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Shenmue I & II HD Announced [PS4/X1/Steam] 2018
- Thread starter celsowmbr
- Start date
Windom Earle
Member
Shenmue 1 in English or Japanese, that's the big question. I might stick to English because I'm used to it and it's iconic, bad and amazing.
Cindi Mayweather
Member
Think fans are being overly sensitive over this not being the “perfect” Shenmue experience when I’m just grateful the games are finally being re-released.
BANGS
Banned
Different points of view drastically change how sensitive you will be. For example, if you are a shenmue fan who hasn't played the game in over 15 years, you might be willing to lap up whatever scraps you can get. But if you're a shenmue fan who has been playing this game consistently over the last 15 years, you prolly want a definitive version worthy of praise...
Cindi Mayweather
Member
I play the games pretty regularly. Shenmue I with Japanese voices, widescreen, save anywhere in Shenmue I and not be forced to use temp saves, modern controls for Shenmue I. It’s everything I personally wanted in a re-release except for no time skip in I (for the newbies). My main priority is if the package will make Shenmue easier to get into for would be fans, which we need for Shenmue III to be a success rather than 4k and 60 FPS (James and Adam are right about 60 FPS btw).
I’m just being practical.
Many of us on the Dojo wanted just a few things:
- HD release and physical too
- new controls so that newcomers aren’t put off by the controls
- Japanese voices in both games (especially I because previous efforts to have it in Japanese with English subs were either incomplete with missing dialogue or glitchy)
- time skip in I
That’s it.
We have two camps. Those of us who want the re-release to go down smoothly with new players so we create new fans and those who want every feature under the sun.
Frankly, things like 4K and 60 FPS are bells and whistles. Never mind that like Adam and James said, the game is hard coded to run at 30. You’re basically bitching that there’s no cherry on your ice cream sundae.
To be fair, maybe those features are important to you. But to call the first official Shenmue release since IIX a cash grab, not worth getting because you didn’t get your bells and whistles sounds utterly ridiculous and calls into question where your loyalty lies with the franchise.
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SutekhTheDestroyer
Banned
Agreed. Some people just like to nitpick over the dumbest stuff.
Hell, all the arcade games are coming back and they're still complaining.
Hostile_18
Banned
Let's be honest the people who play Shenmue regularly are a very, very small group. This is for the mass audience who want to play for nostalgia or want to get caught up ready for Shenmue 3. There's nothing wrong with a simple port if it's priced correctly, and this one is.
BANGS
Banned
You're forgetting the overlap that most of us want Shenmue the best it can be so that newcomers have a great first impression of the series. Missing features and technical issues are not a great way to draw a crowd...
Neither of those are important to me. I don't care about 4k at all, and while 60fps would be nice, I'm perfectly happy with a solid 30... however your average newcomer is gonna be real confused as to why it's stuck at 30 when every other port/remaster of games runs at 60fps. It's not "locked" at 30 like Adam is saying, he's being paid to damage control. It would just require alot more effort to upgrade the engine and make it run at 60fps, which sega isn't willing to pay for.
We can argue whether price point should be higher to have these features but that's really a matter of opinion, but ultimately newcomers are gonna be confused as to how they paid like $40 for amazing ports like shadow of the colossus and zone of enders but then play this and be like wtf...
idontlikeusernames
Member
This is why for Shenmue 3 I hope they have made the game more mainstream. No point in having a Shenmue 3 if it sells like shit, as there won't be a number 4
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BANGS
Banned
As much as it pains me, I have to agree with this. I'd love nothing more than for Shenmue 3 to be basically just Shenmue 2 in a new setting/story, but let's be real... if we want this series to continue it's gotta be a bit more generic and pander to the mainstream...
Leonard Washington
Banned
Looks at ice cream sundae
Notices lack of cherry
*flips table*
Notices lack of cherry
*flips table*
idontlikeusernames
Member
Just improving the mechanics would fix a lot of the problems. Shenmue 1 and 2 were way too stiff. Giving the player more fun things to do would help as well. I liked the first 2 games just fine, but wandering around and only really having the occasional fight and QTE every once in a while wasn't that compelling. Game doesn't need to be GTA, but freeing the game up with more flow would help so much.
BANGS
Banned
Yeah, I'm just afraid they're gonna turn it into Yakuza. That certainly works in some parts(one could argue the Yellow Head building segment was very much like Yakuza, and it's one of the best parts of the series), but I don't want to be walking around a quiet Chinese rural village getting jumped every 30 seconds either... I still want to be able to stop by the local shrine and talk to the young girl and her kitten, explore some areas and pick up items just to check them out, etc... there has to be SOME slow pacing to it or it just won't be Shenmue at all...
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Cindi Mayweather
Member
Shenmue doesn’t need to be more mainstream if it’s anything II. And I’d rather no Shenmue III at all if they stripped what makes it Shenmue for a mass audience.
More people are interested in different gaming experiences probably more than ever before. Shenmue is fine in today’s market.
Shenmue is an adventure game. Did they need to do what you’re saying for Life Is Strange?
Wandering around and doing a QTE or fight once in a while doesn’t sound like the Shenmue games I played.
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Inspector 2211
Member
Yes! Let the hunt for the sailor start once again!
BANGS
Banned
LOL, this is one meme that I never understood. It's something that happens very early in the game and is over within minutes once you hear about Charlie... yet everyone seems to the think the game is all about looking for sailors...
Hostile_18
Banned
The work that would have to go into that endeavour would be SO MUCH greater. Moderate sales for low cost is a valid approach to development as any, especially if it's either that or nothing.
