Yeah if you missed Shenmue first time around you probably won't enjoy it now. 1999's killer feature "you can open every drawer in the house" isn't the biggie it once was
Well, I played Shenmue for the first time this year and it's one of my favourite games now, it being an old game doesn't bother me, I can appreciate how ahead of its time the game was.
It's because of how improved and refined that most "open-world" especially AAA are these days especially when everyone tend to compare to GTA, Sleeping Dogs, Yakuza and so on as the benchmark. Simply put, titles like Shenmue haven't aged well both graphically and gameplay wise.
I agree, this game should've been rebuilt from the ground up. Remastering this to look like early ps3 it's embarrassing, and I'm usually not a graphics snob. They also could've taken that chance to improve on the core game as well. Wasted potential if you ask me.
I can understand people not liking Shenmue. It wasn’t everyone’s taste back in the day, and it’s certainly going to be even less peoples’ taste nowadays. That’s par for the course with being a puzzle focused adventure game, and Shenmue is divisive even within that genre. Shenmue 1 & 2 are still among my favourite games of all time, though. Yes, to this day. I still love playing them. I love the pace, I love the shitty voice acting, I love how you can do a lot of things that serves no intrinsic gameplay purpose, and I love the atmosphere (the soundtrack for both games are easily in my combined number 2 favourite video game soundtracks of all time, only behind Grim Fandango). Still, not gonna argue against people disliking it. Even somebody like me who loves it aren’t blind towards the things people dislike it for. It’s one of those games where if you find it frustrating or boring, you’re REALLY gonna find it frustrating or boring.
Finally read one comment in favour of Shenmue!! Thank god! Idk how these fuckin people calling themselves "gamers" can't understand that it is a game back from 1999. For that time this WAS a Big Deal.... Thanks bro.
SelfMade Dev I mean, it’s all about being level headed. Sterling not liking this game doesn’t bother me in the slightest, and like I wrote, I can see where him and everybody criticizing the game is coming from. It’s not an affront to my very existence that somebody dislikes the game, but with some Shenmue fans you’d think Sterling just took a big steamy dump down their collective throats, which is a childish response in my eyes. Especially since he mainly just described stuff that actually happens in the game, and explained why he didn’t care for them. And nobody can expect them to play the game for their first time now like it’s 1999, because it’s not 1999 anymore. Plus, it’s not like it wasn’t divisive back when it released as well. It’s possible to, you know, love the game (and I very much love Shenmue) and still understand why other people don’t. They’re not ruining my enjoyment of the game in any way; it’s just different strokes for different folks. And loving Shenmue is very much a niche taste, which is fine :).
Jesse Smith I mean, you joke, but I actually go through periods of debilitating insomnia, and Shenmue would just have the opposite effect on me :P. So like I said, different strokes for different folks. Games are viewed as art for a reason: they’re highly subjective. But hey! If it could actually help somebody with legit and life ruining insomnia to fall asleep, then that’d honestly be awesome. Because insomnia is a motherfucking bitch, and I don’t wish it on anybody.
@@chrisuniverse9392 Uhh I think you are kinda right bro but you know I just couldn't resist myself and dislike the video and write that comment cause I am a gamer myself and a prospective game developer and I know what it takes to make video of that infact of any level and that too with a small team.. So just flowed with emotions. I am wholly into JRPGs, WRPGs, and story driven games; So yeah makes sense that I like Shenmue very much. Nice to talk to you bro.
I have to admit I played Shenmue for the first time this week (because of the collection) and I've genuinely really enjoyed my time with the game so far, admittedly the controls aren't great, combat feels incredibly stiff, and they really should have implemented a 'rest for x hours' mechanic to improve the pacing, but there's something about the experience that just feels like gaming at it's purest and in a world of Battlefront II's and "LIVE SERVICES" it just feels refreshing having a game like this to go through. That being said I don't think Shenmue III will meet fans expectations in the slightest, now we have games like Yakuza and Persona on the market that offer the same kind of virtual tourism.
@@Sukuraidogai Over the course of 124 words I used the words "admit" and "admittedly" once each. Don't get me wrong I could have used a synonym such as "in fairness", but as I'd just gotten off a 12 hour shift when I wrote my original comment I was feeling lazy with my choice of words.
Hmm, I would've enjoyed the arcade minigames a lot more if Yakuza didn't already spoil me on them. Still is really interesting to look at the game from a historical perspective, like what the developers tried to do and how they ended up failing.
It doesn't even simulate the forklift experience properly! No hi-vis jackets. Turning corners while the load is raised that high is a cardinal sin and don't get me started on the dog wondering about.
Heeeh? lmaoo. What the FUCK are you talking about?????? So you think that he made this game for just a very small niche years ago when it was made??? You're a fucking moron.
Shenmue was indeed a niche game but not because it was divisive. It was clearly the game of the year 2000 and the reviews were almost unanimous about that. If Shenmue was a niche game, it's only because it was release on a "niche" console. In 1999-2000, a lot of idiots were waiting for the PS2 and decided to overlook the Dreamcast. And yes, they were idiots. When you wait for a gaming console almost two years while another one similar (superior, in fact) is already available, you're an idiot...
KidSardonic I’ve never played the game, but I reckon it’s kind of in the same vein of games like farming simulator. Games like farming simulator definitely aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the people who like them really like them.
I said there's no REAL middle ground. Like substantial. I'm not saying that there isn't any at all. Obviously there is a middle ground, but the extremes on either side exceeds far greater than anything in between. It's polarizing in that regard.
The weirdest thing is that Jim isn't even being an asshat to the people who love the game. He's being an asshole at a game that dares to waste his time. At a GAME.
the middle ground is people like me. i never played it. im interested enough to want to but scared off by the negative press. im perfectly down the middle. it does seem like a "so bad its good" type thing though.
We can easily sit back and say that, but I think the hardcore fans would prefer the original audio over something that was attempted to be made better. It'd be glaringly obvious that it was just an attempt at a touch up.
Being an audio producer I can tell you that the English audio in this game is so insanely compressed that every attempt to fix it would barely be noticeable. Without the original source files this is pretty much a lost cause. At least the Japanese audio is slightly better.
As someone who encourages originality and risk-taking in game design, and as someone who loves the Yakuza franchise more than anything, I'm happy that Shenmue exists and has a dedicated fanbase to support it... I just have no interest in actually playing it when I could be playing Yakuza instead.
See, I did buy and play Yakuza 0 but still caught myself thinking during the game "man, I wish I had Shenmue now". It's the same feeling you get when you play Saints Row because you just finished GTA V story and want more. Very different.
BDsprite Dude that comparison is so bad. They’re nothing alike. People love Yakuza and Shenmue for completely different reasons. Honestly, I think people need to know what to expect from Shenmue; it’s a life sim, with adventure aspects. If you’re into slow games like Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon you’d probably like Shenmue more than if you’re into Yakuza. Otherwise you’ll end up disappointed and $30 poorer lol.
I wasn't comparing the two, I was saying that Yakuza wouldn't exist without Shenmue, because they share several developers, and because Yakuza takes clear inspiration from a lot of Shenmue's ideas. Also that I prefer Yakuza because it executes those ideas better. Not knocking Shenmue, I'm just agreeing with Jim, it's an outdated prototype. A liberal remake would have probably turned out great.
BDsprite I get where you’re coming from, but you’re missing the point. Yakuza has been influenced by Shenmue only to basically a surface level. It does not ‘execute Shenmue’s ideas better’ because it does not execute them at all. Shenmue’s ideas were mostly creating a dynamic world that changes every day, with NPCs with daily routines etc, exploring elements like opening draws, investigating, keeping action to a minimum. If you know Yakuza well (I myself love Yakuza and have been playing it for years), you’ll know none of these ideas are what Yakuza goes for. The only really relevant ideas are the mini games and diversions, which is something Yakuza executes better, but that’s all I can think of. I feel like most of the people who say Yakuza was greatly influenced by Shenmue, forgot what Shenmue is about or haven’t actually played it.
I wasn't even really talking about the distractions though, I was thinking of stuff like: The side jobs (particularly in Yakuza 5) The Arena (admittedly a bit of a stretch) Moments in the game where it basically asks you to kill time for a bit The attempt to create the illusion of a living breathing city The emphasis on story and immersion with combat mixed in And the down-to-earth setting of a Japanese town. Specifically, the Okinawa segments of Yakuza 3 and the Onomichi segments of Yakuza 6 feel like they've been lifted straight out of a Shenmue game. I agree that these are different games going for different things, but there is obviously some clear inspiration here. Yakuza feels like a second attempt on a lot of the broad concepts Shenmue was trying to execute. Sure, it does it in different ways, and in different ratios (I think a Yakuza game with Shenmue's lowkey level of combat would be really neat, actually) but you can't deny that the two series share a lot of DNA.
I remember i used to play the forklift mini game for my brother because i was pretty good at it... fast forword to now... and what i do for a living, i drive forklift!!! And on that matter, you are all moving the load in an unsecured way!
After a restful night's sleep, Jim fucking Sterling Son, wakes up from his slumber and walks to the balcony, observing the world outside, while offering it in turn a gaze at his magnifient, glorious body, and his Jimquisition custom boxer briefs. "You know what I haven't done in a while?" He asks himself. "Actively pissed off the fanbase of a generally revered game with a cult following."
So for the longest time I'd assumed these games had such a hyped fanbase because they were these epic jrpg classics like Final Fantasy that'd been overlooked by the passage of time. This....is not what I expected. Oof. Well, I'm glad that the fans can play these more easily now at the very least, most every game deserves archival efforts.
Yeah, no, they're not j-rpgs at all. They're pretty epic games though, with a lot of tedium involved in the first one's case, as Jim thought appropriate to respectfully point out.
Shenmue was innovative for & is a product of its time. But it's issues like those mentioned one reason why SEGA should've remade Shenmue 1 & 2 on modern consoles & not just merely port it to HD. There's no remastering in this "Remaster".
Hate to say it, but do you have ANY idea how much a complete modern remake would COST SEGA to make?! Shenmue was already the most expensive video game of all time when it came out and it wasn't even a financial success (the Dreamcast was already on its way out by the time it was released). Seriously expecting a complete remake would be literally insane. Even tweaking the code of this port would have been nightmarishly difficult.
The Dreamcast Shenmue II was the 'original' version, and the superior version at that. The original Xbox has a port, so that makes this a port of a port, and ported to systems it was not natively written for in the first place, it was natively Dreamcast's. Though it did receive a few additions like the bloom effect lighting (hardly a good thing in hindsight) and the photography system to get characters bios - as the Xbox still lagged far behind the Dreamcast in online infrustructure, it also received compressed textures, washed out colours and diminished sound depth - i.e., as well as a terrible Americanised English language dub job - even worse than sounding than Shenmue I (with added cringe), it had some entire instruments removed from some of the music tracts as well as generally less rich sounding ost, compare the X ports Beverly Hills Wharf day time area background music with the Dreamcast originals Beverly Hills Wharf area at daytime for one stark example. The Dreamcast typically was excellent with colour and sound depth, so Shenmue II was just another one of several examples where it was better on Dreamcast. Skies of Arcadia and the Sonic Adventure series were just a few of several others.
I played Shenmue (the first one) a few years ago and I loved it. However, I've got to admit that it isn't for everyone and can be boring if you're always looking for action.
Man, I was in love with this game when I was in high school. It's kind of painful to go back and see just how poorly it aged. I think I was at a point where I was much more forgiving of glaring flaws, because of how novel the experience felt. Kind of like how when videogames first had voice acting, the "WOW! This game has *spoken* dialogue!" feeling was enough to counterbalance the low, low quality. I bet if I went back and played it now...I'd still like it, but only because of how nostalgic it'd make me feel.
@@directorraney I actually played it only a few years ago on an emulator, and found it to be a pretty good game even by, say 2015 or 2016 standards. It's more detailed than most games nowadays, even though its age clearly shows in the way it looks, the way Ryo moves around, among many other factors. On a philosophical level, I'd say that we're more easily impressed with things when we are younger due to not understanding how they're made and lacking previous examples to compare them to.
@Jon Snow I meant "detailed" in the sense of small touches like buying soda from vending machines, buying basic items from a store, having arcade games within the game itself, that sort of thing. Most games don't bother with that stuff. I wasn't talking about graphics.
@Jon Snow Also, by saying "most games" I'm including shitty asset flips on the list. So yeah, I'd say that Shenmue is more detailed (read my previous comment to understand what I meant by that) than most games currently on Steam.
My biggest issue is the waiting. 1. Charlie in the tattoo parlor does not open until 2 p.m. So you have to wait in game until 9 pm to sleep than wake up and wait all day until 2 p.m. 2. When looking for Goro at the harbor and miss him before 2:30 than you have to wait until next day. Once you find him and tell him you need a job...he says come back tomorrow at 12! in front of warehouse #1!!!!!!! Why they did not put a Skyrim/Fallout time advance was so stupid. I literally had to put controller down and come back later. Besides that I like the game a lot.
