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The Shenmue Thread

Master Thrasher

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I wanted to start this thread for awhile. In two weeks, Shenmue I and II will be re-released on the PC, Xbox, and PS4. Many people like me never thought this would happen. For years fans wrote to Sega asking for a sequel to Shenmue 2. Finally, Yu Suzuki, creator of the game, launched one of the most successful Kickstarters of all time. Over 7 million dollars were raised between the Kickstarter and Slacker Backer campaign. I'm one of the people who gave money because I believed in it.


Let's talk about the game.

Shenmue was initially a Sega Saturn game believe it or not. There is video of it and it isn't pretty. As the Saturn started to fade, development of the game moved to the Dreamcast. Shenmue was one of the most expensive video games produced at an estimated 70 million dollars. About 1.2 million units were sold, which meant the game was a flop.

Possible spoilers ahead:

Ryo Hazuki is a high school student living in Yokosuka with his father, housekeeper, and housemate. One day, he comes home to find his father fighting a man wearing a ornate robe. Lan Di is looking for the Dragon Mirror. After threatening to kill Ryo, Iwao, Ryo's father gives up the location of mirror. Once the mirror recovered, Lan Di quickly finishes Iwao and leaves the dojo. Ryo hears his father's last words while he dies in his arms.

A few days later Ryo sets out for revenge.



Shenmue was unique for its time because it was of the first immersive open world games. Ryo could walk around the streets of Yokosuka, enter shops, purchase items, and talk to other characters. Characters had their own set schedules and would be in different locations depending on the time of day. The weather in the game was based on the real weather conditions of 1986 Yokosuka. Quick Time Events were used in fights and cut scenes.


I'm going to add more to this later...
 

Smues

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Is this accurate? This is all I know about Shenmue.
 

Master Thrasher

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Yeah. For all its realism, the girl on the left, Nozomi, wears a sweater and mini skirt throughout the first game, even while its snowing.
 

Epic Springs

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I remember being so excited about this game when it was first released on Dreamcast. I was blown away by it's realtime play but grew bored of it quickly and never finished it. If I recall, it got dissapoitning reviews from EGM and game sites alike.
 

Master Thrasher

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It's a very beautiful and well crafted game with a great soundtrack but it can be boring. It's not like the Yakuza series.
 

Youth N Asia

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I feel like there’s been a mass memory wipe where people have forgotten that it’s a really shitty game. Some innovated stuff from when it came out. But it’s not fun.
 

HarleyQuinn

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I'm with Epic in being very hyped for it then being impressed with the visuals/open world aspect but gameplay wise it was just so dull/boring that I ended up quitting pretty quickly and it kind of stayed forgotten about it amongst my Dreamcast collection.
 

fazzle

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Shenmue was a VERY ambitious game.....but also wasn't very good at the same time. I enjoyed it because it's generally just a very basic adventure game and I'm into those, but it was never some huge revolutionary thing like they were attempting to sell it as. I ended up importing a European version of Shenmue 2 so I could play it on my Dreamcast, because in the US it was decided last minute to sell those rights to the XBox, but I never finished it because my damn DC flat out died in the middle of playing it.
 
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