Just finished Shenmue III - thoughts (have avoided all reviews/spoilers/etc)

Joined
Nov 29, 2020
Hi all, you may not believe it but I'm a huge Shenmue fan and had been looking forward to III for years and finally just finished it. I have probably had the busiest year of my life and just didn't have the time to sink into it (or any game) the way I wanted to -- and I really wanted to spend time with it like I did the original two -- soaking in the world, spending time working, exploring, etc. -- so all that to say, I've finally, 20 minutes ago, watched the credits roll.

Even more difficult doing it this way is that I didn't want any reviews, commenters, etc., to colour my experience with the game. So writing this now, I have no idea what the fan community thought of III, nor what reviewers may have thought of it.

So my big takeaway: It's an imperfect, beautiful, satisfying game, with minor deficiencies. But given the fact that it didn't have a major studio backing it, the fact that we got such a beautiful world to explore (as a Kickstarter game!) is pretty remarkable.

Story

Starts off pretty slow, and I'd say doesn't have the same engaging flow throughout that I and II did. The game does become much more enjoyable when Ryo arrives in Niaowu. It seems like a transitional chapter, but I really loved the finale. The shivers when Ryo fights Lan Di! I did hope that sequence went a little bit longer, though. And it takes guts by Yu Suzuki to not resolve the story here and bet on a 4th entry, but at the same time I wouldn't want him to rush it either. Great to see Ren in an important role! Even though the justification for him being there initially is just... "treasure?"

You can really feel like Yu has some very interesting story pieces that he's still setting up in this game, especially in the finale.

Fighting

At first I wasn't sure about this, but I felt the fighting system really deepened the more you played the game. I really enjoyed the circuits in Niaowu, going through progressively harder opponents to win skill books. I really worked on levelling up Ryo's fighting skills before heading to the final sequence, and having done that it was really easy to cruise through the final opponents, including this master kung fu artist (forget his name). There were guys at the dojo who were more difficult to beat than that guy. Also, not sure how I feel about the recovery drinks that save you during a fight -- tended to take away the challenge having those in your back pocket.

Voice acting

Awful, but it is Shenmue. Also was disappointed that they recast all of the original voices beside Ryo. Ryo's voice acting is awful (is someone directing this guy? Does he have any context to what he's reacting to?) but again, it's Shenmue.

Graphics

Beautiful. I love the style of this game, and the sunsets in Bailu Village and Niaowu are frequently stunning. It's a rare game that is able to capture a world like this in such a way that actually stops you in your (in-game) tracks. There's the occasional hiccup but nothing that really bothered me.

Side-quests

A mixed bag, but there are enough here to keep you interested if some bore you. It was great to see the return of the forklift, though I wouldn't have minded seeing more of a varied track to keep things interesting. I also really enjoyed the economy in the game -- collecting herbs to sell at the pharmacy, for example. There are enough items to make this seem worth it (new clothes, for one) that makes it feel like the economy actually matters, compared to I and II where the money was all to advance quests forward.

Music

One of my favourite parts of the Shenmue experience, and though I didn't feel like the music hit the heights of I and II there are some great tracks. The main Shenmue theme is one of the best in gaming history IMO. My favourite in this one, I think, is what plays when Ryo is chopping wood -- so calming. And then frustratingly it cuts out whenever Ryo chops wood into that weird techno track, but I'll track it down for myself later.

Overall, I'm walking away from this wanting more and feeling like the best is still to come. I think what happened here was that they had a big job, creating the world of Shenmue on a much lower budget, and some of that shows -- a lot of this is world-building, and the game gradually grows more impressive as it goes on, really reaching its peak in the final 1/4.

OK, now I'm going to go read what everyone else thought.
 
Glad you enjoyed the game :coffee:

I think the general consensus is if you're the type of player who engages with the economy by participating in a range of side activities, investing in skills and training, and basically playing the game how it wants to be played, then you're more likely to enjoy the overall experience.

It's far from perfect, with clear room for improvement in key areas (my top two: characters and combat) but I still thoroughly enjoyed my 30 or so hours with it. It's still very unique, there are plenty of cool moments, and the game is gorgeous with some fantastic music to boot.

