Guess how Shenmue 3 will review

We should post our own reviews of the game when it comes out. Not long essays or anything but what we really think of the game without being blind to it's bad points.

yeah, we should post our own User Reviews on Metacritic. Balanced fair reviews to combat the unfair angry PC-elitists who will give it 0/10 because of Epic when they have not even played the game.
 
I'd say 68-73% on metacritic. Some will give it in the 60's for story but gameplay wise they will not understand it. Those who rate it in the 70's will understand the gameplay and story but not like the jankiness of it.
 
The irony is it was the fans who damaged the reputation of the Shenmue I & II re-release, not the critics. Even with the likes of Digital Foundry putting out a positive video, the fans' incessant whining gave the impression that it was a bad port.

So my hope is that, above all else, the fans are welcoming of Shenmue III, even if the game is rough in spots e.g. the combat isn't like Virtua Fighter, some of the animations are a bit budget.

Also, while I'm on a rant, F that account that posts "Update Ryo's model!!!" on every single Shenmue-related post on Twitter. Sorry if that's anyone on here but jesus christ, give it a rest ☕
 
The irony is it was the fans who damaged the reputation of the Shenmue I & II re-release, not the critics. Even with the likes of Digital Foundry putting out a positive video, the fans' incessant whining gave the impression that it was a bad port.

To be fair, I do get what you're saying but the truth is those ports did need fixing.

At launch they were plagued by bugs and plagued by contrast issues. I remember playing through Shenmue II and thinking "this looks atrocious" because of how dark everything was. For whatever reason...the lighting was really fucked at launch on those ports. It felt like lighting sources were not working and Hong Kong was caked in darkness because there was no lighting on anything. At least during the day...night time was a little better.

I get what you're saying and all...especially in regards to Shenmue III and the constant whining about how Ryo doesn't look like Ryo -- well of course! There is no way they'll ever get a 1 to 1 likeness from the Dreamcast models on Unreal Engine...they are going to inevitably look a little different due to different engines, different tech and what not.

But I think the vocalization about the issues surrounding the ports was necessary to some degree...considering they have since patched the ports and they now do look and play a lot better than they did at launch.

But I do see your point...we fans can be our own worst enemy at times. That's true of every fandom. See what's happening with the Yakuza fandom right now.
 
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I understand wanting bugs and issues to be fixed but it went way too far in my opinion. Some fans were actively turning people away from the franchise -- people who were interested in jumping into Shenmue for the first time -- because of their hyperbole: it's "broken", a "buggy mess", even "unplayable", none of which was true after the initial patch that came out soon after launch.

Was it perfect after that initial patch? No, but was it worth turning away newcomers over, and abusing the devs that worked so hard on it? There were people on here angry that d3t were taking breaks and celebrating the launch of the game, which is just disgusting behaviour.

I just hope that if there are issues with Shenmue III, whether technical or artistic, fans will show more respect and maturity this time around.
 
I understand wanting bugs and issues to be fixed but it went way too far in my opinion. Some fans were actively turning people away from the franchise -- people who were interested in jumping into Shenmue for the first time -- because of their hyperbole: it's "broken", a "buggy mess", even "unplayable", none of which was true after the initial patch that came out soon after launch.

Was it perfect after that initial patch? No, but was it worth turning away newcomers over, and abusing the devs that worked so hard on it? There were people on here angry that d3t were taking breaks and celebrating the launch of the game, which is just disgusting behaviour.

I just hope that if there are issues with Shenmue III, whether technical or artistic, fans will show more respect and maturity this time around.

Oh look I don't agree with getting angry about it...me personally, I can't say I was angry about those ports and their glaring day one issues, but I did feel like it needed to be communicated that there were issues. I agree, there's no need for anger...this was the time before I had signed up here, but I remember seeing that out pour of anger on some of the Facebook groups and thinking it was a little overkill.

I agree wholeheartedly...communicate whatever problems may be with Shenmue III but don't act like a child chucking a tantrum over it either.

