Retro|Spective 195: Shenmue

[Neon Ignition]

History in Games:
1999 - Shenmue
2001 - Shenmue II
2019 - Shenmue III

Overview:
Yes, another series where we have somehow travelled all this way without ever covering it. Shenmue is a franchise as famous for its tardiness as it is its ambition, first stretching the scale of a games project in the early 3D era and later the scale of crowdfunding a games project in the current era. Following the tale of recently orphaned Ryo, he battles to hunt down Lan Di in a mission that begins as revenge and quickly turns to a hunt for mirrors. Cold to Nozomi, hot for sailors and never even mentions his Mum, Ryo is a dedicated student of martial arts - so focused on his target he never changes his clothes or removes the bandage on his cheek. The series is currently teasing a fourth entry.







After 22 years, does the fire for revenge still burn brightly for you like it does Ryo or have you moved on to new fights?

[phillv85]

I remember seeing the first game and being blown away by it. I'd never seen anything like it before, I was still playing on the PS1. When I finally got them about 14 years after seeing them initially I could never get into them. I backed the third one out of a strange sense of needing to, but was left bitterly disappointed in pretty much everything about it, especially the crowd funding campaign. In fact Shenmue 3 and Bloodstained was a crowd funding one-two of crappiness that's meant I've not backed anything since and probably never will again. Sorry for the slightly off-tangent rant

[Dogg Thang]

I still adore Shenmue.

It's funny because my memory of my first impression of the first game is actually one of disappointment. The game had been hyped up so much and especially in terms of its immersion and level of interactivity and yet I remember very quickly realising that the interaction with the world is actually very limited.

Nevertheless, the world and the feelings and the music came together to completely win me over. I loved just being there. I loved that each person was unique and you could spot them going about their business. I completely loved that first game. Aside from the forklift stuff obviously.

The second game grew in scope and lost a little of the warm vibe of the first in the process, and features like unique people too. But the story grew with the scope and I found the second game really engaging. I love it. But then it ended right when it seemed to get going. And so began the endless wait for Shenmue 3. It became a running gag for me on these boards. Any wish thread became an excuse to talk about Shenmue 3 but, honestly, I never really expected it to happen.

And when it did, I backed it in a heartbeat. And eventually it finally came out and it's a weird beast. It feels very low budget, which is fine. It's a bit janky. The story is a total wasted opportunity and especially goes nowhere in the second part of the game, repeating the exact same beats of the first. And it has some gaming crimes for me, particularly that stupid part where you have to guess the animals by the moves. Jeeeeeeeez. I have so many feelings of "it should have been this" and it could have been so much stronger even with the exact same resources. It could be low budget and still janky and yet could have made the story so much more rewarding. But it is what it is.

And honestly, I still love it. The feeling and music are a total treat. Those parts in the village evening where you chat with Shenhua - that could have been the entire game and I would have loved it. For all its flaws, the game has a warmth and vibe all of its own. It's not a game I could honestly recommend and it's nowhere near what it could have been and I love it all the same.

[Neon Ignition]

The original is still peak Shenmue for me, I think I lost over an hour just trying every cupboard and drawer in his house when it launched. I think the first game best balances the games strengths whereas whilst the second game pleased many by increasing the scale and the action it was a more forgettable experience.

In terms of fandom though the game was mana. Drifting away for years but being unique enough to stay in the mind, having released enough media to tease what might have been with various clips of sequences that would have appeared in later intended entries. I remember the video of the Saturn version as well, Shenmue was the master of tease and promise but holding back on delivery. The third game is a very distant third, it's so much weaker and the frustration isn't its budget which is probably about right for the type of game it now is, it's that the direction was wilfully poor. Maybe it was true to the original blueprint but it would have disappointed had it launched back in 2003. Shenmue 3 is a lull in the story, a long sequence of padding when a smarter approach would have been to have tightened the experience. I hope indulging itself doesn't cost us a fourth entry.