I chose to play the game in Japanese, but I think the stilted nature of the English voices comes from the translation more than anything. The voices themselves are a lot better than in the original games, with experienced voice actors playing the parts, but the writing is spotty.
 
think the general consensus is if you're the type of player who engages with the economy by participating in a range of side activities, investing in skills and training, and basically playing the game how it wants to be played, then you're more likely to enjoy the overall experience.
This is what I did and I mostly enjoyed that aspect. I really enjoyed the herb collecting and fishing, I think those were great additions to the series. The training also had far more substance to it than the old games, but then I also missed how it felt like Ryo's advancements in martial arts felt more intrinsically linked to the narrative in the first two games, particularly in the way that the many characters you meet would teach you new moves, would ask you to spar or would put you through various training mini games (catching leaves etc).

I always find it interesting when people prefer Niaowu to Bailu. Personally I prefer Bailu, but when I think about it, I don't know if I necessarily disagree that it's the more interesting and faster paced half. I guess when I got to Niaowu, that was the moment when I realised the game was not going to meet my expectations. That was when I realised the story wasn't really going to pick up in any meaningful way or really take off. I had high hopes that it would when I reached Niaowu and it felt like everything kinda fell flat. Bailu, on the other hand, with a slower pace and smaller scope that felt similar to Yokosuka in the first game, it felt like that mostly achieved what it set out to be. It was a solid start and it didn't really outstay its welcome. Once you started getting a little tired of the thugs scaring the locals storyline and exhausted the exploration and interactions with the locals, the game moved onto Niaowu. But that half, to me, it felt failed to achieve the feeling the second halves of Shenmue 1 and 2 had.
 
Shenmue 3 is something that ive been waiting for ever since i was just a boy. I was really really excited. So excited that when my mom brought me my copy of shenmue 3 giftwrapped in christmas day i cried and ran around the house screaming in joy. I popped that bad boy into my playstations 4 and i played it all night long. And after i finiished it it was really surprisinly good but then a few months ago i watched this video on ytoutubes and it was callled shenmue 3 is terrible and i wasted my time and my life and so i was mad that they made such a degrading video so i replayed the game withthat mindset in mind and with all this being said, shenmue 3 fucking sucks. I was so shocked that i was blinded by my nostalgia that i quickly went into room almost at the verge of tears knowing my childhood never truly came back. And now im a firm believer that the anime series will surpass shenmue 3 in terms of not only story but as a piece of art in general. shenmue 3 was a disaster of a game and i truly never want to lay my eyes on it again as it really did hurt the story of shenmue and destroy the once amazing combat mechanics. It hurts to say but it must be said. Shenmue the anime will hopefulle be awesome and everythign i dreamed of as just a little boy and hopefully ill never relive shenmue 3 again as it brings about sad memories of my past. But that is just my opinion.
 
I always find it interesting when people prefer Niaowu to Bailu. Personally I prefer Bailu, but when I think about it, I don't know if I necessarily disagree that it's the more interesting and faster paced half. I guess when I got to Niaowu, that was the moment when I realised the game was not going to meet my expectations. That was when I realised the story wasn't really going to pick up in any meaningful way or really take off. I had high hopes that it would when I reached Niaowu and it felt like everything kinda fell flat. Bailu, on the other hand, with a slower pace and smaller scope that felt similar to Yokosuka in the first game, it felt like that mostly achieved what it set out to be. It was a solid start and it didn't really outstay its welcome. Once you started getting a little tired of the thugs scaring the locals storyline and exhausted the exploration and interactions with the locals, the game moved onto Niaowu. But that half, to me, it felt failed to achieve the feeling the second halves of Shenmue 1 and 2 had.
Agreed. I think that, overall, Bailu was very well-constructed, despite the handful of problems I have with it. The mystery was strongest in Bailu, they nailed the atmosphere, the side content/jobs felt most natural in that environment and, as you say, it ends before outstaying its welcome (mostly).

Niaowu leaves a great first impression. In fact, I think the first 3 or 4 days in Niaowu felt really good to me (from memory) -- it's big and detailed, there are several action sequences, more characters pop up, etc. -- but unfortunately the environment and the characters within are just a bit too shallow to remain convincing. It really doesn't help that the story sends you on another prolonged gang hunt.

If you made it to the Red Snakes leader in half the time, and there was a third area after Niaowu (as was originally planned) then the game's second half would've been a lot better, but alas.