You gotta approach that game like its a pile of shit. If I had known people had loved it so much and thought it was such a great game, I feel like it wouldve disappointed me. However, that being said, I will continue to tell folks that the game is an absolute masterpiece til the day I die.
Lower your expectations and you' ll be fine. Ps2 tech, bugs, framedrops (even on pc with dsfix), crashes, some cringy voice acting and face expressions, bad AI routines, barely scary and quite easy for a horror game. Music is very nice and its story and most of the charactes (especially if you liked Twin peaks series) will keep you interested through this mess.
I've never played Shenmu, but I always heard it was something you either loved or hated. After watching this, I'm starting to see why. Still, I think I may give it a look. See if it's something I'll love or hate.
@@stalkerlohh I've never played the game, and based on the video it looks like something I could enjoy. That being said, this video also explains why everyone says it's a love it or hate it game, and if done "incorrectly" I can also see myself hating it. The only way to know would be to try it for myself. It clarified everything I had heard about the game and made it clear that the only way to know if it's any good would be to try it for myself.
I loved it, but a lot of my love of it came from how advanced it was for its day, and getting to see Japanese suburbs from an on-foot perspective. The game itself aged like milk, as Jim demonstrates, so you definitely need to go in with the right mindset. Good luck, I really hope you like it, but I'd completely understand if you don't.
For those who didn't play Shenmue back in the days of the Dreamcast, here's why it was so hype back then: 1. *Graphics* - When Shenmue came out, it was by far the most graphically-advanced game ever released on a home console. Gamers had been salivating for years over screenshots of the game, and when it finally released, we were amazed that the game actually _did_ look as good as the screen shots. Although 3D graphics would improve rapidly and leave Shenmue in the dust in short order, at the time it was common for publishers to market games with screenshots of FMV cutscenes that left us disappointed when the actual in-game graphics looked much worse. Shenmue actually delivered the graphics it promised, and that was a huge deal in 2000. 2. *Scope* - The idea of a realistic game world where you could knock on every door, speak to every denizen, and even engage in simple pleasures like buying a soda or playing an arcade game from the perspective of your in-game avatar was unheard of at the time. Shenmue promised a level of freedom and true-to-life realism that had never been attempted in a game before, right down to a daily time cycle and a faithful recreation of the weather in Yokosuka on each specific date. Unfortunately, the end result was a lot less than the sum of its parts. Sure, you could knock on every door, but 99% of the time you'd get no answer. You could talk to everyone, but most people had nothing to say. You had goals to accomplish to advance the narrative, but thanks to the time cycle, most of what you actually _do_ in the game is aimless time-wasting while you wait for the next story bit. 3. *Immersion* - Despite many glaring flaws that were obvious even in 2000, Shenmue at least succeeded in making the player feel immersed in the world of Ryu's Yokosuka in the 1980's. When you first started playing, the town was a mysterious slice of Japan that beckoned to be explored, and by the end of the game, you knew every nook and cranny in intimate detail. Ryu's quest to solve the mystery of his father's murder was a lonely one, and everything about the game made the player feel this. Granted, it's not very fun from a gameplay perspective to wander around the same environment day in and day out waiting out the clock while engaging in the same mundane activities, but from a narrative perspective, Shenmue certainly succeeded in making the player feel Ryu's loneliness and the tedium of his day-to-day life. I won't say that Shenmue is a great game, or even that it was good for its time. The truth is that it's really, really boring for the vast majority of the game. But back in 2000, it was something new and unique and beautiful and immersive that we'd never experienced before on home consoles in America. The sheer ambition of it helped to hide its flaws from players. Playing Shenmue for the first time as a teenager in 2000, I didn't feel like a gamer in front of a screen being forced to fritter away the next hour on a Pachinko minigame while I waited for the next story sequence to become available-I felt like _Ryu Hazuki_ choosing to play some Pachinko while he waited for the tattoo parlor to open for business. It was easy to ignore the lackluster ludological reality of Shenmue when its narratological elements, many of which were brand new to us at the time, did such a good job of drawing you in.
Haha xD I mean, I really like Shenmue and am looking forward to the 3rd part, which I supported on Kickstarter. But you're totally right, the age of this game shows and the way you dissected it with your humour was wonderful.
Deathbrewer yea I of course know that but there’s no reason to come back to Shenmue after playing any of the Yakuza games. Like I said the story is great but other then that, the games as dated as they come
I think that's the point. There's no reason to go back and play Shenmue when other games have taken it's ideas and done them better. Shenmue was a fun time waster that hasn't aged well.
Hasn't Shenmue always been 50/50? People either think it's one of the greatest games of all time or one of the shitiest? I haven't played it myself yet, but I'll give it a fair chance, right after I play and complete Yakuza Kiwami 2.
Yea which is why I feel like the whole “oh well I address that it should get a full remake” doesn’t rly fly for me bc I’m like...mayb adjusting controls I could get behind but like the weird voice acting and uneven sound quality/volume , having to wait such long periods, the seeming detachedness of ryo, was all part of its charm and what made it so cool back then bc it was just so weird even then and like if you had a pc on top of a Dreamcast you knew that we had lots of games that did a modern-immersion theme, but like what made it so unique compared to every other game that had similar themes and mechanics was the Japanese and post-modern weirdness of it. It rly was like the SEGA-flavored modern hit during a time of clean/clear aesthetics on the Dreamcast , alot of their games and marketing had this very ocean-y and modern aesthetic and the games reflected it . don’t think it’d be the same with a bunch of quality of life changes like other games simply bc of how many of those terrible and aged-poorly features are integral to why the people who did love it, found it so strangely appealing but also divisive and sometimes unplayable lol. Its clunky and bad design mixed with this genuine campy charm is what gives it its unique flavor that people either love or hate still to this day lol.
I played this game for the first time about 4 years ago when I heard all the hype shemnue 3 was being released . It was the mist surreal gaming experience I’ve ever had. From the epicopening scene in the dojo I was sort of hooked in a trance . Even though it could be boring I loved it , I felt like I was in a different world . I guess to like it u have to appreciate the story build up , and plot. I loved everything about this game to me it was perfect , the outdated graphics didn’t bother me . I can’t wait for number 3
@Forrest Welk The comment was also heavily sarcastic, poking fun at the mindset of "you can't criticise classic video games." Might wanna read between the lines a bit.
Shenmue is fucking boring. That's its biggest problem. They spent millions of dollars and hours upon hours of work and cutting edge graphical fidelity...to tell a generic "dad dead, get revenge" plot that literally goes nowhere while you faff about in a sleepy Japanese town playing arcade games, collecting junk, driving a forklift, meandering about until a martial arts fight breaks out. I don't care how technically advanced it was, when that technology was used to open digital fucking collectables. When the director of Shenmue told his team THAT was what he wanted to accomplish with all that technical prowess and graphical fidelity someone should have slapped him, fired him, and made a good game where interesting things actually happened instead.
Well the zelda fanbase also shut his website down for a while because of the video so of course he would say that he's intentionally giving spite to them.
@@Knights_of_the_Nine it wasn't if it won game of the year it was terrible to YOU maybe and that's okay! no one likes every game out there but you don't attack someone's website out of anger for disagreeing with you like zelda fans did
I agree whole-heartedly. A friend of mine (a huge Shenmue fan) had me play it, and it amounted to him just telling me what to do while I, very bored, tried to find any amusement in it. There's some fun, unintentional on the part of the developers, in the terribly cheesy cut scenes and acting, but those are really far and few between while you wait and wait and WAIT for something to happen.
Waiting around for something to happen is kinda where you went wrong. The whole game is exploration RPG you're just left to just explore the world and get immersed into it, it won't appeal to everyone but if you just stand there waiting for something to happen you'll certainly get bored. I'm a big Shenmue fan and I've never found the games boring, I happily play through them every year or so
@@xMTxcameron sorry, let me rephrase that. I ran around, doing menial tasks and killing time between story events. It was about as entertaining as waiting for a plane.
@@iggykidd Yeah, it doesn't seem like a game for you then lol :). It probably didn't help that you were getting told where to go and stuff by your friend. As I say it's an Exploration game and you're just left in the world to explore, there is a lot to see. I've been playing for many years and with every playthrough I'm still seeing something totally new that I haven't seen before even after all these years. That's one of the biggest appeals of the games, it's detailed world and that's what it's all about. Shenmue certainly isn't a game for everybody, I can understand if people didn't like the games but to me, they're still my favourite games and experiences I've had in gaming
@@xMTxcameron It doesn't seem like a game for most people. You can do slow games while giving the player other actual interesting thins to do, it's jut that his (now) 24 year old game has aged terribly.
I bought this game back when it came out for Dreamcast and thought my real part-time job was more enjoyable. I thought there was something wrong with me because this was supposed to be an amazing game. I also hated my part-time job.
Shenmue 3 needs to ups its game. If it comes out and plays exactly the same as 1 and 2 did, then they might as well not have bothered. Ignoring the, what, 15 years of video gaming innovation to produce something out dated, old hat and boring would be insane. Yakuza has become a lot more mainstream since 0 came out to critical acclaim and making something less interesting and fun than that would just kill the franchise for good. Assuming it ends in another cliffhanger, anyway.
Remember playing this when it first came out. Was blown away by the graphics, and just the structure of the game. The slow, comforting day to day life of Ryu as he searches to find out what happened to his father. But, if I were to play it now, who knows?
Yep. I respect is so much that I unsubscribed to the channel. Something has gone wrong in Jim's head. Maybe living the gimmick of a fake.-wrestler have gone to far. He is a carny now. Nothing he says is real. Lying is a "work".
I guess it became popular because there was nothing better at the time. I wouldn't know. I was too busy playing Toy Story 2 and Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere on my PS1 to care.
The Dreamcast had tons of great games at the time, and I still loved Shenmue 1 and 2 alongside stuff like MDK2, Rayman 2, Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2, Soul Calibur, etc...
It had it's niche at the time because of it's uniqueness. That is all. It doesn't mean there is no merit to the game today, it's just there are better alternatives now. If you had no other video games at all, then this game would probably be worth playing.
No, it was because everyone at SEGA thought that advancements in tech and graphics sold games, and they forgot the most important thing that helps to sell games. Fun. And Shenmue is only fun to a small vocal minority, while in the process dozens of top-tier games were being released at the same time and were all being ignored by gaming press in favor of Shenmue (and obviously, the fresh and new PS2).
The comment in the middle nails it. This game's problem is that Yakuza completely obsoletes it. I can't think of anything Shenmue offers that isn't done better or completely not missed in Yakuza 0.
Not really, they're in the same genre but Yakuza is considerably more about fighting while Shenmue is more concerned with "sleuthing". Likewise they're just tonally different and making a statement that Yakuza makes Shenmue obsolete is like saying "Mad Max makes a Boy & His Dog obsolete". There's an overlap and a they're in the same genre but they're walking in two totally divisively different directions.
Kazmahu Firstly, I respect your opinion and don’t care what people play/like, but if you’re curious: What does Shenmue do better? I can tell you it from the perspective of someone who prefers Shenmue (even tho I also love Yakuza) and doesn’t have nostalgia for it either. A persistent open world, meaning as days go on, NPCs carry on living their lives and have their backstories change (i.e. I talked to someone one day and learned he had broken up with his gf that day), the environment changes (weather, Christmas etc). The music is the best soundtrack I’ve ever heard in a game and beats Yakuza‘s hands down. There’s no fighting every 5 minutes so it doesn’t get repetitive; when there’s action in Shenmue it feels like a big deal, just like real life, because the game is usually so calm. The voice acting sucks but in a good way; it honestly makes all the NPCs more memorable than those in Yakuza who only have text boxes. The world feels alive; the NPCs wake up go to work go home at night. You can follow them around and have different conversations depending on where you are in the game. There is only one point in the game where you’re allowed to walk around past 11pm and the only person in the residential neighbourhood is that drunk dude. That’s attention to detail. It’s a matter of preference, but Yakuza will entice more people since it’s less niche and more appealing to the majority of people.
This was the second game I distinctly remember not being able to put down from start to finish when I rented it for a week, hot off the shelves as a game that just game out for the Dreamcast. It consumed my week. Very few games are like that for me. It hasn't aged well but this really was the prototype for a fuckton of games to come, and when you have a game like that and you experience it right when it comes out, it's special. I think that's where the love for this game comes from. It was so far ahead of its time in some respects that those elements were awe-striking experiencing them when it came out.
It was amazing _for its time_ . A time when games pushed you relentlessly forward, when there was always a known goal just around the corner. Then this game came out, and it was different. You had the passage of time, you didn't always have access to the NPCs you needed to talk to, you did have to waste time. It was refreshing. At the time. Now we've all seen what this kind of game can do (as you said, Yakuza perfected this genre), and it doesn't measure up anymore.