I don't know if it's arrested development or what, but that just seems to be the way for everyone nowadays....don't like something? Just yell and scream until you get your way...which I think is pretty pathetic. There's a difference being a rational adult and a petulant child. I too hope the community doesn't sperg out if god forbid there should be something wrong with Shenmue III (knock wood that it turns out mostly okay)

As I said before; fandoms can be their own worst enemy at times.
 
Orient is spot on in my opinion. I completed the first Shenmue before they even patched it and the hyperbole was ludicrous. There was people claiming the games were broken or unplayable. Hell, some people had decided the ports were bad before we had even played them, because of the cutscenes being 4:3. Anyone who has ever played HD ports (note NOT remasters) of old games or conversions of old television shows to blu ray knows it's not a big deal.
 
Orient is spot on in my opinion. I completed the first Shenmue before they even patched it and the hyperbole was ludicrous. There was people claiming the games were broken or unplayable. Hell, some people had decided the ports were bad before we had even played them, because of the cutscenes being 4:3. Anyone who has ever played HD ports (note NOT remasters) of old games or conversions of old television shows to blu ray knows it's not a big deal.

They weren’t unplayable or broken by any means. I Platinumed both games on week of launch so I should know :) . But again, internet and hyperbole go hand in hand sadly.
 
yeah, we should post our own User Reviews on Metacritic. Balanced fair reviews to combat the unfair angry PC-elitists who will give it 0/10 because of Epic when they have not even played the game.

Sounds like a good plan to change the narrative in a positive direction for Shenmue 3.

I do not think that much about reviews in general to be honest. Tastes are different so I rather prefer to operate on my own instinct when choosing a game.

Especially in this gen my taste differs a lot from the taste of the critics.

I found many critical acclaimed games, like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn and Red Dead Redemption 2 just boring. They might be not bad games they are just not my cup of tea.

And on other hand I found games that were hated by the so called critics just superb. The latest example for that would be Days Gone.

A brilliant game and it would be my game of the year, if S3 would not have happened. But luckily S3 happens, days Gone is my number 2 top game of the year.

Another example for a game trashed by the critics and loved be me would be The Order 1886. A solid action game, with a unique Setting and nice story.
 
Sounds like a good plan to change the narrative in a positive direction for Shenmue 3.

I do not think that much about reviews in general to be honest. Tastes are different so I rather prefer to operate on my own instinct when choosing a game.

Especially in this gen my taste differs a lot from the taste of the critics.

I found many critical acclaimed games, like God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn and Red Dead Redemption 2 just boring. They might be not bad games they are just not my cup of tea.

And on other hand I found games that were hated by the so called critics just superb. The latest example for that would be Days Gone.

A brilliant game and it would be my game of the year, if S3 would not have happened. But luckily S3 happens, days Gone is my number 2 top game of the year.

Another example for a game trashed by the critics and loved be me would be The Order 1886. A solid action game, with a unique Setting and nice story.

Tell me about it.
I still remember the frustrations I had when I read about a Solid gem of a game like Romancing Saga was pan so hard because critics/mainstream receptions didn't like the art style/visual presentations so Romancing Saga 2 and 3 never got it's well deserved remake nor was it ever ported for over a decade. :(


And I can already sense a similar pitfall for S3 from all the Graphx complaints. I hope that it is not how Shenmue 3 goes down...because of its budget AA visuals. Which btw, the gorgeous environment is already punching way above into the AAA hemisphere.
 
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It'll range from 5/6 out of 10 to 9/10. The people who rate the former will be in the 'looks like a dreamcast game/it's a dated Yakuza/the pace is too slow and boring' camp while the 8's and 9's will come from the people who get Shenmue.

Slightly off topic but the Yakuza comparison has always irked me. Both games have a Japanese protagonist, the similarities end there. It's so lazy to view the two as being alike.

