Shenmue HD reviews and discussion

It wouldn't surprise me if there was more to it than a short dev cycle. Maybe not all the original code was there or something.
 
I have been very conservative about criticism towards the re-release of Shenmue because I want the games to succeed, I also want new fans to be able to experience the games.

I am sure that D3T has worked very hard to port this and I can only imagine the difficulty taking an old Dreamcast game designed to run on the Hitachi SH4 CPU and get it to run on the x86 processors. I imagine that Shenmue II already being ported to Xbox may have been a reason why that was chosen over the Dreamcast version as perhaps it was easier to work with.

Somehow, I want to try and figure that like any corporate environment, there likely was a lot more to the story than what we know. Anyone who works in that type of field knows that there's a hierarchy in regards to what marketing wants, what the developer wants, what the publisher wants, and the work put in by the actual programmers within a timeframe and the stuff that gets cut because it doesn't pass QA or has to go through approval via several channels.


While I can remain patient and would like to have the definite version of Shenmue, I have to say that if what has been discussed is true regarding the reviews, and some of the news published is true, then what can we do other than to work with what we have? In this situation, we had been waiting for the Shenmue series for many years to continue and of course the re-releases, on the other hand, some of the discussions bring up valid concerns about how the series could be interpreted by new fans if they have a negative experience. Fortunately, most of the reviews have been positive and I really hope this is a minimal blip short term and that some of these issues are fixed.

The re-releases I had minimal issues with at least pertaining to the 1st game BUT, there are some very serious issues with the arcade games/QTEs and still some serious music problems in Shenmue II. I did my part and emails SEGA Support, and I think anyone else experiencing these issues also should communicate directly through SEGAs support page so that the issue is forwarded. I don't know what kind of communication D3T has directly with fans, it's hard to say if the individual developers are reading twitter, if they have had the time, or if they have any control over these particular issues. More than likely, there's some sort of social media manager that handles these queries and it may be brought up in some sort of team meeting or particular issues are prioritized and handed off to specific teams, no one really knows right now.

I do know that there's a lot that does go on in the industry that are not always peachy, and some perfect examples that come to mind are for example what happened with LA Noire and Team Bondi or Mafia 3 and Hangar 13, some other perfect examples would be the Ubisoft team that worked on the original WATCH_DOGS. The team behind these games all had wonderful ideas but there's always office politics that can affect these things.

I'm not trying to sound negative, I am remaining optimistic while also being critical of some of the serious issues because they do need to be addressed and I do think by the time Shenmue III comes out, more individuals will want to try the first and second game before playing the third.
 
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Just 96 reviews away to qualify for "Overwhelmingly Positive" status on Steam.
 
Bambi said:
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Just 96 reviews away to qualify for "Overwhelmingly Positive" status on Steam.
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Glad to hear that there's been so much positive feedback. I left a review recently as well.
 
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There's been kind of a strange paradox. Excellent reviews across the board, both from users and critics, plus good sales. Yet there has been vocal pushback simultaneously.
 
staplepuffs27 said:
There's been kind of a strange paradox. Excellent reviews across the board, both from users and critics, plus good sales. Yet there has been vocal pushback simultaneously.
Click to expand...

Well, if you're judging by the atmosphere among active users here on the Dojo, you're bound to get a distorted perspective on what the general reception has been for this release.
 
i really cant wait to get off work, crack a beer and play some shenmue tonight. i just got my job at the harbor, mad angels im comin for ya!

if you are on Steam add me!!!! csmakio
 
here is a review from the biggest german pc gaming magazine and website.
https://www.gamestar.de/spiele/shenmue-1-2-collection,wertung,132,9298.html

75/100
presentation 3/5:
+ original but slightly optimized graphics, fantastic soundtrack, cinematics
- sound quality, bugs and glitches

game design 3/5:
+believable daily routines of NPCs, a lot of minigames, fighting system with different attacks and combos*
- *that you dont have to use very often, very linear story process

balance 3/5:
+QTEs and fighting sequences are repeatable, you can train QTEs and fighting mechanics in the game,
minimap and timeskip feature in Shenmue 2
- really slow start and only very small story events in Shenmue 1, inaccurate and outdated controls

story and atmosphere 5/5:
+ small but compact game world, thrilling story if you keep playing, english and japanese voices,
load your Shenmue 1 save file into Shenmue 2

size 4/5:
+ 50 plus hours of gameplay, several complete arcade games, collectable items
- no bonus material

"every few years i blow off the dust from my Dreamcast, then i have to search for my SCART adapter,
and then i'm crossing my fingers that the disc is still okay. if everything works,
i can finally experience a completely different world for a couple of days.
i can gamble in the streets of Hongkong, make some money at the harbor and take care of a little kitten.
this year i experienced all of that again but without the need of a SCART adapter.

no other game shaped my view for videogames as much as Shenmue did. it took me a couple of years
to realize and appreciate how many cool features and ideas you can find in Shenmue.
Shenmue is a game saga full of contradictions between a epic storyline and a dull simulation of the daily life.
a game that was ahead of its time, but cant keep up with its modern heirs.

but thats why it has still its charm. you will be dissappointed if you expect a modern open world game.
but if you accept the slower pacing and look closely, you will find a lot of elements
that you know from modern games. thats why it is great to have these games on modern platforms.
its no longer just some tale from people with an old Dreamcast in their basement.
everyone can experience it now and playing a game yourself is always the best option."

"... people who are looking for the same kind of presentation but with a faster game design and development
should look into Yakuza 0."
 
Always good to see Huber staying hyped about Shenmue. The Game Trailers reaction to Shenmue 3's announcement has really become one of the most iconic moments from E3 2015. I've no doubt that such passionate reactions from people like Huber helped play a key part in the success of Shenmue HD today.
 
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Apologies if this has been mentioned already, but the new Retro Gamer Magazine (Space Invaders cover) has a 2 page review of Shenmue I & II and gave it a 81% score. The text seems fairly downbeat, but also fair I think. Mind you, I did skim read it.

Has there been any other print reviews yet? I think the latest GamesTM and Edge were released too early on time of release.
 
81% isn't bad and is on par with other reviews as a whole I think. Considering the issues around the patches it's a pretty good score.

I've not seen Edge yet but I imagine they will have done a review
 
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