Should I give Shenmue III another chance?

Should I replay Shenmue III again?

  • Yes

    Votes: 15 88.2%

  • No

    Votes: 2 11.8%
  • Total voters
    17
  • Poll closed .
the_phoenix_mirror

the_phoenix_mirror

10 years early.
Joined
Feb 26, 2021
Location
The good ol' US of A
Favourite title
Shenmue II
Currently playing
Daytona USA Iraq version
I only ever played and beat Shenmue III once and to be honest I wasn't a fan. I remember I didn't like how it had little story, I despised the stamina mechanic, and I didn't like that 60% of the story mostly takes up grinding for money. Although nowadays I sorta wanna replay it again to see if my opinion could change, so that's why I will let the dojo pick what I do. Maybe if I play it again the game I would normally rate a 5/10 might become a 10/10. While writing this thread, I will only have the poll open for 2 days.
 
While my first playthrough overall was a much more positive experience I would be disingenuous to say the Old Castle from narrative perspective didn’t leave me bitterly disappointed and soured my experience.

I can only speak for myself but divorced from years of expectations and understanding Shenmue 3 was a product of compromise allowed me to enjoy my 2nd playthrough a lot more. It’s not going to magically fill story beats, but if you take time to explore and seek out characters, it still retains a lot of dialogue and small character interactions the franchise is famous for. In addition if you start a new game plus, your complaints regarding stamina meter are largely removed. The only other thing I would add is if you can track down PS5 version or on powerful PC and download the community mods. I haven’t done the latter yet but playing the game at a stable 60FPS makes it a much more enjoyable experience.
 
It's awfully hyperbolic to say 60% of the game is grinding money. It only asks it of you twice; the same amount in Shenmue II, and collecting money is dreadfully easy. Shenmue III ain't a perfect game, but there is some good stuff to be found in it for a Shenmue fan.
 
It's funny, I never had any money problems in Shenmue III, usually in videogames I only spend money when I need it, and when I arrived at the two "high money ask" moments I had more than enough money for not having to grind.

I enjoyed my first playthrough quite a lot. I even enjoyed it more the second one, as I did a NG+ with all the money and stamina/battle stats from the first play and set it to easy difficulty. I played in chill mode exploring a lot and talking non-stop to NPCs and I had a great time.
 
Absolutely. I'm enjoying it so much more 2nd time around. For one thing, everything carries over so i'm not under pressure to eat all the time, but also playing it removed from the excitement of the release at the time allows me to appreciate the game on its own merits. I still think it's an absolutely beautiful game at times and now i'm just taking my time and not rushing. Shenmue III is a game that pulls as much as you push.

There are still bits that bug me (they really need a better tutorial system and a much, MUCH better inventory system to stop OCD), but I still can't believe this game exists.
 
Yes. Since my second time through the game I've always held the opinion that appreciation for it grows on a repeat trip.

If you're playing on PC, just use mods and cheat engine to disable the stamina drain and give yourself a heap of money when the story requires it. If you didn't get along with those aspects the first time that's unlikely to change on a replay, so why give yourself the grief of battling those elements again. Other than that, play as normal. Take it slow, drink it in.
 
I doubt you will change your mind. Shenmue 3 was a decent 6 or 7 out of 10 for me, it left me wanting more and I certainly really want more.
 
I'm kind of in the same spot. But right now, I still have a large backlog of PS4 games I have to play. I'm definitely going to do another playthrough of S1 S1 and 2 at some point this year or next year but S3, being the game it is, will definitely have to wait until I'm finished with my backlog.

So, to keep it short, if you have other games to play, play those first. S3 is only worth pouring another 30 hours in if you've got nothing new to play IMHO.
 
Maybe because I am very interested in technical aspects, but I truly feel the PS4 Pro and PS4 versions are severely compromised because of the unstable frame rate.

If you plan on getting PS5 I would save any replay for that version if you don’t have a gaming PC.
 
code l name said:
Maybe because I am very interested in technical aspects, but I truly feel the PS4 Pro and PS4 versions are severely compromised because of the unstable frame rate.

If you plan on getting PS5 I would save any replay for that version if you don’t have a gaming PC.
Click to expand...
Well that's good then, as I own a PS5.
 
