What i've said for a while is maybe in shenmue once it gets dark in a city/town there should be a chance for ryo to encounter thugs to fight. It gives players a reason to fear it getting dark and want to go rest or get important story things done during the day where they can relax and go slowly but always being aware of the sun going down and thats when some random encounters could happen. Its also pretty realistic as who wants to be out in the middle of the night in a random city they've never been too before, with crowds drunks and dangerous people lurking about lol
A modern mid budget shenmue will have more content and interactions and new shenmue centric gameplay beyond what the Dreamcast could do if a true stable sequel was made.
Well said mate! As somebody who began with Shenmue on DC in the early aughts, rented Yakuza on PS2 back in the day, later falling in love with the LaD series with Kiwami 1 being the true introduction, I can't even conceptualize why a person would ever want to pull a "my game is better" with these games. They're different games as a whole, but they ozze the same charming elements with the characters, world design, attention to detail, and soundtracks. Apples and oranges are both delicious fruits. Cheers from Des Moines Iowa. 🇯🇵✌️🇭🇰💙
Even though without Shenmue, there would be no Yakuza, but the games are just too different now. It is a matter of taste what you prefer, but both series have their right to exist.
Shenmue has always been more of a detective game to me, like if Heavy Rain had some martial arts to it. The fighting is also really silly in Yakuza, not realistic like Shenmue
I think it's a rivalry in the same vein as console wars, there's a limited amount of space in people's consciousness for similar things and they need to fight to the death to occupy it.
Two franchises are great in their own way in different time. Shenmue will definitely hold a special place in my heart. My mind was blown when it was released for the Dreamcast during that time
It was only in the past few years that I played the Yakuza/LaD games whereas I have been a fan of Shenmue for decades. The LaD games blew me away with the gritty storytelling and bombastic humor, I didn't see a need to pit that series against Shenmue. The similarities between the two are entertaining and novel, and it's interesting the roots LaD has from Shenmue--but there's no reason to compare the two from an antagonist perspective and shows how little the people who do that know ane/or care about each franchise on their own.
Personally, they are two sagas that I love. I started with yakuza first and it made me want to get into Shenmue since it was always said that he was the father of yakuza and it made me understand why it meant so much at the time, its setting, story, characters, the realism of how the world develops but above all Its soundtrack is wonderful, it is without a doubt one of the best games I have played in my life
I didn't even realize there was a rivalry there. They might rhyme in some places, but for the most part, they're two entirely different series. It's like trying to compare Yakuza to Sleeping Dogs of all things.
The irony is that the Shenmue fanbase was one of the main driving forces to ask for more Yakuza games in the West for a LONG time. Then Zero got released and new fans start attacking the people who supported the series when it was still being criticized/ridiculed by most. Some Y1 reviews called it a worse blend of Shenmue and GTA, hated the loading times, the empty NPC's. Even Y3 with its improvements was called archaic etc. I personally played Y1 (and all the main titles) at release and liked it too despite its shortcomings but for different reasons than Shenmue. Something Shenmue has that differs (besides day/night cycle etc.) is an underlying tone of mysticism blended with everyday reality which I always liked.
And that's what gets me about this whole thing a little bit. Shenmue fans helped without questions and were often fans of both series. Feels like a bit of kick in the teeth given the success it has now. Not that we begrudge the series. Absolutely not but I get the point.
Yakuza is great and I've particularly enjoyed the recent turn-based variants of the series. However, one aspect where Shenmue absolutely smokes Yakuza is the music. And it's not even close! Shenmue has the GOAT video game soundtrack, period. Also Shenmue is just more... beautiful.
Yakuza / Like a Dragon and Shenmue have similar traits, but they have their own unique identity. I have said in the past that Shenmue might benefit from borrowing certain elements from Like a Dragon. It is by no means a harsh criticism of Shenmue.
I have an interesting background with this series... I didn't play Shenmue for the first time until 2023, and it almost immediately skyrocketed into my top 10 favorites of all time. I have yet to play a "real" Yakuza game, I want to -- but I DID also play Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise in 2023, a game built on the Yakuza engine, and loved that also! Excited to go to Yakuza 0 and Shenmue II one day!
