Random Shenmue Thoughts

I used to have a Dreamcast magazine that talked about Shenmue II coming to the Dreamcast in the summer. I believe Ryo was on the cover but not 100% sure about that part. It even featured a preview for the game. Ah the memories. Does anyone else remember this?
 
So I just pre-ordered the Shenmue Wayo music box. I'm not sure how I feel about it, its expensive as hell and it looks like it's the size of a tic-tac box.
It looks SO beautiful and nice. I definitely would've bought it, but I need those funds for my vacation in a few weeks and a few last-minute mendings of my vehicle.
 
I actually came across beta footage of short hair Ryo, which I don’t believe I had ever seen before outside the aforementioned screenshot. Check out 1.13 mark-

good find.

it still looks good, it almost looks like a modern game.
 
I used to have a Dreamcast magazine that talked about Shenmue II coming to the Dreamcast in the summer. I believe Ryo was on the cover but not 100% sure about that part. It even featured a preview for the game. Ah the memories. Does anyone else remember this?
I recall S2 making the cover of a UK magazine too. The heading was a play on words regarding the addition of pawn shops and read something along the lines of “Shenmue in pawn shocker”. Gaming journalism back then was just as bad as it is these days.
 
I recall S2 making the cover of a UK magazine too. The heading was a play on words regarding the addition of pawn shops and read something along the lines of “Shenmue in pawn shocker”. Gaming journalism back then was just as bad as it is these days.
That's more than likely it! That has to be it. It was I think a March issue and of course before the game got shifted to Xbox. I thought it was the US version but memory is funny sometimes like that lol
 

Honestly I don’t know much about his channel but after his inflammatory tweet prior to the release of this video I didn’t have much hope.

Despite calling the game the worst, if you can make it through his meandering opening he actually gives the game a fairly fair shake for a detractor and actually ends up praising a lot of elements of the game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: red

Honestly I don’t know much about his channel but after his inflammatory tweet prior to the release of this video I didn’t have much hope.

Despite calling the game the worst, if you can make it through his meandering opening he actually gives the game a fairly fair shake for a detractor and actually ends up praising a lot of elements of the game.
Not sure if I’ll find the time to watch it all, but I did skim through and, for the most part, he actually seems to quite like the game. The comments section is surprisingly positive too ( at least the top comments, anyway).
 
Not sure if I’ll find the time to watch it all, but I did skim through and, for the most part, he actually seems to quite like the game. The comments section is surprisingly positive too ( at least the top comments, anyway).
Yeah, his ultimate message is to play and experience the game despite the fact you might not enjoy it. I think most of us fans want the same, for players to experience the entirety of what Shenmue has to offer and hopefully they can understand some of those great quality the series has.

I will be curious to hear about his experience with Shenmue 2.
 
Yeah, his ultimate message is to play and experience the game despite the fact you might not enjoy it. I think most of us fans want the same, for players to experience the entirety of what Shenmue has to offer and hopefully they can understand some of those great quality the series has.

I will be curious to hear about his experience with Shenmue 2.
To be honest, I’m just fed up of the “Shenmue is a bad game” narrative that’s been floating around since the release of three. Compared to some of the other big games of the era like Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, GTA 3 and Final Fantasy, Shenmue is streets ahead in a number of areas (graphics, controls, VO, immersion, open world, etc). It’s easy to criticize it now, but comparing it to modern day standards rather than other games from the late nineties is incredibly disingenuous. In that sense, I’m glad this guy seems to have given credit where it is due.
 
I watched most of the video and surprisingly he's not so negative with it and he urges shenmue 4 to come out and for people to play the series. Sucks that the title is a bit clickbaity but we're used to that now lmao. Overall not a half bad video despite disagreeing with a few points.
 