Should've remade the games, the Wooloon Walled City has always fascinated me, but I'm not going to endure dozens of hours with dated gameplay just to play a bit in the WWC. Sega must remake these two games, so they can have two powerhouse s competing with each other (Yakuza being the other one), why they decided to do that is beyond me. I mean, they remade Yakuza 1 and 2 because they were dated *PS2* games, but don't remake these?
I want to try this legendary franchise, but i can't just start with the third one; and I don't want to play the first two at their current state at all. So i guess I'll just move on. Yakuza keeps on bringing, and now Fist of the North Star is coming, so i have my dose of batshit crazy-asian-sega-ps4-games secured.
As someone who like shenmue and yakuza: I like both, i think both hold up very well (even the yak ps2 games) and that they share a lot of qualities that makes them superior to the kiwami games (but i still enjoy those for what they are). Remaking shenmue was never an option, they are grand games in scale and it would be very costly. the craft and quality put into the original still holds up imo)
*Kowloon Shenmue has never been popular enough for Sega to spend the cash to remake it. If it wasn't for Sony giving Shenmue 3 a shout out at E3 a few years ago we wouldn't even have got this remaster. But that said, the game holds up pretty well. Shenmue is about as good as it ever was, it's just that it's very divisive. The gameplay was always unlike most other games, but it's that exact thing that gives the game it's charm and atmosphere which some people really enjoy, me being one of them. A remake would only have really addressed the controls, which are good enough anyway (but pretty odd if you're used to modern games), the graphics and voice acting. Everything else, would have remained as it's the whole point of the games to have time pass, to have to take part time jobs, to explore and get to know the area, the slow pace is intentional as is the ever looming time limit. And most importantly, to rummage through draws, take pictures off walls and buy gahca balls. Oh and QTEs are pretty common in games so they'd keep those too. Those are the worst part of the game in my opinion. Everything else is great, if you like this sort of thing.
It's honestly refreshing to see a different opinion. I personally love the game. But I totally understand the negative criticism. Definitely not a game you can easily recommend. Most reviewers I've heard just kiss the games ass. With the only negative being the graphics not changing. It's stiff, slow pacing, crappy acting and sound quality, and can get suuuuuuper boring.
As someone who never played Shenmue until it just came out, and bought it to find out why people love the game, I agree completely about the movement controls being ass, but I'm enjoying pretty much everything else about my experience by trying to think back to what games were like when this came out. That said, I'm still at the part where you're looking for sailors, because either I keep getting lost (the maps help, but I quickly get distracted and forget where I am) or I see a new building and get curious what's inside. Was especially happy about the GAME arcade because I love playing games within other games, it's like getting multiple games for the price of one. Only other thing I can say at this stage is I really hope the karaoke bars I've found actually let me play karaoke at some point. As much as I loved Yakuza 0 and 6, I'm really hoping this follows in that tradition - or rather, sets it up in the first place, since this came out first.
Gabbiadini Have fun living in the past then. If any game dev would release a game like this right now you would ignore it. It looks like shit, it plays like shit and it's boring as fuck. back in 1998 it might have been a masterpiece but we live in 2018. Move on!
I still think the game is as great as it was back then. The relaxed way the world moves about, the little things you can interact with, the accurate to its year weather; it’s still great to me. The town always feels alive because everyone has something to do. Even the graphics still have their charm. It’s a hell of a lot more cinematic than a lot of games these days.
Shenmue has been there to appeal to those who like to screw around, procrastinate, explore in free time. I always found myself discovering new areas just checking around this or that. Finding things to buy or people to talk to that expanded my game a little. Trying to collect everything from the raffle for my room. Generally screwing around with various interactable things and seeing what the game was like after interacting. To change all this would be to change the nature of the game. Everyone - myself included - has been so spoiled by instant satisfaction that all this waiting has become unacceptable. Would someone wait around all day to sell their crops in Harvest Moon SNES? Would someone sit on the Orbis boat in MapleStory for 15 minutes and - if they die - have to wait to try again? No, they would hate it. They would say the games haven't aged well, needed to be reworked, etc. And that's just it: Other games can go that direction, but could you argue that it isn't part of the current game's experience? That fewer and fewer people tolerate it, but that doesn't mean new people aren't coming into existence that enjoy it. Shenmue is a story of a boy on a quest to take vengeance for his murdered father. This isn't a straight path. You have to discover along the way, and this all takes time, patience, so on. There are many parts that haven't aged well, but I disagree with the points made here. Also, apologies for the buggy port. We didn't do this - SEGA sprung it as a cash grab.
I think a lot of the commenters are missing Jim's point: that the game's *ideas* are (mostly) good, but that re-releasing it *as it was in 2001* ¹, rather than rebuilding it with updated controls and all the other UX improvements* ² that have come along since, was a missed opportunity. Also, sarcasm is a thing. 1. for the releases outside of Japan. 2. *not* necessarily a graphical facelift; while that would have would be appreciated as well, it would likely have taken time away from making the gameplay better, which is the more important thing they could have done.
There's no need to mess with the games. It was either this or nothing, so I'll take this. It's still a great game now after all these years and I'm actually much more happier that they've left the game as it was. Uncompressed sounds files would have been nice but other than that it's still great, plus I don't mind the sound anyway. They didn't set out to achieve anything other than remastering the game, they've done that and they haven't tried to mislead anyone into thinking otherwise. Rebuilding the games are completely out of question for SEGA.
@@GoogleUser-wf8mt I didn't say that for every game series did I? I'm saying that remaking the Shenmue games are out of question for SEGA, which they are.
The biggest problem that it has is that it's a game of its time. There are loads of games that suffer from this issue, where it was perfectly serviceable for the time, but as game development has advanced and moved on, having come up with better ideas, mechanics, and implementations....it really just doesn't stand a chance unless you have the nostalgia for either the game or the control schemes and experiences of the time.
Good for you that you've read descriptions. If it sounds bad in your opinion, then you probably shouldn't play it, cause it's not a game for everyone. Many people do the mistake that they don't read any descriptions and then they're angry cause it's not the kind of an action game that they expected. Shenmue is indeed slow paced and it's kind of a real life simulator with a mystery that you're trying to solve. If you want a realistic adventure game with a calm and exotic atmosphere then Shenmue might be a game for you, especially if you're interested in Asian culture and martial arts. There's many things about Shenmue that impress players even today. Like for example the fact that npc's often don't repeat themselves even if you ask them the same quaestion over and over again. They usually answer your questions a little differently each time. And the music of the game is absolutely wonderful and epic. But it's not a game for everyone. Especially Shenmue 1 might be weird for some players cause you have to wait for bars to open and stuff like that. You have to spend your time playing arcade games or practicing your martial arts skills or visiting a fortune teller or what ever you come up with. There's lots of things to do, but it might still be weird for some players who only want to progress with the story. In Shenmue 2 you can skip time, but the first one might be a little too realistic for some players. They are both fantastic games in my opinion, but they are not for everyone.
John Anaya Do they play Yakuza's music on major classical music radiostations, like they play Shenmue's music? I hate it when people compare Shenmue and Yakuza and I'm sick of the Yakuza does everything better comments. It's fine if you prefer Yakuza, but these games are fundamentally different. Does Yakuza capture the feeling of living in a Japanese town as a schoolboy better than Shenmue does? I mean what the hell. I can't relate to a Yakuza guy the way I can relate to Ryo Hazuki. That's what makes Shenmue so special, cause it starts slowly. Your only clue at the beginning is to get information of a black car. You're just a regular schoolboy living in a small town and at the end of Shenmue 2 you're fighting a huge chinese crime organization. But the story is exceptionally interesting and relatable cause the game starts so slowly and cause Ryo's home town feels so real. All the NPC's have their own lives. You're not fighting people all the time like in Yakuza. You only fight people when it fits the story and because of that the fighting feels so much more realistic and impactful. Yes, the slow start of Shenmue is off putting for some gamers. Yakuza is a better game for mainstream audiences for sure, but if you claim that it does everything better than Shenmue, you clearly don't understand why people love Shenmue.
Back at the times, I played Shenmue on my Dreamcast and loved every second of it (THAT finale with the song and the bike ride)! When I read on a magazine that the second game was available, I had the only videogame shop in my town order it for me, but I didn't believe they would ever get it. When I got their call telling me to come and pick it up, it was like when you wake up from a dream where you have superpowers or have gained something precious and invaluable to you, just to discover moments after it was all a dream; but this time it was real. I kept staring at the box and still couldn't believe my eyes. Then after a few weeks, when I thought I had finished the game, and the "countryside" level appeared unexpected, it was a truly mystical moment for me, one that left me inspired for months. I will *never* forget what playing Shenmue has meant to me.
I was tempted to buy this again for nostalgia's sake. Then you reminded me of the torture 15 year old me had to endure. I remember working jobs and just wishing I could quit. I guess it worked as a real life simulator.
I remember that my brother traded this game the same week he bought it in favour of Code Veronica. During the forklift race, he stood up, turned off the console, and leaved the room...
Code Veronica is a fine RE game. Always confused me that people didn't think so. I replay them all at least once a year and like that one as much as the rest. Shenmue I couldn't get through because my Dreamcast disc drive died, but it was a completely different experience. I wouldn't turn on Code Veronica for that type of experience and I wouldn't turn on Shenmue for the same reason I would a Resident Evil game.
Deadly Premonition had a long in game clock and thats the greatest game ever made. Although I just heard you reference it as I was writing this I still feel that it has to be said that you and me love Deadly Premonition. I love it nearly as much as I love actual people. We are the DP Brothers. You and me, John "The Erudite" Diaper and Mr. Sterling .
People are saying you can't judge this game by today's standards, yet the game has been released on modern consoles at a modern price. This is lazy capitalising on nostalgia and nothing more.
It's TWO older games that have been rereleased for $30. And they're MASSIVE games, even taking the slow pacing into account. Stop being so fucking greedy.
A modern price is 59.99 with a 99.99 Deluxe Edition and a 29.99 Season Pass with VC and DLC not included in the season pass, along with loot boxes at $5--$50 a pop. 29.99 is basically 15 bucks for two full, finished games that, by the way unlike today's games, didnt need to be patched continuously for years after release. Wake up.
Despite all of it's flaws that you lovingly pointed out, I still love this game and am happily playing through the first title. I'm also ecstatic that I can finally play Shenmue II because it only came out on the Xbox in the US and I never owned one. ^^ Also, I think people are approaching this game incorrectly. I think it's an Adventure game first with (admittedly janky) gameplay elements, and has more in common with something like Monkey Island or Grim Fandango than Yakuza. My dad was a sailor...
Just played through Shenmue for the first time and personally I loved it. Holds up. The waiting is the only criticism here that I personally found problematic... but this was mostly mitigated when I started killing time IRL rather than trying to find something to do in the game world. Glad to hear Shenmue 2 has some sort of mechanic to advance time though. And am I the only person who legitimately loves the forklift stuff? I had a blast with it.
While I really love Shenmue I can also understand why a lot of people wouldn't but I am really annoyed about all those people who think everyone who likes those games does it out of nostalgia. Since I never owned a Dreamcast the first time I got to play this was in 2014 or 15 and it still was so great for me that I'd consider it as one of my all-time favourites now. Not everyone has lost the patience to enjoy slower paced games just because many games are paced faster nowadays and give you some kind of reward every few minutes. I am not saying that Shenmue has no flaws but for me the pros, especially the atmosphere simply predominate these.
So, this game is basically like that train movie back in the 1890's, while film was discovered. An impressive achievement for back then, but no one nowadays would bother watching that, aside from educational purposes.
I disagree on everything but the new english dubs (and tbh the whole audio of the game including BGM)... on a toggle because they current ones are hilarious. Seriously the game looks good. Maybe it's just me but the graphics look quite apealing.
Fuck man, the only reason it's getting rereleased at all is because Shenmue III is being made. Shenmue was the most expensive game ever made at the time, and for a 1999 game on the WEAKEST of the 6th generation consoles it still looks amazing (it looked better than the majority of PS2 games for years). Probably people don't realise this, but updating it would NOT be either cheap or easy. It was this, or nothing. If you'd have preferred nothing then suit yourself, but we should count ourselves lucky we even got this much.
that's a fan made project which is not only made without time or budget constraints, but isn't held up to any quality standards. you can't compare that with sega themselves remaking the game's assets lmao
It popularised them and gave them that name but QTEs go much further back. Games like Dragon's Lair are probably where QTEs come from. So early 80s at least.
Shenmue definitely is a product of nostalgia. I loved the game when it first came out as the graphics looked stunning, the openess felt fresh, the time events were kind of impressive and it "felt" like you had freedom. It was an amazing feat for consoles back then. Then I tried playing it earlier this year. Maaaaaan, I must have been on crack back then. Expectations have really changed.
