The Pretentious Sophistry of Super Eyepatch Wolf and His Bad Take on Shenmue III

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Having watched both now, I actually think both are great videos... I think this video makes its point in a very subtle and clever way. I found myself listening to his counter points and thinking "yes, but your framing that in a positive way and omitting that - regardless of your point - execution was poor."

But I think that's the point. Super Eyepatch Wolf (whose video I reiterate I enjoyed and agreed with on many points) framed his video in a specific manner and omitted certain points both to make it more entertaining and to add substance to his own opinions. A simple example is the complaint about the cutscene in Shenhua's house whenever Ryo steps onto the living room area and takes his shoes off (and vice versa). SEW fails to mention you can skip the cutscene, Virtua Bros fail to acknowledge that that could still prove irritating, as you still have to endure the black loading screen and the amount of time saved by skipping the scene is still minimal. Did I find it irritating? Not especially and I appreciated it as a Shenmue fan, but that doesn't make other opinions invalid.
 
Here's some real talk from my pov. Everyone take it as as you will

I like youtube, but i stay away from mainstream youtube which is mainly drama filled negative cr@p.

I can respect eyepatch wolfs video creation skills and some of his points in his shenmue 3 vid, but i dont respect the man himself one bit. He seems like a very disingenuous, drama filled, whiney, sly weasal. Excuse my french

Everyone can see what his intentions were were with that video. From the title, to the thumbnail, to the dramatic hyberbolic talking points, to the disingenuous examples, to the destructive overall narrative, etc.

All good for him though as he easily made thousands of dollars off that vid. No different than what the dodgy journalists of today do. I can't respect that and will never respect that. There has to be some ethics and integrity involved.

I say this as someone who agrees with a lot of the criticisms for Shenmue 3... As long as its all in proper contex.

The virtua bros vid provides good context and good counter points with their claims. Although they dont address all of the genuine criticisms of shenmue 3 either, but i learnt a lot from their video and enjoyed the in depth comparisons with Akira and the additional information. Their vid is mainly a counter argument vid though, so i see where they are coming from. If it was a critique vid, you'd probably see a lot of the points/critques we've brought up on the forums in proper context

Its just a shame their vid wont receive mass viewership. Maybe if they started online drama or threw shite at eyepatch wolf, it would have. They seem too mature for that nonsense and have integrity though, much like @Oregon Pacifist which i respect & appreciate.

I hope to see more of the virtua bros videos in the future with this same level of production

Also, just to be clear, so no one twists my words, criticize Shenmue all you want, but be honest about your intentions. Keep it 100% real. If you're making a drama video to get paid, be upfront about it. It reminds me of the rubbish the usgamer journalist pulled with Shenmue 3. They wrote a hitpiece and lied. When fans called them out and found evidence of them lying, they started backtracking and deleting comments.

Its the same stuff that Spaghetti had to deal with during Shenmue 3s development and why he's no longer here. Or the nonsense about suzuki being a conman or the famous stupid article of Shenmue not being able to offer 60fps, but can offer"cute and sexy girls", which was also taken down when they were called out. Same deal with certain forums who preach all day about being self righteous and morally superior to everyone, but when you watch their actions, its really subtle forms of aggression and hate masked in virtue.

Scummy behavior if you ask me. I cant respect that.

Keep it real and be honest and transparent about your intentions.

Virtua Bros, you have a new subscriber.

Great content
 
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It does, though. Lan Di is forced to recognize Ryo (and vocalizes it) after Ryo flattens half an army of underlings, and barges into his quarters, quickly dispatching of the three fighters he's hand picked to accompany him. That's a pretty good indication of how he's progressed. It's also good to show that Ryo is still not even remotely a match for Lan DI by not allowing any of his hits to connect.

Indeed. Sigh...

As usual, something is clearly spelled out on screen (even vocalised) and people fail to pay attention before trotting off to make a clickbait video essay proclaiming that said thing never happened.

In Shenmue 1, Ryo is knocked out by Lan Di in one second, I don't even classify that as a 'fight'. By Shenmue 3, he's done so much training that he defeats Chai and Lan Di's bodyguards in one hit. This directly affects Lan Di and Ryo's relationship as it demonstrates to Lan Di that this kid is getting stronger, fast, and that one day, the kid might even pose a threat to himself. He shrugs this off with a "Hmph! It seems you've improved a bit", but I have to wonder how nervous Lan Di must feel knowing that this boy is getting stronger exponentially, and might one day just topple even him!

