How are you enjoying Shenmue 3 (No spoilers please)

I played for about two hours last night and I'm only a in-game day into it lol. I didn't skip time to go to the next destination and want to take in as much as I possibly can. Here are my thoughts:

+ It's Shenmue
+ (And that's a good thing)
+ Think of it as a long lost title for the Dreamcast that just released years later (besides redoing the graphics and engine and s**t)
+ NPC interactions are weird at first if you've been away from the series for awhile, but then they become f***ing hilarious
+ The core mechanics of the first two games are here and it doesn't feel like a different game or sequel (which many sequels unfortunately can become after so many years)
+ Music is fantastic
+ The scenery is beautiful. I have never had a better running through the flowers moment in a video game besides this one.

- Cutscene pacing can be a bit weird at times, especially in the beginning
- I'm not a fan of the stamina system so far. It kinda takes away from what I love about Shenmue (exploring and blowing money on games, toy capsules, gambling, and never winning at them)
- Corey Marshall is self-aware and you can kinda tell in the tone of his voice with some of the NPC interactions.
- Unfortunately the budget has shown a bit. Not that it really affects the game badly, but I just wish that YS had a bigger budget to work with. Maybe next time.

Overall, I am enjoying the game so much. If you love the other Shenmue games, then you will most likely love this too.
 
I’ve only played for an hour but...

+the environment is just mindblowingly beautyful
+it feels like a Shenmue game

-the conversations don’t feel natural at all and repeat frequently
-sometimes in a group I’ll be talking to someone and then I’ll turn and talk to the person behind them without even moving my character
-the English voices are actually pretty good but Ryo’s voice sounds like they told him a baby is sleeping across the room and he needs to talk softly. Given some interviews I’ve seen with Corey I don’t blame him for this. The direction was to replicate his prior VO work for the series. This was a poor choice.

I won’t consider this a minus but I’m having trouble with the maps. Maybe it’s just me but they aren’t very detailed. I’d like to see a bigger version of the hud map.

All in all I’m having a blast.
 
My opinion:

*5 hours into the game

Positives:
*The story progresses in typical shenmue fashion. It builds up slow and i love it.

*The focus on training is amazing. I think its better and much more fun than the first game.

*i like the fighting! I think it suits me well since im not good at fighting games at all

*to have conversations with Shenhua is simply amazing. Maybe the part i like the most in game so far.

Negatives :

*The npc's dont feel like they have a schedule as much as in the first game.

* alot of pop ins on the ps4 version

* its obvious not as polished as the first two games, but its shenmue so its ok.

* the slow pace can allmost be to much while investigating. Im talking about the same dialog over and over again wich cant be skipped

*its deffinitly not well suited for newcomers of the series. If i had never played s1 and 2 then i would have put the game away after 5 hours, simply because i would not understand the meaning of the game.

*its deffinitly more restricted than before. Now you are more locked to a spesiffic part of Bailu depanding of your rask.

Much like when you help the old woman finding the house is S1


If you are Shenmue fan then you will love it anyway.. :D
 
I've been playing for a good 10-12 hours atleast.

So far I love it, still in Bailu. Been taking my time, training, chopping wood, playing arcade games etc. Things are starting to open up. I appreciate what the comment above is saying but I get the impression the way things open up is deliberate. The whole village is open now and there's loads to do.

This is very much a true Shenmue follow on.
 
Is it worth to save scum for money ?
I want to play the game at a slow pace at hard difficulty, but I don't want to be working all day because I like to run from time to time.
 
First Impressions - Very Satisfying!

The visuals and look of the game looks so good seeing it on the system!

My favourite part so far is Chopping Wood - REALLY DIG IT! & Already one of my favourite Shenmue Pass times.

Really enjoying training too just as I thought, I find the Sparring rounds a bit off when you have the prompts show up - some moves I can get it others I can't.

I'm playing on Hard Mode & I've noticed that when Ryo's Block Bar depletes and an enemy is pumbling you you can go down very quick - I was backed in a corner on Sparring session and all my health went in a single combo!

I don't like the Stanima System... sorry, but it should be seperate from your actual health.

One minor issue is with the implementation of music... it just seems a bit messy - When I Spar, I noticed during the loading screen a different piece of Background Music plays for a brief second. I've also had a similar situation in Shenhua's how when starting a conversation with her.

