Replaying Shenmue

DJMH

DJMH

Joined
Aug 5, 2018
Location
London
Favourite title
Shenmue II
Currently playing
Shenmue
Hi all,

I've been visiting this forum for many years however this is my first post.

Despite never posting I'm so glad to be part of the shenmue community and cant thank everyone enough for keeping the game alive.

As shenmue 3 draws ever closer I'd like to replay the previous titles and was wondering how much time fellow shenmue fans are giving themselves to replay them.

This will be my 4th play through (twice on Dreamcast and once on the remastered version).

I've decided to give myself one month per title and have started casually playing through the first game this week. Will be amazing to know that when I complete the 2nd game it will only be a matter of weeks before I continue the story.
 
Welcome :) This is exactly what I am doing, it's been a long wait but finally this weekend I will begin my final playthrough of Shenmue I & II before the big day! I plan to fully indulge too, taking my time exploring everything I can - I especially hope to see the Fangmei's Birthday scene in Shenmue II I've heard about :)

I still can't quite bring myself to play Shenmue II on PS4 - due to the horrid 4:3 & Letterboxed cutscenes, but will be sticking with my Xbox version on 360 which was a great experience last time.
 
A pleasure to have you posting, DJMH!

I recently bought a PS4 and the re-releases, and intentionally waited with the timing. My thinking was that six weeks with the games would be a pleasant distraction. I haven't had my Dreamcast hooked up in years, so I've mostly been playing S2 on the Xbox.

I'll likely give 1 a deep play or two, and then try to play 2 in early/mid November.
Then, I'll cradle myself and rock back and forth uncontrollably until the 19th.
 
I started a replay of Shenmue on the day of its original planned release, 8/27. I'm only at the beginning of Disc 3. Due to some traveling the next couple of weeks, I won't be able to finish until early/mid October which leaves me one month for Shenmue 2. Should be the perfect amount of time to wrap it up ahead of Shenmue 3's release.
 
My wife and me are going to start replaying S1 & S2 at some point next week. It will be her second time playing them and she's been desperate to find out how the story goes on since we first played the games together last August /September /October.

Last time, it took us about six weeks to finish both games. I want to take it slowly again, so we will need to get started soon to finish in time.

It will feel so different this time, knowing that we will see the story continued beyond. I've always felt a deep sadness for all those years whenever I had reached Shenhua's house, I felt a void inside that nothing else in life could have filled. Now will be the first time ever that I'll know, I'll just be able to pop S3 into my console pretty much right after finishing S2.
 
I started the final run last night! Even now noticing so many little details - like the kids returning from school with a bag, the go in the house and back out to play and the bag is gone! Such a microscopic detail in the grand scale of things but a precise example of how Shenmue's world is really still beyond the typical triple A open work experience.

But I'm taking my time with it, just soaking in detail of the locations, asking the people all around about the different story progressive questions and really searching around the game like I never have before - I did slots and hit the jackpot last night for the first time ever getting the Cherry toy.
 
I'll be playing Shenmue 1 on Nov 1st leading into Shenmue 2. I'll stop playing Shenmue 2 when I make it to Guilin Village and Ryo meets Shenhua. On Nov 18th at 10:00 pm I'll finish Shenmue 2 leading straight into Shenmue 3 midnight release( hopefully).
 
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I replayed the games earlier this year and had an amazing time. It had been years since my last playthrough and I loved the games every bit as much as when the were new!

I might try to replay them again before 3 drops, especially as I just got myself a GDemu! I don't know if I'll have time though, because I don't want to start until I complete my current university semester... will see how I got for time.
 
I started my play-through also but am having a little difficulty.

See I decided to purchase a steam copy as I really disliked how cutscenes were displayed in Shenmue 2 in particular. After viewing this wonderful thread and seeing the amazing mods the community has helped create I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to revisit both games in their best possible state before next month.

One small problem is I don’t have a powerful enough PC, so I’ve been using Shadow tech, which allowed me to play the Shenmue 3 demo. Unfortunately my replay of Shenmue 1 has been plagued by two big issues, latency issues which has made QTEs extra hard to pull off and random crashes during free battle. Right now I can’t seem to pass 70 man battle without game crashing. I might give up and move onto Shenmue 2 at this point.

On another note playing this with mods make the game look and sound absolutely stunning.
 
