- Joined
- Feb 7, 2019
Saying Shenmue I never had this similar structure is also at least a little bit disingenuous, considering you're looking for Sailors AND Thugs in it. It's pretty much the definition of Shenmue I's main plot structure, actually.
Nah, the disingenous thing is to sum up Shenmue I as "sailors and thugs". The problem isn't to chase thugs as part of the plan. The problem is to have the very same structure for both areas.
Here's how Bailu is constructed:
- You're looking for someone who disappeared
- You find two random thugs
- You beat them and you fight their muscled boss
- The muscled boss beat the crap out of you
- You find a master to teach you how to defeat the muscled boss
- You beat the muscled boss
Here's how Niaowu is constructed:
- You're looking for someone who disappeared
- You find two random thugs
- You beat them and you fight their muscled boss
- The muscled boss beat the crap out of you
- You find a master to teach you how to defeat the muscled boss
- You beat the muscled boss
Now how is Shenmue I constructed ?
Dobuita:
- You investigate Iwao's death
- You learn about the mirrors
- You learn about the letter
- You learn about the Chi You Men and Lan Di going to Hong Kong by infiltrating the Harbor a first time
- You try to head off for Hong Kong
- You meet an opponent that is related to the Mad Angels/CYM and that opponent destroy your ticket
Harbor:
- You work to learn more about the gang in question
- You get approached by them
- Nozomi gets kidnapped and you get to save her at the exchange to defeat your friend
- You go back there to defeat all of them
- You defeat the gang leader and head for HK
- You're stopped by the final boss before heading for Hong Kong
Both areas have their own narrative structure. It doesn't follow the same pattern. But Shenmue III though ? It's IDENTICAL in the big lines. Not for Shenmue I. Not for Shenmue II either.
Excuse the simplistic comment it's being a long ass day.
Shenmue 1 main story: Find thugs/Sailors
Shenmue 2 main story (ignore disc 4): Where's Zhu
Shenmue 3 main story: Find Yuan/Thugs
The basic premise of the Shenmue games is very simple IMO. What the first two games do better is develop the stuff around it to engross you in the story, characters etc. There's repetitive loops in all the games but they feel less so in the originals because of the extra bits I've mentioned.
As I said, the problem of Shenmue III's story isn't "Find Yuan/Thugs". It's how that is deployed in the exact same narrative structure for both areas.
In Shenmue I and II though ? While you can sum them up like this (and that's being really unfair to those two games), both area have a richer narrative structure and both games have a different narrative structure for both areas.
People aren't complaining that all you're doing in Shenmue 3 is to find Yuan/Thugs. The problem is that you do it TWICE in the game as the main narrative structure for BOTH areas.
People aren't complaining because there's a "repetitive loop" in Shenmue 3 because the problem is the loop in question is the entirety of both areas. You don't drive a forklift in Dobuita then do it again in the Harbor. You don't search for 4 masters then air books in Wan Chai then do the same in Kowloon. But in Shenmue 3 ? The loop I explained up there is repeated twice. And that loop sum up both areas.