SHENMUE III - REVIEW ROUNDUP

its worth "grinding" to level up, just so you dont have to get Snake Powers. I couldnt beat the fight at Golden Goose until i levelled up enough, and didnt need so many snake powers
 
Also worth grinding up for subsequent New Game+ files.
 
xatruio said:
I beat the bookie on my third play thru--live on stream so i can prove it if necessary--without training once. Point being, If you get accustomed to the underrated combat system, then the training isn't quite as mandatory as the game leads you to believe. Not quite Shenmue 1+2 level of not-needing-much-training, but still possible.
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Come on... So for people who don't like grinding in the first hour of the game, they can just play the game 3 times instead?

The only thing that proves is it took you 60+ hours of play time to skip the grinding.
 
Thomasina said:
Come on... So for people who don't like grinding in the first hour of the game, they can just play the game 3 times instead?

The only thing that proves is it took you 60+ hours of play time to skip the grinding.
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Only a quick bit of optimism. A real solution would be playing as suggested by @orient above my post; on story/easy mode.
 
Thomasina said:
It's relative to the rest of the game, whatever that game is. I've grinded in games before and there was pay off. If it's just pointless grinding for the sake of adding length then that's not fun. Just because I don't mind grinding in one game, doesn't mean I want to do it in every game.
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You seem to still not be able to see that this is a matter of perspective, though. I'll assume you're just complaining about the money grinds related to the two masters, and in those cases, your payoff is learning new techniques that allow you to move past the bosses. It's functionally no different from needing to grind money or levels in any Dragon Quest game, or most of your typical RPGs. It's unfortunate that you hate it so much, but it isn't objectively bad just because you didn't like it.
 
The grinding is what made Shenmue III special to me. It was like a Rocky movie. The underdog had to practise hard every morning to beat impossible odds. I loved that.
 
Real1 said:
The grinding is what made Shenmue III special to me. It was like a Rocky movie. The underdog had to practise hard every morning to beat impossible odds. I loved that.
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I like it, but the lack of visible progress or varierty when you do One Hit Punch, Horse Stance or Rooster Walk is disappointing. I know it would've taken a lot to make these more complex, but I found their execution underwhelming. This is why they really just feel like basic grinding instead of something more rewarding (to me). I also am still a bit confused about why you can't actually do the One Hit Punch in a fight.
 
Real1 said:
The grinding is what made Shenmue III special to me. It was like a Rocky movie. The underdog had to practise hard every morning to beat impossible odds. I loved that.
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I didn't mind the training, that was fine and actually a bit rewarding. What I disliked was the grinding for money. First in Bailu and then again in Niaowu. It just felt like a way to make the game a bit longer.
 
Ruffles said:
I didn't mind the training, that was fine and actually a bit rewarding. What I disliked was the grinding for money. First in Bailu and then again in Niaowu. It just felt like a way to make the game a bit longer.
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The only thing that I didn’t like about the training is that Ryo doesn’t say ‘I should put on my training gear.’ before training. Who the hell trains in jeans and a leather jacket? Considering the attention to detail in other areas of the game, it genuinely bothered me that they didn’t add this element to the game.
 
Ruffles said:
I didn't mind the training, that was fine and actually a bit rewarding. What I disliked was the grinding for money. First in Bailu and then again in Niaowu. It just felt like a way to make the game a bit longer.
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I can understand this sentiment and I agree to some extent. But Shenmue II did the same thing but even worse in Kowloon where you had to pay for so many fights, yet I don't see many complaining about this.
 
Real1 said:
I can understand this sentiment and I agree to some extent. But Shenmue II did the same thing but even worse in Kowloon where you had to pay for so many fights, yet I don't see many complaining about this.
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You only had to pay for the first fight. The game meant that winning a fight would get you enough money for the next one. And doing mini games gave you money directly, not tokens to exchange for items to resell.

Hence why you dont see many complaints. It also help that the fight introduced interesting gameplay twists in the fights, story pieces and side characters.
 
GhostTrick said:
You only had to pay for the first fight. The game meant that winning a fight would get you enough money for the next one. And doing mini games gave you money directly, not tokens to exchange for items to resell.

Hence why you dont see many complaints. It also help that the fight introduced interesting gameplay twists in the fights, story pieces and side characters.
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Exactly. It’s not hard to understand the difference.
 
While I see the point in what you're saying and agree, there's also the fact they had to to use a system that didnt promote gambling to get the game released in China.

Let's remember why the system is there but it could definitely be improved on.
 
Real1 said:
I can understand this sentiment and I agree to some extent. But Shenmue II did the same thing but even worse in Kowloon where you had to pay for so many fights, yet I don't see many complaining about this.
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1. It cost $500, which you can earn with about 10 minutes of save scumming (there are no such easy outs in S3).
2. Those 3 fights alone are better than any fight in S3.
3. Ryo is supposed to be strapped for cash in a big city in S2 as part of the story, not a tiny village where he's staying for free.
4. It's the second worst part of a 20 year old game.
5. That $500 turns into $3000 by the end of those 3 fights and YOU GET TO KEEP THE MONEY! (You're not literally paying a toll to advance the story like in S3)
 
spud1897 said:
While I see the point in what you're saying and agree, there's also the fact they had to to use a system that didnt promote gambling to get the game released in China.

Let's remember why the system is there but it could definitely be improved on.
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Yeah, Yakuza uses a similar system.
 
My biggest issue with the token system is that you win your prizes in one area and have to trudge yourself to a completely different area to earn money. That is where it really does feel like they're padding the game. It's also not really apparent how much everything is worth. Just little nitpicks, admittedly, but those little nitpicks add up. Why can't they just put the prize redemption center in the casino? And why the heck do you win tickets for the Save Shenmue wheel all the way back in the Bailu arcade?

I think Yakuza gets away with it because you earn tons of money doing all sorts of things, including simply finishing a chapter, and money isn't really that important to progress the story. To be fair I;'ve only played a few Yakuza titles, not all of them, so I could be wrong.
 
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TwiceFriedRice said:
Look, the story sucks, but I don't see how you can objectively give this game a 5 out of 10, especially considering that it's a Kickstarter game on such a meager budget. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but there is still a solid game there bracketing a lousy excuse for storytelling.

I mean, scores that low should be reserved for broken ass games, not Shenmue 3.
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A kickstarter budget shouldn't give a pass for the quality of the game because at that point, it starts getting into "A for effort" territory, when they're only concerned about the execution or final product.

And I think broken games should be reserved for 4 and below. Games like Superman 64, Big Rigs: Over the Road, Blacksad: Under the Skin, etc.
 
Dehone said:
A kickstarter budget shouldn't give a pass for the quality of the game because at that point, it starts getting into "A for effort" territory, when they're only concerned about the execution or final product.

And I think broken games should be reserved for 4 and below. Games like Superman 64, Big Rigs: Over the Road, Blacksad: Under the Skin, etc.
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I never said it should be given a pass.
 
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