Yakuza games have a shallow world full of generic npc's (most of whom don't have voice actors, let alone realistic routines or unique personalities to breath life into the world). In Shenmue, you can enter virtually every building, the same cannot be said about Yakuza. In Shenmue, the combat is deep, in Yakuza it's a mash-fest. Shenmue's world is vibrant, it lives and breathes. Yakuza's world is artificial and hollow to me. Japanese GTA is a better comparison, even if it's still a little lazy.
 
Wide Range: 7/10-10/10’s

MetaCritic: 93/100

The time is now for the Shenmue Saga Experience...and Shenmue III has the variety, depth, and much needed heart & soul in an industry lacking much pulse...

Shenmue III will be Game of the Year and will close out the 2010’s as Game of the Decade...
 
Orient is spot on in my opinion. I completed the first Shenmue before they even patched it and the hyperbole was ludicrous. There was people claiming the games were broken or unplayable. Hell, some people had decided the ports were bad before we had even played them, because of the cutscenes being 4:3. Anyone who has ever played HD ports (note NOT remasters) of old games or conversions of old television shows to blu ray knows it's not a big deal.

To be honest, I still resent d3t for this, I managed to get through Shenmue 1 as the cutscenes were in 4:3 from top to bottom, but to this day I still have not manage to play Shenmue II on the PS4 because the 4:3 & Letterboxing just takes the &$£% - Especially when in the trailers they had footage from Shenmue II's cutscenes in fullframe 16:9 - Up until their last promo trailer anyway. It's infuriating to see that the PC version is VASTLY superior due to this reason - I can't think of many other HD Remaster ports which have dropped the ball like this - The MGS HD Collection (not called a Remaster...) MGS2 & MGS3 were changed from 4:3 to 16:9 widescreen and changed the borders in the cinematics to full 16:9 and it is the best way to play the games!

As I've said a few times now, when playing Shenmue II I have to use the Xbox version on the 360 and stretch the image, which I'd rather (As it's barely noticeable really) and put up with the frustrating multi-QTE's than a compromised vision. When I play the series for the last time before Shenmue 3 I will be doing the same too. So the lasting effect of this port still remains disappointing much like the Silent Hill HD Collection.
 
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To be honest, I still resent d3t for this, I managed to get through Shenmue 1 as the cutscenes were in 4:3 from top to bottom, but to this day I still have not manage to play Shenmue II on the PS4 because the 4:3 & Letterboxing just takes the &$£% - Especially when in the trailers they had footage from Shenmue II's cutscenes in fullframe 16:9 - Up until their last promo trailer anyway. It's infuriating to see that the PC version is VASTLY superior due to this reason - I can't think of many other HD Remaster ports which have dropped the ball like this - The MGS HD Collection (not called a Remaster...) MGS2 & MGS3 were changed from 4:3 to 16:9 widescreen and changed the borders in the cinematics to full 16:9 and it is the best way to play the games!

As I've said a few times now, when playing Shenmue II I have to use the Xbox version on the 360 and stretch the image, which I'd rather (As it's barely noticeable really) and put up with the frustrating multi-QTE's than a compromised vision. When I play the series for the last time before Shenmue 3 I will be doing the same too. So the lasting effect of this port still remains disappointing much like the Silent Hill HD Collection.

Sega did give minimal support as well so can't really blame d3t too much. More Time/resources/Am2 support would def turn things out differently.
 
Yeah, I wish they assigned a few AM2 veterans and/or M2 members some work on post-launch patches/Japanese version. Oh, well, still fully playable and highly enjoyable!
 
I've written a humble "professional" review for Metacritic ahead of the embargo (as good as any IGN out there if I may say)... No spoilers as I haven't finished the game, but played enough to summarize the game into the following points:

  • Too many whiner type of enemies to grind through for my liking, so I suggest no more KS monetization type of gameplay for the next installments.
  • There shouldn't be any Epic key bosses midway through the plot development, as it leads to incessant grinding of the same whiner enemy types and some clueless media ones.
  • Refunds should've been made DLC only and priced at $999. It would cease players' spamming, so the game would be better for it.

As for the score: If bad is 9.9868% and masterpiece is SSS+, then my overall score is MMCDXXI. You are welcome.
 
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