I watched most of the video and surprisingly he's not so negative with it and he urges shenmue 4 to come out and for people to play the series. Sucks that the title is a bit clickbaity but we're used to that now lmao. Overall not a half bad video despite disagreeing with a few points.
I finished work early and so decided to watch the full video and actually really enjoyed it. With the exception of his comments about awkward dialogue pauses (where I found the example he chose to showcase his point to be a bad one rather than the point itself), I agreed with just about everything he says and would be interested to hear his thoughts on 2 and 3 at some point.

This is the kind of “shitposting” I can get behind. What’s more, I wouldn’t be surprised if it led to a few thousand people picking up a copy of the game and some of those falling in love with it.
 
I haven't watched the video yet, but Muta established himself as a Shenmue fan quite a while back if I recall. Shame about the title & thumbnail, but glad the actual content of the video itself seems to be sound from what I'm reading here.

If anything, the bait and switch might even sway a few people who'll click on anything brigading Shenmue, so there's that at least.
 

Honestly I don’t know much about his channel but after his inflammatory tweet prior to the release of this video I didn’t have much hope.

Despite calling the game the worst, if you can make it through his meandering opening he actually gives the game a fairly fair shake for a detractor and actually ends up praising a lot of elements of the game.
If it weren't for you guys wouldn't have watched this video.
Well after seeying the full video I kind of took it very well and accept he general criticism about the passing of the game and all of the other aspects he mentioned; at least he also mentioned a lot of positive things about the game and why it is worth playing no matter if you are going to hate the game or not.
Considering this I'm also interested in watching the videos he has got planned for shenmue 2 and 3; lets hope they can sparkle some interest in more casual gamers.
 
If it weren't for you guys wouldn't have watched this video.
Well after seeying the full video I kind of took it very well and accept he general criticism about the passing of the game and all of the other aspects he mentioned; at least he also mentioned a lot of positive things about the game and why it is worth playing no matter if you are going to hate the game or not.
Considering this I'm also interested in watching the videos he has got planned for shenmue 2 and 3; lets hope they can sparkle some interest in more casual gamers.
S2 improves on pretty much every area of the first game that he criticized, so I’m actually expecting a far more positive critique. Shenmue 3, on the other hand, will likely get bashed into the ground. I don’t want to say “and rightfully so,” but some of the aspects of the game really do warrant criticism and there’s no “it’s a 20 year old game” for it to hide behind this time around.
 
I actually really enjoyed the video. It's just unfortunate that we live in a clickbait/negative culture,
Yeah, honestly I do find these somewhat negative leaning reviews (that don't just completely trash the game for the meme) the most insightful as to what Shenmue actually looks like from an unbiased perspective.

When you're as big a fan as a lot of us are, I think it's easy to unintentionally see past a lot of the game's bigger flaws.
 
Yeah, honestly I do find these somewhat negative leaning reviews (that don't just completely trash the game for the meme) the most insightful as to what Shenmue actually looks like from an unbiased perspective.

When you're as big a fan as a lot of us are, I think it's easy to unintentionally see past a lot of the game's bigger flaws.
I completely concur, while it’s our favourite games it is interesting seeing new players experience Shenmue for the first time.

While many of us probably were oblivious to the gate keeping around tattoo parlour/finding Charlie, 22 years after its initial release you can at least understand how those that didn’t engage in all the games minutia can highlight the games pacing issues. That’s why I appreciated his emphasis when evaluating any type of media you have to look at it as a product of its time to provide proper context. There was no blueprint to how to design an open world, I’m sure they grappled with how do you encourage players to engage with all these systems they built and at the time these forced stoppages seemed like the best route. It’s clear by Shenmue 2 they already figured out a more eloquent solution while giving players the option.

Final point I wanted to raise was I’m a firm believer what made the first two games particularly special to me was their immersive/sim like qualitIes. In early 2000, the idea I could be transported into sleepy town in Japan and feel like I was in Roy’s shoes as a teenager was hugely compelling. It was fascinating to hear those immersive qualities still resonate decades later with new players despite the technology ageing, through its tone, pace, music and narrative it still can create that experience.
 
Back
Top