THANK YOU!!!!! As someone who's been a Shenmue fan since forever, and is now finally starting to try and get into Yakuza proper, it has always been so disheartening to see hate and disrespect flung between the fanbases! The hate towards Shenmue from the "Shenmue bad just play Yakuza" crowd had turned me off of wanting to try Yakuza for an embarrassing amount of time, when in reality, I see now they're BOTH KICKASS!!!! It doesn't have to be one or the other!! 😭 Instant sub! Thanks for keeping the Shenmue spirit alive through this channel, and it's so refreshing to see a vid calling out this dumb forced rivalry when we can and should just appreciate these two AWESOME franchises!
I think both fanbases fear being abandoned again by sega as it happened to both only yakuza not being invthe west only last from 2012 to 2015 the ps3 got 5 and zero blew up in 2017. Anyway now yakuza fans will just keep the pedal to the metal on this series and not spend time on anything else in case sega lose interest in yakuza again just my theory why sides get chosen
To be honest both are two different story and theme Yakuza now know as Like a Dragon been changing a lot from time to time Without Shenmue there will be no Yakuza/Like a Dragon I enjoyed both series and fans of both franchise Since there are lot sega IP who have worse fate and forgottten
The "Yakuza is the new Shenmue" argument is just as weird as the "Yakuza is Japanese GTA" idea to me. Both are totally wrong, imo! Yakuza definitely does feel inspired in some ways by Shenmue's amount of stuff to do in the world, but aside from that, they're super different, even down to the tone. Shenmue has this certain atmosphere and feeling I don't get anywhere else, while Yakuza is more about the dramatic, action-packed crime stuff!
@@ShenmueDojoVOD not to mention that Like A Dragon also dealt with more hardships but had the stigma of being compared to GTA even though it was not. Thankfully the older fan base of LAD understands this and even we're supportive of Shenmue 3 like how the Shenmue community were most definitely supportive of Like A Dragon 5 coming out in the west even though it was released digital only
The resentment shenmue fans feel towards yakuza stems from all the people telling shenmue fans to forget about the franchise and just play yakuza instead. Shenmue fans are beat over the head with an incessant narrative that yakuza is a shenmue replacement. It isn't, and i think that's the source of the discontentment.
@@VirtuaBros I absolutely agree and we don't need to hate each other but come together because both franchises have faced a bunch of hardships as well. My way of comparing them is like Shenmue is a thought-provoking and wholesome tale about the impracticality of revenge and the importance of friendship while Like A Dragon is a crime drama narrative with hearts and emotion and about forming connections and personal growth and self-improvement
Just started a Yukuza game for the first time. It's a completely different gameplay and mood. Comparing it to Shenmue as stupid as comparing Zelda to Skyrim imo.
It's just such a silly argument to me. Yakuza has elements of Shenmue DNA, that is undeniable, but they're angling for completely different things. The Yakuza games are, utlimately, gangster stories with more of a back alley brawl feel and elements of virtual tourism, whilst Shenmue puts that tourism element at the forefront and has elements of more grounded martial arts in the few occasions where combat does occur. I first played Shenmue 1 and 2 through the Steam versions after already playing most of the Yakuza titles up to that point, and they are absolutely different experiences. Not necessarily for better or for worse, just different. People may criticise Shenmue's relaxed pacing, but it honestly lends the games a much cosier and unique feel when compared to the hot-blooded, brutal stories of Yakuza, or even later Persona entries, another series with some clear Shenmue inspiration. You can't replace that feeling with Yakuza due to the series' overall more grim and tense atmosphere.
I think the combat in 1 and 2 are pretty good for the era they came out in. 3's combat with the small budget was not too bad. The enemies blocked too much and the input delay is really bad. Now Yakuza has good combat but it isn't this grand thing that everyone claims it to be. For Shenmue 4 they should go back to the virtual fighter route and bring in a blocking meter like Sifu to help with all that blocking the enemies did in 3. Bring back throws and more sparring and tournaments would be a great thing for 4. Yakuza has arena type battles. Also more minigames and side jobs. With side jobs something like Persona 5. I think that they should have a better minimap that can tell you where things are and a pause menu minimap so you can plan routes. Yakuza didn't have the GPS thing until Yakuza 7. The constant combat can get pretty annoying after awhile. The voice acting really needs a better actors for the English dub in both series. But I honestly feel for Shenmue that they need to do what Yakuza does with the Japanese dub with subtitles for different languages because the Japanese dub is pretty good. If anything they could use AI voices for the NPC's in Shenmue. Now Yakuza does great with the crime drama and the wacky minigames that it has had. Shenmue is a slow pace revenge story. Kiryu and Ichi are both former Yakuza members. I think that people really like the criminal aspect of them and the Yakuza series. Ryo isn't a criminal. He's an 18 year old boy trying to become a man and avenge his father. Along the way he becomes a top of the line Marital Artist. The rivalry shouldn't be going on because yes they are both Japanese fighting type games. But one is about criminals and the other is about a teenager.
