The Shenmue 3 Review Thread

I may have agreed with his assessment of the combat a couple of weeks ago, but the more I learn, the more I’m getting out of it. Not once have I used the right trigger and I love the sparring/levelling up system. Getting new move scrolls and mastering them is highly satisfying to me. I admit I use dodge a looooot more than block. In fact I rarely use block. But not taking 1&2’s combat into account, I’m amazed at how robust the fighting system is when you consider the limited resources and that it was built from scratch.
 
It’s fair to criticize the combat. The game doesn’t put any work into explaining it. If it’s indeed deeper than assumed, they messed up. The animations and “impact” are pretty middling regardless, which doesn’t really help the combat seem any better.
 
Yea I think Huber is really bad at grasping combat mechanics, he's not good at fighting games at all so it really isn't his expertise. So I don't think the combat is good however, from animations, to hit detection, to the moves being random face button presses, its a mess. However if you put enough time into it, it can be a lot more enjoyable beyond move spamming with R2.

From watching the current Shenmue 3 playthrough though, its kind of painful watching him in fights, he basically spams either elbow assault or tornado kick and throws in a jab or two from time to time. You can tell he hasn't experimented with the combat enough and it makes watching him fight really uninteresting. I've followed Easy Allies for years now, Huber is genuine and full of passion, he is not the most most articulate with analysis or knowledgeable when it comes to game mechanics. The last episode of Frame Trap really emphasizes my point when he talks about the combat and the game play itself, his enthusiasm is infectious but when it comes to analyzing games, Ben Moore of Easy Allies is unbeatable.
 
danielmann861 said:
Yeah, I know...I saw that from the Game trailer streams. Hell, even watching them spend like a 1000 yuan on the capsules machines in yesterdays stream and you could tell that's what he loves most about these games. Stuff like that is what makes Shenmue for him...not necessarily the combat. Like I said, I don't meant to rag on the guy, I just don't know if I trust his evaluation on the combat in this series is all. Considering he didn't really seem to dig into any of it even in the previous games....but oh well, still looking forward to seeing his review when it hits.

Based on that ep of Frame Trap...I would guess Swimmin' in 7's (or 8)
Click to expand...

Do you think Huber would be able to bring himself to give it a sinking in 6's?
 
Combat certainly isnt one of the issues I have with 3. I really like it, took a little while to click but once it did I absolutely loved it. Just wish we had more tougher fights to really use it. Those 3 on 1 arena fights (especially the last one) were nuts. I'd still give the game a 7/8 though. Just because the game itself was very fun but ultimately fell short with the end plot.
 
In a follow up to my earlier post regarding usage of only the Right Trigger. Here's a few videos from @Dan over on the fighting thread, who I dare say, has mastered the fighting in this game. Look how good the fights look in comparison to someone just spamming 1-5 moves with no connectors.

Here's another video of his with a 5 chain combo, looks amazing!


Seriously so impressed with these!

Edit:- I've also added these 2 videos to my original post for anyone reading through.
Dan's Original Post in the Fight Engine Thread:-
 
Last edited:
Sheephead said:
In a follow up to my earlier post regarding usage of only the Right Trigger. Here's a few videos from @Dan over on the fighting thread, who I dare say, has mastered the fighting in this game. Look how good the fights look in comparison to someone just spamming 1-5 moves with no connectors.

Here's another video of his with a 5 chain combo, looks amazing!


Seriously so impressed with these!

Edit:- I've also added these 2 videos to my original post for anyone reading through.
Click to expand...

That is so impressive. I wonder how he's able to connect all those moves like that.
 
mjqjazzbar said:
It’s fair to criticize the combat. The game doesn’t put any work into explaining it. If it’s indeed deeper than assumed, they messed up. The animations and “impact” are pretty middling regardless, which doesn’t really help the combat seem any better.
Click to expand...

Nah, like I said...even in the review I posted over at Phantom River Stone (shameless shill), I made mention that the tutorial (if you can even call it that) really doesn't help matters as it really doesn't explain itself well.

