Bummed Shenmue III from 16:00 yesterday. Been my best Christmas Day for a few years, without a doubt.
The game? Love it! I love how true to the originals that it is. Don't wanna say anything about events in the game.
I've just come off the back of going through Shenmue I and II Remastered on my new PS4 Pro, and yesterday I finished Shenmue II (got the Platinum!) and immediately launched Shenmue III.
It was almost as if my experience didn't stop. Fucking perfect. Literally continues straight from the ending of Shenmue II. You literally get control after a redo of the ending cutscene from Shenmue II, and there you are, in the cave with torch in hand and Shenhua at your side, massive stone mirrors carved into the wall of the Stone Pit.
I've played probably 5-6 hours of Shenmue III so far. Booting it up now, gonna play it all day whilst having the boxing day football on my computer.
One thing I've really liked is the new fighting system. As much as I love the originals, playing through them the past couple of weeks has really shown up the old cranky fighting system. It's not too bad when you're 1v1, but group battles aren't as good. The 70-man battle at the harbour, or the larger battles in Shenmue II are classic moments, but let's be honest the game's camera shits itself.
To be fair I haven't had more than a 1v1 fight on Shenmue III, yet. So maybe it'll be just as bad. Overall it seems that the fighting is improved though, which is nice.
I love being able to snoop around opening draws and stuff just like on Dreamcast.
Just everything about it, so far.
Going in with no expectations and having seen next to nothing may have helped me enjoy it, but honestly.
I started Shenmue I the day I got my PS4 a few weeks ago, finished Shenmue II on Christmas Day and started Shenmue III immediately afterward. It doesn't get any better than this.