Go back and play shenmue 1 and 2 and then compare it to the ps2 yakuza. Yakuza being better is artificial as it just got developed on as technology moved on.
Shenmue was supposed to be an exploration life sim game yakuza is way more linear and cutscene heavy like any modern game which works much better for multiple entries shenmue should have ended in 2
I wouldn't call it a rivalry. Even before i got into Shenmue, it just seemed like a weird way Yakuza fans chose to advertise the series. It was annoying even back then, just gave the impression the community didn't know how to get others into their series without putting another one down besides memes. But even ignoring Shenmue, Yakuza fans gotta be the most weirdly aggressive fanbase in trying to get others to play. Like they genuinely feel personally insulted that someone might simply not have interest. Part of why I don't wanna check the series out myself, other than also just not finding what little i have been exposed to appealing.
I'd 100% recommend checking the LAD/Yakuza series out. It is IMO a very good set of games. While I've not delved into the community there that much we did speak to Yakuza Fan on X who is a really good dude. He helped us with one of our podcast shows last year.
tbf, why do you ask for others' opinions if you just want to try the game? just try it and see if it's for you or not. Not every games are for everybody and why should you be obsessed with how the toxic fans act? Every big fanbase will have its fair share of toxic people.
@@ShenmueDojoVOD The commenter said that part of why they didn't want to try the series is because of how the yakuza fanbase acts which is really dumb because if a certain franchise gets big enough, there's always going to be toxic fans. The problem the commenter has is that why listened to these toxic fans in the first place if they just want to try the series out? If the games are not for them, then it's not for them. Just don't try to search for other things to be the cause for why they don't want to try a game
Dude you wasted twenty minutes of everyone's lives trying to explain... whatever short sighted comparison you are making... there are good reasons why Sega headquarters Japan made the "Like a Dragon" or Yakuza series for SONY PlayStation 2 videogame system and later PlayStation systems and there are HORRIBLE reasons why Sega headquarters in Japan was stuck with Shenmue vanishing in the early 2000s and it is VERY simple. Microsoft made some type of backhanded exclusive deal through Sega of America's Peter Moore to not only screw the North American Sega Dreamcast owners out of ever getting Shenmue II officially but basically forced Shenmue II into becoming an "Only On Xbox" exclusive when Shenmue was never made for "Microsoft" or "Xbox" to begin with. That was a GREEDY Microsoft move and an even MORE GREEDY move by Sega of America's Peter Moore who should NEVER have been hired to be a manager at Sega of America just like Bernie Stolar, Tom Kalinske and Joe Miller... none of those traitors should have ever been hired to work at or manage Sega of America in the 90s but unfortunately they were and as such all their greedy and dumb and anti-Japanese Sega policies ended up bankrupting all of Sega especially because Sega Europe was formed much later than Sega of America as subsidiary branches so it could never significantly contribute much other than rely on the initial management by Sega of America's management staff in the 90s. Microsoft should NEVER have been given any exclusive rights for Shenmue at all as far as "exclusive ports" because back then there was ZERO reason for Shenmue to even be on the Xbox and in fact even Sega headquarters Japan should have avoided becoming a BRIBED third party to Microsoft by how Microsoft simply gave Sega "free" Xbox dev kits and even there Sega should have stayed away from Microsoft and instead focused on Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube development and porting. Further by the first year iirc there were already almost ten million Sony PS2s sold from March 2000 to March 2001. Therefore it stands to reason that just based on first year Sony PlayStation 2 worldwide sales that Sega should have prioritized the Sony PS2 system because that is how the videogame system industry works... no company is "ENTITLED" to get exclusive games unless they purchased the license rights to make their exclusive version or they meet a certain number of system sales within the first two years of selling their system generation. Therefore the Sony PlayStation 2 could have handled not only a 1:1 reprogrammed conversion of Shenmue I and Shenmue II but they would have been superior versions to Dreamcast and let's say by late 2002 when a PS2 version of Shenmue I would have been finished and released, it would have had at least around a twenty million or more install base and as such a wider audience BACK THEN for Shenmue and later a PS2 version of Shenmue II to have secured a strongest fanbase because that is only possible with a high degree of units sold and this is before any screw ups that would have still been made by Sega of America's 2000s management staff who shoved their ideas of lacing Yakuza 1 with a completely different script from