What a disappointment

What is certainly dead is any hope of getting Shenmue back into the mainstream. The gameplay is not unique and the complete lack of plot/narrative killed any chance of charming the mainstream into the story, as the first two games did for many of us.

It's been a few days since I've beat the game and as the disappointment of the ending wears off I'm beginning to appreciate more what the team may have been trying to do. If 3 was released say in 2004/5 it wouldn't have been so bad, it would have been criticised for the lack of story but overall we'd be thinking "well 4 should maybe explain stuff and be better". Problem is the wait was 18 years and we were desperate for answers.

I feel that 4 is up in the air. It's clear Shenmue is not going to be commercially successful, so the question now for potential partners (Deep Silver, Epic, etc) is would they be happy providing time, money and resources to continue a series largely dedicated to an aging (sorry, I'm 30!), niche fanbase.

3 clearly demonstrates that the strength of Shenmue is in its story, so even if it means reducing the quality of content and gameplay, it's something they will simply have to do to keep us going to the end.
 
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HazukiFCBR said:
The lack of answers, is not the main problem in this game. If they had taken this same shity plot, but with a meaningful "learning to be a better fighter arch" and a better interactions with Shenhua, would be a great game. 3 to 5 unique scenes between the two. 2 to 3 side quests with them. And the fighter arch. Would result in a better game for sure.
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Oh I don't doubt that was their intention but be it due to money and time (probably both) they weren't able to keep this going. Trust me I spent countless times talking to Shenhua and following her about, hoping to open a scene etc (I know it was a long shot and unlikely to happen, but I was hoping a romance would develop between her and Ryo).

I think what's apparent is the team got their priorities wrong and focused moreso on the gameplay and content moreso than the story. That's why you're frustrated with the plot and I'm frustrated with the lack of answers from the other games.
 
mjqjazzbar said:
It’s just bizarre how many of you are acting like this is the worst game of all time and there’s nothing left to do to make a quality Shenmue experience. The hyperbole is wild.
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I mean, I still think I played a good game overall. And a nice Shenmue game. But most of the time, I felt like "oh it reminds me of Shenmue !" "I'm playing a Shenmue game !" but I wasn't sold entirely on the whole thing. I totally see what Yu Suzuki was trying to do when he said "making it more inward and less outward". Hence why I would've settled for a less open world experience. A smaller, more contained world, expanding on its cast and characters.
If you want to see a good exemple of a conversation scene with Shenhua, I think of Shenmue 2:

As you can see, whenever it's a cutscene or gameplay, the camera shots still make sense. And as you can see, Ryo is still reacting in a natural manner, sitting next to the fire and reacting naturally to Shenhua. And well during cutscenes... each plan is carefully crafted. But in Shenmue 3, it's baffling that for many instance at night, when you join Shenhua for conversation around the fire... Ryo's just standing there. Instead of just sitting. I doubt making his model sit would break the bank. Even if it's to reuse the same animation (which... they do in the end ?).

And well... let's be honest, Shenmue 2 was also a game setting the bar high, really, really high. It's a ride that never stops and keep giving.
 
I think they didn’t make the game we dreamt about for 18 years because that was an impossible goal to meet. They did their best with a brand new team, less money and no support from Sega. I just think it’s sad so many people are already ready to give up after they did such a good job with their resources. Some of you are acting like this is an irredeemable situation. I won’t deny the story is a disappointment, but I would still love to see what they can pull off next time—if they even get another chance. The die-hard fans are certainly not going to give them much of a reason to make another game if their current reaction is indifference. Who else will buy Shenmue 4?
 
