First Time Playing Shenmue

TifaLockhartUK

TifaLockhartUK

Joined
Aug 3, 2020
Hi, a friend of mine told me today that I'd love Shenmue after talking to him about my love for Yakuza and Persona 4 & 5 since I spent most of my time just taking in the atmosphere of Japan. I've been looking into getting the game and seen people online complaining about the HD version. I have a PS4 and my dad has a Dreamcast I could borrow so I can play either of these versions. I just don't want the botched one like the Silent Hill HD collection and was wondering which one is best for a first timer to get the best experience. I didn't want to look at youtube to see which is better as I'm going in very blind as I hate spoilers so I've just seen some screenshots.
 
Welcome to the forums.

I assume you don’t have access to a decent PC to play Shenmue HD? That would be ideal way as you get benefits of better presentation, faster loading times and with mods it corrects all the issues the game has on console in terms of cutscene presentation and audio issues.

Otherwise with the patches the PS4 version isn’t nearly as bad as SH collection and very adequate for your first time.
 
Sadly my laptop overheats just trying to play Netflix 😅.

Looks like I'll have to hunt down a copy for the PS4 tomorrow.
 
The HD collection isn't perfect, but it's a thousand times better than the Silent Hill collection, thankfully!

Please let us know what you think, it's really nice to read impressions from newcomers! I would recommend setting the voices to Japanese to get the most immersive experience.
 
I agree with starting with the HD collection on PS4. I would personally recommend playing S1 with English VO and S2 with Japanese VO for a few reasons. 1) This how many of us experienced both games on the Dreamcast. The North American version of S2 was canceled and released on the Xbox, and the PAL version had Japanese VO and English Subs, so North Americans typically imported the PAL version if they wanted to play on Dreamcast 2) As much as I hate the English dub in this series, there are a few quirky moments with Shenmue 1's English dub that are weirdly endearing, and kind of an inside joke to fans of the series. 3) There's a lot more story in Shenmue 2, so it's easier to take it seriously with the Japanese VO. IMO some characters are ruined from the English dub, and since Shenmue 2 is more story driven, it has a big impact on the experience.

However, I'm sure there will be a bunch of different opinions on this site about this. At the very least I feel strongest about point 3, playing Shenmue 2 in Japanese.

Welcome, and enjoy!
 
Welcome to the forums. We hope you enjoy your Shenmue experience!
 
The HD version had a lot of issues around launch, but for the most part these have all been ironed out through patches. As someone who grew up playing the originals, I think I’ll always prefer the Dreamcast versions but I think for somebody new to the series, the HD rerelease would be a better starting point thanks to a few QOL updates that they implemented and the game (mostly) running in 16:9.
 
Thank you all. I was able to pick up a copy of the game and I'm going to start playing it tonight. I could have bought it on PSN but I prefer having an actual copy of games so I can put them on my shelf to show off.

If I can use Japanese voices that's what I always go with so that'll be my preference. I've played and watched enough bad dubs that I don't care if it's bad but I prefer Japanese media be in Japanese.

Thank you all for the help and warm welcome.
 
You probably won't notice any issues with the re-releases since you haven't played the originals. The 'issues' are overblown, even as a fan who's fairly familiar. The lack of loading times and dealing with the DC grinding your disc into dust cancel out any bugs you might experience.
 
mjqjazzbar said:
You probably won't notice any issues with the re-releases since you haven't played the originals. The 'issues' are overblown, even as a fan who's fairly familiar. The lack of loading times and dealing with the DC grinding your disc into dust cancel out any bugs you might experience.
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Aren’t there musical issues on the console versions? That’s a pretty big issue.
 
TwiceFriedRice said:
Aren’t there musical issues on the console versions? That’s a pretty big issue.
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I think they're worse in Shenmue II if my memory is correct. Queens Street in the day is one that really stands out
 
Well this game has made me feel like the most awful person to have ever lived. I put down the controller when a scene started to play, I had a handful of chocolate raisins when a football flew at me and due to no free hands it hit a small girl and made her cry. I also promised to help an old lady and couldn't find her after finding a house for her.

I played two days and think I spent most of it looking all around the house and shop's. I must have knocked on every door in hopes of another house to explore. I also need to buy every one of the small toys!

Also the fact I can look after a cat make's this amazing. There was more cat's in FFVIIR so that's still my personal game of the year based on games that I've played this year, unless more cat's appear.

The Hot Dog man told me to find Chinese people so that's what will happen on day three.
 
TifaLockhartUK said:
Well this game has made me feel like the most awful person to have ever lived. I put down the controller when a scene started to play, I had a handful of chocolate raisins when a football flew at me and due to no free hands it hit a small girl and made her cry. I also promised to help an old lady and couldn't find her after finding a house for her.

I played two days and think I spent most of it looking all around the house and shop's. I must have knocked on every door in hopes of another house to explore. I also need to buy every one of the small toys!

Also the fact I can look after a cat make's this amazing. There was more cat's in FFVIIR so that's still my personal game of the year based on games that I've played this year, unless more cat's appear.

The Hot Dog man told me to find Chinese people so that's what will happen on day three.
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Don't worry, Kayoko is a little angel. She'll forgive you for sure. I'd recommend calling Naoyuki whenever you get the chance--as long as you're playing with Japanese voices. She is quite possibly the cutest thing in the entire game. (Back off, Megumi stans.)

Also, there are many cats, also dogs, and even some pigeons. Many of them have their own schedules. I'm not saying you should stalk the neighborhood pets, but I'm also not not saying that.
 
I have not found any cats to stal... I mean follow! Although I make sure to check in on Mimi every day.

I suck at fighting games so I'm trying to practice as much as I can since this has so many more inputs then the Yakuza games. My normal tactic when playing any kind of fighting game is to panic and mash the buttons.

Money is also as big an issue in this game as it is for me in real life. I lost a bunch sucking at pool and have spent pretty much the rest of it on the toys (which yet again is to close to real life and hurts a little).

I almost spent an entire day just in the arcade as well and love the boxing pad game.

At this rate I'm not going to catch the killer until Christmas next year.
 
TifaLockhartUK said:
I have not found any cats to stal... I mean follow! Although I make sure to check in on Mimi every day.

I suck at fighting games so I'm trying to practice as much as I can since this has so many more inputs then the Yakuza games. My normal tactic when playing any kind of fighting game is to panic and mash the buttons.

Money is also as big an issue in this game as it is for me in real life. I lost a bunch sucking at pool and have spent pretty much the rest of it on the toys (which yet again is to close to real life and hurts a little).

I almost spent an entire day just in the arcade as well and love the boxing pad game.

At this rate I'm not going to catch the killer until Christmas next year.
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Really? I swear there was a cat that hangs out right outside the gate to the Hadzuki residence.

For most fights, I'd go with Square, X, X, X for your bread and butter combo. You can also use just X, X, X, but the jab at the beginning is a good poke to test with. In other words, throw out a jabs at random times, and if it looks like it'll land, throw out the kick combo with it. If you want something fancy, Square, Square, -> + Square, X, is also a pretty good one. If you're surrounded, Square, Square, Square, X is pretty good for crowd control, but there are other single moves that are better for this (<-, <- + Square + X when you get it).

Listen, Lan DI can wait. You've got a cat to feed, arcade games to play, and plenty of people to follow home--like, in a non-threatening way, though. You don't have time to chase some dude in a robe.
 
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