the Japanese version. That means we would have had Shenmue evolved just like the first "Like A Dragon" games which would also still need to be created because as a derivative game genre it would have been logical and more successful for Sega headquarters in Japan and for the fanbase to have these games back then. As such Shenmue I and 2 DIED ON XBOX in the early 2000s with low and lackluster sales because Xbox owners decided NOT to buy and also due to the lower install base of Xbox which were more into their sports and first person military shooters. The Like a Dragon series proved successful in Japan on the PS2... THAT is why there was an effort to translate the game series into English even after Sega of America's management decisions fucked that up for everyone worldwide in the mid 2000s before the more correct idea of English subtitles instead of horrible English dubbed with altered script happened and helped save the Like a Dragon series outside Japan. Further the Sony PlayStation systems have single handedly saved the Like a Dragon series and SHENMUE as well... Yu Suzuki should have worked closer with Sega and Sony to use the more Sony proprietary 3d engine tools instead of Unreal Engine which is an overrated and over hyped 3d engine tools filled with bugs just go play PS4 Days Gone (on a PS4 or PS4 Pro obviously) to know how a Sony exclusive game studio basically almost re-wrote the entire 3d engine just to make the world of Days Gone work that they could have just developed their own proprietary 3d engine instead in the five years of development and avoided the mess that Unreal Engine caused that could not be fixed by the time the game was released.
Its managed to reinvent itself so much that's why it keeps going rgg will use the lad series to make it into anything and it became a turn based jrpg recently no longer a fighting adventure, gas been a historical samurai game, a zombie game, a jpop idol simulator, a detective game under the judgement titles, they really dont just rely on cop ypasting the same idea tbh 😅
sounds like you didn't even play most of the entries in yakuza/lad series. It reuses assets, sure, but every game has different aspect to it. It's like saying Fromsoft keep copypasting the same games which is not true. Sure the fundamentals/roots are the same, but that doesn't mean it comes out the same game. What a truly ignorant assumption
@edmac8212 TBH I saw the move to Turnbased as a massive risk. Partly because I don't usually enjoy those sorts of games. That said the story for IW was great so you sort of overlooked the turn based stuff. Also, as you say, they've so many other things going on in them you can pace things as you like
Now that SEGA is pretty much finished with the like a dragon series with infinite wealth, They really need to bring back shenmue back from the dead and virtua fighter as well, But unfortunately SEGA has this reputation where if a game doesn't sell like it should, They drop the franchises and let it collect dust and fade into obscurity, Virtua fighter 5 flopped and was a commercial failure and that was basically the end of the franchise, same thing with shenmue 2, it ended the series until the shenmue loyalist brought it back from the dead and raised money on kickstarter to get a 3rd entry and that flopped too, a fun, niche and underrated game 🎮, but it flopped, i sure hope we get a 4th entry, but the way the last one commercially i seriously doubt, but only time ⏲️ will tell!
What i've said for a while is maybe in shenmue once it gets dark in a city/town there should be a chance for ryo to encounter thugs to fight. It gives players a reason to fear it getting dark and want to go rest or get important story things done during the day where they can relax and go slowly but always being aware of the sun going down and thats when some random encounters could happen. Its also pretty realistic as who wants to be out in the middle of the night in a random city they've never been too before, with crowds drunks and dangerous people lurking about lol
Exactly - something like that could work without compromising the Shenmue vibes.
A modern mid budget shenmue will have more content and interactions and new shenmue centric gameplay beyond what the Dreamcast could do if a true stable sequel was made.
Shenmue is Jazz while Yakuza is Rock. They are two different styles and fans should play both.
That's a good comparison. And there are moments in both series where they shift into the other genre.
Shenmue is Indie Rock
Well said mate! As somebody who began with Shenmue on DC in the early aughts, rented Yakuza on PS2 back in the day, later falling in love with the LaD series with Kiwami 1 being the true introduction, I can't even conceptualize why a person would ever want to pull a "my game is better" with these games. They're different games as a whole, but they ozze the same charming elements with the characters, world design, attention to detail, and soundtracks. Apples and oranges are both delicious fruits. Cheers from Des Moines Iowa. 🇯🇵✌️🇭🇰💙
Very well said! Agree
Even though without Shenmue, there would be no Yakuza, but the games are just too different now. It is a matter of taste what you prefer, but both series have their right to exist.