GhostTrick said:
I mean, I still think I played a good game overall. And a nice Shenmue game. But most of the time, I felt like "oh it reminds me of Shenmue !" "I'm playing a Shenmue game !" but I wasn't sold entirely on the whole thing. I totally see what Yu Suzuki was trying to do when he said "making it more inward and less outward". Hence why I would've settled for a less open world experience. A smaller, more contained world, expanding on its cast and characters.
If you want to see a good exemple of a conversation scene with Shenhua, I think of Shenmue 2:

As you can see, whenever it's a cutscene or gameplay, the camera shots still make sense. And as you can see, Ryo is still reacting in a natural manner, sitting next to the fire and reacting naturally to Shenhua. And well during cutscenes... each plan is carefully crafted. But in Shenmue 3, it's baffling that for many instance at night, when you join Shenhua for conversation around the fire... Ryo's just standing there. Instead of just sitting. I doubt making his model sit would break the bank. Even if it's to reuse the same animation (which... they do in the end ?).

And well... let's be honest, Shenmue 2 was also a game setting the bar high, really, really high. It's a ride that never stops and keep giving.
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I agree with all of this. But I was prepared due to the budget limitations. It seems Yu Suzuki thought the fans were more into wandering around, opening drawers, exploring alleys, etc. than progressing the story. It appears his belief was mistaken. I also wonder how people would’ve reacted if the game were all story and featured little “Shenmue ambience/gameplay.” Perhaps that wouldn’t have paid off either. I just think the 18 year wait made their mission nearly impossible to fulfill...

but if they failed on their mission of leaving fans wanting more, then they clearly misfired.I can’t deny that.
 
Shadow2222 said:
I’m 100% still on the Shenmue hype train. Story woes aside, III is still one of my favorite games of all time (easily).
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mjqjazzbar said:
I agree with all of this. But I was prepared due to the budget limitations. It seems Yu Suzuki thought the fans were more into wandering around, opening drawers, exploring alleys, etc. than progressing the story. It appears his belief was mistaken. I also wonder how people would’ve reacted if the game were all story and featured little “Shenmue ambience/gameplay.” Perhaps that wouldn’t have paid off either. I just think the 18 year wait made their mission nearly impossible to fulfill...

but if they failed on their mission of leaving fans wanting more, then they clearly misfired.I can’t deny that.
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Respectfully, you don’t speak for all of us. I am more into the aspect of the world as you describe it then I am the story itself. Not in totality, but I would give it a 70 to 30 ratio. No offense, but to me, the story has always had a 1980s classic revenge trope aspect to it. It’s the world, and living in it that makes me a fan of this series.
 
I’m into it as well. It just seems that’s why some people here are acting like the sky is falling. They made a great Shenmue game, but maybe didn’t live up to the storytelling of the first two games. I enjoy putting on Shenmue and just chilling out to its unique vibes. I certainly wanted payoff to Shenmue 2’s ending, but that was only one element of many I enjoyed of that game.
 
All you guys wanna know why Shen2 is a masterpiece and and Shen3 is flat and bad? I'm Shenmue 2, one of the coolest scenes is Ryo doing the tai chi movements at the cliff, while we have an eagle flying at the night sky with an epic music set. Where he learned that? From Jiamim. Probably the best cinematic scenes in Shenmue 3, aside some of the engage fight ones, was the end chapter scene of Bailu. He's practicing a kata, the reminds me a lot the one Xuiying did at the end scene of the Hong Kong chapter. Buts, what in hell, did he learned in Shenmue 3? Where the lessons? There's nothing. That why.
Rei_RICE said:
This...

I didn't like S3 to be honest... I'm still behind Yu Suzuki and the Shenmue series and I would also pledge again a lot of money to see Shenmue 4. The most people don't complain about the gameplay, the mechanics or graphics.. Its the storytelling..

The whole environment is so boring... The bad guys "Thugs" are boring. All the other characters in the game are boring. I can't even remember a single name of someone... No new friendships, no interesting relationships. Compared to the old games where I still know so many characters, their stories even their names.

Those story relevant critics have nothing to do with the budget. The most interesting parts of the game were the conversations with Shenhua... I'm okay with bad graphics, I'm okay with a smaller environment, im okay with so many things where they can reduce costs. Everything is fine for me but don't destroy the beautiful story :(. Don't!

I also don't need 20 Arcades, 320393203920329ß313293ß39 Capsule Toys etc. tbh.

