I'm getting this day one because I can't wait to play Shenmue again without any hassles (and in Japanese no less). However, I can't help but to think this release is going to be divisive as hell. Virtually everything that Shenmue represents as groundbreaking is just not something you can easily communicate to people in 2018. I'll eat one of Tom's hotdogs if newcomers don't refer to virtually 100% of it as boring, tedious and archaic. They'll see it as the boring old progenitor of all of these modern, open experiences and not the weird, albeit influential, dead-end that it truly is. This isn't exactly a straightforward, Half Life 2-type scenario.
It's funny: We have Gone Home (I know), but when it comes to Shenmue the idea that you'd spend a good portion of your time looking through the cabinets and drawers in a Japanese house from 1986 is just something to take for granted. That's part of it. Walking down to the store and buying a cassette tape and dried squid is the gameplay at times. That "guy you have to talk to" has his daily schedule and you have to figure out where he hangs out after work. There are days where you just drive a Bobcat around the docks doing menial work for a paycheck. All of these things that define the game are going to be a huge black eye for someone expecting something different.
