5 things I love about Shenmue I

Great post. I agree with what you say and the theory you mentioned is certainly interesting. As soon as we found out that Shenhua's parents had passed away, it crossed my mind that her and Ryo could be related. We don't know much about Ryo's mother either, do we? Apart from the fact that she died of a ''mysterious illness''...

If the Dreamcast hadn't ended so early, then maybe we have got the third game in let's say, 2002-03? Hopefully the others would have followed after that. So, by now we would have gotten the full story or close to the end, I'd like to have thought so anyway. Instead almost two decades have passed with barely any movement. That makes me sad. Luckily for me, I'm fairly new to the series so I haven't had to wait as long as others, but it still saddens me either way that it happened. Anyway, like you say, if we had gotten sequels much sooner then we may not have remembered the characters in this game as much - especially if they don't end up resurfacing in the sequels to come. ''Out of sight, out of mind'' would spring to mind regarding some of them in this hypothetical situation, but some are more memorable than others. With that being said, the phone call options in the third game were a nice touch. I couldn't help but feel a little sad during the Nozomi call though. Maybe it was the voice acting, or the dialogue/script? Not sure, I really need to revisit it again.
Thanks! Yeah, I'd love to know more about Ryo's mother, as well as Shenhua's biological parents.
I didn't know you were new to the series I missed that line, but lucky you!

Yeah and I definitely want more Nozomi calls in Shenmue IV + longer conversations with her.
Like a cherry on top of the cake - they should make a new, modern Character model of Nozomi together with a background of Canada where we actually see Nozomi talking to Ryo (either full screen or next to Ryo's face - instad of flash back scene.) as fan service. With like a 5-10 minute conversation. They could talk about their childhood and he can tell her how much she meant to him, and he (Ryo) could explain why he acted so distant to her, because of what happened to his father at that time..
They could also promise to re-unite with each other in the future. That would give hope to the players who loved that character.

That's like the simplest thing they could do that would make a TON of fans extremely happy.
In a perfect world I'd like to see the same thing in conversations with Tom, Mark, Ine-San, Gui Zhang and Fuku-San.
It's like healing the wounds that Shenmue 1 caused ..

Just in case you havn't played through Shenmue III:
Something that indicate hope that Ryo and Shenhua together will travel to Japan some day is that She said in Shenmue III that She would love to see Japan some day~. -or something along those lines :giggle:
 
Thanks! Yeah, I'd love to know more about Ryo's mother, as well as Shenhua's biological parents.
I didn't know you were new to the series I missed that line, but lucky you!

Yeah and I definitely want more Nozomi calls in Shenmue IV + longer conversations with her.
Like a cherry on top of the cake - they should make a new, modern Character model of Nozomi together with a background of Canada where we actually see Nozomi talking to Ryo (either full screen or next to Ryo's face - instad of flash back scene.) as fan service. With like a 5-10 minute conversation. They could talk about their childhood and he can tell her how much she meant to him, and he (Ryo) could explain why he acted so distant to her, because of what happened to his father at that time..
They could also promise to re-unite with each other in the future. That would give hope to the players who loved that character.

That's like the simplest thing they could do that would make a TON of fans extremely happy.
In a perfect world I'd like to see the same thing in conversations with Tom, Mark, Ine-San, Gui Zhang and Fuku-San.
It's like healing the wounds that Shenmue 1 caused ..

Just in case you havn't played through Shenmue III:
Something that indicate hope that Ryo and Shenhua together will travel to Japan some day is that She said in Shenmue III that She would love to see Japan some day~. -or something along those lines :giggle:
That's right, I only started playing over a month ago despite owning the remastered games since they came out in 2018. I've lost my passion for gaming over the past few years but I decided play Shenmue and what a decision that turned out to be! I think some things such as games really connect with people and the same can be said for Shenmue and I.

I love your cosmetic and dialogue ideas for Nozomi, but at the same time I enjoyed the flashback scenes. From what I remember, it mostly showed some of the most memorable moments between Ryo and the character involved. That and the music were both good. In fact, it was kind of emotional for me, especially the Guizhang and Nozomi ones. Like, a mixture of smiling but teary-eyed as well. Bittersweet moments, I suppose.

Going back to your ideas for Nozomi. They could give that hope which keeps fans invested and reminds them of the character as we get more sequels. Then, they could go one or two ways.The two realise that they are ''meant to be'' and get together towards the end. Or we realise that it wasn't meant to be and she's either got a boyfriend, or just knocks Ryo back when he's finally ready to be with her. Obviously the latter would be a wrench on people like myself that like the idea of them getting together but it's reality for many in terms of relationships not working out. If she does get a new boyfriend then I'm sure they'll be a mixture of emotions like disappointment, sadness and frustration towards Ryo from a player point of view for not getting with her in the first game.