Yeah. Ones a virtua fighter rpg, the other is a streets of rage rpg. They just feel different and more importantly both feel unique.
Anf that is critcally important - that they each have their own unique spin on things
Shenmue has always been more of a detective game to me, like if Heavy Rain had some martial arts to it. The fighting is also really silly in Yakuza, not realistic like Shenmue
Very true
I think it's a rivalry in the same vein as console wars, there's a limited amount of space in people's consciousness for similar things and they need to fight to the death to occupy it.
It's sad really. Some people like one or the other and that's cool. Some like both - nothing wrong with either stance.
Two franchises are great in their own way in different time. Shenmue will definitely hold a special place in my heart. My mind was blown when it was released for the Dreamcast during that time
100%
I play them separately and see them as completely different. It’s a strange comparison. Shenmue is a very different game.
100% agree
It was only in the past few years that I played the Yakuza/LaD games whereas I have been a fan of Shenmue for decades. The LaD games blew me away with the gritty storytelling and bombastic humor, I didn't see a need to pit that series against Shenmue. The similarities between the two are entertaining and novel, and it's interesting the roots LaD has from Shenmue--but there's no reason to compare the two from an antagonist perspective and shows how little the people who do that know ane/or care about each franchise on their own.
Well put
If anything Judgment is more like Shenmue than Yakuza is.
Personally, they are two sagas that I love. I started with yakuza first and it made me want to get into Shenmue since it was always said that he was the father of yakuza and it made me understand why it meant so much at the time, its setting, story, characters, the realism of how the world develops but above all Its soundtrack is wonderful, it is without a doubt one of the best games I have played in my life
Love seeing this.
I didn't even realize there was a rivalry there. They might rhyme in some places, but for the most part, they're two entirely different series. It's like trying to compare Yakuza to Sleeping Dogs of all things.
You'd be surprised how much of the mainline gaming media think they are virtually the same game or that Yakuza is 'Shenmue but good'
Yakuza is a cutscene simulator
Third person view, Japanese player character... Shenmue spiritual successor.
And Half Life is Doom.
It's a bad comparison because it different games..maybe they looks similar on pics and description,but not when you play.
And that's the myth we're wanting to bust - both very different games.
The irony is that the Shenmue fanbase was one of the main driving forces to ask for more Yakuza games in the West for a LONG time. Then Zero got released and new fans start attacking the people who supported the series when it was still being criticized/ridiculed by most. Some Y1 reviews called it a worse blend of Shenmue and GTA, hated the loading times, the empty NPC's. Even Y3 with its improvements was called archaic etc. I personally played Y1 (and all the main titles) at release and liked it too despite its shortcomings but for different reasons than Shenmue. Something Shenmue has that differs (besides day/night cycle etc.) is an underlying tone of mysticism blended with everyday reality which I always liked.
And that's what gets me about this whole thing a little bit. Shenmue fans helped without questions and were often fans of both series. Feels like a bit of kick in the teeth given the success it has now.
Not that we begrudge the series. Absolutely not but I get the point.
I enjoy both games
As do we :)
@@ShenmueDojoVOD cool
Yakuza is great and I've particularly enjoyed the recent turn-based variants of the series. However, one aspect where Shenmue absolutely smokes Yakuza is the music. And it's not even close! Shenmue has the GOAT video game soundtrack, period.
Also Shenmue is just more... beautiful.
Yakuza / Like a Dragon and Shenmue have similar traits, but they have their own unique identity. I have said in the past that Shenmue might benefit from borrowing certain elements from Like a Dragon. It is by no means a harsh criticism of Shenmue.
I have an interesting background with this series... I didn't play Shenmue for the first time until 2023, and it almost immediately skyrocketed into my top 10 favorites of all time. I have yet to play a "real" Yakuza game, I want to -- but I DID also play Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise in 2023, a game built on the Yakuza engine, and loved that also! Excited to go to Yakuza 0 and Shenmue II one day!
You'll love them. All great games.
THANK YOU!!!!! As someone who's been a Shenmue fan since forever, and is now finally starting to try and get into Yakuza proper, it has always been so disheartening to see hate and disrespect flung between the fanbases!
The hate towards Shenmue from the "Shenmue bad just play Yakuza" crowd had turned me off of wanting to try Yakuza for an embarrassing amount of time, when in reality, I see now they're BOTH KICKASS!!!! It doesn't have to be one or the other!! 😭
Instant sub! Thanks for keeping the Shenmue spirit alive through this channel, and it's so refreshing to see a vid calling out this dumb forced rivalry when we can and should just appreciate these two AWESOME franchises!