Thank God for you Jim Sterling for speaking my thoughts on this game. AT THE TIME it came out, it was revolutionary. But so many games since have built off the foundations of this game making it RIDICULOUSLY dated now. It's one of those games we should acknowledge for its contributions to gaming but not necessarily keep playing.
god no, no one in 2018 should be playing this if they didn't bother update mechanics and controls, it plays like shit I was huge Shemune fan, i knew even back then it was clunky but i liked it because again it was 1999.
kyotheman69 Shenmue 2 fixed many of Shenmue Chapter 1's problems and has a far more nuanced story, with fantastic characters (Ren, Joy, Xiuying, Jianmin, Fang Mei, Dou Niu) and has aged far better, certainly better than any of the PS2's blurry textured games. Ren stands out as one of the greatest NPC characters in videogames. Ren is the man we all want to be.
Can you do one for shenmue 2? Because every time people say the first one is shit, others say the second one is much better and I would like to know why.
It just is. The cast is better, better setting, more mini games, no more waiting unless you really want to etc. There's just a lot more fun stuff to do in 2
I like Shenmue 1 but Shenmue 2 is indeed so much better. Better story, better pace, much more stuff to do, its just bigger and a better game. But i have fun playing 1 anyway ;)
I see so many dislikes and so many people say they disagree, but as somebody who has never played the game and is on the outside looking in, I have yet to hear one single argument on the side of the fanbase. Literally not one. I just see dislikes and angry people, no defense. But then again, how can you defend a game that requires you to stand around in order to progress?
It doesn't require you to stand around. Your opinion is coming from a man who didn't realise that there's a first person button. He's referring to pretty much one specific instance of the gamewhere you have to arrange to meet a guy the next day and spoiler alert - in that space of time you have darts, excite QTE, hang-on, space harrier, gashapon collecting, a cat to take care of, and an entire town of people you can talk to (which, by the way, the game literally has a Japanese language option so if you don't like the voice acting you can just switch it over). Uncreativeness is the only barrier of entry here.
@@elenalingzhou6133 Finally, somebody willing to defend the game. I respect that. Again. I havent played the game and the people who like it havent seemed to speak up. However, I feel like he made a good argument about some of the mini game/event things. Some of those being that play a game within a game for the majority of the time in the game in order to just not be bored is kinda silly. Bully, the Rockstar game had a similar thing where you could play an arcade game in the guys dorm lobby. The distinction is it wasn't something that was there because there was nothing else to do. Bully had plenty to do (and also had an in game timer) and you didnt have to wait to do a certain missions. It sounds like in this game, after getting further in the game, the mini games get very old quickly (getting this info from silent rob). But thanks for the reply. It actually clears some things up
I don't know how you'd defend a taste. Everybody loves BOTW, but I hate waiting around on the cliffiside for the rain to end. I hate it when my weapons break just by looking at it, and I hate how simplistic and boring the gameplay loop had become in that game. Some other dude who comes to its defense loves the game for those exact reasons.
I should emphasise that it's rare that you have to wait around doing nothing for a significant amount of time. Outside of the aforementioned specific incident, most of the time the worst you'll get is a store being closed because it's too late or too early.
Great game, not for everyone. There's a reason you "aimlessly" punch and kick in the training grounds, your moves level up the more you practice them, they also change slightly, get more refined when you level up. And triggering a training point is easy. You walk into it, dont run. If you finished training, but want to go back in later, leave the area, come back in and do the same.
Its impressive, really. Any time you want to poke at people they immediately get angry. Might just be that the internet goes from 1 to 100 over little things though.
+Jade Rodriguez You see, Jim's complaints here weren't so much "valid" as they were subjective. Sure, if what you expect from a game is to be constantly engaged with frenetic action and epic set-pieces, saying that the game forces you to "waste time" is a valid complaint. However, if you're the sort of person that *enjoys* a more.... shall we say.... leisurely approach to gaming, that complaint seizes to be a complaint at all, and becomes more so an affirmation of why you enjoy the game so much. See what I mean?
I think alot of people are forgetting that Jim isn't critisizing the version of Shenmue which was released 18 years ago, he is critisizing a "new" version which is now being sold for money.
It's a classic, a pioneering game and it's nearly 20 years old. I'm playing it again after 18 years for nostalgia not gameplay. It plays like shit but i don't care. If you play with the Japanese dialogue on, the game feels far less cheesy.
i watched this video when it came out without knowing what shenmue was, im playing the game now and have been for the past week or so, and honestly think it's incredible. it breaks so much convention, is so slow, and is so drab in it's setting, a grey port town in 80s japan "when the yen was strong" as some in game characters will straight tell you. when action scenes actually happen, it feels like something is going wrong, or it's too fast paced. it's closer to playing a book than a visual novel is, it works and i cant think how you'd honestly be able to change it to ruining it's charms, a point and click adventure seems reasonable but that control scheme and camera would take you out of the drab little world. like when waypoints were added to WoW for questing, it destroyed part of the world building, you no longer had to explore or read quest text, or even interact with people who could possibly know. i think that's what would happen to shenmue if u made things more convenient for people.
I am a huge fan of Yakuza, so when I heard the game that was their precursor was releasing again, I was excited, hoping it'd be getting the Kiwami treatment, bringing the ancestor into the new era. What a shame that they literally just rereleased it, no remake, no remaster, just took a too-old game and shoved it out on modern consoles. And it sucks by modern standards. Even by standards then, it was clunky and poorly designed. I get the nostalgia, I get the respect, but it's not a good game!
It is a remaster, SEGA were never going to remake Shenmue. It's a shame you've gone into this expecting a game like Yakuza, they're two different games which is why I don't like people comparing them.
I used to say "Yakuza does what Shenmue does, but better." for years even without having played a Yakuza game. I'd just seen clips and immediately knew it looked better and seemed to have more to do. When I played Yakuza 0 I knew what I'd been saying was true, all the way down to my soul. If there's ever a time you get bored with the activity you're doing in Yakuza, there's something else to do instead that's different enough to entertain you. Shenmue is definitely a milestone game, but I feel the hype for it comes from memories of the good bits and forgetting the many, many, many hours of tedious boring crap in between.
Saying a game that came out in 1999 is "great for its time" as some justification for not criticising it is insulting to all the 90s games that are genuinely great and still played today. System Shock 2, Unreal Tournament and Worms Armageddon came out that year and are still incredibly well designed and enjoyable games. I have no opinion on Shenmue, but the idea it should be given an easy ride because its "old" or "good for its time" gives the impression we've evolved somehow, when most modern games really aren't that great or innovative. Oh and that same year GTA2 was released, a game that is still loads of fun now despite being superseded and improved upon by 5 sequels. Hell, Deus Motherfucking Ex came out a year later.
I still believe Shenmue was amazing in its time and it's still really great now. I've been coming back to replay the games just about every year, they certainly divide opinion because they aren't for everybody and not everyone is going to like it.
I watched Bone Tomahawk last night.
me 2 :)
what did you think? I thought it was pretty fun!
More like flesh throwing knife
The characters sound like they're gargling the biggest, sweatiest, nastiest dong imaginable.
some pretty intense scenes in that movie. comparing westerns, I think much better than the revenant.
"The lowest score possible, 8/10" Hahahaha
Did u also change your dislike to a like just as I did lol
I removed my dislike at that line, at the very least.
What is this, IGN?
score so low that the developers will commit sudoku!
Hah! Number jokes...
Shenmue 1 : Looking for sailors
Shenmue 2 : Catching leaves with your fingers
Shenmue 3 : throwing rocks in a bucket.
Yeah if you missed Shenmue first time around you probably won't enjoy it now. 1999's killer feature "you can open every drawer in the house" isn't the biggie it once was
The story is still charming
well i thought that the story (to be continued)
Well, I played Shenmue for the first time this year and it's one of my favourite games now, it being an old game doesn't bother me, I can appreciate how ahead of its time the game was.
Might, one of the better investigation driven games of all time, with the sporadic beatdown.
I played it the first time around and loved it, now it's just fucking terrible.
"I give it the worst score ever! 8/10!" lmao
Still higher than Breath of The Wild *cough*
Even Jim thinks this is a better game than Breath of the Wild.
Is making every weapon as brittle as a Nintendo fanboy's feelings not innovative enough?
Kvlt Ov Freki You sir, just won the comment awards. Congratulations!
Lowest score possible
haha. I understand COMPLETELY why and how some people hate this game. I love it, though.
I see...
do you know of a place where sailors hang out?
Sailors? I see them at night.
if you dont like it, dont buy it but for me this game is a classic..crash trilogy was more boring than this..smash box, spin, repeat
Same here, I'm personally not into most "AAA" blah blah. I love this game. But, as you said, I can understand why some people would hate it.
Lowest score possible 8/10 !
Jim is IGN now bois!
(4:50) Awwww. Jim was kind enough to avoid running over the poor little kitty cat! Jim, you ol' softy, you. ;)
They block the fucking way, otherwise it would've been flattened.
Nothing like invulnerable kitty cats to help with the immersion. ;)
Damn cats hitbox is OP, better email the devs.
I see...
Jim Sterling exactly, thought it had an invisible wall or something lol.
This game needs a remake not a remaster.
Shenmue Kiwami...
Pretty much this, Shenmue deserves the same treatment that Yakuza 1 and 2 had.
I see...
It's because of how improved and refined that most "open-world" especially AAA are these days especially when everyone tend to compare to GTA, Sleeping Dogs, Yakuza and so on as the benchmark. Simply put, titles like Shenmue haven't aged well both graphically and gameplay wise.
I agree, this game should've been rebuilt from the ground up. Remastering this to look like early ps3 it's embarrassing, and I'm usually not a graphics snob. They also could've taken that chance to improve on the core game as well. Wasted potential if you ask me.
Lots of people say it's a prototype Yakuza but I don't think the comparison really fit.
No no, Shenmue is more like the Japanese version of Omikron
I can understand people not liking Shenmue. It wasn’t everyone’s taste back in the day, and it’s certainly going to be even less peoples’ taste nowadays. That’s par for the course with being a puzzle focused adventure game, and Shenmue is divisive even within that genre.
Shenmue 1 & 2 are still among my favourite games of all time, though. Yes, to this day. I still love playing them. I love the pace, I love the shitty voice acting, I love how you can do a lot of things that serves no intrinsic gameplay purpose, and I love the atmosphere (the soundtrack for both games are easily in my combined number 2 favourite video game soundtracks of all time, only behind Grim Fandango).
Still, not gonna argue against people disliking it. Even somebody like me who loves it aren’t blind towards the things people dislike it for. It’s one of those games where if you find it frustrating or boring, you’re REALLY gonna find it frustrating or boring.
Finally read one comment in favour of Shenmue!! Thank god!
Idk how these fuckin people calling themselves "gamers" can't understand that it is a game back from 1999. For that time this WAS a Big Deal.... Thanks bro.
game would cure insomnia and other sleeping deprived disorders.
SelfMade Dev I mean, it’s all about being level headed.
Sterling not liking this game doesn’t bother me in the slightest, and like I wrote, I can see where him and everybody criticizing the game is coming from. It’s not an affront to my very existence that somebody dislikes the game, but with some Shenmue fans you’d think Sterling just took a big steamy dump down their collective throats, which is a childish response in my eyes. Especially since he mainly just described stuff that actually happens in the game, and explained why he didn’t care for them. And nobody can expect them to play the game for their first time now like it’s 1999, because it’s not 1999 anymore. Plus, it’s not like it wasn’t divisive back when it released as well.
It’s possible to, you know, love the game (and I very much love Shenmue) and still understand why other people don’t. They’re not ruining my enjoyment of the game in any way; it’s just different strokes for different folks. And loving Shenmue is very much a niche taste, which is fine :).
Jesse Smith I mean, you joke, but I actually go through periods of debilitating insomnia, and Shenmue would just have the opposite effect on me :P.
So like I said, different strokes for different folks. Games are viewed as art for a reason: they’re highly subjective.
But hey! If it could actually help somebody with legit and life ruining insomnia to fall asleep, then that’d honestly be awesome. Because insomnia is a motherfucking bitch, and I don’t wish it on anybody.
@@chrisuniverse9392 Uhh I think you are kinda right bro but you know I just couldn't resist myself and dislike the video and write that comment cause I am a gamer myself and a prospective game developer and I know what it takes to make video of that infact of any level and that too with a small team..
So just flowed with emotions.
I am wholly into JRPGs, WRPGs, and story driven games; So yeah makes sense that I like Shenmue very much.
Nice to talk to you bro.
I have to admit I played Shenmue for the first time this week (because of the collection) and I've genuinely really enjoyed my time with the game so far, admittedly the controls aren't great, combat feels incredibly stiff, and they really should have implemented a 'rest for x hours' mechanic to improve the pacing, but there's something about the experience that just feels like gaming at it's purest and in a world of Battlefront II's and "LIVE SERVICES" it just feels refreshing having a game like this to go through.
That being said I don't think Shenmue III will meet fans expectations in the slightest, now we have games like Yakuza and Persona on the market that offer the same kind of virtual tourism.