I have to wonder how many even noticed that there was a guard meter (to be honest...some reviews made note that they were getting hit while blocking yet never once mentioned the guard meter so it does make me wonder if they noticed there was a guard meter in place?)

The fight system is far from perfect...animations are sometimes lacking, although there is a certain impact to hitting big moves like elbow assault that I do find satisfying. The combat is not without its faults, but be it either my really low expectations going in or what not, but I'm just genuinely surprised by how decent it actually is and think its better than reviewers are really giving it credit for. Works a lot better than I ever thought it would. In almost every review I've heard the combat is lacking...but I don't know, I just never felt that way and I'm obviously not the only one here who feels it.

I would make refinements to it though. Make a dedicated dodge on the second stick while making one of the shoulder buttons the "change lock on" button. I would also bring back throws (in a idealistic world) and improve the animation work. But as is? It's solid.

Sheephead said:
In a follow up to my earlier post regarding usage of only the Right Trigger. Here's a few videos from @Dan over on the fighting thread, who I dare say, has mastered the fighting in this game. Look how good the fights look in comparison to someone just spamming 1-5 moves with no connectors.

Here's another video of his with a 5 chain combo, looks amazing!


Seriously so impressed with these!

Edit:- I've also added these 2 videos to my original post for anyone reading through.
Dan's Original Post in the Fight Engine Thread:-
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the best I've seen from it so far.
 
Last edited:
currypowder84 said:
Yea I think Huber is really bad at grasping combat mechanics, he's not good at fighting games at all so it really isn't his expertise. So I don't think the combat is good however, from animations, to hit detection, to the moves being random face button presses, its a mess. However if you put enough time into it, it can be a lot more enjoyable beyond move spamming with R2.
Click to expand...

I can't say the button layouts really bother me....in fact, I was wondering why it felt familar to me? Then I went back and played a bit of Mortal Kombat 11 over the weekend and realized "oh wait! This is why Shenmue III feels familar!" because it's the same dial-a-combo system that Mortal Kombat uses. I just didn't put two and two together and realize the method of input is similar to the last few Mortal Kombat games.
 
danielmann861 said:
I can't say the button layouts really bother me....in fact, I was wondering why it felt familar to me? Then I went back and played a bit of Mortal Kombat 11 over the weekend and realized "oh wait! This is why Shenmue III feels familar!" because it's the same dial-a-combo system that Mortal Kombat uses. I just didn't put two and two together and realize the method of input is similar to the last few Mortal Kombat games.
Click to expand...

Yes you're exactly right, it is dial a combo just like Mortal Kombat. You know what the difference is? In MK they are actual combo strings, every face button you press is a punch or kick. For example in MK if I press Square,Sqaure,Circle that = punch, punch, kick. 3 Button Presses for 3 hits.

In shenmue X,O,O is an Elbow Assault, that's 3 button presses to do 1 move. It feels unresponsive and clunky to me because there is a disconnect between my button presses to what I am seeing on screen.

Why do I need to press 4 face buttons to do a tornado kick? It's just not a good system. Sudden shear is a move that is actually 3 presses for 3 hits but the animation doesn't start until you enter the entire 3 button presses. The delay is simply far too great, unlike in MK which is maybe just a half second behind your inputs.

You can definitely have fun with it but you have to put in a ton of fighting sessions to get a grasp for it and even when you do its still not intuitive or as responsive as a proper fighting game engine.

But I'm glad you and others are enjoying it.
 
currypowder84 said:
Yes you're exactly right, it is dial a combo just like Mortal Kombat. You know what the difference is? In MK they are actual combo strings, every face button you press is a punch or kick. For example in MK if I press Square,Sqaure,Circle that = punch, punch, kick. 3 Button Presses for 3 hits.

In shenmue X,O,O is an Elbow Assault, that's 3 button presses to do 1 move. It feels unresponsive and clunky to me because there is a disconnect between my button presses to what I am seeing on screen.