I'm not rushing at all, been taking my time kind of doing one Story progressive part a day, which sounds like I'm stretching it but in having to buy food to keep your health up for the sparring (Which you need money to do with Chopping wood), there's a nice daily structure to the game like the other two which I'm thankful for :)
 
It's very much Shenmue. Parts of the game look and feel great.

My only real gripe so far, is the lack of consistency with the NPC faces. It's just weird as hell. I know Yu was on a tight budget, but more polish was needed on some of the more 'cartoonish' faces in the game. It does break some immersion.

So far, I've not encountered a single QTE, so I am hoping these are still in the game, and are challenging/awesome at the same time.

I would really like to see some nice camera/cinematic work with some of the cutscenes, as we experienced with Shenmue 1 and 2. This helped tell a greater overall story, but apart from the Opening scene, I've not seen much at this point.

Also, some sort of Three Blades/Four Wude style of conversations/investigations would be much appreciated. I hope it's not just a move from Point A to B style of play, as first experienced.
 
Vivi-gamer said:
One minor issue is with the implementation of music... it just seems a bit messy - When I Spar, I noticed during the loading screen a different piece of Background Music plays for a brief second. I've also had a similar situation in Shenhua's how when starting a conversation with her.
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Just noticed this. I woke up at Shenhua's and simply locked onto a drawer, and bam.... Shenmue 2 night music came on. Needs patching big time.
 
I'm taking my time with it and loving the hell out of it so far. I noticed some characters do have schedules although maybe slightly more limited than they were in the past. The game does cut corners but understandably so due to the budget constraints. But it was kinda cool to be hanging out around the Sunmeadow Grave area and look over and see the little girl (the drawing in the dirt girl) from the Village square sitting on the wharf with her feet in the water talking to a friend. Some of them do have schedules but it's definitely cutting corners and not as in depth as it once was. You'll see warping. For instance, I was talking to an elderly couple playing some gambling game. The night transition hit and when we came back into game they had magically warped out of sight. So yeah, the game is cutting corners to some degree.

I just love hanging out in Bailu village. It's that type of game for me. I'm not worried about progressing the story. I'm just enjoying my time in Bailu taking in the odd jobs and side quests and random little moments that make Shenmue, well, Shenmue.

This feels like Shenmue. Granted, Shenmue on a budget, but they damn pulled it off none the less.

If they can do this on a fraction of a AAA budget than just imagine what they could do with a full AAA budget...shame it will never happen, but still, I'm mighty impressed. This game has more heart and soul than most of the junk I've played this year.

Weaknesses? The fighting isn't anywhere near as good Shenmue II. It's not terrible, but I do miss throws and counters quite a bit. I miss the simple joy of hitting the swallow flip and taking down a punk mid blow.

Also, multi men battles can be cheap. Especially when they dog pile you. I wish the game had a dedicated dodge/evade button. It's not great and for a first time effort it's serviceable....but yeah, I will say that I feel even Yakuza's battle system is a little better than this. At least when it comes to handling multi men battles. I know, I know, first time effort and it couldn't possibly live up to a fighting engine like the VF engine or even the many years refined Yakuza engine. But yeah, still, it works but it's not great either. Nowhere near as bad as I feared it would be though. Solid but limited.

I do like the range of moves though. They did at least try to capture the spirit of FREE battle fights. But I would still much rather take Shenmue II's fighting system any day of the week I think. (Shenmue II's battle system feels so damn good)
 
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Saven said:
- Corey Marshall is self-aware and you can kinda tell in the tone of his voice with some of the NPC interactions.
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I'm playing in the Japanese language, but what I've noticed is Ryo's facial expressions almost seem baffled during some of the interactions....I don't know if its so much self awareness (I can't comment on Corey's performance as I'm not playing with it) but yeah, it seems to me he's more baffled than anything else.

Fish out of water type feeling. For instance, when talking to the gossipy women who are making the "are you Shenhua's boyfriend" type insinuations, his facial reactions are kind of hilarious to me as he's kind of baffled by their BS.

I've noticed a lot of baffled facial expressions from Ryo this time around :)
 
My one real complaint is I wish they didn't incorporate the whole eating and energy aspect. It just adds a chore. Other than that after an hour of playing last night the game sure isn't a rush which is ironic because we're supposed to be trying to rescue Shenhua's dad. It's OK so far.
 
