Do guns exist in Shenmue franchise ?

I think it's safe to assume they exist but are deemphasised, as they wouldn't serve the story, and they've pulled it off pretty well. The games are never so violent that they make you wonder why someone doesn't just pull out a gun and shoot Ryo in the face, for the most part. The Yellow Heads felt like the most scummy and lawless of all the gangs so far, so the gun in the magic rooms makes sense in that regard.

But the lack of guns in general is one of those things you have to accept as not 100% realistic, which is made easy by the fact that they aren't overly gritty or dark games. You could argue it's unrealistic that none of the gang members swear, too, but ultimately...who cares.
 
orient said:
I think it's safe to assume they exist but are deemphasised, as they wouldn't serve the story, and they've pulled it off pretty well. The games are never so violent that they make you wonder why someone doesn't just pull out a gun and shoot Ryo in the face, for the most part. The Yellow Heads felt like the most scummy and lawless of all the gangs so far, so the gun in the magic rooms makes sense in that regard.

But the lack of guns in general is one of those things you have to accept as not 100% realistic, which is made easy by the fact that they aren't overly gritty or dark games. You could argue it's unrealistic that none of the gang members swear, too, but ultimately...who cares.
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Yeah. Every story has it's rule. I really don't mind no guns.(Since if they actually added guns then they had to add some supernatural abilities for Ryo to counter guns with them.)
 
Also Shenmue is based off old Kung-Fu movies quite a bit so its "realistic" to a point but a strange idealised/stylised look at the world. Imagine its more like an old Ryo telling the story back 30 years later - its what happened but with a bit of embleishment. Furthermore to my knowledge like here in the UK guns are heavily controlled in Japan (the last major law came in the late 50's I believe) - they just don't hold the same importance in culture as even criminals avoid using them.

I understand the game is mostly set in mainland China but its obviously through a Japanese lense - thus Gun usage to a Japanese audience could be unrealistic.

If you've played the Yakuza games, guns exist but you don't really get to use them (theres a few games that allow it but its never fully speicific if these are full firearms or air-rifle/riot arms). Also the use of Guns in the series is very rare and is often met with uncomfortable-ness/shock between the Yakuza - additionally they are never brandished in public or used outside of private Yakuza squabbles.

So while they probably exist in-universe they are more seen as a weapon used by the military than in criminality.

I understand for some of our US members this post might be a bit baffling. :LOL:
 
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