The Kowloon Walled City depicted in Shenmue was heavily toned down

standtrip

standtrip

Banned
Joined
Sep 9, 2019
Based and inspired by the real Kowloon Walled City, Shenmue 2 didn't actually represent the place to it's full extent. A literal horror game could have been made to show how that place was like back then in the 80s.

The one in Shenmue 2 most likely had to reside by the rules of it being a teen rated game. There were thugs but not to the extent of those hiding away from police and there being drugs smuggled, prostitution rigs set up, the illegal market of goods and completely abysmal safety standard. We saw Ghost Hall Building but damn the rooms were far tighter and smaller, electricity was set up so insecurely it was like a death trap, the living conditions comepletely horrendous.

Shenmue on Saturn sort of showed Kowloon more to it's likes with the narrow hallways and smaller rooms but yes my point being that Kowloon Walled City in real life was so much worse than what we saw in Shenmue 2


I mean just watch that ^
 
Yes, I once read about that place. I think it was excluded from the 19th century contract between the Qing Empire and Britain, so the problem was that the Brits didn't manage the place because it wasn't part of their crown Colony and the Mainland China governments could not access it because it was enclosed by then-British Hong Kong. Crazy to think that something like this has even existed.

As far as I remember, the whole place was torn down in the 90s, but I don't recall if it was the Brits or the Chinese who demolished it. At some point, I'd like to read up on that again.
 
Truck_1_0_1_ said:
en.wikipedia.org

Kowloon Walled City - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Apparently, it actually wasn't a BAD place to live; crime wasn't as rampant as what was made known at the time and a lot of medical people worked there (albeit, unlicensed ones).
Click to expand...
But I think the question we all need answering is if they really had a brand new Afterburner II cab there ;)

The walled city fascinates me though, such a strange place, albeit such an awesome choice of setting for a game, let alone my favourite part of Shenmue II, that opening sweep of the city done in the first cutscene as your just arriving there is so badass. I'm glad I'll replay Shenmue II again right before III is released just so I can redo this bit all over again!
 
i thought the city only existed due to a strange loophole which the chinese gov decided to completely destroy?
 
It's a really cool book, a mixture of beautiful photos and interesting accounts from the people who lived there, along with some history and also its depiction in media. Shenmue gets a mention! :D
 
I didn’t find out about what Kowloon was actually like until last year, I was shocked ! It’s always fascinating to see how humans adapt and work together to build something like Kowloon.
 
That was the only real gripe I had with Shenmue II. I knew about Kowloon beforehand and I ended up being slightly disappointed we didn't get to stalk around the dark covered alleyways and through shanty areas and stuff. Maybe someday we'll get that experience somewhere.
 
The saturn version seemed to be a lot closer to the real KWC. My theory is that due to how claustrophobic it was it probably didn't work well with Shenmue's camera and controls.
Truck_1_0_1_ said:
en.wikipedia.org

Kowloon Walled City - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Apparently, it actually wasn't a BAD place to live; crime wasn't as rampant as what was made known at the time and a lot of medical people worked there (albeit, unlicensed ones).
Click to expand...
From what I read that really depended on the decade you lived there. I imagine during the 60s and 70s when it was controlled by triads and full of opium dens it must have been pretty bad.
 
Bang on the money about some changes probably being due to camera and controls. In the NHK special about Shenmue you can actually see a dev getting stuck in what looks like an early version of the Stand Quarter, and Dobuita's streets get a little wider in the retail release compared to Beta maps, if I'm remembering correctly.

There were always some liberties taken with Kowloon though. Yu wanted it like a castle fortress rather than the square block of urban sprawl it was in reality.
 
Was it perfect? Far from it. But is says a lot that many people wanted to live there, and I find it impressive that they made it work as well as they did with what they had. I'm always interested in learning about pseudo-anarchist societies.
 
If you look at early Shenmue beta footage, Kowloon appears changed. It was originally more enclosed but I think maybe they opened it up to make it more easy to navigate.

I am honestly happy for the revised design, I had great memories playing in Kowloon.

 
Last edited:
pilman said:
If you look at early Shenmue beta footage, Kowloon appears changed. It was originally more enclosed but I think maybe they opened it up to make it more easy to navigate.

I am honestly happy for the revised design, I had great memories playing in Kowloon.

Click to expand...
Waaait... this footage is confusing me - was Shenmue 2 that far along when Shenmue 1 was about to release?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top