Then Ryo faces off against Lan Di in their first proper battle and lasts a good while this time around. Ryo cannot hit Lan Di, but manages to withstand every blow Lan Di throws at him during gameplay without being knocking out instantly like in Shenmue 1. All of this that plays out on screen is evidence of growth. But of course, that's not enough. Ryo has to touch or injure Lan Di for all this to truly matter, for some reason. The ultimate antagonist is not allowed to be seen as a formidable force to be reckoned with 40% through an ongoing story during his first battle with the hero, because people are feeling a bit impatient in the story that's trying to be told.

You know, you have fandoms like the Silent Hill community that effortlessly pick up on every tiny nuance, every literary reference, or piece of symbolism. And then there's, well...us. :hmm:
 
Stand aside I'm not done.

Also, how utterly ridiculous is it to expect Ryo use The Reverse Body Check on Lan Di?

The Reverse Body Check was a move that Ryo learned to outwit Longqi Ge who practices the style Xinyiliuhequan. The move Ryo learns is tailored to the weaknesses of Xinyiliuhequan so that Ryo can defeat Ge and the Red Snakes.

Meanwhile, Lan Di practices Tiger Swallow Style which is a completely different style with its own weaknesses! Naturally, Ryo will need to learn a new move in Shenmue 4/5 that is more appropriate to defeat Lan Di with. But let's forget about all that, because the game makes no sense and those who paid attention to it are clearly wrong.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!!!
 
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telling the fandom that loved this series to death to let it all go to waste when we still have a fighting chance to complete its ambitious saga is just wrong on eyepatch's part no matter how much you dislike S3. He'll be back when Yu Suzuki gets a proper budget and SiV comes out kicking ass and taking names as GOTY.
 
I think the person who made this video does a great job addressing some of the selective negativity that abounds in SEW's video. It's a bit of an exercise in futility, I suppose, but I did watch both videos and found them both pretty compelling in different ways. I appreciate this video because it made some points I'd never considered, such as the placement of shrines in areas where Ryo needs to walk. I hadn't made a connection there. I mean, those areas are still a bit annoying and slow you down, but it's a clever detail. I also like that he calls out SEW's use of terms like "extrinsic motivation", "etc. 'cuz that stuff did work on me while I watched SEW's video, but I kind of felt like the scales fell from my eyes when the Virtua Bro called that out. It also helped me realize why SEW's alternative Shenmue 3 ending IS actually a pretty bad ending.

Obv. if you truly hate Shenmue 3 or have no interest in Shenmue, there's not much value here. SEW is a known quantity who can get a million views and this video's just gonna look like a fanboy defending his favorite game to most, but I LIKED IT and thought it was made with care & logic and not just passion. I like checking out a variety of opinions, myself. I don't think SEW's video is bad by any means. I admittedly don't like Shenmue 3 as much as Shenmue 1 or 2, but this vid. is making me want to start up a new game with a fresh perspective.
 
I dediced to watch this Virtua Bros response video, even if I never watched superpatchwolf video to not giving him my +1

I'm impressed about how much I was right about patchedwolf ill intentions.
I also felt embarassed for him when the author included clips of patchedwolf video.

A huge lol at the pathetic fanfiction, this guy really dosn't have any clues about Shenmue saga.

Well let's hope that this Virtua Bros video get the same numbers of views.
 
Unpopular Opinion: Shenmue III's ending is the best in the series when I look at it compared to the first two. Shenmue I's ending was extremely anti-climatic as it was just Ryo beating Chai and hopping on a boat. Shenmue II's cliffhanger ending loses it's value due to the player being able to immediately start up Shenmue III and pickup exactly where II left off. With III it was more action-packed, drama filled and suspense. While it was clearly rushed, I think it's still better than how the first two games ended.
 
Indeed. Sigh...

As usual, something is clearly spelled out on screen (even vocalised) and people fail to pay attention before trotting off to make a clickbait video essay proclaiming that said thing never happened.