Shenmue 3 is something that ive been waiting for ever since i was just a boy. I was really really excited. So excited that when my mom brought me my copy of shenmue 3 giftwrapped in christmas day i cried and ran around the house screaming in joy. I popped that bad boy into my playstations 4 and i played it all night long. And after i finiished it it was really surprisinly good but then a few months ago i watched this video on ytoutubes and it was callled shenmue 3 is terrible and i wasted my time and my life and so i was mad that they made such a degrading video so i replayed the game withthat mindset in mind and with all this being said, shenmue 3 fucking sucks. I was so shocked that i was blinded by my nostalgia that i quickly went into room almost at the verge of tears knowing my childhood never truly came back. And now im a firm believer that the anime series will surpass shenmue 3 in terms of not only story but as a piece of art in general. shenmue 3 was a disaster of a game and i truly never want to lay my eyes on it again as it really did hurt the story of shenmue and destroy the once amazing combat mechanics. It hurts to say but it must be said. Shenmue the anime will hopefulle be awesome and everythign i dreamed of as just a little boy and hopefully ill never relive shenmue 3 again as it brings about sad memories of my past. But that is just my opinion.
It's a shame that one guy's opinion can literally ruin the game for someone who actually really enjoyed it 😐 It's fine if your opinion changed on the second play-through, but don't be fooled into thinking that everything that guy says is fact.
 
Shenmue 3 is something that ive been waiting for ever since i was just a boy. I was really really excited. So excited that when my mom brought me my copy of shenmue 3 giftwrapped in christmas day i cried and ran around the house screaming in joy. I popped that bad boy into my playstations 4 and i played it all night long. And after i finiished it it was really surprisinly good but then a few months ago i watched this video on ytoutubes and it was callled shenmue 3 is terrible and i wasted my time and my life and so i was mad that they made such a degrading video so i replayed the game withthat mindset in mind and with all this being said, shenmue 3 fucking sucks. I was so shocked that i was blinded by my nostalgia that i quickly went into room almost at the verge of tears knowing my childhood never truly came back. And now im a firm believer that the anime series will surpass shenmue 3 in terms of not only story but as a piece of art in general. shenmue 3 was a disaster of a game and i truly never want to lay my eyes on it again as it really did hurt the story of shenmue and destroy the once amazing combat mechanics. It hurts to say but it must be said. Shenmue the anime will hopefulle be awesome and everythign i dreamed of as just a little boy and hopefully ill never relive shenmue 3 again as it brings about sad memories of my past. But that is just my opinion.
I'd echo what @orient said here. Like if you've played it again and that's changed your view then 100% cool.

Personally I wouldn't let a YouTuber, who exaggerated issues to fit his arguments, change my opinion. Yes he raises good points but does so in a manner designed to slate the game further than what is presented when you play it. That's not glossing over the well discussed issues we know about

Then again I ignore basically most YouTube reviews barring a couple these days.
 
i replayed the game withthat mindset in mind
Yep. That's where mistake were made :

I always told my friends that when you jump onto a game/movie/TV Series with a particular mindset, this mindset is probably gonna change the way you feel.

If you go with a pessimistic mindset about not liking a game, thinking it would be bad, subconsciously you're gonna pick up every little bad detail and have a blind eye on every little good detail.

So yeah, basically, you watched a YouTuber say something, you took his words like truth and you launched back the game with the idea that you were hating it even before you had the chance to replay it for yourself.

That's why I hate YouTubers. At the time watching YouTubers felt like a better idea than reading reviews, because YouTubers were free, and never under pressure of a publisher or the public or anything (I say this, it was like a decade ago). Now it's the opposite, YouTubers is now a job so unsure, where you have to post content often and in a very peculiar entertaining way to keep the audience, that now their reviews of games are far worse the the press ones.

And you know. That's what SEW video is. As a video itself, it's well written, well played, well edited etc... It's entertaining to watch, the rythme is well thought etc... But, that's it. What he says about the game is melodramatic, completely hyperbolic, he omits alot of points. And why does he omits alot of points? Because it's not entertaining to talk about. Because that's SEW and his videos are : entertainment before being reviews. That's why I don't trust YouTubers review and went back to classic journalism.
 
To add something to my previous post about mindset. The mindset you're in can litterally change your view of a game/movie etc...

Like I said, if you go in with a mindset that says "this is gonna be bad", you're already hating it so you're going to look for the bad in it. The opposite is also true. If you go with the mindset of "it's gonna be good", you're gonna look at the positive aspect of things. It's all about psychology and how your mind can tweak around stuff, on the subjective level. Of course what is objectively good or bad won't change from your mindset. But what is subjective, so nor good or bad, but up to your own interpretation will change whether or not you mind tells you how to take it.