Thank you for being considerate with the spoilers. I have played the third game and remember that now, but didn't think much of it at the time. It's a good point. It could be a subtle hint at what is to come. In the second game, Shenhua heard a lot of tales about people from Yokosuka, so they'll naturally be some curiosity about the country. She isn't exactly well-travelled as we know, which probably means there is even more of a chance she'd like to go.
 
Ay I just came because I saw your username, but steely dan is the best! :cool:
 
What are your favourite tunes?
I have plenty but here's a few most memorable to me:

Arrival in Guilin:

It really transitions the tone well from the busy life of hong kong and kowloon to a more serene, distant, but intimate place.

Iwao's old friend:

It really enriches the scene. It helps you feel the intimacy of Ryo's dad and his old sparring buddy. The friendship they cultivated from trading techniques through his nostalgic excerpts.

Earth and Sea:

Not only is the composition great, it even has sort of a poetic flow to it. Really focuses your mind in those tension moments that leads to conflict.
 
I have plenty but here's a few most memorable to me:

Arrival in Guilin:

It really transitions the tone well from the busy life of hong kong and kowloon to a more serene, distant, but intimate place.

Iwao's old friend:

It really enriches the scene. It helps you feel the intimacy of Ryo's dad and his old sparring buddy. The friendship they cultivated from trading techniques through his nostalgic excerpts.

Earth and Sea:

Not only is the composition great, it even has sort of a poetic flow to it. Really focuses your mind in those tension moments that leads to conflict.
Very cool choices. I like the way you describe them too. I also like the Shenmue 3 music whenever Ryo is in his hotel room in Niaowu, or in his bedroom in Shenhua’s house. I found it to be great music and it wasn’t too long before I had it on repeat via YouTube. If anything, it gave me like an “epic” feel and made me think more about Ryo and Shenhua. The two are still relatively new to one another but are practically living together for now. Ryo has come a long way from home and as far as Shenhua goes, we still don’t know a great deal about her, so there is some mystery there. The fact that we mostly hear this theme on the night time helped strengthen this thought.
 
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Thank you for being considerate with the spoilers. I have played the third game and remember that now, but didn't think much of it at the time. It's a good point. It could be a subtle hint at what is to come. In the second game, Shenhua heard a lot of tales about people from Yokosuka, so they'll naturally be some curiosity about the country. She isn't exactly well-travelled as we know, which probably means there is even more of a chance she'd like to go.

I'm not one of those thinking it would be great for Ryo to come back to Japan in the series, but I would surely love to see Shenhua there! That could make a great spin-off.
 
The game is a master piece, a work of art really. I would not of mind if the game was continued on the Dreamcast myself, as the graphics for it's time and even today really are easy on the eyes. Regardless my top 5 things are-

A living breathing world. It's hard to find a game where there is this much realism and depth to it. Shops open and close on certain hours, certain days and certain holidays. People will carry umbrellas when it rains. Seasons change and the city reflects that, as does it's day and night cycles and weather patterns. Plus it was set in a popular time period and as far as I can tell was pretty spot on with it. Each person as far as I can tell has their own place to live. Even though the voices are recycled or at least spoken by the same few people they had, mostly was enjoyable. It was all spoken dialogue anyway. A lot of games even today will not have that.

The game is fully Japanese in it's culture. You want to experience Japan, but can not visit there due to money or health concerns, this is one sure fire way to do it. I visited Japan once and I would of sworn I was walking down some of those same streets and alleyways. Granted things have changed in the bigger cities over the decades, but the suburban areas where this mostly takes place is still pretty spot on.

This is a great learning tool. Granted had the game shipped with both the English and the Japanese language spoken and subtitled combined would of been even better. But even the English version provides enough Japanese to learn from it. All the sign posts, billboards, etc. lend to your learning of the language if you bother to pick up a dictionary, not to mention the zoom function will also translate it for certain things.

This game had a little bit of everything. Fighting, Adventuring, some detective work, some point and click aspects to it and the QTEs to break up the monotony. Even the few Sega arcade classics it had was fun.

The story. Classic. Not too sure about the third as I was not happy with the way the second one ended... a little too Dragon Ball Z for me. But for the original Shenmue, it was positively enjoyable from start to finish.
 
1. Forklift Driving
2. Darts 7
3. The Story
4. Exploring 80's Japan
5. The sassy girl who works in the Tomato Store at the harbour
 
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