Shenmue II improves every aspect you mentioned
"admittedly I admit that admittedly it's admitful" - your comment (almost)
@@Sukuraidogai Over the course of 124 words I used the words "admit" and "admittedly" once each. Don't get me wrong I could have used a synonym such as "in fairness", but as I'd just gotten off a 12 hour shift when I wrote my original comment I was feeling lazy with my choice of words.
@@fearmear Good to know :)
Hmm, I would've enjoyed the arcade minigames a lot more if Yakuza didn't already spoil me on them. Still is really interesting to look at the game from a historical perspective, like what the developers tried to do and how they ended up failing.
It doesn't even simulate the forklift experience properly!
No hi-vis jackets.
Turning corners while the load is raised that high is a cardinal sin and don't get me started on the dog wondering about.
to be fair this is probably authentic to 1980s Yokosuka
Welcome to the world before it was easy to sue people.
Load was to high to see over. Should have been traveling in reverse.
These games have always been divisive, they’re made for a very niche demographic. I personally love them but totally get why others wouldn’t.
Yeah, I wasn't a fan even back when it was new. These games always seemed so aimless.
Heeeh? lmaoo. What the FUCK are you talking about?????? So you think that he made this game for just a very small niche years ago when it was made??? You're a fucking moron.
@@goldo1107 Get off the computer Mark, its bedtime
Shenmue was indeed a niche game but not because it was divisive. It was clearly the game of the year 2000 and the reviews were almost unanimous about that. If Shenmue was a niche game, it's only because it was release on a "niche" console. In 1999-2000, a lot of idiots were waiting for the PS2 and decided to overlook the Dreamcast. And yes, they were idiots. When you wait for a gaming console almost two years while another one similar (superior, in fact) is already available, you're an idiot...
KidSardonic I’ve never played the game, but I reckon it’s kind of in the same vein of games like farming simulator. Games like farming simulator definitely aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the people who like them really like them.
Jim very carefully going around that cat in the forklift area made me smile
This game always had polarizing opinions on it. You either love it or hate it, there's no real middle ground.
I said there's no REAL middle ground. Like substantial. I'm not saying that there isn't any at all. Obviously there is a middle ground, but the extremes on either side exceeds far greater than anything in between. It's polarizing in that regard.
You're not the middle ground. If you haven't playing the game, you have no opinion. That's not the middle ground at all.
2k10 Yeah man, I’m not a fan of the souls series or Pokemon, why be a bit of an ass bag to people who love the game.
Pure views, I think.
The weirdest thing is that Jim isn't even being an asshat to the people who love the game. He's being an asshole at a game that dares to waste his time. At a GAME.
the middle ground is people like me. i never played it. im interested enough to want to but scared off by the negative press. im perfectly down the middle. it does seem like a "so bad its good" type thing though.
They needed to rip the audio from the Dreamcast disc's becasue they'd lost the original files. I think.
Even so, there are things you can do to restore bad audio. Its difficult, but they needed a good sound engineer on board.
Stettafire - They should’ve hired the services of Sean the Audio Engineer.
We can easily sit back and say that, but I think the hardcore fans would prefer the original audio over something that was attempted to be made better. It'd be glaringly obvious that it was just an attempt at a touch up.
Being an audio producer I can tell you that the English audio in this game is so insanely compressed that every attempt to fix it would barely be noticeable. Without the original source files this is pretty much a lost cause. At least the Japanese audio is slightly better.
As someone who encourages originality and risk-taking in game design, and as someone who loves the Yakuza franchise more than anything, I'm happy that Shenmue exists and has a dedicated fanbase to support it... I just have no interest in actually playing it when I could be playing Yakuza instead.
See, I did buy and play Yakuza 0 but still caught myself thinking during the game "man, I wish I had Shenmue now". It's the same feeling you get when you play Saints Row because you just finished GTA V story and want more. Very different.
BDsprite Dude that comparison is so bad. They’re nothing alike. People love Yakuza and Shenmue for completely different reasons. Honestly, I think people need to know what to expect from Shenmue; it’s a life sim, with adventure aspects. If you’re into slow games like Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon you’d probably like Shenmue more than if you’re into Yakuza. Otherwise you’ll end up disappointed and $30 poorer lol.
I wasn't comparing the two, I was saying that Yakuza wouldn't exist without Shenmue, because they share several developers, and because Yakuza takes clear inspiration from a lot of Shenmue's ideas. Also that I prefer Yakuza because it executes those ideas better.
Not knocking Shenmue, I'm just agreeing with Jim, it's an outdated prototype. A liberal remake would have probably turned out great.
BDsprite I get where you’re coming from, but you’re missing the point. Yakuza has been influenced by Shenmue only to basically a surface level. It does not ‘execute Shenmue’s ideas better’ because it does not execute them at all. Shenmue’s ideas were mostly creating a dynamic world that changes every day, with NPCs with daily routines etc, exploring elements like opening draws, investigating, keeping action to a minimum. If you know Yakuza well (I myself love Yakuza and have been playing it for years), you’ll know none of these ideas are what Yakuza goes for. The only really relevant ideas are the mini games and diversions, which is something Yakuza executes better, but that’s all I can think of.
I feel like most of the people who say Yakuza was greatly influenced by Shenmue, forgot what Shenmue is about or haven’t actually played it.
I wasn't even really talking about the distractions though, I was thinking of stuff like:
The side jobs (particularly in Yakuza 5)
The Arena (admittedly a bit of a stretch)
Moments in the game where it basically asks you to kill time for a bit
The attempt to create the illusion of a living breathing city
The emphasis on story and immersion with combat mixed in
And the down-to-earth setting of a Japanese town. Specifically, the Okinawa segments of Yakuza 3 and the Onomichi segments of Yakuza 6 feel like they've been lifted straight out of a Shenmue game.
I agree that these are different games going for different things, but there is obviously some clear inspiration here. Yakuza feels like a second attempt on a lot of the broad concepts Shenmue was trying to execute. Sure, it does it in different ways, and in different ratios (I think a Yakuza game with Shenmue's lowkey level of combat would be really neat, actually) but you can't deny that the two series share a lot of DNA.
But aren't we all stuck in a first person mode? (:
Oh how original never heard that one before ;)
damm
:mindblown:
):
Not me... Im stuck at third person
.
Love to play with myself. .. uh wait
I remember i used to play the forklift mini game for my brother because i was pretty good at it... fast forword to now... and what i do for a living, i drive forklift!!! And on that matter, you are all moving the load in an unsecured way!
Want to know if the game influenced your decision to apply for the job?
Did you put your hours of playing Shenmue on your resumé under "Previous Experience" when you applied?
Lol that's fucken awesome man xD
After a restful night's sleep, Jim fucking Sterling Son, wakes up from his slumber and walks to the balcony, observing the world outside, while offering it in turn a gaze at his magnifient, glorious body, and his Jimquisition custom boxer briefs.
"You know what I haven't done in a while?" He asks himself. "Actively pissed off the fanbase of a generally revered game with a cult following."
You do deserve a medal for saying it. The re-release implies there's a single fucking reason to play this shit in 2018.
I believe there is good reason to play it now and I'm enjoying the games. You may disagree with that and that's fine
So for the longest time I'd assumed these games had such a hyped fanbase because they were these epic jrpg classics like Final Fantasy that'd been overlooked by the passage of time. This....is not what I expected. Oof. Well, I'm glad that the fans can play these more easily now at the very least, most every game deserves archival efforts.
Sometimes nostalgia glasses + unfinished business within a game can make for a deep deep concerning drug.
Yeah, no, they're not j-rpgs at all. They're pretty epic games though, with a lot of tedium involved in the first one's case, as Jim thought appropriate to respectfully point out.
Conceptually it's an important game. But yeah when Jim called it a "prototype," that's accurate I think. It's no Deus Ex.
Shenmue 2 is a must play still imo and aged well.
JRPGs are trash tho
I've got cravings to drive a Forklift now
Shenmue was innovative for & is a product of its time. But it's issues like those mentioned one reason why SEGA should've remade Shenmue 1 & 2 on modern consoles & not just merely port it to HD. There's no remastering in this "Remaster".
shouldn't even be called "remaster" its clearly a port from Dreamcast
Shenmue 1 is a port from Dreamcast, but Shenmue 2 is a port of the Original Xbox version, not the Dreamcast version.
Hate to say it, but do you have ANY idea how much a complete modern remake would COST SEGA to make?! Shenmue was already the most expensive video game of all time when it came out and it wasn't even a financial success (the Dreamcast was already on its way out by the time it was released). Seriously expecting a complete remake would be literally insane. Even tweaking the code of this port would have been nightmarishly difficult.
@@ArcaneAzmadi not to mention they are still developing shenmue 3
The Dreamcast Shenmue II was the 'original' version, and the superior version at that.
The original Xbox has a port, so that makes this a port of a port, and ported to systems it was not natively written for in the first place, it was natively Dreamcast's.
Though it did receive a few additions like the bloom effect lighting (hardly a good thing in hindsight) and the photography system to get characters bios - as the Xbox still lagged far behind the Dreamcast in online infrustructure, it also received compressed textures, washed out colours and diminished sound depth - i.e., as well as a terrible Americanised English language dub job - even worse than sounding than Shenmue I (with added cringe), it had some entire instruments removed from some of the music tracts as well as generally less rich sounding ost, compare the X ports Beverly Hills Wharf day time area background music with the Dreamcast originals Beverly Hills Wharf area at daytime for one stark example.
The Dreamcast typically was excellent with colour and sound depth, so Shenmue II was just another one of several examples where it was better on Dreamcast. Skies of Arcadia and the Sonic Adventure series were just a few of several others.
I played Shenmue (the first one) a few years ago and I loved it. However, I've got to admit that it isn't for everyone and can be boring if you're always looking for action.
Man, I was in love with this game when I was in high school. It's kind of painful to go back and see just how poorly it aged. I think I was at a point where I was much more forgiving of glaring flaws, because of how novel the experience felt. Kind of like how when videogames first had voice acting, the "WOW! This game has *spoken* dialogue!" feeling was enough to counterbalance the low, low quality. I bet if I went back and played it now...I'd still like it, but only because of how nostalgic it'd make me feel.
@@directorraney I actually played it only a few years ago on an emulator, and found it to be a pretty good game even by, say 2015 or 2016 standards. It's more detailed than most games nowadays, even though its age clearly shows in the way it looks, the way Ryo moves around, among many other factors.
On a philosophical level, I'd say that we're more easily impressed with things when we are younger due to not understanding how they're made and lacking previous examples to compare them to.
@Jon Snow I meant "detailed" in the sense of small touches like buying soda from vending machines, buying basic items from a store, having arcade games within the game itself, that sort of thing. Most games don't bother with that stuff. I wasn't talking about graphics.
@Jon Snow Also, by saying "most games" I'm including shitty asset flips on the list. So yeah, I'd say that Shenmue is more detailed (read my previous comment to understand what I meant by that) than most games currently on Steam.
Or a good game
My biggest issue is the waiting.
1. Charlie in the tattoo parlor does not open until 2 p.m. So you have to wait in game until 9 pm to sleep than wake up and wait all day until 2 p.m.
2. When looking for Goro at the harbor and miss him before 2:30 than you have to wait until next day. Once you find him and tell him you need a job...he says come back tomorrow at 12! in front of warehouse #1!!!!!!!
Why they did not put a Skyrim/Fallout time advance was so stupid. I literally had to put controller down and come back later.
Besides that I like the game a lot.
Reading this comment waiting for 12pm at warehouse 1 now. -____-
Aww, i was expecting footage of Jim looking for sailors.
I am about to play Deadly Premonition and it being one of your favorite games of all-time makes me extra psyched
You gotta approach that game like its a pile of shit. If I had known people had loved it so much and thought it was such a great game, I feel like it wouldve disappointed me. However, that being said, I will continue to tell folks that the game is an absolute masterpiece til the day I die.
Lower your expectations and you' ll be fine. Ps2 tech, bugs, framedrops (even on pc with dsfix), crashes, some cringy voice acting and face expressions, bad AI routines, barely scary and quite easy for a horror game. Music is very nice and its story and most of the charactes (especially if you liked Twin peaks series) will keep you interested through this mess.
It's interesting, though now I don't play it because it DOES NOT SUPPORT 360 CONTROLLERS!
It's quirky though, and charming.
I got this for Christmas 2000. I was hyped for it. I played it twice, getting nowhere, then never touched it again. Thank God for Jim Sterling.
I've never played Shenmu, but I always heard it was something you either loved or hated. After watching this, I'm starting to see why. Still, I think I may give it a look. See if it's something I'll love or hate.
This is true. It was ALWAYS a game you either loved or hated. Personally loved it back then and still do today.
@@stalkerlohh so he can form his own opinion on the game what's hard to understand about that?
@@stalkerlohh I've never played the game, and based on the video it looks like something I could enjoy. That being said, this video also explains why everyone says it's a love it or hate it game, and if done "incorrectly" I can also see myself hating it. The only way to know would be to try it for myself. It clarified everything I had heard about the game and made it clear that the only way to know if it's any good would be to try it for myself.