But sometimes it can also play in your favor or disfavor. If you're mindset is telling you that you are going to play a terrible game, and the game is actually not terrible and quite OK, then you'll be genuinely surprised, you're gonna love it more than somebody who were expecting to play a masterpiece and play a just quite OK game, so since he's disappointed he's gonna dislike the game more.

It happened to me more than once. I am a huge MGS fan. It's one of the best video game series I've ever played personally. So I was hype af for MGS V and thought it would be a masterpiece. And while the game is really good actually, the fact that it's really not as good as I was made me dislike the game alot at first. Or like RDR2, I was so hype by the game that I couldn't finish it the first time around because I hated my experience. Finally, with a stepback and a good mindset, I started it again and completed it this summer and in the end I loved the game. Less than I was hoping, but my mindset changed my point of view.

That's what happened to Shenmue 3. Alot of people were disappointed because they were hoping for more. I wasn't that disappointed, because I was hoping for less. I was part of the Shenmue Fans that thought that Shenmue was dead, that Shenmue 3 was NEVER going to be made or anything. So when it was announced it was a miracle to me. And since it was a kickstarter, my mind was already set on the idea that it'll be a small indie game. And while it disappointed me on some parts (the staging, presentation for example) , my global experience was fairly positive. But it's probably because my mindset was on par with what the game was in reality.
 
Hi all, you may not believe it but I'm a huge Shenmue fan and had been looking forward to III for years and finally just finished it. I have probably had the busiest year of my life and just didn't have the time to sink into it (or any game) the way I wanted to -- and I really wanted to spend time with it like I did the original two -- soaking in the world, spending time working, exploring, etc. -- so all that to say, I've finally, 20 minutes ago, watched the credits roll.

Even more difficult doing it this way is that I didn't want any reviews, commenters, etc., to colour my experience with the game. So writing this now, I have no idea what the fan community thought of III, nor what reviewers may have thought of it.

So my big takeaway: It's an imperfect, beautiful, satisfying game, with minor deficiencies. But given the fact that it didn't have a major studio backing it, the fact that we got such a beautiful world to explore (as a Kickstarter game!) is pretty remarkable.

Story

Starts off pretty slow, and I'd say doesn't have the same engaging flow throughout that I and II did. The game does become much more enjoyable when Ryo arrives in Niaowu. It seems like a transitional chapter, but I really loved the finale. The shivers when Ryo fights Lan Di! I did hope that sequence went a little bit longer, though. And it takes guts by Yu Suzuki to not resolve the story here and bet on a 4th entry, but at the same time I wouldn't want him to rush it either. Great to see Ren in an important role! Even though the justification for him being there initially is just... "treasure?"

You can really feel like Yu has some very interesting story pieces that he's still setting up in this game, especially in the finale.

Fighting

At first I wasn't sure about this, but I felt the fighting system really deepened the more you played the game. I really enjoyed the circuits in Niaowu, going through progressively harder opponents to win skill books. I really worked on levelling up Ryo's fighting skills before heading to the final sequence, and having done that it was really easy to cruise through the final opponents, including this master kung fu artist (forget his name). There were guys at the dojo who were more difficult to beat than that guy. Also, not sure how I feel about the recovery drinks that save you during a fight -- tended to take away the challenge having those in your back pocket.

Voice acting

Awful, but it is Shenmue. Also was disappointed that they recast all of the original voices beside Ryo. Ryo's voice acting is awful (is someone directing this guy? Does he have any context to what he's reacting to?) but again, it's Shenmue.

Graphics

Beautiful. I love the style of this game, and the sunsets in Bailu Village and Niaowu are frequently stunning. It's a rare game that is able to capture a world like this in such a way that actually stops you in your (in-game) tracks. There's the occasional hiccup but nothing that really bothered me.

Side-quests

A mixed bag, but there are enough here to keep you interested if some bore you. It was great to see the return of the forklift, though I wouldn't have minded seeing more of a varied track to keep things interesting. I also really enjoyed the economy in the game -- collecting herbs to sell at the pharmacy, for example. There are enough items to make this seem worth it (new clothes, for one) that makes it feel like the economy actually matters, compared to I and II where the money was all to advance quests forward.