Anyways I hope there will be Shenmue 4 and I'm still a fan. Just a bit dissapointed.
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Did you happen to realize, that there isn't a single side quest with the two? God damn!!! SO MUCH OF POTENTIAL!!! We had lots of conversations with Shenhua in Shenmue 2. Even a quest. Getting those wood sticks. The one event that is slightly similar, is the bell tower puzzle. Is nothing compared to what was done in Shenmue 2. The best interaction we have with the two is the "face-off". That made me cringe in agony.
sheeponfire said:
What is certainly dead is any hope of getting Shenmue back into the mainstream. The gameplay is not unique and the complete lack of plot/narrative killed any chance of charming the mainstream into the story, as the first two games did for many of us.

It's been a few days since I've beat the game and as the disappointment of the ending wears off I'm beginning to appreciate more what the team may have been trying to do. If 3 was released say in 2004/5 it wouldn't have been so bad, it would have been criticised for the lack of story but overall we'd be thinking "well 4 should maybe explain stuff and be better". Problem is the wait was 18 years and we were desperate for answers.

I feel that 4 is up in the air. It's clear Shenmue is not going to be commercially successful, so the question now for Yu and potential partners is would they be happy diverting time, money and resources to continue a series largely dedicated to an aging (sorry, I'm 30!), niche fanbase. If they do, then 4 truly will be the last roll of the dice.

3 clearly demonstrates that the strength of Shenmue is in its story, so even if it means reducing the quality of content and gameplay, it's something they will simply have to do to keep us going to the end.
Click to expand...
The lack of answers, is not the main problem in this game. If they had taken this same shity plot, but with a meaningful "learning to be a better fighter arch" and a better interactions with Shenhua, would be a great game. 3 to 5 unique scenes between the two. 2 to 3 side quests with them. And the fighter arch. Would result in a better game for sure.
mjqjazzbar said:
It’s just bizarre how many of you are acting like this is the worst game of all time and there’s nothing left to do to make a quality Shenmue experience. The hyperbole is wild.
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I think it's not hyperbolic at all. We had one chance. And we blow it. I really can't see, although i deeply wish, Shenmue 4 to happen. Sadly.
GhostTrick said:
I mean, I still think I played a good game overall. And a nice Shenmue game. But most of the time, I felt like "oh it reminds me of Shenmue !" "I'm playing a Shenmue game !" but I wasn't sold entirely on the whole thing. I totally see what Yu Suzuki was trying to do when he said "making it more inward and less outward". Hence why I would've settled for a less open world experience. A smaller, more contained world, expanding on its cast and characters.
If you want to see a good exemple of a conversation scene with Shenhua, I think of Shenmue 2:

As you can see, whenever it's a cutscene or gameplay, the camera shots still make sense. And as you can see, Ryo is still reacting in a natural manner, sitting next to the fire and reacting naturally to Shenhua. And well during cutscenes... each plan is carefully crafted. But in Shenmue 3, it's baffling that for many instance at night, when you join Shenhua for conversation around the fire... Ryo's just standing there. Instead of just sitting. I doubt making his model sit would break the bank. Even if it's to reuse the same animation (which... they do in the end ?).

And well... let's be honest, Shenmue 2 was also a game setting the bar high, really, really high. It's a ride that never stops and keep giving.
Click to expand...
Dude, I hate to criticize this game. I think everyone here feels this way. But they couldn't even get the character to walk properly. The dude from DF retro pointed those arms getting into jacket. C'mon!! Shenmue is 20 years old and i just can't accept the way the walking was animated. Has nothing to do with budget, once they had the walking early on in the development schedule. Is bad animation. Really bad. I would rather have a deep Bailu Village focused game than the mess we got. Needless to say I do like somethings in Shen3. But i like nothing.
 
Shadow2222 said:
This right here is proof that we can’t count on the 70k backers to buy Shenmue IV. Not only were there non-fans backing because of the hype, but we’ve actually lost some longtime fans.
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Yep. Might as well just call it a day with the way the fan base is acting. This is why I say there’s no way a Kickstarter would work. If sales truly were bad, they won’t improve unless Shenmue 4 is some kind of paradigm shift from Shenmue 3. Chances are it’ll be more stiff animations, Lucky Hit and bad dialogue, so perhaps the people in this thread are right. I also doubt they’ll hire all the staff that were missing from Shenmue 3 with an even further reduced budget. I just hope Yu Suzuki can continue working on games if the Shenmue series is dead.
 