I loved it, but a lot of my love of it came from how advanced it was for its day, and getting to see Japanese suburbs from an on-foot perspective. The game itself aged like milk, as Jim demonstrates, so you definitely need to go in with the right mindset.
Good luck, I really hope you like it, but I'd completely understand if you don't.
Definitely give it a try. You will get sucked in haha
For those who didn't play Shenmue back in the days of the Dreamcast, here's why it was so hype back then:
1. *Graphics* - When Shenmue came out, it was by far the most graphically-advanced game ever released on a home console. Gamers had been salivating for years over screenshots of the game, and when it finally released, we were amazed that the game actually _did_ look as good as the screen shots. Although 3D graphics would improve rapidly and leave Shenmue in the dust in short order, at the time it was common for publishers to market games with screenshots of FMV cutscenes that left us disappointed when the actual in-game graphics looked much worse. Shenmue actually delivered the graphics it promised, and that was a huge deal in 2000.
2. *Scope* - The idea of a realistic game world where you could knock on every door, speak to every denizen, and even engage in simple pleasures like buying a soda or playing an arcade game from the perspective of your in-game avatar was unheard of at the time. Shenmue promised a level of freedom and true-to-life realism that had never been attempted in a game before, right down to a daily time cycle and a faithful recreation of the weather in Yokosuka on each specific date. Unfortunately, the end result was a lot less than the sum of its parts. Sure, you could knock on every door, but 99% of the time you'd get no answer. You could talk to everyone, but most people had nothing to say. You had goals to accomplish to advance the narrative, but thanks to the time cycle, most of what you actually _do_ in the game is aimless time-wasting while you wait for the next story bit.
3. *Immersion* - Despite many glaring flaws that were obvious even in 2000, Shenmue at least succeeded in making the player feel immersed in the world of Ryu's Yokosuka in the 1980's. When you first started playing, the town was a mysterious slice of Japan that beckoned to be explored, and by the end of the game, you knew every nook and cranny in intimate detail. Ryu's quest to solve the mystery of his father's murder was a lonely one, and everything about the game made the player feel this. Granted, it's not very fun from a gameplay perspective to wander around the same environment day in and day out waiting out the clock while engaging in the same mundane activities, but from a narrative perspective, Shenmue certainly succeeded in making the player feel Ryu's loneliness and the tedium of his day-to-day life.
I won't say that Shenmue is a great game, or even that it was good for its time. The truth is that it's really, really boring for the vast majority of the game. But back in 2000, it was something new and unique and beautiful and immersive that we'd never experienced before on home consoles in America. The sheer ambition of it helped to hide its flaws from players. Playing Shenmue for the first time as a teenager in 2000, I didn't feel like a gamer in front of a screen being forced to fritter away the next hour on a Pachinko minigame while I waited for the next story sequence to become available-I felt like _Ryu Hazuki_ choosing to play some Pachinko while he waited for the tattoo parlor to open for business. It was easy to ignore the lackluster ludological reality of Shenmue when its narratological elements, many of which were brand new to us at the time, did such a good job of drawing you in.
Haha xD
I mean, I really like Shenmue and am looking forward to the 3rd part, which I supported on Kickstarter.
But you're totally right, the age of this game shows and the way you dissected it with your humour was wonderful.
Shenmue has a great story but the Yakuza Series does everything better
Guess which one came first and Sega learned lessons from...
Deathbrewer yea I of course know that but there’s no reason to come back to Shenmue after playing any of the Yakuza games. Like I said the story is great but other then that, the games as dated as they come
I think that's the point. There's no reason to go back and play Shenmue when other games have taken it's ideas and done them better. Shenmue was a fun time waster that hasn't aged well.
Yakuza exists because of Shenmue
but Yakuza is still better. Shenmue came first but, that doesn't mean its a better game.
Hasn't Shenmue always been 50/50? People either think it's one of the greatest games of all time or one of the shitiest? I haven't played it myself yet, but I'll give it a fair chance, right after I play and complete Yakuza Kiwami 2.
Yeah it has always been a game you either love or hate.
Seems as if the like/dislike ratio is close enough then
Yea which is why I feel like the whole “oh well I address that it should get a full remake” doesn’t rly fly for me bc I’m like...mayb adjusting controls I could get behind but like the weird voice acting and uneven sound quality/volume , having to wait such long periods, the seeming detachedness of ryo, was all part of its charm and what made it so cool back then bc it was just so weird even then and like if you had a pc on top of a Dreamcast you knew that we had lots of games that did a modern-immersion theme, but like what made it so unique compared to every other game that had similar themes and mechanics was the Japanese and post-modern weirdness of it. It rly was like the SEGA-flavored modern hit during a time of clean/clear aesthetics on the Dreamcast , alot of their games and marketing had this very ocean-y and modern aesthetic and the games reflected it . don’t think it’d be the same with a bunch of quality of life changes like other games simply bc of how many of those terrible and aged-poorly features are integral to why the people who did love it, found it so strangely appealing but also divisive and sometimes unplayable lol. Its clunky and bad design mixed with this genuine campy charm is what gives it its unique flavor that people either love or hate still to this day lol.
I played this game for the first time about 4 years ago when I heard all the hype shemnue 3 was being released . It was the mist surreal gaming experience I’ve ever had. From the epicopening scene in the dojo I was sort of hooked in a trance . Even though it could be boring I loved it , I felt like I was in a different world . I guess to like it u have to appreciate the story build up , and plot. I loved everything about this game to me it was perfect , the outdated graphics didn’t bother me . I can’t wait for number 3
Whoa, Jim. You can't criticize old classics. That's against the rules.
Sarcasm is a wonderful thing, isn't it?
Woosh joke missed
@Forrest Welk No one said that?
@Forrest Welk The comment was also heavily sarcastic, poking fun at the mindset of "you can't criticise classic video games." Might wanna read between the lines a bit.
Screw the rules, he has Boglins.
Yeah but did you find any sailors?
HYEEG-HUE
Do you know a place where they like to hang out?
I only speak to sailors.
Shenmue is fucking boring. That's its biggest problem. They spent millions of dollars and hours upon hours of work and cutting edge graphical fidelity...to tell a generic "dad dead, get revenge" plot that literally goes nowhere while you faff about in a sleepy Japanese town playing arcade games, collecting junk, driving a forklift, meandering about until a martial arts fight breaks out. I don't care how technically advanced it was, when that technology was used to open digital fucking collectables. When the director of Shenmue told his team THAT was what he wanted to accomplish with all that technical prowess and graphical fidelity someone should have slapped him, fired him, and made a good game where interesting things actually happened instead.
Well thank god it's not complete trash like Breath of the Wild with it's 7/10.
Well yeah, Shenmue is bad, but it's not completely worthless.
Well the zelda fanbase also shut his website down for a while because of the video so of course he would say that he's intentionally giving spite to them.
Starman Dx
Breath of the Wild was TERRIBLE.
@@Knights_of_the_Nine it wasn't if it won game of the year it was terrible to YOU maybe and that's okay! no one likes every game out there but you don't attack someone's website out of anger for disagreeing with you like zelda fans did
Quiet you, don't you have other random videos to comment on? I'd hate to see your quota numbers.
this just makes me want to go play Yakuza 0 again.
You'll have more fun with it than with shenmue lol
I agree whole-heartedly. A friend of mine (a huge Shenmue fan) had me play it, and it amounted to him just telling me what to do while I, very bored, tried to find any amusement in it. There's some fun, unintentional on the part of the developers, in the terribly cheesy cut scenes and acting, but those are really far and few between while you wait and wait and WAIT for something to happen.
Waiting around for something to happen is kinda where you went wrong. The whole game is exploration RPG you're just left to just explore the world and get immersed into it, it won't appeal to everyone but if you just stand there waiting for something to happen you'll certainly get bored. I'm a big Shenmue fan and I've never found the games boring, I happily play through them every year or so
@@xMTxcameron sorry, let me rephrase that. I ran around, doing menial tasks and killing time between story events. It was about as entertaining as waiting for a plane.
@@iggykidd Yeah, it doesn't seem like a game for you then lol :).
It probably didn't help that you were getting told where to go and stuff by your friend. As I say it's an Exploration game and you're just left in the world to explore, there is a lot to see. I've been playing for many years and with every playthrough I'm still seeing something totally new that I haven't seen before even after all these years. That's one of the biggest appeals of the games, it's detailed world and that's what it's all about.
Shenmue certainly isn't a game for everybody, I can understand if people didn't like the games but to me, they're still my favourite games and experiences I've had in gaming
@@xMTxcameron It doesn't seem like a game for most people. You can do slow games while giving the player other actual interesting thins to do, it's jut that his (now) 24 year old game has aged terribly.
I bought this game back when it came out for Dreamcast and thought my real part-time job was more enjoyable. I thought there was something wrong with me because this was supposed to be an amazing game. I also hated my part-time job.
I can see why people don't like Shenmue but I love it, can't wait for 3.
you must luv dog shit as well
@@daddyrobin4628 Yeaa, I try to keep that love a secret though :)
welp is too late for that now my friend you just got......EXPOSED!!!
Shenmue 3 needs to ups its game. If it comes out and plays exactly the same as 1 and 2 did, then they might as well not have bothered.
Ignoring the, what, 15 years of video gaming innovation to produce something out dated, old hat and boring would be insane. Yakuza has become a lot more mainstream since 0 came out to critical acclaim and making something less interesting and fun than that would just kill the franchise for good.
Assuming it ends in another cliffhanger, anyway.
DragonNexus Shenmue 3 is never going to live up to the hype, same as FF IIV. Still looking forward to both.
Remember playing this when it first came out. Was blown away by the graphics, and just the structure of the game. The slow, comforting day to day life of Ryu as he searches to find out what happened to his father. But, if I were to play it now, who knows?
I disagree, but I respect your opinion
I see...
Yep. I respect is so much that I unsubscribed to the channel. Something has gone wrong in Jim's head. Maybe living the gimmick of a fake.-wrestler have gone to far. He is a carny now. Nothing he says is real. Lying is a "work".
I see...
@@realshompa I see...
I respect that you disagree, while respecting Jim's opinion.
First time I played this and I loved it, can’t wait to play 2 & 3
I have fond memories. I'm sure if I went back, it'd be rough. But I was blown away by the amount of things you could do, and the details in the world.
I guess it became popular because there was nothing better at the time. I wouldn't know. I was too busy playing Toy Story 2 and Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere on my PS1 to care.
It's basically like Star Wars, people were amazed because it was the only one at the time.
elin111 the only what? Sci fi film?
The Dreamcast had tons of great games at the time, and I still loved Shenmue 1 and 2 alongside stuff like MDK2, Rayman 2, Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2, Soul Calibur, etc...
It had it's niche at the time because of it's uniqueness. That is all. It doesn't mean there is no merit to the game today, it's just there are better alternatives now. If you had no other video games at all, then this game would probably be worth playing.
No, it was because everyone at SEGA thought that advancements in tech and graphics sold games, and they forgot the most important thing that helps to sell games. Fun. And Shenmue is only fun to a small vocal minority, while in the process dozens of top-tier games were being released at the same time and were all being ignored by gaming press in favor of Shenmue (and obviously, the fresh and new PS2).
The comment in the middle nails it. This game's problem is that Yakuza completely obsoletes it. I can't think of anything Shenmue offers that isn't done better or completely not missed in Yakuza 0.
Shenmue is literally nothing like Yakuza though. It's more like the spiritual predecessor to Gone Home
Shenmue is nothing like Yakuza though.
Not really, they're in the same genre but Yakuza is considerably more about fighting while Shenmue is more concerned with "sleuthing". Likewise they're just tonally different and making a statement that Yakuza makes Shenmue obsolete is like saying "Mad Max makes a Boy & His Dog obsolete". There's an overlap and a they're in the same genre but they're walking in two totally divisively different directions.
Isn't yakuza more like GTA? You're not a criminal in shenmue and you explore a small town, pretty big difference.
Kazmahu Firstly, I respect your opinion and don’t care what people play/like, but if you’re curious: What does Shenmue do better? I can tell you it from the perspective of someone who prefers Shenmue (even tho I also love Yakuza) and doesn’t have nostalgia for it either.
A persistent open world, meaning as days go on, NPCs carry on living their lives and have their backstories change (i.e. I talked to someone one day and learned he had broken up with his gf that day), the environment changes (weather, Christmas etc). The music is the best soundtrack I’ve ever heard in a game and beats Yakuza‘s hands down. There’s no fighting every 5 minutes so it doesn’t get repetitive; when there’s action in Shenmue it feels like a big deal, just like real life, because the game is usually so calm. The voice acting sucks but in a good way; it honestly makes all the NPCs more memorable than those in Yakuza who only have text boxes. The world feels alive; the NPCs wake up go to work go home at night. You can follow them around and have different conversations depending on where you are in the game. There is only one point in the game where you’re allowed to walk around past 11pm and the only person in the residential neighbourhood is that drunk dude. That’s attention to detail.