Music

One of my favourite parts of the Shenmue experience, and though I didn't feel like the music hit the heights of I and II there are some great tracks. The main Shenmue theme is one of the best in gaming history IMO. My favourite in this one, I think, is what plays when Ryo is chopping wood -- so calming. And then frustratingly it cuts out whenever Ryo chops wood into that weird techno track, but I'll track it down for myself later.

Overall, I'm walking away from this wanting more and feeling like the best is still to come. I think what happened here was that they had a big job, creating the world of Shenmue on a much lower budget, and some of that shows -- a lot of this is world-building, and the game gradually grows more impressive as it goes on, really reaching its peak in the final 1/4.

OK, now I'm going to go read what everyone else thought.
Welcome to the forums!
 
I had the game at an 8.3 until near the end where I gave it a 6.7. I don’t understand why the side characters where involved in the final act. They could’ve gotten away with just Ryo and Ren. Nonetheless, it is crazy that many here were worried about graphics, comparing it to AAA level games during development, and that seemed like a non-issue after release, and it became, more so, a mechanics and story issue. Story was the largest factor, honestly, for its “failure,” but the game was up to par, visually. Shenmue II is my top game ever, but its story originally bored me until the latter half of the Wan Chai arc. Its greatness never let up after that. S3 had an opposite effect, i.e., it didn’t get better further into the story.
 
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Shenmue 3 is something that ive been waiting for ever since i was just a boy. I was really really excited. So excited that when my mom brought me my copy of shenmue 3 giftwrapped in christmas day i cried and ran around the house screaming in joy. I popped that bad boy into my playstations 4 and i played it all night long. And after i finiished it it was really surprisinly good but then a few months ago i watched this video on ytoutubes and it was callled shenmue 3 is terrible and i wasted my time and my life and so i was mad that they made such a degrading video so i replayed the game withthat mindset in mind and with all this being said, shenmue 3 fucking sucks. I was so shocked that i was blinded by my nostalgia that i quickly went into room almost at the verge of tears knowing my childhood never truly came back. And now im a firm believer that the anime series will surpass shenmue 3 in terms of not only story but as a piece of art in general. shenmue 3 was a disaster of a game and i truly never want to lay my eyes on it again as it really did hurt the story of shenmue and destroy the once amazing combat mechanics. It hurts to say but it must be said. Shenmue the anime will hopefulle be awesome and everythign i dreamed of as just a little boy and hopefully ill never relive shenmue 3 again as it brings about sad memories of my past. But that is just my opinion.
You really enjoyed the game. Then you watched a youtuber who shouts and screams about it, so you adopt his mindset, play it again, and now you hate it???
 
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I had the game at an 8.3 until near the end where I gave it a 6.7. I don’t understand why the side characters where involved in the final act. They could’ve gotten away with just Roy and Ren. Nonetheless, it is crazy that many here were worried about graphics, comparing it to AAA level games during development, and that seemed like a non-issue after release, and it became, more so, a mechanics and story issue. Story was the largest factor, honestly, for its “failure,” but the game was up to par, visually. Shenmue II is my top game ever, but its story originally bored me until the latter half of the Wan Chai arc. Its greatness never let up after that. S3 had an opposite effect, i.e., it didn’t get better further into the story.
Not to diminish your point (very fair btw) but I saw Roy in the text and had to bring this out of retirement.

Shenmue-III-Is-Happening-on-Kickstarter-Makes-1M-in-Less-Than-2-Hours-484404-2.jpg

Roy Hazuki
 
Like I said, if you go in with a mindset that says "this is gonna be bad", you're already hating it so you're going to look for the bad in it.
Reminds me of several of the Shenmue III reviews I read back at launch :censored: Some people clearly took pride in tearing it down because they'd been skeptical since the announcement -- how could they possibly create a follow-up to one of the most expensive games ever made via Kickstarter? At the same time, why do they need so much money from different sources?? There's no facial animation in this early trailer! Har, the game's going to be terrible! I can't believe Yu Suzuki sold out the fans to Epic!

All that BS contributed to a negative vibe, and some reviewers just couldn't help but set themselves up for the "I told you so" card.
 
Hi all, you may not believe it but I'm a huge Shenmue fan and had been looking forward to III for years and finally just finished it. I have probably had the busiest year of my life and just didn't have the time to sink into it (or any game) the way I wanted to -- and I really wanted to spend time with it like I did the original two -- soaking in the world, spending time working, exploring, etc. -- so all that to say, I've finally, 20 minutes ago, watched the credits roll.