Why do I need to press 4 face buttons to do a tornado kick? It's just not a good system. Sudden shear is a move that is actually 3 presses for 3 hits but the animation doesn't start until you enter the entire 3 button presses. The delay is simply far too great, unlike in MK which is maybe just a half second behind your inputs.

You can definitely have fun with it but you have to put in a ton of fighting sessions to get a grasp for it and even when you do its still not intuitive or as responsive as a proper fighting game engine.

But I'm glad you and others are enjoying it.
Click to expand...

It depends, I hear what your saying...the big moves (or the ones that are all canned animations) do have a bit of lag to them between input and reaction...but general combos like the Jab, Jab, Jab, Kick combo always felt super responsive (and was useful to shut down the opponent on occasion)...L2, Triangle, Cross was another one that always felt pretty responsive to me and was quite useful. It's a bit of a mixed bag.

I get what you're saying...there is a bit of delay you have to adjust to and it was quite awkward at first coming from other fighters where everything is immediate...but like I said, I can't say it bothered me once I adjusted to it and again, I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it.

If you go into it expecting it to be a traditional fighter, I could see the disappointment that it doesn't behave like a traditional fighter (or it sometimes does and other times doesn't) but the more I played it, the more I adjusted to it and kind of got the flow of it.

But I do see your point as a whole.
 
The move that’s X+Square+Square+Square+Square has the most ridiculous looking animation.
 
currypowder84 said:
Do you think Huber would be able to bring himself to give it a sinking in 6's?
Click to expand...

You know, watching the video, it did seem like he would take a rather critical stance as a reviewer, almost as though he feels he has to be extra critical as he is so close to Shenmue, which is a shame, but understandable. I can see him scoring anywhere from 6-8.
 
They seem to have replaced machine gun fist with a somewhat similar move. Animation isn't great but it does a fair amount of damage. Off the top of my head I think it's X, O, O, Triangle

(Machine Gun Fist was always my favourite move)
 
I really liked the combat by the end.

Shenmue-III_20191126184240_.gif


Any move that requires 4 or more buttons were my R2 go-to as they came out instantly.

I used the Sword Kick and Double Palm a lot (LT Triangle ,Square) and (LT Square X) as they came out quick and had hard knockdowns. I'd set up power moves like Mud Spider by doing a double jab first then as the second jab is coming out hit the input (LT, X, Circle) and there wouldn't be a break in the animation.

It's great once you dedicate some time to it.

@Dan I giffed your combo cus it looks so cool slowed down. I love the hit reactions too, they really sell the power in each move. Imagine if we saw this in the first E3 vids, we'd be going nuts

final_5ded8d16e29b5d001426df6d_363102.gif
 
Last edited:
Live footage of me trying to git gud at Shenmue III combat

1 snTXFElFuQLSFDnvZKJ6IA.png

FWIW I actually got pretty gud at Shenmue I and II combat despite me sucking at and disliking fighting games
 
Down by Law said:
I really liked the combat by the end.

Shenmue-III_20191126184240_.gif


Any move that requires 4 or more buttons were my R2 go-to as they came out instantly.

I used the Sword Kick and Double Palm a lot (LT Triangle ,Square) and (LT Square X) as they came out quick and had hard knockdowns. I'd set up power moves like Mud Spider by doing a double jab first then as the second jab is coming out hit the input (LT, X, Circle) and there wouldn't be a break in the animation.

It's great once you dedicate some time to it.

@Dan I giffed your combo cus it looks so cool slowed down. I love the hit reactions too, they really sell the power in each move. Imagine if we saw this in the first E3 vids, we'd be going nuts

final_5ded8d16e29b5d001426df6d_363102.gif
Click to expand...

Surprisingly elbow assault works great as a finisher after landing a few good combos, and the transition is pretty quick too. Thanks for that, I also like how each hit has its own weight and you get to see it impact the opponent. Oh I bet I know if I saw that at E3 first thing I would be thinking is I need to master this games combat lol.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top