Rate the Shenmue trilogy

S1: 8/10
S2: 9/10
S3: 9/10

Outside of the fighting , gameplay wise, everything in Shenmue 3 is more enjoyable than the original two imo. Absolutely beautiful chillout game. If the fighting and story were as good as 2 it would've got top marks.
 
Shenmue 1 - 10/10.

The best of the 3 for me. 2 used to be my favourite, but after playing through them again when we got the Shenmue 1 and 2 rerelease, Shenmue 1 took the number 1 spot. It's the most immersive game I have ever played and I would love to get another Shenmue game like it again. Shenmue 2 is a lot bigger, but I don't feel that same level of immersiveness that I get from Shenmue 1. The game perfects that feeling that this is Ryo's home and as the game goes on, you can feel that distance building between Ryo and his home and he will soon be leaving it. It's the only game I have ever played that I don't like completing.

Shenmue 2 - 10/10.

It's a 10/10 for different reasons from Shenmue 1. The story and characters in Shenmue 2 are what make it so great for me. The story and characters were already great in Shenmue 1, but Shenmue 2 takes it to a whole new level and indroduces some of my favourite characters and moments in the story so far. Ren, Xiuying, Fangmei and a ton of great side characters. The 4 Wude and Chawan Sign are also my favourite parts of the story so far. It also has one of my favourite moments in the series so far with the cassette tapes and that conversation between Guizhang and Joy. I'm also still blown away by the amount of detail in this game for it's time.

Shenmue 3 - 7/10.

The miracle game. Still very much a Shenmue game, but the first time the series added things I really hated. The stamina system is awful, it's so bad that the next time I play the game, I will be using a mod that stops it going down. Fishing.......I hate fishing mini games, I don't know why so many games have them. Picking herbs, a boring chore. No throw moves, I don't care if they had budget problems, this is one thing you can't cut in a Shenmue game. This is such a massive part of Shenmue's combat and breaks a ton of immersion for me. This game also gave me the feeling that Ryo had learned very little from Shenmue 2. If felt like his character development was weakened and he felt physically weaker as well. There are positives though, it still very much feels like a Shenmue game with the character interactions, the slow pace and just getting lost in the world, it's all still there and probably what brings the score up to a 7/10 for me. This may sound weird to some, but I actually miss the loading screens when entering a different area.
 
Shenmue I: 9.5/10.
Shenmue II: 10/10. My second favorite game of all-time. Whereas I love the melancholy of SH1, I love the vibrance of SH2 even more. Going from the highs of the end of Disc 3 to the gameplay of Disc 4 was a transformative experience for me.
Shenmue III: 8/10. Amazing game that suffers almost by design, but very calming and kind of marries the calm of SH1 with the colour of SH2. Plus there's a picture of @James Brown in there so it gets an extra 0.5 now that I semi-know him.
 
Shenmue I 10/10 "What is this sorcery?!" i was 14 at 2000. Bittersweet Symphony, You can't always get what you want.

Shenmue II 9/10 "bigger = better? At times yes at others I missed Yokosuka corners, friends (Yu, mission complete) also the combat was downsampled and that annoys me.

Shenmue III 7/10 "Like training with crazy old Pai Mei. I suck at this!? Maybe coming here wasn't a good idea... ugh this chinese countryside thugs are hard as nails in coffin indeed... maybe i just a samurai little boy after all? Ahh now im missing WangChai and Kowloon (Yu, mission complete) Wait i becoming stronger... is this training progressing? The stones at the path has worth it.

Shenmue IV 10/10 "The day senior Yu Sukuzi gave a hand hit on the table" "Japan does it again: remembering to the world why they ruled the industry"
 
Shenmue I # 8/10. intriguing story relayed by many well-known npcs, some lack of polish.

Shenmue II # 9/10. engaging story relayed by more than many unknow npcs, few lack of polish.

Shenmue III # 7/10. okay story relayed by many unknow npcs, lack of polish.
 
1: 9 or 10/10. This one will always be dear to me. Seeing this in 2000 for the first time blew my mind away with all the freedom you had and with an intriguing backstory knowing it was going to be an epic for the ages. I've lost count on how many times I've beaten this game.
2: 8/10. The story really picks up in this one, but I felt the sacrifices made to the freedom that S1 gives you (which makes sense from a story and gameplay-standpoint for Ryo not to have loads of money to shill out on at arcades, toy capsules, etc.) and don't care for the old-school GTA approach of "get X amount of money to go to the city's end" for each area you go to that carries over to the next game (I think it was a little grindy in this installment IMO). Some really really good moments that I will always remember it for like Yellow Head Building, Disc 4, etc.
3: 7/10. I went in with low expectations on this one knowing the kickstarter budget was going to force sacrifices in development. With that said, I was really happy that YS Net decided to focus on the gameplay side the most than other areas (this is the main appeal for me with this series). We got a basic version of what a Shenmue game should be. I wish some things could've been better and think some things should've been cut for better quality in other areas neglected (like Niaowu for Shenmue 4 to focus on making Bailu Village better since it just ended up being a copy-paste of Bailu Village-structure wise), but I ended up being pretty happy with what I got.
 
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Shenmue I - 8/10
Shenmue II - 10/10
Shenmue III - 6/10

The original Shenmue captured my imagination in a way no game had before, and to this day is tied to a feeling of wonder and excitement for me. Shenmue II delivered on this promise in spades, with more action, more intrigue and remains my favourite game to this day.

Shenmue III just lacked the narrative drive I expected. It wasn't the setting - Guilin especially was beautiful. They absolutely nailed the atmosphere. I just expected more weight in the story beats. I also think the OG games' combat system, and the inclusion of the scrapped infiltration mission, would've helped III a lot. Despite all this, I'm still glad it exists.
 
Shenmue I - 9/10
Shenmue II - 9.5/10
Shenmue III - 8/10
 
both shenmue 1 & 2 are amazing games but when i was younger, i would of said shenmue 2's size made the game a solid 10/10 and shenmue 1 was 9/10 but now i appreciate shenmue 1's detail and slower pace over shenmue 2.. so my rating would be only slightly different. ( also thinking about it, i think shenmue 1 holds up a tad better than s2)

Shenmue I 10/10
Shenmue II 9/10
Shenmue III 6.5/10

shenmue 3 was fine, the beginning of the game was not fun but it got better as the game went on. i would of loved if they kept the retro dreamcast style, then i would of given it 8.5/10.
 
Shenmue 1 10/10
Shenmue 2 10/10
Shenmue 3 8/10

Shenmue 1 and 2 are perfect and I do not consider Shenmue 3 as bad as some people do. It is still a good game but sometimes it goes too far with realism.

The money system, the food system, and the martial arts training system are really great for immersion. you really have to be like Ryo in the game and work really hard to progress. i do not mind that in general. But sometimes this type of gameplay is too tedious. You really have to invest time to get into 3. It is a game you can just play for 20 to 30 minutes to enjoy.

Of course, you do much in just 30 minutes and 1 and 2 either but still, the gameplay is fun even if you are rust running around and talking to people.

You really must be more focused on playing S3.
 
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'mue: (rounded) 9.5/10
'mue II: 10/10
'mue III: 8/10

Like I always say, Shenmue 2 it's a better game but Shenmue 1 its a better Shenmue.
 
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