Even more difficult doing it this way is that I didn't want any reviews, commenters, etc., to colour my experience with the game. So writing this now, I have no idea what the fan community thought of III, nor what reviewers may have thought of it.

So my big takeaway: It's an imperfect, beautiful, satisfying game, with minor deficiencies. But given the fact that it didn't have a major studio backing it, the fact that we got such a beautiful world to explore (as a Kickstarter game!) is pretty remarkable.

Story

Starts off pretty slow, and I'd say doesn't have the same engaging flow throughout that I and II did. The game does become much more enjoyable when Ryo arrives in Niaowu. It seems like a transitional chapter, but I really loved the finale. The shivers when Ryo fights Lan Di! I did hope that sequence went a little bit longer, though. And it takes guts by Yu Suzuki to not resolve the story here and bet on a 4th entry, but at the same time I wouldn't want him to rush it either. Great to see Ren in an important role! Even though the justification for him being there initially is just... "treasure?"

You can really feel like Yu has some very interesting story pieces that he's still setting up in this game, especially in the finale.

Fighting

At first I wasn't sure about this, but I felt the fighting system really deepened the more you played the game. I really enjoyed the circuits in Niaowu, going through progressively harder opponents to win skill books. I really worked on levelling up Ryo's fighting skills before heading to the final sequence, and having done that it was really easy to cruise through the final opponents, including this master kung fu artist (forget his name). There were guys at the dojo who were more difficult to beat than that guy. Also, not sure how I feel about the recovery drinks that save you during a fight -- tended to take away the challenge having those in your back pocket.

Voice acting

Awful, but it is Shenmue. Also was disappointed that they recast all of the original voices beside Ryo. Ryo's voice acting is awful (is someone directing this guy? Does he have any context to what he's reacting to?) but again, it's Shenmue.

Graphics

Beautiful. I love the style of this game, and the sunsets in Bailu Village and Niaowu are frequently stunning. It's a rare game that is able to capture a world like this in such a way that actually stops you in your (in-game) tracks. There's the occasional hiccup but nothing that really bothered me.

Side-quests

A mixed bag, but there are enough here to keep you interested if some bore you. It was great to see the return of the forklift, though I wouldn't have minded seeing more of a varied track to keep things interesting. I also really enjoyed the economy in the game -- collecting herbs to sell at the pharmacy, for example. There are enough items to make this seem worth it (new clothes, for one) that makes it feel like the economy actually matters, compared to I and II where the money was all to advance quests forward.

Music

One of my favourite parts of the Shenmue experience, and though I didn't feel like the music hit the heights of I and II there are some great tracks. The main Shenmue theme is one of the best in gaming history IMO. My favourite in this one, I think, is what plays when Ryo is chopping wood -- so calming. And then frustratingly it cuts out whenever Ryo chops wood into that weird techno track, but I'll track it down for myself later.

Overall, I'm walking away from this wanting more and feeling like the best is still to come. I think what happened here was that they had a big job, creating the world of Shenmue on a much lower budget, and some of that shows -- a lot of this is world-building, and the game gradually grows more impressive as it goes on, really reaching its peak in the final 1/4.

OK, now I'm going to go read what everyone else thought.
Great fair breakdown. Welcome to the forums. Same to @superomegaguy23. Welcome

I'm pretty much in agreement with what most of the others have said @spud1897 @Reprise @orient and @Guy-ManAfterAll . Very good points made

Not to diminish your point (very fair btw) but I saw Roy in the text and had to bring this out of retirement.

View attachment 9889

Roy Hazuki
Roy is a legend. They should have made him a costume or an NPC.
 

Reminds me of several of the Shenmue III reviews I read back at launch :censored: Some people clearly took pride in tearing it down because they'd been skeptical since the announcement -- how could they possibly create a follow-up to one of the most expensive games ever made via Kickstarter? At the same time, why do they need so much money from different sources?? There's no facial animation in this early trailer! Har, the game's going to be terrible! I can't believe Yu Suzuki sold out the fans to Epic!

All that BS contributed to a negative vibe, and some reviewers just couldn't help but set themselves up for the "I told you so" card.
Oh yeah. Let's remember that some of the hate was there already at the Kickstarter announcement.

It's clear that many people, wether it was journalist or so, that launched the game already hating on it.
 