I'm currently replaying the series too, taking my time and really exploring the dialogue options! My favourite thing to do is ask Tatsuya (Otherwise known as the gopher kid in the way he pops up from the capsule toy machine :p), it's so suprising how he isn't just a generic NPC but acually responds to the current dialogue objectives!:
1570171046583.png

My next objective is to tryfind out where Nozomi lives! The flower shop closes at 22:30 but by the time I went back last night she had already gone!

Shenmue Streams:
 
Vivi-gamer said:
I'm currently replaying the series too, taking my time and really exploring the dialogue options! My favourite thing to do is ask Tatsuya (Otherwise known as the gopher kid in the way he pops up from the capsule toy machine :p), it's so suprising how he isn't just a generic NPC but acually responds to the current dialogue objectives!:
View attachment 4632

My next objective is to tryfind out where Nozomi lives! The flower shop closes at 22:30 but by the time I went back last night she had already gone!

Shenmue Streams:
Click to expand...

Great minds think alike. After randomly discovering where Kurita lives due to dialogue I hadn’t heard when looking for tattoo parlour. I actually thought out loud today where Nozomi lives. I had assumed it was in the same building as shop.
 
I replayed through Shenmue and recently started Shenmue 2. It's been years since I played Shenmue 2 so it's completely new to me again. Though I kinda know what to do. Probably take my time with it before Shenmue 3 releases next month.
 
Welcome to the forums. Anyway, ever since the game came out (I got the Japanese version of Shenmue 1 on December 31, 1999 and the Japanese version of 2 on September 9, 2001), I played it almost regularly since i had all that time as a high school student. As I got older, I started to only play it on a seasonal basis. I was taking Japanese classes in high school and university at the time, so I used my Japanese copies of Shenmue as my personal barometer for my progress. Other than that, I just played it to enjoy it and I would of course binge play Shenmue 1 and 2. Since we are one month away, I’m revisiting the game just to pump myself up for 3, which I donated to the kickstarted, slacker backer, and did a regular pre-order for.
 
Completed my replay of Shenmue I & II. I did a pure story run through in part because I wanted to play modded PC version before my 10 day subscription of Shadow expired.

I think I had only played the HD releases twice since its initial release last year. Even though I know the games like the back of my hand, the enhancements made by modding community, especially original game make a significant difference. I’ve always been in camp the sequel is superior game in almost every way but upon this replay, something just drew me back to the original and dare I say I lost myself again. Maybe a desire or longing for that hometown, small knit community feeling I sensed we may get from first section of Shenmue 3?
 
code l name said:
Completed my replay of Shenmue I & II. I did a pure story run through in part because I wanted to play modded PC version before my 10 day subscription of Shadow expired.

I think I had only played the HD releases twice since its initial release last year. Even though I know the games like the back of my hand, the enhancements made by modding community, especially original game make a significant difference. I’ve always been in camp the sequel is superior game in almost every way but upon this replay, something just drew me back to the original and dare I say I lost myself again. Maybe a desire or longing for that hometown, small knit community feeling I sensed we may get from first section of Shenmue 3?
Click to expand...

I definitely know the feeling of conflict over Shenmue 1 vs 2! 2 Seems to make a lot of advancements, but there's still aspects of Shenmue 1 that are so unique and great, and aren't always replicated in the sequel.

I adore the small town feel of 1, as well as the sense of depth rather than width. The game world is smaller, but there's so much to do and see, and people to talk to. I think they are both equally good in different ways, which I love.
 
I've always enjoyed the atmosphere more in Shenmue 1 & on my current playthrough I'm so impressed with how many NPC's have at least 3 turns of dilaogue for each story progression objective - Even if they're not the ones who dont push the sotry forward!

Also, it's funny how when asking for a Tatoo parlor that many of the townsfolk dissaprove and have a go at Ryo - Yamagishi even goes as far to say it's a disgrace to his family! :p

Quick Q - When sparring with Fuku-san in the Dojo, does that actualy increase your move stats?
 
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code l name said:
I’ve always been in camp the sequel is superior game in almost every way but upon this replay, something just drew me back to the original and dare I say I lost myself again. Maybe a desire or longing for that hometown, small knit community feeling I sensed we may get from first section of Shenmue 3?
Click to expand...

I've the same feeling; for me, it may be because I've mostly played S2, as I've had the Xbox hooked up but not the DC. It's great to be back in Yokosuka, where baby boy Ryo feels more confused and less confident. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I know what you mean.
 
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