My Shenmue 3 impressions (5 hours in)

quicktimefailure said:
In my opinion, the game gets so much better once you leave Bailu and go to Choubu. If you get bored during the game, just keep this piece in mind and push through.
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IIRC Yu said that Bailu was like one big intro before the game really starts, or something to that effect.
 
KidMarine said:
IIRC Yu said that Bailu was like one big intro before the game really starts, or something to that effect.
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I can totally believe that
because now that I've reached Choubu, it was so much bigger and a lot more interaction with shops and dojos (and gambling)
celsowm said:
Happy that someone finally reached Chobu! Have you played arcades?
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Yes I have.
While a good amount of the Arcade games are in the tiny Bailu arcade. the arcade in Choubu is huge and actually feels like an arcade. There's whack-a-mole, "golf" (more like toss a ball into a moving hole), that car driving game where you have to stay in the middle of the lane, QTE Title, Excite QtE and Choubu Chan Fighter (basically virtua fighter but with chickens). The upstairs is the prize exchange area. From what I saw they have shirts and other stuff you can exchange.
 
code l name said:
As some folks may have seen after a lot of wrangling and paying more than I am willing to admit a kind user on another forum I frequent was able to ship me a copy of Shenmue 3 early, which I received and started today.

I know a lot of fans are on edge right now with the release imminent but I wanted to share my general thoughts which I will keep broad and then discuss some specific elements which will contain some spoilers but I will try and avoid discussing story specifics.

So after 18 years of waiting does Shenmue 3 live up to lofty expectations and hopes of us fans? Well I am far too early in the game to make any definitive statements but in short fans of the series will find a lot to love and enjoy about the games opening.

I was giddy in anticipation as latest patch downloaded and the game started. I actually watched the recap video, which in my opinion is serviceable in getting new players up to date with the games essential story but as many will attest Shenmue needs to be experienced not merely watched. As the opening cinematic started it was hard not to realize I was entering uncharted waters and didn't quite know what to expect.

After a well directed opening cinematic, the games opening handful of minutes are pretty uneven. Those that have seen the latest previews probably know what I'm referring to but the game tries to get a lot of exposition out of the way in a relatively cumbersome manner. I just know there was a better way to block and edit conversations together, making them feel much more seamless. Perhaps a product of lack of budget but it certainly feels a lot less refined and cinematic than it's two predecessors.

Thankfully things get better from that point on (Outside a brief occurrence of the aforementioned issue on day 2). The core elements of what made us fall in love with Shenmue return and with some tweaks and additions. The game feels like a worthy successor to the Dreamcast games and after a few minutes it felt familiar stepping back into Ryo's shoes. So here's some stray observations with my time so far;

- First thing everyone should do before starting game is going into page 2 of the settings and under Zoom option turning it to 'off'. This will remove picture frame when going into First Person mode

- Speaking of, you can now walk and explore entire game in First Person, simply press and hold L2 trigger while free roaming

- I am playing this on a PS4 Pro but having looked through menu extensively I do not believe it has Pro support. I am sure John at Digital Foundry will give us a great analysis but this appears to be 1080p with stable framerate and very occasional hitches

- In setting menu there is space to enter your Backer Code (Where or what email do we get this from?) I presume this is to enable all the backer perks

- Game now auto-saves after next story beat or clue is listed in your notebook

- In opening cinematic there is a relatively signifcant retcon
regarding the sword which now Yuan gives to Shenhua and no longer floating or in an alter

- The game really looks beautiful. The colours are vibrant, the environments are of course the star but a few hours in and I was totally drawn into the world

- I am playing this on hard and trust me you will need to diligently train and spend considerable time with wooden dummies along with sparing

- I am totally addicted to herb collecting. Every time I venture out I am going to corners or behind objects trying to find my next herb!

- Now at various points if you press triangle it will fast travel you to next story objective or main location. Unfortunately I don't think you can disable this but I of course was going to stick of Suzuki's advice of taking my time with the game and promptly ignored this

- You now have a curfew of
9pm when games warps you to Shenhua's house
. I believe you can go back out but if you loved the dialogue options in Disk 4, those two hours before your bed time have some really neat conversations and do much to flesh out the characters of Ryo and Shenhua

- I am still coming to grips with abundant of reused music. We've been trained for 18 years to associate certain music pieces with events or scenes from the original games so when they are placed in a completely different scenario it can take a while to acclimatize

- From what I've seen, Bailu is huge! It's so refreshing to get lost in a Shenmue game again!