I’d definitely say yes. While you probably will still have the same problems with it, I think if you take your time to talk to the characters and explore the world there’s lots to enjoy that become more apparent with repeat playthroughs. I know that for myself the game significantly improved on my second playthrough and that seems to be the same for most people I’ve talked with.
 
I've only played Shenmue 3 once as well. Although that playthrough was 60+ hrs. I plan on going through it again very soon, so i highly recommend it

That said, i really enjoyed it. Here's hoping you like your second playthrough more.

P.S - Gimme all the grinding. Big JRPG fan here, so im used to that

The stamina issue can be resolved by training on the horse stance game for a day

Enjoy
 
About your question... As i said in another thread at the end of the day is all about tastes people have about entertainment and art.

We are all Shenmue Fans but we have different opinions about what we want from a Shenmue game, if you don't like the food system then play on PC with mods like Spaghetti said, and in the PS4 version you can play in the NG+ option like banenes said, this way you will not have to worry a lot about training and things like that, maybe this way will be more enjoyable for you.

Before Shenmue III release Yu Suzuki said this to the players...

Yu Suzuki: It would be nice if players felt like coming back from a journey. If you hurry through the game, there is a good chance it will just stress you out. Rather, by taking your time, the experience will be one of trying all the different things the game has to offer.

Yu Suzuki: I would ask everyone to take your time to play and not hurry through. When you come upon something you like, just stop and hang out for as long as you like, trying all things the game has to offer. For example, if you’re someone who doesn’t like gambling, try it in Shenmue and you may just have fun.

I did what Yu Suzuki said in this interview, i played Shenmue III in a slow way, i took my time with the game, i played for more than 80 hours and it was a beautiful experience to me, when i had the option to leave Bailu Village and go to Niaowu i didn't do that, i stayed in Bailu Village for long time after deciding to go to Niaowu.

One of the reasons i love Shenmue III is because the game is calm and peaceful. To me Shenmue III is the calm and peaceful part in Ryo's journey, specially in Bailu village, so i love that the game is like this and Bailu Village is one of my favorite places in the Shenmue World, i love the night conversations with Shenhua and that now the bond between Ryo and Shenhua is stronger and much more.

The game could have been better? Yes, telling more about what Iwao and Sunming Zhao did in Bailu Village, more character development for the side characters in Niaowu, Baisha in the game and much more, but about Iwao and Sunming Zhao maybe Yu Suzuki want to show this in another way, the story is not complete so is a possibility, i hope we can see flashbacks with Iwao and Sunming Zhao.

I really feel that Yu Suzuki wanted to do more with the game but for some reason he had to release the game soon as possible, maybe because of Deep Silver, i don't know, i remember that the game was delayed 2 or 3 times.

The ending is rushed but i like the ending, i like that Ryo lost the fight but show that he is improving little by little, if a final fight happen we will probably see Ryo winning, we will probably see his evolution and i think this will be beautiful to see.

I love the training in this game, i love that after training we can see that Ryo is getting stronger and enduring more without eating, i like the food system i just think it needs improvements but i like this RPG elements in the game.

I just finished Shenmue III one time because after that i played other games but i want to play again, right now i'm playing the first game again, after that i will play Shenmue II and Shenmue III again, i really want to play Shenmue III again, it was a beautiful, peaceful and good experience to me.
 
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Yes....give it another chance...but this time...remove ALL expectations and try to embrace it for what it is. I can't guarantee you'll like it any better as that is entirely subjective, but for me, with all grand expectations removed, it really isn't that bad of a game.
 
Here is my intial review.

The first time I played it, I played it at a very slow pace which took me almost a month to beat. I tried to intake as much as possible as I did with the first two games. I know it wouldn't 100% be the first two games. I knew we were going to get some familiarity, but with a few fresh things as well. I think the fact that we couldn't continue off our save from Shenmue II to continue "our personal journey" does affect it, which in turn, affects some of the grinding to get the wine, etc.

I'll state the obvious. We should've gotten this game on Dreamcast in 2003 (in Japan) or 2004 (internationally). For better or worse, however you look at it, I personally feel Suzuki delivered that. The concept of Shenmue existed for years, especially the conversations between Ryo and Shenhua. I came into Shenmue III being aware that the game would expand internally as opposed to externally, and I felt that.
 
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