In Shenmue 1, Ryo is knocked out by Lan Di in one second, I don't even classify that as a 'fight'. By Shenmue 3, he's done so much training that he defeats Chai and Lan Di's bodyguards in one hit. This directly affects Lan Di and Ryo's relationship as it demonstrates to Lan Di that this kid is getting stronger, fast, and that one day, the kid might even pose a threat to himself. He shrugs this off with a "Hmph! It seems you've improved a bit", but I have to wonder how nervous Lan Di must feel knowing that this boy is getting stronger exponentially, and might one day just topple even him!

Then Ryo faces off against Lan Di in their first proper battle and lasts a good while this time around. Ryo cannot hit Lan Di, but manages to withstand every blow Lan Di throws at him during gameplay without being knocking out instantly like in Shenmue 1. All of this that plays out on screen is evidence of growth. But of course, that's not enough. Ryo has to touch or injure Lan Di for all this to truly matter, for some reason. The ultimate antagonist is not allowed to be seen as a formidable force to be reckoned with 40% through an ongoing story during his first battle with the hero, because people are feeling a bit impatient in the story that's trying to be told.

You know, you have fandoms like the Silent Hill community that effortlessly pick up on every tiny nuance, every literary reference, or piece of symbolism. And then there's, well...us. :hmm:


Actually you've just reminded me that not only is Ryo stronger against Lan Di, he's actually Invincible. If you let Lan Di batter Ryo down to 0 health that last red life globe just won't budge. Lan Di got saved by a damn cutscene. 😂
 
Actually you've just reminded me that not only is Ryo stronger against Lan Di, he's actually Invincible. If you let Lan Di batter Ryo down to 0 health that last red life globe just won't budge. Lan Di got saved by a damn cutscene. 😂
Ryo will have his revenge by using his face to cripple Lan Di’s hands and feet from countless kicks and punches to his steal jaw, confirmed.
 
Ryo will have his revenge by using his face to cripple Lan Di’s hands and feet from countless kicks and punches to his steal jaw, confirmed.

The true nature of the prophecy: Ryo is secretly made of Phantom River Stone. Looks like the biggest revelation in the entire series thus far has been rumbled, and it was right in front of our noses the whole time.
 
The true nature of the prophecy: Ryo is secretly made of Phantom River Stone. Looks like the biggest revelation in the entire series thus far has been rumbled, and it was right in front of our noses the whole time.
I'm just glad Ryo didn't bust into the room and find Lan Di sitting on a toilet.

Can you imagine Lan Di sitting on a toilet while Ryo fights his bodyguards?

Then Lan Di says "I see you've improved a bit" stands up, pulls up his pants and begins to fight Ryo.
 
Am I the only one who doesn't particularly pay attention to youtube these days?

I don't blame you. YouTube tells me The Last of Us 2 is a catastrophic flop that nobody will play, yet meanwhile in real life...


The same can be said for Star Wars, Marvel and Shenmue 3 clickbait.

(But seriously, I hated TLOU2)
 
I don't blame you. YouTube tells me The Last of Us 2 is a catastrophic flop that nobody will play, yet meanwhile in real life...


The same can be said for Star Wars, Marvel and Shenmue 3 clickbait.

(But seriously, I hated TLOU2)
For what it's worth I played TLOU2 and thought it was average.

But that's off topic lol. I'm glad I stay away from the YouTube reviews.
 
Oi, I don't post too much around here, but right now I feel like I need to, I'm kinda sick about this drama about Shenmue (And every other fiction that "divides" the Fan Base) I got 2 things to says :

1) Everyone is entitled to its opinion. We all felt different things while playing the Shenmue games, so we all expect something different. For example : Some people hated that Shenmue 3 felt like HD Dreamcast game, while it's exactly what other fans wanted. Of course, when you are releasing a sequel 18 years after the previous episode you are going to divide the fans. It's obvious, because what some people loved about Shenmue isn't necessarily what every fan loved as well.

I'm gonna take an example that is absolutely not Shenmue related, but has the same stuff happening than Shenmue 3 : Star Wars ! The fanbase is clearly divided with the newer movies, right ? Well recently, I was out with some friends, we were all huge Star Wars fans, so we were talking about the new ones. Suddenly I said that I really like the Swords's fights in this trilogy, that I liked that it went back to a original trilogy "style fight", raw, emotional and romantic, charged with storytelling. And a friend jumped in to tell me that I was crazy ! That the fight in the prequels were much better, the choregraphy were impressive, fluid, that it was technical and you really felt that the Jedi were superior than simple humans. And then a huge discussion emerged from that, we were like 5v5 defending one style of swords fight over the other. Now, in this case, who are the "real fans" and who are the "fake fans" ? Well, everyone was a real fan. In their own way. But even though we were all fans, we were fans for different reasons, and so we expected and wanted different things out of those movies. So basically, it was obvious and sure that some fans would be disappointed by those fights as they are now. But if they made fights closer to the prelogy, well, some other fans (like me) would have been disappointed. So, you were obligated to disappoint some fans.