- In first few days I've seen 3-4 large rain downpours. It's really beautiful seeing Ryo's jacket glistening, the heavy noise of rain and the paths become muddy

- I am putting this down to user error but I absolutely suck at pail toss.

- QTE title in this is absolutely brutal. First the noise from button prompts and rapid cuts make this somewhat jarring but then
certain pads come up but are fake outs if there's no corresponding button prompts

I've got a million other things to say but last few hours have been a blur finally getting to play this. I am happy to answer any questions others may have. In summary as I start to slowly progress mainline story it's heading in a very interesting direction and outside a few technical and odd choices, I think fans will overwhelming enjoy this as much as I have. This is Shenmue through and through and that's the best compliment I can give it.
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I have watched the first 2 days and forced myself to stop because we are so close but I can confirm Day 1 can be seen as cumbersome with fade to black dialog scenes with Shenhua but after that it all smooths out and comes together so so good. I also noticed as you level up Ryo his moves have more flair and force behind his attacks. Like a natural progression. This game is good guys.
 
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jsh020 said:
That relieving then, cause I feared it'd be frequent.
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I actually forgot though. Every day when come home (at least in Bailu, in Shenhua's house), you basically go over what you learned over the day with Shenhua and it does happen here as well, only with them sitting instead of walking. It just didn't feel as jarring in these segments as the walking portions.
 
Neoblast said:
Are there any sega themed gacha toys? Or only generic and shenmue related ones?
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So far in Bailu village there isn’t any SEGA toys I’ve found. There is a nice SEGA Easter egg, you can find
Sega Saturn in drawer in the temple

Try Asking Sumiya San said:
What do you think to the combat ?
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If you’ve played the demo you will have a good idea what to expect. Feels perhaps a little tighter and faster. Overall on hard difficulty spacing and ensuring you get are defending while strategically attacking when opening arrives seem to be operative strategy. I’ve only had one multiple person fight to date.

ShenmueTree said:
Hows the story so far?
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Promising. Those expecting answers out of the door will be disappointed. It feels a bit like Shenmue 1 in that in takes a little while for the main story to get going but I’ve seen lots of very interesting story threads starting to get explored and overall the execution of story seems to be pretty good so far.

I will post a lot more impressions and observations shortly.
 
I would be interested in any Kickstarter related items you've discovered so far (like the Save Shenmue building or the Guestbook at the hotel)...
 
Thought I would post some additional observations, impressions and thoughts for the community.

- Several times while walking around I would stop and have to pinch myself, realizing I was playing Shenmue 3

- I mentioned how big Bailu feels. Incrementally more of the map gets opened up and many of the areas are interconnecting.

- Finally tried fishing. From what little I played it’s not exactly deep but there seems a couple of side quests related to this activity. Also many fishing holes scattered through the environment

- I’ve encountered a handful of side quests. It’s handled a very Shenmue way, in that you have to organically encounter characters as they go about their day and the square button will turn gold allowing you to trigger the side quests. I’ve completed a handful and they often involve multiple steps and help flesh out some of the towns people

- There is also
frog
races

- Love to hear other people’s impression who are currently playing so I can rule out I’m just a bad player and the mini game isn't broken but I can’t win at pale toss

- Someone who has better knowledge of retro Sega music can tell you what
alternative retro arcade song plays at the second wood chopping station at Sunset Hills. It’s different from Afterburtner music that plays outside Tao store

- I do feel QTE title arcade version in Shenmue 3 very punishing. It doesn’t help there is extremely abrupt camera cuts just adding to the difficulty

- Earning money without save scumming is not easy especially on hard difficulty. You really have to use the systems around gambling, prize shop and pawn shop to effectively convert your winnings. The challenge is I thought snail racing was a reliable winner but had my ass kicked last few times and don’t like to be at the mercy of a dice roll!

- I could be wrong but unless you have a new skill book to master your attack meter doesn’t improve if you spar

- Those that loved training, will find plenty of opportunities and locations to train in 3. I feel with some of the battles especially on harder difficulties it’s going to take diligent training

- I really enjoyed the ‘debrief’ scenes between Shenhua and Ryo in the evenings. I am a few complaints on how they decided to block the scene when Shenhua is sitting next to fire pit in living room but outside a few technical oddities, the game continues to flesh out Ryo’s personality and continue to progress character we saw from Disk 4 in Shenmue 2

Now onto more spoilerific stuff but I will keep it intentionally vague or without context

- So there’s two
Shenmue trees
huh?

