Impressions on the plot and the ending (only read if you finished the game)

Revan said:
I think the game managed to cover quite a good chunk of story:

- An Imperial envoy went to Bailu to get the mirrors carved
- The Emperor of China chose Shenhua's family line specifically to carve the mirrors for an unknown reason
- The Dragon Mirror represents an Emperor & the Phoenix Mirror represents an Empress
- The mirrors unlock an ancient treasure of an Emperor and an Empress which we now learn is locked away in a cliff temple
- Ryo's mother - Akane Hazuki - is referenced for the first time in the series canon
- The Sword of Seven Stars was a key that unlocked the treasure map
- A martial artist declares that it was not in Iwao's nature to kill - Zhao instead could have died under other circumstances
- We meet Niao Sun who steals the Phoenix Mirror from Ryo and now wants to overthrow Lan Di and rule the Chi You Men
- Both mirrors were locked away in a mountain, but Zhao retrieved them to prevent the Chi You Men from obtaining these which got him killed and his son was abducted and raised by the organisation
- Shenmue 3 ends with Ryo, Ren and Shenhua journeying to this mysterious mountain where the treasure is still kept

I think that's a lot of progress considering we're only 40% through.
Click to expand...

- Kinda irrelevant, we already knew that the mirrors were carved there.
- We already knew Shenhua family created the mirrors.
- Ok.
- We have already heard that the mirrors unlocks a treasure, we learn about the mountain in the last 5 minutes of the game.
- And it's left like nothing, Ryo doesn't even ask anything about his father to the guy that trained him.
- So it was basically a mcguffin ? Could have been the magic wand of gandalf ? Give us some lore, that whole part felt to inconsequential.
- We already knew that.
- All those last points were just stablished in the last 20 minutes of the game in a rushed out sequence and final cutscene.

Again, we get most of the plot development in the last minutes of the game, while the other 85% was padding (and the answers were right there).
It's not just that the plot didn't advance much, it's that it lacked the weight of the older games, I can still remember the jianming scene with the tree, the chawan signs, defeating Dou Niu in the rooftop, catching leaves, saving nozomi on the bike. There wasn't that many epic moments in SIII, the ending could have been one, but it felt tongue in cheek, with 3 characters that we barely know (really, they appear at the pier like they supposedly were friends to the rescue, but really all we know as characters is "fisherman, broom girl, fat guy", compare it to nozomi, jianming, xuiying, yuan, wong, joy, guizang, SIII just felt underdeveloped).

I hate the comparation, but in this case YS should take a look at Yakuza sidequests, they are all the same "go there and beat some guys or get an item), but the scenario writing is so good that makes some of the most memorable parts of the game (and it's just writing, not like they had expensive cutscenes or anything). I thought that the NPC dialogues were pretty good in the variety of situations and added some flavor, but the sidequests (even if somewhat fun) really lacked any narrative weight and focus.
 
I just finished the game earlier, maybe I'm crazy but I did like the ending even though the final area of the game felt really strange in spots (especially that oddly placed side quest, and I also wish we would have gotten the prophecy reveal that previous statements stated would happen in this game). If we don't get a continuation of the story this isn't going to sit well with me though. My impression of the game is still very positive, I just don't want it all to end like this...
 
David De ville said:
I understand what some of you are trying to say but something doesn't fit. If Ryo progressing too fast does sound weird to you, how come Ryo is going to beat the 4 bosses of the Chiyoumen (even 5 if we count Tentei) while he did not even beat one of them in 3 games. All of a sudden he's going to be super strong and take them down ?

Let's say Ryo won against Niao Sun in Shenmue III and lost against Lan Di. He'd meet and take down Koutei and Gentei in S4 and Lan Di + Tentei in Shenmue V (the last game).

Now, he'd have to be strong enough to handle 2 to 3 bosses in a single game while he struggled against Muscles Man, a guy that is not even a leader ?

I'm not sure how the story will continue from now on but it'd have been better to see Ryo progress faster so it doesn't seem too weird in the next games than having Ryo struggle against 2 simple thugs and roll on bosses in the next 2 games. They could use a time skip and show Ryo months later, after his training period.

What bothers me is the lack of informations from Shenhua's father. We keep trying to save him from start to finish and :

- No important scene between him and his daughter
- 30 seconds talk to barely learn anything new (so what was the point of saving him?)

Don't get me wrong, I loved Shenmue III, its a fantastic game and I'll play more when I have free time. But it lacks story content.
Click to expand...