It's the same with Shenmue 3. Yu Suzuki took some decisions with Shenmue 3 that were sure at 100% to disappoint fans. There was no other way around it. When he chose to make a game close to the philosophy of Shenme 1&2, it was sur that it would disappoint fans who wanted a more modern take on Shenmue. A same can be told about various decisons. Granted, other problems from the game aren't tied to that and Shenmue 3 clearly has some flaws.

But that's what infuriates me, it's people like SEW (and other YouTubers, not even necessarily haters) that give you their take on the game but say it like "it's the only truth", and that if you don't believe it, you are stupid. If you think otherwise, you are stupid. And you dismiss a lot of things (positive or negative). For example, alot of critics about Shenmue 3 absolutely don't take into account the realistic material condition in which it was made : An indie Kickstarted game with a limited budget (and some of that budget was added only after half the development was done (Deep Silver), that was made from scratch after a 15 years hiatus, with a brand new team that never worked together before, with an engine that was never used by the team and the developer before that was chosen because they could cut costs on it, etc... But just like some very valid criticisme is dismissed by some fans who want to defend the game with all their souls and make it sound like all the flaws of the game are budget related, while it was obviously a problem in planning, management and decision making.

But there is one thing that I don't understand, I REALLY really really don't understand, I'm trying but I swear I don't, it's coming from haters of the game, it's when they say "Yeah, I wish Shenmue 3 was never released. Shenmue is dead to me". Alot of people say that and I seriously don't get it. I mean, I get that you were disappointed with Shenmue 3, I accept it. As I said before, everyone has their own opinion and felt different because what their expectetions were different, but I don't understand how come, even though the game isn't to your taste at all, that you'd prefer to be like we were 6 years ago : Shenmue was dead, Yu Suzuki was in exile. Now, Shenmue came back, Yu Suzuki is developing again, SEGA acknowledges Shenmue again (they didn't talk about it for so long and now they talk about Shenmue pretty often), Shenme 1&2 were finally re-released, the official Soundtrack of Shenmue 2 is getting a released, we have an anime coming, we have merchandising existing, Shenmue is spoken everywhere even outside the fanbase (sadly to sh*t on it, but still), and we have very good hope for a sequel not too long from now. You'd trade that to go back to the same place we were 6 years ago when Shenmue was inexistant ? How ? Why ? I don't get it ! Shenmue is finally back, we fought really hard as fans to finally make it come back, and now you want to destroy all that and just spread negativity all around ? I genuinely don't get it.

2) So much nitpicking about Shenmue 3 ! I don't love Shenmue 3 at all (I rate it 6/10, personnally, not good, not bad, just okay), but some (I said "some", not "all") negative points that are stated about Shenmue 3 are either wrong or just nitpicky (hear by that "you are right, but... Who cares ? It's not a big deal"). One of these statements that I don't understand is how Ryo gets beaten up by two chief gang members, that suddenly tell that Ryo sucks and that he learned nothing from Shenmue 2. I mean that's not really what happens. Him getting beatean up by those gang members aren't that Ryo sucks and was suddenly nerfed from Shenmue 2 to Shenmue 3, he isn't presented as someone who is weak, but as someone who is uncultivated. In martial arts, you don't necessarily win by being the strongest, but you win by being the most intelligent, the smartest. Here, the point is to show that Ryo gets beaten up because both times he is fighting against a stlye he doesn't even know. He doesn't the know how it works, so he doesn't know how to react against it. For these gang members, Ryo doesn't train to get stronger, he trains to understand martial arts better. He needs to learn and cultivate himself. Ryo is still young and still learning a lot, it's been like, what, 6 months since his dad died... And what, you already want him to be near invincible, know all the martial arts out there and know instinctively how to defend and attack against someone who use an unknown art to him and then go a be almost to a tie against Lan Di ? And it is just an example of how some people can be nitpicky about a part of the game for not much reason.
 
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