It’s a matter of preference, but Yakuza will entice more people since it’s less niche and more appealing to the majority of people.
This was the second game I distinctly remember not being able to put down from start to finish when I rented it for a week, hot off the shelves as a game that just game out for the Dreamcast. It consumed my week. Very few games are like that for me.
It hasn't aged well but this really was the prototype for a fuckton of games to come, and when you have a game like that and you experience it right when it comes out, it's special. I think that's where the love for this game comes from. It was so far ahead of its time in some respects that those elements were awe-striking experiencing them when it came out.
It was amazing _for its time_ . A time when games pushed you relentlessly forward, when there was always a known goal just around the corner. Then this game came out, and it was different. You had the passage of time, you didn't always have access to the NPCs you needed to talk to, you did have to waste time. It was refreshing. At the time. Now we've all seen what this kind of game can do (as you said, Yakuza perfected this genre), and it doesn't measure up anymore.
Yakuza and shenmue are completely different. Jesus christ, you people and your Yakuza bullshit
No, it was still bad back then. It was new and innovative, but it was always bad.
Should've remade the games, the Wooloon Walled City has always fascinated me, but I'm not going to endure dozens of hours with dated gameplay just to play a bit in the WWC.
Sega must remake these two games, so they can have two powerhouse s competing with each other (Yakuza being the other one), why they decided to do that is beyond me.
I mean, they remade Yakuza 1 and 2 because they were dated *PS2* games, but don't remake these?
I want to try this legendary franchise, but i can't just start with the third one; and I don't want to play the first two at their current state at all. So i guess I'll just move on.
Yakuza keeps on bringing, and now Fist of the North Star is coming, so i have my dose of batshit crazy-asian-sega-ps4-games secured.
As someone who like shenmue and yakuza: I like both, i think both hold up very well (even the yak ps2 games) and that they share a lot of qualities that makes them superior to the kiwami games (but i still enjoy those for what they are). Remaking shenmue was never an option, they are grand games in scale and it would be very costly. the craft and quality put into the original still holds up imo)
It's a bit difficult as AM2 don't exist anymore.
*Kowloon
Shenmue has never been popular enough for Sega to spend the cash to remake it. If it wasn't for Sony giving Shenmue 3 a shout out at E3 a few years ago we wouldn't even have got this remaster.
But that said, the game holds up pretty well. Shenmue is about as good as it ever was, it's just that it's very divisive. The gameplay was always unlike most other games, but it's that exact thing that gives the game it's charm and atmosphere which some people really enjoy, me being one of them. A remake would only have really addressed the controls, which are good enough anyway (but pretty odd if you're used to modern games), the graphics and voice acting. Everything else, would have remained as it's the whole point of the games to have time pass, to have to take part time jobs, to explore and get to know the area, the slow pace is intentional as is the ever looming time limit. And most importantly, to rummage through draws, take pictures off walls and buy gahca balls.
Oh and QTEs are pretty common in games so they'd keep those too. Those are the worst part of the game in my opinion. Everything else is great, if you like this sort of thing.
Think you meant to say Kowloon Walled City there
It doesn't matter what it's said shenmue is a gem a unique one that no matter how long it goes by I will still play it along side earthworm Jim 3D
It's honestly refreshing to see a different opinion. I personally love the game. But I totally understand the negative criticism. Definitely not a game you can easily recommend. Most reviewers I've heard just kiss the games ass. With the only negative being the graphics not changing. It's stiff, slow pacing, crappy acting and sound quality, and can get suuuuuuper boring.
Good on you for being a fan and not acting like a different opinion will destroy you. I'm so sick of that shit.
As someone who never played Shenmue until it just came out, and bought it to find out why people love the game, I agree completely about the movement controls being ass, but I'm enjoying pretty much everything else about my experience by trying to think back to what games were like when this came out.
That said, I'm still at the part where you're looking for sailors, because either I keep getting lost (the maps help, but I quickly get distracted and forget where I am) or I see a new building and get curious what's inside. Was especially happy about the GAME arcade because I love playing games within other games, it's like getting multiple games for the price of one.
Only other thing I can say at this stage is I really hope the karaoke bars I've found actually let me play karaoke at some point. As much as I loved Yakuza 0 and 6, I'm really hoping this follows in that tradition - or rather, sets it up in the first place, since this came out first.
I found them in the Jazz bar. This "Charlie" guy though...
Yakuza trash
Gabbiadini Have fun living in the past then.
If any game dev would release a game like this right now you would ignore it.
It looks like shit, it plays like shit and it's boring as fuck.
back in 1998 it might have been a masterpiece but we live in 2018.
Move on!
@@iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii4222 Wait he plays Yakuza 0 and 6 and also Shenmue he's not living in the past.
Not sure what I'll feel about shenmue now but I loved it when I first played it in 1999, it was revolutionary at the time.
This game is not for everybody, specifically for people who don't like rescuing cats from trees
Marcus!
Smash JT Jeff! !
I still think the game is as great as it was back then.
The relaxed way the world moves about, the little things you can interact with, the accurate to its year weather; it’s still great to me. The town always feels alive because everyone has something to do. Even the graphics still have their charm. It’s a hell of a lot more cinematic than a lot of games these days.
Jon Snow I’m sorry it’s not some bullshit WW2 FPS, with the buddies in arms cliche crap excuse for a story.
@Jon Snow and I think you shouldn't be allowed to communicate to other people. Well, everyone has their own opinion, eh?
Shenmue has been there to appeal to those who like to screw around, procrastinate, explore in free time. I always found myself discovering new areas just checking around this or that. Finding things to buy or people to talk to that expanded my game a little. Trying to collect everything from the raffle for my room. Generally screwing around with various interactable things and seeing what the game was like after interacting.
To change all this would be to change the nature of the game. Everyone - myself included - has been so spoiled by instant satisfaction that all this waiting has become unacceptable. Would someone wait around all day to sell their crops in Harvest Moon SNES? Would someone sit on the Orbis boat in MapleStory for 15 minutes and - if they die - have to wait to try again? No, they would hate it. They would say the games haven't aged well, needed to be reworked, etc. And that's just it: Other games can go that direction, but could you argue that it isn't part of the current game's experience? That fewer and fewer people tolerate it, but that doesn't mean new people aren't coming into existence that enjoy it.
Shenmue is a story of a boy on a quest to take vengeance for his murdered father. This isn't a straight path. You have to discover along the way, and this all takes time, patience, so on. There are many parts that haven't aged well, but I disagree with the points made here.
Also, apologies for the buggy port. We didn't do this - SEGA sprung it as a cash grab.
I think a lot of the commenters are missing Jim's point: that the game's *ideas* are (mostly) good, but that re-releasing it *as it was in 2001* ¹, rather than rebuilding it with updated controls and all the other UX improvements* ² that have come along since, was a missed opportunity.
Also, sarcasm is a thing.
1. for the releases outside of Japan.
2. *not* necessarily a graphical facelift; while that would have would be appreciated as well, it would likely have taken time away from making the gameplay better, which is the more important thing they could have done.
There's no need to mess with the games. It was either this or nothing, so I'll take this. It's still a great game now after all these years and I'm actually much more happier that they've left the game as it was. Uncompressed sounds files would have been nice but other than that it's still great, plus I don't mind the sound anyway. They didn't set out to achieve anything other than remastering the game, they've done that and they haven't tried to mislead anyone into thinking otherwise. Rebuilding the games are completely out of question for SEGA.
so many people don't seem to understand the difference between remaster and remake. its kinda sad.
@@GoogleUser-wf8mt I didn't say that for every game series did I? I'm saying that remaking the Shenmue games are out of question for SEGA, which they are.
It's fine to release them like this. Its good to preserve and reexperience what came before.
I’ve heard a lot of people say they like this game, but every description of the actual content sounds miserable.
The biggest problem that it has is that it's a game of its time. There are loads of games that suffer from this issue, where it was perfectly serviceable for the time, but as game development has advanced and moved on, having come up with better ideas, mechanics, and implementations....it really just doesn't stand a chance unless you have the nostalgia for either the game or the control schemes and experiences of the time.
17 years ago it was good
Good for you that you've read descriptions. If it sounds bad in your opinion, then you probably shouldn't play it, cause it's not a game for everyone. Many people do the mistake that they don't read any descriptions and then they're angry cause it's not the kind of an action game that they expected. Shenmue is indeed slow paced and it's kind of a real life simulator with a mystery that you're trying to solve. If you want a realistic adventure game with a calm and exotic atmosphere then Shenmue might be a game for you, especially if you're interested in Asian culture and martial arts. There's many things about Shenmue that impress players even today. Like for example the fact that npc's often don't repeat themselves even if you ask them the same quaestion over and over again. They usually answer your questions a little differently each time. And the music of the game is absolutely wonderful and epic. But it's not a game for everyone. Especially Shenmue 1 might be weird for some players cause you have to wait for bars to open and stuff like that. You have to spend your time playing arcade games or practicing your martial arts skills or visiting a fortune teller or what ever you come up with. There's lots of things to do, but it might still be weird for some players who only want to progress with the story. In Shenmue 2 you can skip time, but the first one might be a little too realistic for some players. They are both fantastic games in my opinion, but they are not for everyone.
I love the game but I know its a product of its time simple as that. Yakuza basically surpasses it in every way.
John Anaya Do they play Yakuza's music on major classical music radiostations, like they play Shenmue's music? I hate it when people compare Shenmue and Yakuza and I'm sick of the Yakuza does everything better comments. It's fine if you prefer Yakuza, but these games are fundamentally different. Does Yakuza capture the feeling of living in a Japanese town as a schoolboy better than Shenmue does? I mean what the hell. I can't relate to a Yakuza guy the way I can relate to Ryo Hazuki. That's what makes Shenmue so special, cause it starts slowly. Your only clue at the beginning is to get information of a black car. You're just a regular schoolboy living in a small town and at the end of Shenmue 2 you're fighting a huge chinese crime organization. But the story is exceptionally interesting and relatable cause the game starts so slowly and cause Ryo's home town feels so real. All the NPC's have their own lives. You're not fighting people all the time like in Yakuza. You only fight people when it fits the story and because of that the fighting feels so much more realistic and impactful. Yes, the slow start of Shenmue is off putting for some gamers. Yakuza is a better game for mainstream audiences for sure, but if you claim that it does everything better than Shenmue, you clearly don't understand why people love Shenmue.
Back at the times, I played Shenmue on my Dreamcast and loved every second of it (THAT finale with the song and the bike ride)! When I read on a magazine that the second game was available, I had the only videogame shop in my town order it for me, but I didn't believe they would ever get it. When I got their call telling me to come and pick it up, it was like when you wake up from a dream where you have superpowers or have gained something precious and invaluable to you, just to discover moments after it was all a dream; but this time it was real. I kept staring at the box and still couldn't believe my eyes. Then after a few weeks, when I thought I had finished the game, and the "countryside" level appeared unexpected, it was a truly mystical moment for me, one that left me inspired for months. I will *never* forget what playing Shenmue has meant to me.
I was tempted to buy this again for nostalgia's sake. Then you reminded me of the torture 15 year old me had to endure. I remember working jobs and just wishing I could quit. I guess it worked as a real life simulator.
I remember that my brother traded this game the same week he bought it in favour of Code Veronica. During the forklift race, he stood up, turned off the console, and leaved the room...
That's nuts. I enjoyed Code Veronica but it was a very weak RE game overall. Shenmue however I've played through 3 times, working on number 4.
@@lpnp9477
Same here. I'd take Shenmue over CV any day.
Code Veronica is a fine RE game. Always confused me that people didn't think so. I replay them all at least once a year and like that one as much as the rest. Shenmue I couldn't get through because my Dreamcast disc drive died, but it was a completely different experience. I wouldn't turn on Code Veronica for that type of experience and I wouldn't turn on Shenmue for the same reason I would a Resident Evil game.
Leaved...
The word you are looking for is “left”, darling.
Deadly Premonition had a long in game clock and thats the greatest game ever made. Although I just heard you reference it as I was writing this I still feel that it has to be said that you and me love Deadly Premonition. I love it nearly as much as I love actual people. We are the DP Brothers. You and me, John "The Erudite" Diaper and Mr. Sterling .
People are saying you can't judge this game by today's standards, yet the game has been released on modern consoles at a modern price. This is lazy capitalising on nostalgia and nothing more.
30 dollars is a modern price?
For an older game that's been re-released in an 'improvement'? Yes.
It's TWO older games that have been rereleased for $30. And they're MASSIVE games, even taking the slow pacing into account. Stop being so fucking greedy.
A modern price is 59.99 with a 99.99 Deluxe Edition and a 29.99 Season Pass with VC and DLC not included in the season pass, along with loot boxes at $5--$50 a pop.
29.99 is basically 15 bucks for two full, finished games that, by the way unlike today's games, didnt need to be patched continuously for years after release. Wake up.