I mean, through Shenmue II, Ryo supposedly got stronger. I mean, I have trouble to see Master Baihu for exemple to be weaker than mere thugs like Muscle Man and that Wrestler.

I'd also say that the problem isn't only that the story doesn't really move fast. It just feels like lacking in term of characters compared to Shenmue I and II.
 
Just finished.
As someone who bought the game for plot more than gam eplay: I liked it, but I wouldn't say it satisfied me. Mind you, I didn't expect Lan Di to be defeated etc., but it largely felt like wheels sputtering: either things that ought to have been answered in Bailu weren't answered, or the answers given earlier ones repeated by other characters.
I'll play it again, and I want to keep some interpretive distance, but here's how my mind progressed as I played:

Bailu
-We open with a small area, which includes the most Shenhua interaction. We're finally playing the game we waited for, and it feels so intimate! At my most cynical now: it's like the first level of a Sonic game, rope us in!
Sure, we're getting little plot insight in Bailu so far, but certainly those thugs will connect to the bigger pl-- oh, we're moving onto Niaowu already?

Niaowu
-We now lose that intimate setting-- fine, welcome to Wan Chai-- but it feels so underpopulated, if not a bit repetitious (the shops are a great expansion, though). Shenhua seems a bit frigid. Another master who... after we do two horse stances and fight one guy in the rose garden, will now teach us the most powerful move in bajiquan and also charter a boat for us, even though he knows we may die (at least Xiuying kicked him out!)

Castle
-Once we got past another unnecessary Chai scene (though, again, it does show that Ryo is much stronger than he was back then), I really liked the build up; I truly did, almost getting shivers. That said, between misplaced comedy (don't make chicken noises during the helicopter music; don't get me started on music) and something almost smacking of Sonic Heroes 'power of teamwork', I felt quite distracted. Loved the Niao Sun and Lan Di bits, but...
How did Lan Di get away? Do we know where we're going next?

TL;DR
It feels like they literally programmed this game from beginning to end, as the polish fades by act two, and the structure itself is wobbly by the finale.
As to the missing parts: I wonder how much was budgetary, and how much was either YS reimaging or trimming the story. Either way, this feels a bit repetitive and stilted plot wise.
I'm glad it came out, but the ending seriously made me ask myself if I've outgrown Shenmue or if it perhaps can't be told as well as 1/2 could. I hope others have a better experience.

I'll hold out on the DLC for plot, but I hope it's more than mere fan service (first Chai for no reason, now chawan signs...)
 
code l name said:
Shenhua is captured and Ryo has been forced to enlist his friends help to save her. The stakes technically couldn't be higher, you enter the building and you are presented with a sidequest to retrieve 3 items for a pawnshop?! Like what?
Click to expand...
I almost lost my god dog mind when I walked towards the exit and Ryo said "I think I'll look around some more...".
I was like "N*gga this sh*t is mandatory!?!?!?" I had a fit dude.
 
gladias9 said:
Bruh, I just now realized that the "Additional Quest" is the damn pawnshop fetch quest in the Castle...
I wish we never hit that kickstarter goal now. BTW, what minigames!?
Click to expand...
Probably the capsule toys lol, what other reason would they have for being there at the end of the game? They clearly were just shoving stuff in to “fulfill” the stretch goals.
 
sbkodama said:
After reading the impressions here, were most of the reviewers who wrote the sentence "it's what the fans wanted" kind of wrong ?
Click to expand...

No, not at all. That's the thing, at least in my case.

I love the game. It's quintessential Shenmue. The environments are beautiful and surprisingly large, the dialogue is terrible and amazing, the side activities are fun. Unfortunately the budget shows, and you can pinpoint where they started to run out of cash. Baisha is sorely missed...as are the other things cut (despite being stretch goals).

However, i didn't like the story. Even ignoring the 18 year wait, it felt like we were at the point of the story where we'd start getting some answers (or hell, any info at all). When i completed S2, i couldn't wait to get to Bailu, because it made sense that we'd learn a lot of things...Bailu has been built up since the Hazuki Dojo! Oh, and we finally see the thing the game is named for, this must be a very important place!

Then you have to wait 18 years to find out more, which makes matters worse. Then you find nothing.

Also, the find thugs>get beat by thugs>grind a shitload of cash to give to master>beat thug via QTE with new move thing sucks. And they did it twice. It's 90% of the game.
 