The other thing I noticed...there is literally a map on the hud and I have not looked at it once. I have no need to look at the map. I'm committing this place to memory. I love the fact that side quests can be completely missed if you don't actively look around you. I found one side quest by randomly going to the gambling area and noticing to myself "who is that dude? never seen his face here before?" and stumbled into a side quest.

I love the fact that there is no reliance on way points and that I'm just generally exploring again.

I find the map to be kinda useless in the hud and don't even know why it's there. I haven't looked at it once....I love just living in this world again and getting to know it. I'm so sick of way points and check lists....I love how organic it has been to find side quests. I love how organic it is to just look around for herbs. Or find the many fishing spots. Totally digging that sense of not being reliant on a map or waypoints again.
 
danielmann861 said:
I'm taking my time with it and loving the hell out of it so far. I noticed some characters do have schedules although maybe slightly more limited than they were in the past. The game does cut corners but understandably so due to the budget constraints. But it was kinda cool to be hanging out around the Sunmeadow Grave area and look over and see the little girl (the drawing in the dirt girl) from the Village square sitting on the wharf with her feet in the water talking to a friend. Some of them do have schedules but it's definitely cutting corners and not as in depth as it once was. You'll see warping. For instance, I was talking to an elderly couple playing some gambling game. The night transition hit and when we came back into game they had magically warped out of sight. So yeah, the game is cutting corners to some degree.
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Doesn't sound much worse than Shenmue 2 in that respect thankfully. I spent far to much time watching those NPCs and they would warp around all the time, even following you from Hong Kong to Kowloon, and never going home when it gets dark etc. Pity they couldn't get it working as well as Shenmue 1 in either sequel, but no big deal.
 
I'm about 6-8 hrs in and I believe most of Bailu is now open to me.

I absolutely love it. I'm loving collecting the herbs and toy capsules and finding the best ways to make money. Some of the toys are so damn rare but it feels great when you finally complete a set. The arcade games are good too. The whole money making system for me is just brilliant.

Enjoying what story I have experienced so far.

I started off not really digging the fighting but once you spend a bit of time with it, level up your moves and getting used to it in general it starts to become enjoyable.
 
shadowman16 said:
Doesn't sound much worse than Shenmue 2 in that respect thankfully. I spent far to much time watching those NPCs and they would warp around all the time, even following you from Hong Kong to Kowloon, and never going home when it gets dark etc. Pity they couldn't get it working as well as Shenmue 1 in either sequel, but no big deal.
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I'm impressed they even have schedules at all. If they really wanted to stretch the budget they could have cut them out completely but no, they still have schedules to some degree. And it's kind of awesome to see.

I'm inclined to believe this game is around the 10 million mark. Maybe 12 million at best. You can see the rough edges. But I'm really impressed how much they pulled off considering that budget. It's super impressive as a whole.
 
danielmann861 said:
I'm playing in the Japanese language, but what I've noticed is Ryo's facial expressions almost seem baffled during some of the interactions....I don't know if its so much self awareness (I can't comment on Corey's performance as I'm not playing with it) but yeah, it seems to me he's more baffled than anything else.

Fish out of water type feeling. For instance, when talking to the gossipy women who are making the "are you Shenhua's boyfriend" type insinuations, his facial reactions are kind of hilarious to me as he's kind of baffled by their BS.

I've noticed a lot of baffled facial expressions from Ryo this time around :)
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I read somewhere earlier today that it could be a directing issue. There was an interview with Corey Marshall where he was apparently instructed to act weird like he could in S1 and S2 on purpose. That would explain a lot.
 
danielmann861 said:
I'm impressed they even have schedules at all. If they really wanted to stretch the budget they could have cut them out completely but no, they still have schedules to some degree. And it's kind of awesome to see.

I'm inclined to believe this game is around the 10 million mark. Maybe 12 million at best. You can see the rough edges. But I'm really impressed how much they pulled off considering that budget. It's super impressive as a whole.
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Yeah, I'm just glad they didn't abandon that entirely. Its NPCs still feel more "alive" than pretty much any other games NPC that's for sure!
 
The start was a little rough. The cutscene transitions and such are really strange. The implementation of the music is sloppy.

Other than that, I am absolutely loving the game. I can’t believe it. I found myself subconsciously looking for markers on a map to point me to my next goal. I was then reminded quickly that I was actually playing Shenmue 3. And all was right in the universe.
 
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