You can judge the game by todays standards cos there are old games that hold up to todays standards.
Despite all of it's flaws that you lovingly pointed out, I still love this game and am happily playing through the first title. I'm also ecstatic that I can finally play Shenmue II because it only came out on the Xbox in the US and I never owned one. ^^
Also, I think people are approaching this game incorrectly. I think it's an Adventure game first with (admittedly janky) gameplay elements, and has more in common with something like Monkey Island or Grim Fandango than Yakuza.
My dad was a sailor...
Millenials are so impatient
Just played through Shenmue for the first time and personally I loved it. Holds up. The waiting is the only criticism here that I personally found problematic... but this was mostly mitigated when I started killing time IRL rather than trying to find something to do in the game world. Glad to hear Shenmue 2 has some sort of mechanic to advance time though.
And am I the only person who legitimately loves the forklift stuff? I had a blast with it.
They knew the waiting was a problem and added a way to skip it in the sequel.
if you have to leave the game and go do other stuff to kill time then it’s a bad game
@@aBDKstan No it's just a Bethesda game.
While I really love Shenmue I can also understand why a lot of people wouldn't but I am really annoyed about all those people who think everyone who likes those games does it out of nostalgia. Since I never owned a Dreamcast the first time I got to play this was in 2014 or 15 and it still was so great for me that I'd consider it as one of my all-time favourites now.
Not everyone has lost the patience to enjoy slower paced games just because many games are paced faster nowadays and give you some kind of reward every few minutes. I am not saying that Shenmue has no flaws but for me the pros, especially the atmosphere simply predominate these.
So, this game is basically like that train movie back in the 1890's, while film was discovered. An impressive achievement for back then, but no one nowadays would bother watching that, aside from educational purposes.
I wish SEGA really put actual effort for this remaster collection. High textures, better effects, & new english dubs are very needed.
I disagree on everything but the new english dubs (and tbh the whole audio of the game including BGM)... on a toggle because they current ones are hilarious. Seriously the game looks good. Maybe it's just me but the graphics look quite apealing.
Fuck man, the only reason it's getting rereleased at all is because Shenmue III is being made. Shenmue was the most expensive game ever made at the time, and for a 1999 game on the WEAKEST of the 6th generation consoles it still looks amazing (it looked better than the majority of PS2 games for years). Probably people don't realise this, but updating it would NOT be either cheap or easy. It was this, or nothing. If you'd have preferred nothing then suit yourself, but we should count ourselves lucky we even got this much.
SEGA doesn't know what effort is, the last good game that they put out was made by Sonic fans instead of Sonic Team.
@@ArcaneAzmadi Somebody already mod the texture environment though (PC version). Yep ...
that's a fan made project which is not only made without time or budget constraints, but isn't held up to any quality standards. you can't compare that with sega themselves remaking the game's assets lmao
I think Shenmue was also the game that invented QTEs. For better or worse.
It popularised them and gave them that name but QTEs go much further back. Games like Dragon's Lair are probably where QTEs come from. So early 80s at least.
Dragon's Lair invented them but Shenmue brought them back, still, I think it was only until God Of War that they became "a thing"
Shenmue 2 has the best QTE ever in the history of games, though. Shenmue actually uses QTE's sparingly.
@@neat3468 and resident evil made them stupid.
One particular minigame in Yoshi's Island is all QTE. It took me like 15 years to really notice it.
Shenmue definitely is a product of nostalgia. I loved the game when it first came out as the graphics looked stunning, the openess felt fresh, the time events were kind of impressive and it "felt" like you had freedom. It was an amazing feat for consoles back then. Then I tried playing it earlier this year. Maaaaaan, I must have been on crack back then. Expectations have really changed.
Thank God for you Jim Sterling for speaking my thoughts on this game. AT THE TIME it came out, it was revolutionary. But so many games since have built off the foundations of this game making it RIDICULOUSLY dated now. It's one of those games we should acknowledge for its contributions to gaming but not necessarily keep playing.
god no, no one in 2018 should be playing this if they didn't bother update mechanics and controls, it plays like shit I was huge Shemune fan, i knew even back then it was clunky but i liked it because again it was 1999.
kyotheman69 Shenmue 2 fixed many of Shenmue Chapter 1's problems and has a far more nuanced story, with fantastic characters (Ren, Joy, Xiuying, Jianmin, Fang Mei, Dou Niu) and has aged far better, certainly better than any of the PS2's blurry textured games.
Ren stands out as one of the greatest NPC characters in videogames. Ren is the man we all want to be.
Shenmue is a great game, but what it is not is a timeless one.
Until SEGA one day remaster it, it was remain a top range 1999 killer app title.
God forbid people enjoy playing a video game.
Speak for yourself. Shenmue is more than the sum of its parts. Its an experience.
Can you do one for shenmue 2? Because every time people say the first one is shit, others say the second one is much better and I would like to know why.
same. i myself never played the Shenmue games, but from what i seen, it really doesn't look like a good game.
Here is a good video showing what Shenmu 2 did differently vs 1! ua-cam.com/video/zRCPQXkqaqc/v-deo.html
It just is. The cast is better, better setting, more mini games, no more waiting unless you really want to etc. There's just a lot more fun stuff to do in 2
Probably that skip time feature that he mentioned at the end of this video.
I like Shenmue 1 but Shenmue 2 is indeed so much better. Better story, better pace, much more stuff to do, its just bigger and a better game. But i have fun playing 1 anyway ;)
Lol at the kids.
I see so many dislikes and so many people say they disagree, but as somebody who has never played the game and is on the outside looking in, I have yet to hear one single argument on the side of the fanbase. Literally not one. I just see dislikes and angry people, no defense. But then again, how can you defend a game that requires you to stand around in order to progress?
It doesn't require you to stand around. Your opinion is coming from a man who didn't realise that there's a first person button. He's referring to pretty much one specific instance of the gamewhere you have to arrange to meet a guy the next day and spoiler alert - in that space of time you have darts, excite QTE, hang-on, space harrier, gashapon collecting, a cat to take care of, and an entire town of people you can talk to (which, by the way, the game literally has a Japanese language option so if you don't like the voice acting you can just switch it over). Uncreativeness is the only barrier of entry here.
@@elenalingzhou6133 Finally, somebody willing to defend the game. I respect that. Again. I havent played the game and the people who like it havent seemed to speak up. However, I feel like he made a good argument about some of the mini game/event things. Some of those being that play a game within a game for the majority of the time in the game in order to just not be bored is kinda silly. Bully, the Rockstar game had a similar thing where you could play an arcade game in the guys dorm lobby. The distinction is it wasn't something that was there because there was nothing else to do. Bully had plenty to do (and also had an in game timer) and you didnt have to wait to do a certain missions. It sounds like in this game, after getting further in the game, the mini games get very old quickly (getting this info from silent rob). But thanks for the reply. It actually clears some things up
Also, it sounds like after you get into a certain length of the game, the NPCs dont have much to say if anything. I also got that info from silent rob
I don't know how you'd defend a taste. Everybody loves BOTW, but I hate waiting around on the cliffiside for the rain to end. I hate it when my weapons break just by looking at it, and I hate how simplistic and boring the gameplay loop had become in that game. Some other dude who comes to its defense loves the game for those exact reasons.
I should emphasise that it's rare that you have to wait around doing nothing for a significant amount of time. Outside of the aforementioned specific incident, most of the time the worst you'll get is a store being closed because it's too late or too early.
Shenmue 2 respects your time a little bit more that 1. You still need to carry a LOT of books outside of the library.
Great game, not for everyone. There's a reason you "aimlessly" punch and kick in the training grounds, your moves level up the more you practice them, they also change slightly, get more refined when you level up. And triggering a training point is easy. You walk into it, dont run. If you finished training, but want to go back in later, leave the area, come back in and do the same.
Shenmue has not aged well, definitely. But its legacy cannot be understated
Its impressive, really. Any time you want to poke at people they immediately get angry. Might just be that the internet goes from 1 to 100 over little things though.
" Even for it's time it's shit".... *facepalm* That is sheer nonsense. This game was revolutionary at the time it was released.
Does that mean it wasn't shit also?
Could not disagree more with this, one of the greatest games ever made an absolute masterpiece.
Someone had to say it, this game aged like milk.
For its time it was fun, but times have changed. Sill has a place in my heart. Can't wait for Shenmue 3!
I respectfully disagree.
That is all.
Disagree with what his complaints were all pretty valid ones liking the game doesn't free it from it's flaws
On the Internet, “respectfully” means “passive aggressively”. lol
Would you rather have them cuss him out and just say "FUCK YOU!!" in the most immature matter possible? It's more preferably this way.
So, make a counter argument?
+Jade Rodriguez
You see, Jim's complaints here weren't so much "valid" as they were subjective. Sure, if what you expect from a game is to be constantly engaged with frenetic action and epic set-pieces, saying that the game forces you to "waste time" is a valid complaint. However, if you're the sort of person that *enjoys* a more.... shall we say.... leisurely approach to gaming, that complaint seizes to be a complaint at all, and becomes more so an affirmation of why you enjoy the game so much.
See what I mean?
I think alot of people are forgetting that Jim isn't critisizing the version of Shenmue which was released 18 years ago, he is critisizing a "new" version which is now being sold for money.
Probably gonna give this game a shot either way but I can't wait to see the angry fan mobs coming this way
Ryu: "I see"
Kyryu : "character name... CHARACTER NAME!"
HellecticMojo RIKIYA RIKIYA! RIKIYAAAAAAAAA
It's a classic, a pioneering game and it's nearly 20 years old. I'm playing it again after 18 years for nostalgia not gameplay. It plays like shit but i don't care. If you play with the Japanese dialogue on, the game feels far less cheesy.
IMHO Ren should only ever be heard in his awesome Japanese VA.
Exactly!
Dub and sub should sound great regardless
I don't understand 'cheesy' being a undesirable thing. C'mon, its charming! It's not cheesy in a cringe way to me at least.
i watched this video when it came out without knowing what shenmue was, im playing the game now and have been for the past week or so, and honestly think it's incredible. it breaks so much convention, is so slow, and is so drab in it's setting, a grey port town in 80s japan "when the yen was strong" as some in game characters will straight tell you. when action scenes actually happen, it feels like something is going wrong, or it's too fast paced. it's closer to playing a book than a visual novel is, it works and i cant think how you'd honestly be able to change it to ruining it's charms, a point and click adventure seems reasonable but that control scheme and camera would take you out of the drab little world.
like when waypoints were added to WoW for questing, it destroyed part of the world building, you no longer had to explore or read quest text, or even interact with people who could possibly know. i think that's what would happen to shenmue if u made things more convenient for people.
Yup Shenmue is Marmite, and as much as I hate Marmite, I love this game.
I am a huge fan of Yakuza, so when I heard the game that was their precursor was releasing again, I was excited, hoping it'd be getting the Kiwami treatment, bringing the ancestor into the new era. What a shame that they literally just rereleased it, no remake, no remaster, just took a too-old game and shoved it out on modern consoles. And it sucks by modern standards. Even by standards then, it was clunky and poorly designed. I get the nostalgia, I get the respect, but it's not a good game!
Well some people like it
It is a remaster, SEGA were never going to remake Shenmue. It's a shame you've gone into this expecting a game like Yakuza, they're two different games which is why I don't like people comparing them.
Best critical analysis I’ve heard in a while, love the review score haha
I used to say "Yakuza does what Shenmue does, but better." for years even without having played a Yakuza game. I'd just seen clips and immediately knew it looked better and seemed to have more to do.
When I played Yakuza 0 I knew what I'd been saying was true, all the way down to my soul. If there's ever a time you get bored with the activity you're doing in Yakuza, there's something else to do instead that's different enough to entertain you.
Shenmue is definitely a milestone game, but I feel the hype for it comes from memories of the good bits and forgetting the many, many, many hours of tedious boring crap in between.
Yakuzo 0 is too different to even compare. It rarely takes itself seriously.
I mean yeah yakuza does do a lot of stuff better but you're literally comparing the newest release of yakuza to the first release of shenmue.
Saying a game that came out in 1999 is "great for its time" as some justification for not criticising it is insulting to all the 90s games that are genuinely great and still played today. System Shock 2, Unreal Tournament and Worms Armageddon came out that year and are still incredibly well designed and enjoyable games. I have no opinion on Shenmue, but the idea it should be given an easy ride because its "old" or "good for its time" gives the impression we've evolved somehow, when most modern games really aren't that great or innovative. Oh and that same year GTA2 was released, a game that is still loads of fun now despite being superseded and improved upon by 5 sequels. Hell, Deus Motherfucking Ex came out a year later.
I still believe Shenmue was amazing in its time and it's still really great now. I've been coming back to replay the games just about every year, they certainly divide opinion because they aren't for everybody and not everyone is going to like it.
Fanboys:diz gamu sooo guuud!!
Me:why cause of nostalgia?
Fanboys:SHIT DAFUK UP!!!!