@@SuperPiposaru thank you for watching. Hope you enjoy the rest of the videos.
I like both ,shenmue is life simulator while yakuza is shenmue but more goofy
I think both fanbases fear being abandoned again by sega as it happened to both only yakuza not being invthe west only last from 2012 to 2015 the ps3 got 5 and zero blew up in 2017. Anyway now yakuza fans will just keep the pedal to the metal on this series and not spend time on anything else in case sega lose interest in yakuza again just my theory why sides get chosen
An interesting POV. SEGA are milking LAD like crazy now lol
To be honest both are two different story and theme
Yakuza now know as Like a Dragon been changing a lot from time to time
Without Shenmue there will be no Yakuza/Like a Dragon
I enjoyed both series and fans of both franchise
Since there are lot sega IP who have worse fate and forgottten
Sega have so many lost IP it's sad really.
@@ShenmueDojoVOD yeah some like sakura wars
I like that sega release shemue 1&2 for modern audience
The "Yakuza is the new Shenmue" argument is just as weird as the "Yakuza is Japanese GTA" idea to me. Both are totally wrong, imo! Yakuza definitely does feel inspired in some ways by Shenmue's amount of stuff to do in the world, but aside from that, they're super different, even down to the tone. Shenmue has this certain atmosphere and feeling I don't get anywhere else, while Yakuza is more about the dramatic, action-packed crime stuff!
Exactly. Shenmue could learn from some aspects of Yakuza but they're very different
@@ShenmueDojoVOD not to mention that Like A Dragon also dealt with more hardships but had the stigma of being compared to GTA even though it was not. Thankfully the older fan base of LAD understands this and even we're supportive of Shenmue 3 like how the Shenmue community were most definitely supportive of Like A Dragon 5 coming out in the west even though it was released digital only
The resentment shenmue fans feel towards yakuza stems from all the people telling shenmue fans to forget about the franchise and just play yakuza instead. Shenmue fans are beat over the head with an incessant narrative that yakuza is a shenmue replacement. It isn't, and i think that's the source of the discontentment.
@@VirtuaBros perfect summary
@@VirtuaBros I absolutely agree and we don't need to hate each other but come together because both franchises have faced a bunch of hardships as well. My way of comparing them is like Shenmue is a thought-provoking and wholesome tale about the impracticality of revenge and the importance of friendship while Like A Dragon is a crime drama narrative with hearts and emotion and about forming connections and personal growth and self-improvement
Just started a Yukuza game for the first time. It's a completely different gameplay and mood. Comparing it to Shenmue as stupid as comparing Zelda to Skyrim imo.
@@vhsretrogamer1664 Never a truer word spoken
I'm a Shenmue fan, & I tried to get into the Yakuza Series and I couldn't.
I tried Judgement and it's pretty cool for a spin off game.
And that's fair enough. Neither title is for everyone :)
It's just such a silly argument to me. Yakuza has elements of Shenmue DNA, that is undeniable, but they're angling for completely different things. The Yakuza games are, utlimately, gangster stories with more of a back alley brawl feel and elements of virtual tourism, whilst Shenmue puts that tourism element at the forefront and has elements of more grounded martial arts in the few occasions where combat does occur. I first played Shenmue 1 and 2 through the Steam versions after already playing most of the Yakuza titles up to that point, and they are absolutely different experiences. Not necessarily for better or for worse, just different. People may criticise Shenmue's relaxed pacing, but it honestly lends the games a much cosier and unique feel when compared to the hot-blooded, brutal stories of Yakuza, or even later Persona entries, another series with some clear Shenmue inspiration. You can't replace that feeling with Yakuza due to the series' overall more grim and tense atmosphere.