I had the game at an 8.3 until near the end where I gave it a 6.7. I don’t understand why the side characters where involved in the final act. They could’ve gotten away with just Roy and Ren. Nonetheless, it is crazy that many here were worried about graphics, comparing it to AAA level games during development, and that seemed like a non-issue after release, and it became, more so, a mechanics and story issue. Story was the largest factor, honestly, for its “failure,” but the game was up to par, visually. Shenmue II is my top game ever, but its story originally bored me until the latter half of the Wan Chai arc. Its greatness never let up after that. S3 had an opposite effect, i.e., it didn’t get better further into the story.
I believe (but it's just hypothetic) that Shilling and the fat master (don't remember his name, lmao) were probably supposed to have a bigger role in the game, and so their presence were to be justified, but in the end, weren't because, time constraint made them cut part of the game.
 
Shenmue 3 is something that ive been waiting for ever since i was just a boy. I was really really excited. So excited that when my mom brought me my copy of shenmue 3 giftwrapped in christmas day i cried and ran around the house screaming in joy. I popped that bad boy into my playstations 4 and i played it all night long. And after i finiished it it was really surprisinly good but then a few months ago i watched this video on ytoutubes and it was callled shenmue 3 is terrible and i wasted my time and my life and so i was mad that they made such a degrading video so i replayed the game withthat mindset in mind and with all this being said, shenmue 3 fucking sucks. I was so shocked that i was blinded by my nostalgia that i quickly went into room almost at the verge of tears knowing my childhood never truly came back. And now im a firm believer that the anime series will surpass shenmue 3 in terms of not only story but as a piece of art in general. shenmue 3 was a disaster of a game and i truly never want to lay my eyes on it again as it really did hurt the story of shenmue and destroy the once amazing combat mechanics. It hurts to say but it must be said. Shenmue the anime will hopefulle be awesome and everythign i dreamed of as just a little boy and hopefully ill never relive shenmue 3 again as it brings about sad memories of my past. But that is just my opinion.
I've played through Shenmue 3 one single time and I think its not worth for me playing it again. I feel pretty uncomfortable thinking about stamina, grinding and the lack story. I have no desire to play it again :( Its sad if I compare to Shenmue 1 and 2 which I play once a year.

Just started the Yakuza Series (Yakuza 0) and I like it pretty much :)
 
I've played through Shenmue 3 one single time and I think its not worth for me playing it again. I feel pretty uncomfortable thinking about stamina, grinding and the lack story. I have no desire to play it again :( Its sad if I compare to Shenmue 1 and 2 which I play once a year.

Just started the Yakuza Series (Yakuza 0) and I like it pretty much :)
Sad to hear.

Do you still wait for Shenmue 4 though? What do you expect of it?
 
So my big takeaway: It's an imperfect, beautiful, satisfying game, with minor deficiencies.
I took away the same. I also had not previously heard what anybody else thought about it.

I don’t understand why the side characters where involved in the final act. They could’ve gotten away with just Ryo and Ren.
This is easy. They were involved to give the final fight the feeling of a bigger battle. The same couldn't have been achieved with just Ryo and Ren.

I've seen this point criticized a few times, which makes me wonder what everybody was smoking while playing this.

We may not have deep emotional connection to these characters (unlike Ren who is already our favorite bromance partner since forever ago,) but we really don't need to. And their inclusion into the action was set up very effectively.

The Broom-Lady explicitly told Ryo she’d want him to take her with to the Snakes’ hideout. Ryo just told her no, because he was too macho.

The Nameless-Fat-Dude, for crying out loud, introduced himself by saying:

“Hello, my hobby is doing random acts of violence, which I perceive as justice. I heard you did one yourself a while back, so I will immediately trust you.”

So, of course he would be eager to go along with what is his already established hobby.

It's obvious both of these two characters joined when Ren was asking around for help.

Meeting these two characters was actually enough to make me surmise there would be some sort of gang fight with the Red Snakes ahead, only I was expecting Ryo would have to rally a bunch of troops himself. I was mentally prepared to fetch these two. So, unexpected it hardly was.

I think it'd make sense for there to have been even more NPCs involved, since they were up against a whole army, really. I initially suspected more troops to the gang fight could be found at the Muren Cafe and among the dock workers when it was time, but I guess none from that bunch was interested in random violence-justice when Ren was seeking.

Oh, and I also suspected the mystery chick might turn into one of these allies, but she turned to be the evil boss-lady, instead. Oops.


Offtopic: Is there some thread where one could try to predict the future events of the series for the lulz? I'm apprehensive about starting a new thread, but I've not yet seen one dedicated to that.
 
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