A Year Of Reflection

Thomasina said:
It's lacking mystery, imo. The first 2 games are mysterious from beginning to end. There's no mystery in Shenmue 3, or at least any that is intriguing.

I started another playthrough of Shenmue 1 again 2 days ago and that mystery is still present for me. It pulls me through the game.
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That... might actually be it
 
@Shenhua-Nani? If you felt I was blaming you, I apologize. You've got a badass screen name and I like your posts. Was only intending to make a friendly disagreement discussion.

No one here really afaik bashes others nor should. Actually the only bashing I see are the few bad apples who must let everyone know how much the game sucks and can't believe there's truly others who enjoy the game.

Much like MGS and MGS2, Shenmue follow a lot of similar story beats--which aren't a bad thing--it is common throughout sequels in any medium. Seems especially video games where if it is not broke, do not fix unless you draw ire and derision from mad, rabid fanbases.

Planning my next Shenmue 3 play finally doing the side quests and more collecting and more move mastering. Cannot wait!
 
One thing that hasn't made me play S3 much more (even with trainers to speed up the game) is that there aren't many parts that I'm actually looking forward to.
I enjoyed quite a bit the first playthrough, I was fully invested and even when I thought the game was leading me to a goose chase I kinda shrugged it away by just thinking on what is to come, and that feeling isn't there on a second playthrough.
In the originals I feel that there are many moments I remember or that have something special, being just talking to the two guys about the three blades, roaming around bars, even meeting charlie in the tattoo parlor, they all have "a feeling" (and I could go on giving MAAAANY examples).
I really like just walking around in S3, but after a while it becomes kinda boring. There are a few scenes/sequences that I really like, for example entering the abandoned temple for the first time, the prayer temple, talking to Shenhua, the questioning of mr muscles 1, the transition from bailu to niaowu, but many of the sequences that I loved the first time like that niaowu shrine, or meeting the broom girl just don't carry weight now that I know "it's just that" and there's nothing else going on for those characters.
Hell, the best part of niaowu was looking for choubu chan, and you can't do that in a newgame+.
I feel like in both original games anywhere I load a save there's something I like around the corner, but in S3 there isn't (and you have to play through a lot to finally open up the map).
 
shredingskin said:
Hell, the best part of niaowu was looking for choubu chan, and you can't do that in a newgame+.
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Oh bollocks, can't you? There goes the best thing about Niaowu as I just made it there in my new playthrough... What about if I didn't find them all in my first playthrough? I think I missed a few.
 
Chobu chan was fun to a point but not being able to track in an in-game menu just how many you had located vs how many were still out there made me give up on that quickly. You could kinda track it with the pawn shop trade-ins but not completely. Same with the move scrolls - the first two games had a set number of slots so you could at least tell if and when you got them all or how close you were. There was a point in Niaowu where it became very apparent that all the collecting and grinding was pointless.
 
@Lan Di-sama Your post reflects almost exactly how I feel about the 3rd game.
Thomasina said:
Nobody expected an entire game dedicated to searching for her father. Stop blaming players for nothing happening.
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This. I don't even mind the structure of searching for Yuan per se, I think there was a way to do it well. But looking back at S2's ending I don't think anyone could be blamed for not thinking that he was alive. The ending very clearly implies that he is dead or at least gone. That's nothing to say that the whole ending with the cave reliefs, prophecy, the sword of seven stars, and "voices from the stone" were completely swept under the rug and likely never to be revisited again.

I think at some point I will re-play S3 but I want to wait a few years to go in with a blank state mind again. I'm curious to see what my takeaways will be and what I'll like more and less on the second pass.
 
hmjohnny said:
@Lan Di-sama Your post reflects almost exactly how I feel about the 3rd game.

This. I don't even mind the structure of searching for Yuan per se, I think there was a way to do it well. But looking back at S2's ending I don't think anyone could be blamed for not thinking that he was alive. The ending very clearly implies that he is dead or at least gone. That's nothing to say that the whole ending with the cave reliefs, prophecy, the sword of seven stars, and "voices from the stone" were completely swept under the rug and likely never to be revisited again.

I think at some point I will re-play S3 but I want to wait a few years to go in with a blank state mind again. I'm curious to see what my takeaways will be and what I'll like more and less on the second pass.
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Agreed, everything I loved about the ending was swept aside. I thought the fate of Shenhua's father might not even be addressed, or at least not immediately. The "flickering north star" which was an omen for death definitely had me feeling he was disposed of by the Chi You Men, it was also implied he was gravely ill. He seemed like a mystical entity almost, so a straightforward solution to his disappearance didn't even cross my mind. The third game never once explicitly stated he was Shenhua's adopted father, either - the last names differed, but you think they would have revisited that considering they made a "big reveal" that Lan Di was Zhao's son twice in Shenmue 3, even though we knew that from 2.

Instead I thought S3 would start with some big revelations about the mirrors and the giant replicas, and the Shenmue tree which was barely mentioned at all in S3.

The most interesting part of the 3rd game was Shenhua touching on the feeling she feels like she's lived a lot longer than she actually has (the hundreds of birthdays thing). Digging into her past more would have done a lot for the game, even if it was just through the nightly conversations that vanished when you left Bailu.
 
What I meant by not being able to look for Choubuchan is that if you already have them, they don't reappear (like the most uncommon herbs don't appear either).
About the story, I don't think the story is much more worse than the first one, but the writing and scenario writing is far less compelling. There are very few story beats that stuck into my mind (and the thing that really stands out when thinking back is the word "thugs"). In Bailu they kinda tried somewhat to make the narrative (still, nothing as memorable to finding sailors or learn the 4 wude), but in Niaowu the lack of any meaningful interaction is very apparent.
 
One of the more interesting story points was also the hint at Shenhua’s power- used on Yanlang and also seemingly Ren. When first hinted at in Bailu that was one of the few parts that made me go ‘Oooh!!’ 😂
Also, Yuan does share some info we didn’t already know- specifically that Lan Di was actually raised by the Chi You Men after his father died, suggesting they target orphaned children as we know Ziming also joined at a young age.
 
Miles Prower said:
One of the more interesting story points was also the hint at Shenhua’s power- used on Yanlang and also seemingly Ren. When first hinted at in Bailu that was one of the few parts that made me go ‘Oooh!!’ 😂
Also, Yuan does share some info we didn’t already know- specifically that Lan Di was actually raised by the Chi You Men after his father died, suggesting they target orphaned children as we know Ziming also joined at a young age.
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I loved the interrogation scene. Having the bit of control on how you asked the questions was really cool and of course whatever Shenhua did to Yanlang was one of the game's better moments. I totally forgot about the scene with Ren. I think they really bungled his return, but whatever he sensed from Shenhua when they did finally meet was really interesting. Their interaction as a trio in S4 should be great provided they don't split up, was hoping for some more of that in 3.
 
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Lan Di-sama said:
I loved the interrogation scene. Having the bit of control on how you asked the questions was really cool and of course whatever Shenhua did was one of the game's better moments. I totally forgot about the scene with Ren. I think they really bungled his return, but whatever he sensed from Shenhua when they did finally meet was really interesting. Their interaction as a trio in S4 should be great provided they don't split up, was hoping for more some of that in 3.
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Agreed, I was looking forward to their dynamic as a trio in S3 and it didn’t really deliver- Ren and Shenhua never even actually speak to each other directly, it’s almost like the game is afraid for them too! Of course they can’t really avoid it in S4 so will be interesting to see.
 
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