 
GavinGT said:
The problem with Shenmue II is that it took away many of the SMALL things that made the original so appealing. No more interacting with objects (what is there, one light switch in the whole game?), no more dynamic weather, no more kitty, no more forklift (I liked it), no more payphones, no more Nozomi, no more Tom...

Yeah, but it kicked ass in that it made you feel foreign. It put you out there, kicked the pace up a notch, really fleshed out the martial arts, and just added another dimension to the series. I really really enjoyed it. I enjoyed both, and am glad they're two pieces to a great, unique experience than the same exact game.
 
GavinGT said:
Shenmue II ... no more dynamic weather,

Wait, what? Noooooooo. I was going to start on Shenmue II pretty soon since it got added to 360 BC. That really makes me sad to hear.

Shenmue holds a special place in my heart for many reasons. It seemed like magic when I first booted it up the night my mom bought it for me. It was a birthday present, and my birthday happens to fall on November 29. When I put it in my Dreamcast when I got home, and as you may remember, the game started on November 29, I thought it was pretty awesome.

There were some magical moments in that game, especially given its scope for the time. Walking through downtown Yokosuka at night when it was snowing...Standing on the top floor of an apartment building and watching the people walk by on the street below. The game itself wasn't particularly excellent (though I did enjoy it), but it was the experiences found in it that, to that point in gaming, were altogether rare or impossible to find anywhere else. The game world itself had a very tangible presence to everything; environments were so melancholy and wistful themselves. It really added a lot of mood to everything.

It also had one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. If you like the music from the game, you should check out Jia Peng Fang as he played for the Shenmue OST. His music is quite reminiscent of the game and the erhu is a beautiful instrument. I grabbbed both River and Rainbow a couple years ago (the CDs even come with incense! Sweet).

<3 Shenmue.
 
GavinGT said:
The problem with Shenmue II is that it took away many of the SMALL things that made the original so appealing. No more interacting with objects (what is there, one light switch in the whole game?), no more dynamic weather, no more kitty, no more forklift (I liked it), no more payphones, no more Nozomi, no more Tom...


That's what you want? More lightswitches to turn on and drawers that contain nothing to look through? In other words, you want more extraneous BS that's of no consequence? I just...I......I just can't even fathom why anyone would want to do this kind of crap in a game. There's nothing appealing about it.
 
The little touches were what made the world seem alive. Shenmue I was a more visceral experience, and the atmosphere absolutely sucked you in. Shenmue II was just the same crap, wherever you go.
 
I thought that shenmue 2 was also nearly done for the saturn also since you see some of the footage from the shenmue saturn video.
 
Mue II is the shit. One of my favorite games of all time.

Finding the Afterburner machine in the urban ruins, OHHHHHHHH
 
Thanks for reminding me that I need to knock down my friend's door and take my DC and Shenmue 1/2 back

GREATEST GAMES EVER, NEVER FORGET
 
One of my favorite series. In the midst of a Japanese play through atm.

WS->S->SII

Not sure why I start every play through with What's Shenmue, but it's become tradition now.
 
Shenmue II is the greatest game of all time. The XBOX ver. english dubs destroy the game though. I couldn't play more than 20 minutes of the XBOX version, the dubs were fast worse than the original. Thank **** for my DC version.
 
Great games, It is a shame I cannot play the last disc of each Shenmue (3 and 4), Do you guys know how can I fix this? Since the related thread was deleted
 
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