- Saw my first appearance of
Chai. Doing his typical skulking from a rooftop no less

- I enjoyed the way
fashbacks are presented

- I think a lot of fans will get quite a kick out of
Mr. Suns
training regime

All in all the game continues to deliver as I make incremental progress. As usual if people have questions I will endeavour to answer them for you.
 
Hello all. I have followed this forum for quite some time now, including back to when the old dojo was up. I typically enjoy reading forums more so than actually participating which is why I never posted. However with Shenmue 3 coming next week (this is my 2nd favorite game series of all time) I figured I would join in the fun finally.

Anyway so my questions for those who have made it quite a ways through game;

Have you encountered any boss fights? If so, how are they handled? Meaning are they awesome?

Would you say the Chobu area is significantly bigger than Bailu? Yu mentioned there are 140 shops to visit. I find that personally very hard to believe as I doubt even something like gta v had that many lol, but I definitely trust Yu.

Are the QTE events handled any differently?

Thanks for anyone who takes the time to read and answer this post!
 
Brandon Howard said:
Have you encountered any boss fights? If so, how are they handled? Meaning are they awesome?
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One boss fight so far for me. It wasn't anything special but the dude was a bit annoying to fight.

Brandon Howard said:
Would you say the Chobu area is significantly bigger than Bailu? Yu mentioned there are 140 shops to visit. I find that personally very hard to believe as I doubt even something like gta v had that many lol, but I definitely trust Yu.
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I'm here now and it's crazy how many shops there are in this area. It's pretty overwhelming with the amount of stuff I can buy (you can even buy refrigerators for some reason lol)

Brandon Howard said:
Are the QTE events handled any differently?
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They are a bit different. Kind of looks like the QTEs you see in the Yakuza games. Other than that they're basically the same thing.
 
quicktimefailure said:
One boss fight so far for me. It wasn't anything special but the dude was a bit annoying to fight.


I'm here now and it's crazy how many shops there are in this area. It's pretty overwhelming with the amount of stuff I can buy (you can even buy refrigerators for some reason lol)


They are a bit different. Kind of looks like the QTEs you see in the Yakuza games. Other than that they're basically the same thing.
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Wait, you can buy Refrigerators, like actual refrigerators?

Hey Ryo, try putting that in your back pocket lol. Hm, that's weird, we're only suppose to be staying in a hotel room though, have you seen any option to buy a house or something?

Unless It's tied to a side quest maybe.
 
Now that I’ve made it to Niaowu, some additional thoughts I omitted;

- The game really nails naturalistic sounds of the environment. From birds chirping, hearing frogs croaking near lake or sound of running water near of a stream

- When you save it lists token amount and kungfu level

- If you load a save there’s brief profile of Shenhua or Ryo overlaid loading screen. Frankly it looks a little disorganized with many different splash/loading screens used at various points

- There’s piece of music which plays when you chose to go to sleep and wake up. It’s awewome

- Don’t know how I feel about new QTE sounds, I also failed first few miserably!

- I was disappointed we didn’t
get to say goodbye to residents of Bailu village similar to Hong Kong before venturing off

- I seem to have maxed out
one inch punch which stops at level 7. Training again at Niaowu failed to level it up

- Did the fights suddenly get
easier? I just steamrolled first 4 combatants at Dojo without breaking a sweat

I just made it to Niaowu, and boy does it appear to be huge. It gives me flashbacks to getting lost in Hong Kong or Kowloon for the first time. Visually I think fans are going to be very happy also.
 
I'll give my first impressions as well, it's nothing story related but i'll put in spoilers anyway:

Playing on the recommended difficulty setting, Ryo is now much more dependent on training than the first 2 games, where you could essentially play all the game without even training once. Here you won't go anywhere without increasing attack power and most importantly endurance, so you have to train or else you'll go down like a fly by the second fight. It feels a bit strange that Ryo put down Dou Niu but now gets his ass kicked by a random guy, but it's a minor issue after all.

Graphics and animations aren't perfect but i think are still pretty good.

Money is a non issue because you can save scum the dice game, although i couldn't for the life of me find the place to exchange tokens for prizes.

Story starts off pretty slow but that's not an issue as it gives you time to get familiar with the village and all it has to offer.
 
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