HazukiFCBR said:
All you guys wanna know why Shen2 is a masterpiece and and Shen3 is flat and bad? I'm Shenmue 2, one of the coolest scenes is Ryo doing the tai chi movements at the cliff, while we have an eagle flying at the night sky with an epic music set. Where he learned that? From Jiamim. Probably the best cinematic scenes in Shenmue 3, aside some of the engage fight ones, was the end chapter scene of Bailu. He's practicing a kata, the reminds me a lot the one Xuiying did at the end scene of the Hong Kong chapter. Buts, what in hell, did he learned in Shenmue 3? Where the lessons? There's nothing. That why.
Did you happen to realize, that there isn't a single side quest with the two? God damn!!! SO MUCH OF POTENTIAL!!! We had lots of conversations with Shenhua in Shenmue 2. Even a quest. Getting those wood sticks. The one event that is slightly similar, is the bell tower puzzle. Is nothing compared to what was done in Shenmue 2. The best interaction we have with the two is the "face-off". That made me cringe in agony.
The lack of answers, is not the main problem in this game. If they had taken this same shity plot, but with a meaningful "learning to be a better fighter arch" and a better interactions with Shenhua, would be a great game. 3 to 5 unique scenes between the two. 2 to 3 side quests with them. And the fighter arch. Would result in a better game for sure.
I think it's not hyperbolic at all. We had one chance. And we blow it. I really can't see, although i deeply wish, Shenmue 4 to happen. Sadly.
Dude, I hate to criticize this game. I think everyone here feels this way. But they couldn't even get the character to walk properly. The dude from DF retro pointed those arms getting into jacket. C'mon!! Shenmue is 20 years old and i just can't accept the way the walking was animated. Has nothing to do with budget, once they had the walking early on in the development schedule. Is bad animation. Really bad. I would rather have a deep Bailu Village focused game than the mess we got. Needless to say I do like somethings in Shen3. But i like nothing.
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You want to stop posting the same thing constantly?

We get it, you dislike the game. You've said your piece now stop cluttering up the thread.
 
DynamiteCop! said:
Isn't there a whole thread dedicated to inflating the user scores? I just came from a discord where they're doing the same...
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Why do people keep joining this forum to exclusively post negative things about the game and the users here? Congrats on keeping the negative vibe flowing here.
 
6,5/10

Main flaws :

-The story-telling. I was fine with the graphics not being cutting-edge. They had some charm. But the story-telling was poor. Too much inconsistency and a superficial character development. That's terrible for a Shenmue game.

-The new gameplay mechanics and HUD/UI elements making it too video-gamey. A Shenmue game supposed to be "for the fans" did not need all these.

-The side quests. Imo they are not interesting at all. Fetch quests implemented as fillers... I would have prefered very few but well written side quests. Bringing mushrooms to Ren, who gives you random toys in return is just...
 
It feels like they joined the forum to ruin the vibe around here for some reason. I look at their post history and it’s just bashing the game or the fans. I really don’t get what the deal is with people hating this series so much.
 
Indeed, indeed and indeed some more.

I alluded to it in another post earlier this week, about another Messageboard that I visited since 2009.

The amount of people being toxic and horridly negative, you absolutely can see that it runs in their lives, be it they're a complete loser tool and do it to get kicks because they are, well, a loser or they have a massive flaw (their appearance, their job, can't get into a relationship, etc.) that they aren't happy with and project negativity on anyone who shows positivity.
 
Guys, this guy has been banned for on a misunderstanding I think. I don't think they meant to post the same message over and over. Draft feature is fucked up at times on the forum. It happened to me multiple times that quotes or stuff I had left would stick in the message.

If that person was on mobile and just replied to a quote, it's likely they couldn't even see that it was reposting the same thing over and over.
 
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