I think the combat in 1 and 2 are pretty good for the era they came out in. 3's combat with the small budget was not too bad. The enemies blocked too much and the input delay is really bad. Now Yakuza has good combat but it isn't this grand thing that everyone claims it to be. For Shenmue 4 they should go back to the virtual fighter route and bring in a blocking meter like Sifu to help with all that blocking the enemies did in 3. Bring back throws and more sparring and tournaments would be a great thing for 4. Yakuza has arena type battles. Also more minigames and side jobs. With side jobs something like Persona 5. I think that they should have a better minimap that can tell you where things are and a pause menu minimap so you can plan routes. Yakuza didn't have the GPS thing until Yakuza 7. The constant combat can get pretty annoying after awhile. The voice acting really needs a better actors for the English dub in both series. But I honestly feel for Shenmue that they need to do what Yakuza does with the Japanese dub with subtitles for different languages because the Japanese dub is pretty good. If anything they could use AI voices for the NPC's in Shenmue. Now Yakuza does great with the crime drama and the wacky minigames that it has had. Shenmue is a slow pace revenge story. Kiryu and Ichi are both former Yakuza members. I think that people really like the criminal aspect of them and the Yakuza series. Ryo isn't a criminal. He's an 18 year old boy trying to become a man and avenge his father. Along the way he becomes a top of the line Marital Artist. The rivalry shouldn't be going on because yes they are both Japanese fighting type games. But one is about criminals and the other is about a teenager.
Go back and play shenmue 1 and 2 and then compare it to the ps2 yakuza. Yakuza being better is artificial as it just got developed on as technology moved on.
This!
what's really funny is that its only the modern fan base of Yakuza that's incredibly toxic as apposed to the old fan base
I've seen that and it is a shame really.
Shenmue was supposed to be an exploration life sim game yakuza is way more linear and cutscene heavy like any modern game which works much better for multiple entries shenmue should have ended in 2
I agree with Matt, I just don’t like the way like a dragon as gone in terms of turn base
Ok
Yakuza seems over the top and wacky compared to Shenmue.
Exactly!
I wouldn't call it a rivalry. Even before i got into Shenmue, it just seemed like a weird way Yakuza fans chose to advertise the series. It was annoying even back then, just gave the impression the community didn't know how to get others into their series without putting another one down besides memes. But even ignoring Shenmue, Yakuza fans gotta be the most weirdly aggressive fanbase in trying to get others to play. Like they genuinely feel personally insulted that someone might simply not have interest. Part of why I don't wanna check the series out myself, other than also just not finding what little i have been exposed to appealing.
I'd 100% recommend checking the LAD/Yakuza series out. It is IMO a very good set of games. While I've not delved into the community there that much we did speak to Yakuza Fan on X who is a really good dude. He helped us with one of our podcast shows last year.
I totally understand because its simply not for everyone
tbf, why do you ask for others' opinions if you just want to try the game? just try it and see if it's for you or not. Not every games are for everybody and why should you be obsessed with how the toxic fans act?
Every big fanbase will have its fair share of toxic people.
@@samuel.jpg.1080p I'm confused?
@@ShenmueDojoVOD The commenter said that part of why they didn't want to try the series is because of how the yakuza fanbase acts which is really dumb because if a certain franchise gets big enough, there's always going to be toxic fans. The problem the commenter has is that why listened to these toxic fans in the first place if they just want to try the series out?
If the games are not for them, then it's not for them. Just don't try to search for other things to be the cause for why they don't want to try a game
Dude you wasted twenty minutes of everyone's lives trying to explain... whatever short sighted comparison you are making... there are good reasons why Sega headquarters Japan made the "Like a Dragon" or Yakuza series for SONY PlayStation 2 videogame system and later PlayStation systems and there are HORRIBLE reasons why Sega headquarters in Japan was stuck with Shenmue vanishing in the early 2000s and it is VERY simple.
Microsoft made some type of backhanded exclusive deal through Sega of America's Peter Moore to not only screw the North American Sega Dreamcast owners out of ever getting Shenmue II officially but basically forced Shenmue II into becoming an "Only On Xbox" exclusive when Shenmue was never made for "Microsoft" or "Xbox" to begin with.
That was a GREEDY Microsoft move and an even MORE GREEDY move by Sega of America's Peter Moore who should NEVER have been hired to be a manager at Sega of America just like Bernie Stolar, Tom Kalinske and Joe Miller... none of those traitors should have ever been hired to work at or manage Sega of America in the 90s but unfortunately they were and as such all their greedy and dumb and anti-Japanese Sega policies ended up bankrupting all of Sega especially because Sega Europe was formed much later than Sega of America as subsidiary branches so it could never significantly contribute much other than rely on the initial management by Sega of America's management staff in the 90s.
Microsoft should NEVER have been given any exclusive rights for Shenmue at all as far as "exclusive ports" because back then there was ZERO reason for Shenmue to even be on the Xbox and in fact even Sega headquarters Japan should have avoided becoming a BRIBED third party to Microsoft by how Microsoft simply gave Sega "free" Xbox dev kits and even there Sega should have stayed away from Microsoft and instead focused on Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube development and porting.
