Shenmue I & II Reviews

Have wanted to try this for years. Got it on sale, figured it was worth a shot. Aaaaaannnnddd... nope, it wasn't. This is a "you had to be there" game.

Wonderful plot, amazing gameplay! It really lives up to it's name since it's release over more than 2 decades ago. Can't wait to play Shenmue 3!

Shenmue is a game series that is famous for many reasons. It is considered by many as the best game for Sega Dreamcast console. It was the most expensive game ever published at the time, with development costs mounting up to a staggering 70 million dollars. It was also a game that coined the infamous Quick Time Events (QTEs) that were used excessively in gaming industry for the next couple of years. Recently, Shenmue was given a BAFTA award for the most influential game of all time. Gentlemen, what you're looking at here is a living piece of gaming history. Your story begins in Japan in the year 1986. You are Ryo Hazuki, a high school student and son of a famous martial artist Iwao Hazuki. The game begins with your father being killed by the mysterious Lan Di, who also steals a precious mirror that your father brought back from China. Unable to prevent your father from being defeated in mortal combat, you set out to find Lan Di and avenge your father's death. The story of Shenmue is a story about a young man on a path to become a master of the martial arts, as well as finding his true self. The saga of Shenmue was originally intended to span over five games, but the complete story was never finished since only three games were ever released. This is a remastered version of both Shenmue I and Shenmue II in a single game with HD textures and high resolution. When Shenmue first came out in 1999, it had graphics like no other game on the market. The game featured incredibly detailed characters with full voice acting support, set in an interactive open word with time flow and realistic weather effects. Even by todays standards, the graphics in this remaster are pretty decent. Shenmue also defied any established game genre and can be vaguely described as a "fighting adventure with RPG elements and lots of minigames". I believe the same formula was later used to produce Yakuza games, however those games feel totally different. All I can say is that Shenmue offers a completely unique gameplay and I was blown away by its originality. When I first started playing, I wasn't too impressed with the game, but it started growing on me very quickly. By the time I finished my playthrough, I was completely awestruck. What I liked the most about Shenmue is the incredible atmosphere that envelops the player like a mantle. This is mostly due to fantastic world design and amazing music score, but there is also something else, a special ingredient undefinable by words. Shenmue is one of those rare games that have a soul and it's a game that you will always remember once you finish it. This is how I imagined the Far East looks like when I was a kid... martial arts, Zen philosophy and oriental music. The realistic gameplay elements, like going to sleep every night or learning new combat moves by actual practice, only heighten this feeling of immersion. Some players may not appreciate Shenmue because of its slow pace, Quick Time Events and (arguably) bad controls. Despite the numerous revolutionary innovations it brought to the world of gaming, it definitely isn't a game for everyone. Most of the gameplay consists of walking around and asking questions, which may not appeal to modern audience. Also, some tasks that Ryo will have to accomplish are repetitive and can become tedious. All of these things bothered me a little during my playthrough, but I am willing to let them slide. I cannot even begin to imagine how amazing Shenmue was 25 years ago. Even today, the game feels ahead of its time in some aspects. If you possess a certain degree of patience and can get over the clunky controls, you'll probably enjoy it as much as I did. Score (out of 10): [h1][b]8[/b][/h1]