I just finished and I have thoughts I'd like to share later as I have pros and cons about the story but I absolutely disagree with some suggesting Niao Sun should have fought Ryo only to lose. No way you introduce her after all this time just to job her out if we still can't even beat Lan Di. That would've made her a joke and would've been greatly unsatisfying. I always had the impression she was supposed to be equally as or more powerful than Lan Di.

EDIT: Some folks who are thinking the Story DLC will solve some of the story cracks, I would highly suggest to temper expectations right now. Not for any lack of faith in the development team, but I'm not convinced the story DLC will either be that expansive or satisfying and I'm basing that historically like with the story DLC for PS4 Spider-Man or MGS5 etc.
 
Last edited:
Maybe I’m in the denial stage of grief lol, but do you think that we will maybe look back on the story over time more positively? We’ve had 16-18 years to absorb every little detail from I and II.

I just am still so surprised that the story moved so little. Yu has to know that we’ve been clamoring specifically for that for all these years.
 
Last edited:
I think this game is indeed a victim of its budget. To some degree, it feels unfinished. Like they either ran out of time or money and just had to go with what they had.

It’s a game that is definitely punching way above its weight in every regard. I love the fact that it exist, but you can kind of tell it was fighting an uphill battle the entire time and instead of compromising, it feels like they just said ”oh well, let’s just try to throw it all in anyways”

I respect the hell out of them for trying. But the game is indeed punching above its weight and I don’t think it quite got there in the end.
 
danielmann861 said:
I think this game is indeed a victim of its budget. To some degree, it feels unfinished. Like they either ran out of time or money and just had to go with what they had.

It’s a game that is definitely punching way above its weight in every regard. I love the fact that it exist, but you can kind of tell it was fighting an uphill battle the entire time and instead of compromising, it feels like they just said ”oh well, let’s just try to throw it all in anyways”

I respect the hell out of them for trying. But the game is indeed punching above its weight and I don’t think it quite got there in the end.
Click to expand...

I honestly would've cut Bailu and Niaowu both in half in terms of size and length so that Baisha could have been properly realised. If the budget was really that low, what about skipping Niaowu entirely and taking a boat straight from Bailu to Baisha? In terms of plot and characters, what would have been lost by excising Niaowu?
 
Just finished the game. Daaaaammn what a great ride. I enjoyed the ending but i admit all of your points are valid and true.

I had no idea that pretty girl was Niao Sun all along. That got me hyped x100000.

Why was there a random pawn shop quest at the end?

Lan dis new voice is worst than wangs brother in shenmue 2 (eng dub)

The overall plot in both towns felt the same. Two thugs causing problems. One bear type guy beating you and you have to overcome him. If it werent for that niao sun twist, i would have been very disappointed. It started to feel like anime filler lol

The combat in the castle is much better cause you can run. There needed to be more serious fights and set pieces in this game.

Chai was pointless. Bruce lee thug who ren knocked out was gold lol.

Overall though i really enjoyed the game. It was a kickstarter game so i can appreciate it. I liked the ending. Although we should have fought lan di longer in the fire or maybe get one hit on him. It was definetly rushed.

Shenmue 4 needs to be chiyou men from the start. No more rescue old man from random gang anymore.

Great game. I rate it better than shenmue 1. Not better than 2. Bailu is my new favourite area

The phone calls to your friends was EPIC and very moving
 
Last edited:
Shadow2222 said:
I just am still so surprised that the story moved so little. Yu has to know that we’ve been clamoring specifically for that for all these years.
Click to expand...
Bailu was only decent but Niawau felt like complete filler.
The finale was ok but rushed and missed so many opportunities.

You would think Yu Suzuki would have come out swinging considering the future of the series is in question.. but nooo.
And this isn't even a budget issue. The game has so much pointless filler that they could have been replaced with scenes of actual substance just as easy.
 
ShenSun said:
I had no idea that pretty girl was Niao Sun all along. That got me hyped x100000.

The overall plot in both towns felt the same. Two thugs causing problems. One bear type guy beating you and you have to overcome him. If it werent for that niao sun twist, i would have been very disappointed. It started to feel like anime filler lol
Click to expand...
I don't really understand the twist.. like why in the world did Niao Sun even dress like a completely different person anyway?

Neither Ryo nor Shenhua even knows who she is (well maybe US as fans do though huh? Answered my own question)
BUT even at that, her disguise wasn't utilized in any real way. She didn't befriend Ryo.. or trick him.. Maybe just kept an eye on him? I'm not sure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top