Further by the first year iirc there were already almost ten million Sony PS2s sold from March 2000 to March 2001. Therefore it stands to reason that just based on first year Sony PlayStation 2 worldwide sales that Sega should have prioritized the Sony PS2 system because that is how the videogame system industry works... no company is "ENTITLED" to get exclusive games unless they purchased the license rights to make their exclusive version or they meet a certain number of system sales within the first two years of selling their system generation.
Therefore the Sony PlayStation 2 could have handled not only a 1:1 reprogrammed conversion of Shenmue I and Shenmue II but they would have been superior versions to Dreamcast and let's say by late 2002 when a PS2 version of Shenmue I would have been finished and released, it would have had at least around a twenty million or more install base and as such a wider audience BACK THEN for Shenmue and later a PS2 version of Shenmue II to have secured a strongest fanbase because that is only possible with a high degree of units sold and this is before any screw ups that would have still been made by Sega of America's 2000s management staff who shoved their ideas of lacing Yakuza 1 with a completely different script from the Japanese version.
That means we would have had Shenmue evolved just like the first "Like A Dragon" games which would also still need to be created because as a derivative game genre it would have been logical and more successful for Sega headquarters in Japan and for the fanbase to have these games back then.
As such Shenmue I and 2 DIED ON XBOX in the early 2000s with low and lackluster sales because Xbox owners decided NOT to buy and also due to the lower install base of Xbox which were more into their sports and first person military shooters.
The Like a Dragon series proved successful in Japan on the PS2... THAT is why there was an effort to translate the game series into English even after Sega of America's management decisions fucked that up for everyone worldwide in the mid 2000s before the more correct idea of English subtitles instead of horrible English dubbed with altered script happened and helped save the Like a Dragon series outside Japan.
Further the Sony PlayStation systems have single handedly saved the Like a Dragon series and SHENMUE as well... Yu Suzuki should have worked closer with Sega and Sony to use the more Sony proprietary 3d engine tools instead of Unreal Engine which is an overrated and over hyped 3d engine tools filled with bugs just go play PS4 Days Gone (on a PS4 or PS4 Pro obviously) to know how a Sony exclusive game studio basically almost re-wrote the entire 3d engine just to make the world of Days Gone work that they could have just developed their own proprietary 3d engine instead in the five years of development and avoided the mess that Unreal Engine caused that could not be fixed by the time the game was released.
@apollosungod2819 much like this essay then which has been covered in previous Dojo content ;) have a nice day.
Yakuza just run of the mill copypasted fighting adventure series. I believe it's actually long overstayed it's welcome.
I do wonder when the bubble will burst?
Its managed to reinvent itself so much that's why it keeps going rgg will use the lad series to make it into anything and it became a turn based jrpg recently no longer a fighting adventure, gas been a historical samurai game, a zombie game, a jpop idol simulator, a detective game under the judgement titles, they really dont just rely on cop ypasting the same idea tbh 😅
sounds like you didn't even play most of the entries in yakuza/lad series. It reuses assets, sure, but every game has different aspect to it. It's like saying Fromsoft keep copypasting the same games which is not true. Sure the fundamentals/roots are the same, but that doesn't mean it comes out the same game.
What a truly ignorant assumption
@edmac8212 TBH I saw the move to Turnbased as a massive risk. Partly because I don't usually enjoy those sorts of games.
That said the story for IW was great so you sort of overlooked the turn based stuff.
Also, as you say, they've so many other things going on in them you can pace things as you like
@@blaire4115 it has "overstayed" because its successful enough shenmue was a failure from the beginning even if i liked the first one back then
Now that SEGA is pretty much finished with the like a dragon series with infinite wealth, They really need to bring back shenmue back from the dead and virtua fighter as well, But unfortunately SEGA has this reputation where if a game doesn't sell like it should, They drop the franchises and let it collect dust and fade into obscurity, Virtua fighter 5 flopped and was a commercial failure and that was basically the end of the franchise, same thing with shenmue 2, it ended the series until the shenmue loyalist brought it back from the dead and raised money on kickstarter to get a 3rd entry and that flopped too, a fun, niche and underrated game 🎮, but it flopped, i sure hope we get a 4th entry, but the way the last one commercially i seriously doubt, but only time ⏲️ will tell!