As for changes to shenmue 3, I dont think Shenmue was too hard-core or anything, the fact it didn't light the world on fire was more due to the market conditions and it's launch console IMO. When Shenmue 2 came out the Dreamcast was all but dead and launching a sequel on the X Box in such a strong narrative game was always going to be a uphill battle. Mass Effect 2 did it on the PS3 but the original format (360) was still going strong. Both could support each other.
However that been said like any game in a long running franchise, a few modern day concessions isn't going to hurt.
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BANGS
Banned
Honestly the graphics still hold up pretty well, with the exception of the muddy ass textures when you get close up...
Red Crayon Aristocrat
Member
I gave Shenmue 2 on Xbox a brief whirl early last year (before a little birdy told me it was going to probably get re-released, glad I waited) and honestly, it looked fine.
However that was on a CRT television and I don't know how it'll look in the harsher light of HD, but keeping in mind they're games from the early 2000s I doubt it'll be anything too hard to get used to after a bit.
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Cindi Mayweather
Member
Completely remake Shenmue I and II? Are you insane?
BANGS
Banned
Are... are you really comparing Shenmue to FFVII? Do you not know the history of those two games and the companies behind them?
Skyn3t
Banned
But
BANGS
, you want to tell me that a total remake of Shenmue 1 & 2 or even just one of them is a project reaching beyond resources needed to completely overdo Final Fantasy VII? I had some contact with both games on DC and Xbox (Shenmue 2), albeit it was brief, I wasn't left with an impression that both games are of such a scale as FFVII.
BANGS
, you want to tell me that a total remake of Shenmue 1 & 2 or even just one of them is a project reaching beyond resources needed to completely overdo Final Fantasy VII? I had some contact with both games on DC and Xbox (Shenmue 2), albeit it was brief, I wasn't left with an impression that both games are of such a scale as FFVII.
BANGS
Banned
Not at all, I'm just saying it requires alot of resources in general, and there is no way SEGA would do that for a rather unpopular series that was partially responsible for almost bankrupting them. Conversely, Square is more than happy to capitalize on the nostalgia of their best selling game ever...
BANGS
Banned
You are not wrong at all. But shenmue costs them a ridiculous amount of money to make, and the Dreamcast didn't sell very well. It was once calculated that every Dreamcast owner would have had to buy Shenmue twice just for SEGA to break even...
This is not Shenmue's fault of course, SEGA is just fucking dumb and did stupid shit like this often... luckily for us it resulted in alot of great games...
Toe-Knee
Member
I believe at the time of release it was actually the most expensive game made.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...BhAB&usg=AOvVaw36_jMYRrjlT35s2EDcXF25&cf=1
Skyn3t
Banned
Yep, they killed DC way too soon, before even putting somekind of a fight with Sony and PS2. But first of all, not many people wanted to buy Dreamcast after the shit they did with Saturn, killing it off after PlayStation started beating its ass. Such a shame, DC was a great machine.
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idontlikeusernames
Member
I would love to see remakes of Shenmue 1 and 2, but I don't think it'll happen. I would love to see number 1 in a World as big as number 2's for example.
idontlikeusernames
Member
Which is why I suspect Sony is partially funding the game. Why only release it on PS4 and PC otherwise? Makes no sense.
BANGS
Banned
It's a little fuzzy but it seems Sony is paying for marketing and such which is what earned them the exclusive rights. Supposedly YSnet contacted Microsoft beforehand and they didn't want anything to do with it... but take this all with a grain of salt...
Cindi Mayweather
Member
FFVII is one of the most successful games of all time.
Shenmue sold well with 1, but is a relative niche game in comparison.
Azelover
Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
I don't have time to wait for a full remake. If you want that, then buy what they're making. I'll just vote with my wallet and hope that is enough..
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Leonard Washington
Banned
I still don't get why Sega didn't just remake it themselves using the Yakuza engine? Someone there really mustn't like this franchise because its been treated like a red headed stepchild for decades now.
Leonard Washington
Banned
It certainly seems that way...
I'm not saying turn it into Yakuza, I said use the engine in the way the remake is using the Unreal engine (does that make Shenmue an FPS now?) because there is a lot of similarity between the two games, money has already been poured into the engine devlopment and shuffling the assets across would generate a much better end product than the half assed remaster we're going to get from this. I personally didn't find the old engine too bad but haven't played the game since it was released so have no idea how it aged but I'd have been perfectly happy with a sequel that reused the old assets just with better textures/higher res for that continuity as the third installment looks like straight cheeks every time they release some new info because at the end of the day the majority of people wholl buy this are the kind that enjoy looking for sailors and so they won't care.
BANGS
Banned
It's not as simple as taking the old assets and throwing them into a new engine. They'd have to completely rebuild the game and the end product would be almost unrecognizable from the old games. It just wouldn't be worth it honestly. I love Shenmue very much but it doesn't deserve a remake, nor does it really need one. Just updated remaster with some tweaks is plenty enough...
Cindi Mayweather
Member
This isn’t true and entirely blaming Shenmue for it is illogical. Especially in light of Sega’s hardware mishaps.
Toe-Knee
Member
Azelover
Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
Shenmue was expected to drive hardware sales. It wasn't just a financial thing, they armed Shenmue with everything they had. It wasn't just that the game was expensive. FinalFantasy VII helped establish the PS1, Sony wasn't dominating by that much until 97/98-ish. Shenmue was meant to do similarly. That's one of the major reasons why it takes a lot of blame.
If you go back and judge Shenmue I for what it was, the game wasn't very commercial in terms of content. Things have changed a lot since then, but at the time a lot of people couldn't get into its slow pace and other things.
Leonard Washington
Banned
Azelover
Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
U really think so?
ilfait
Member
I see...
Azelover
Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
Maybe. But do you realize how Shenmue wasn't as directly commercial as something like Yakuza, for example. But you might be right. It definitely wasn't the lack of marketing, PR and the like.
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