Things S3 did better than 1 and 2

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SMDzero

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Shenmue 3 finally nailed training which felt unclear in the previous games. It was perfect that you assign a move set and then the game would prompt you to input the commands while sparring. The wooden dummy and 1 inch punch also felt like you were in a world of martial arts. Much much better than just spamming moves in an empty parking lot in S1 or searching for that hard ass grandpa Jainming in S2

Speaking of sparring it was great that each area in S3 let you spar/fight in 5 different areas. In S1 and S2 you hardly had any opportunity to spar with opponents.

Shenmue 3 also had a better job variety, not only was there a forklifts but there was also woodchopping and fishing which was cool and appropriate for the rural setting. S2 probably had the worst jobs carrying crates and running the lucky hit stand which took forever.

Shenmue 3 also made the shops have a purpose which they lacked in S1/2. It was fun searching for the the right items to buy to complete a set and get a new move scroll. It was also cool buying all types of delicious looking food. What’s the point of shops if what’s for sale serves no purpose? It’s just useless set dressing in S1/2.

Obviously Shenmue 3 had better graphics so you could view all the items for sale in the shops with stunning clarity (while searching for chobu Chan’s!)…. try viewing the shop items in S1/2 they look like a blurry mess there’s no point to do so.

Shenmue 3 also had a flighting system that was better suited for fighting multiple opponents… S1/2 always had odd camera issues when fighting a group of opponents and forced you to use the d-pad making it confusing which way you should tap the d pad to do moves.

Story-wise Shenmue 3 also finally explains the history of the mirrors, when and why they were created and how that connects to Shenhuas family. S3 also finally confirmed the man in the picture was Sunming Zhao and explained why Zhao came to obtain the mirrors to begin with. Shenmue 3 gave us some information behind the creation of the mirrors in the quarry implying the project was started by her great grandfather the same man tasked with making the mirrors for the last emperor. S3 also gave us a little bit of history of Lan Di and actually let us fight him. And finally Shenmue 3 confirmed there is another CYM leader and that there is a coming CYM civil war!
 
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Shenmue III has the best ending of the series. An argument can be made for Shenmue II if the game ended after the Dou Niu fight. But Shenmue III's mere existence negates the cliffhanger aspect of the ending of II.

I thought Shenmue III had a good variety of original arcade games in the game. With the limited budget YS had to work with, it really shows that Yu Suzuki can make arcade games in his sleep.
 
SMDzero said:
Shenmue 3 finally nailed training which felt unclear in the previous games. It was perfect that you assign a move set and then the game would prompt you to input the commands while sparring. The wooden dummy and 1 inch punch also felt like you were in a world of martial arts. Much much better than just spamming moves in an empty parking lot in S1 or searching for that hard ass grandpa Jainming in S2

Speaking of sparring it was great that each area in S3 let you spar/fight in 5 different areas. In S1 and S2 you hardly had any opportunity to spar with opponents.

Shenmue 3 also had a better job variety, not only was there a forklifts but there was also woodchopping and fishing which was cool and appropriate for the rural setting. S2 probably had the worst jobs carrying crates and running the lucky hit stand which took forever.

Shenmue 3 also made the shops have a purpose which they lacked in S1/2. It was fun searching for the the right items to buy to complete a set and get a new move scroll. It was also cool buying all types of delicious looking food. What’s the point of shops if what’s for sale serves no purpose? It’s just useless set dressing in S1/2.

Obviously Shenmue 3 had better graphics so you could view all the items for sale in the shops with stunning clarity (while searching for chobu Chan’s!)…. try viewing the shop items in S1/2 they look like a blurry mess there’s no point to do so.

Shenmue 3 also had a flighting system that was better suited for fighting multiple opponents… S1/2 always had odd camera issues when fighting a group of opponents and forced you to use the d-pad making it confusing which way you should tap the d pad to do moves.

Story-wise Shenmue 3 also finally explains the history of the mirrors, when and why they were created and how that connects to Shenhuas family. S3 also finally confirmed the man in the picture was Sunming Zhao and explained why Zhao came to obtain the mirrors to begin with. Shenmue 3 gave us some information behind the creation of the mirrors in the quarry implying the project was started by her great grandfather the same man tasked with making the mirrors for the last emperor. S3 also gave us a little bit of history of Lan Di and actually let us fight him. And finally Shenmue 3 confirmed there is another CYM leader and that there is a coming CYM civil war!
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Yes. It is my favourite one. It's no surprise to fans lol.
I'm always posting shenmue 3 content 😀 images etc.
 
Finding herbs is fun and a great way to earn money. I really enjoy the fishing mini game, looking for Chobu Chans in Niaowu. The wood chopping is novel at first. The return of forklift work was also a neat callback. I also liked many of the arcade games.

So I think in terms of extra things to do in the game to pass the time, Shenmue 3 probably does that better than the first two games. I am replaying Shenmue 1 with my son currently and I had never really noticed how much waiting around there is in that game and my son got bored of the arcade after about 5 minutes 😂.

Training and levelling up moves is also superior to the way in which the first two games handled it in my opinion, although it isn't anything to write home about.
 
Reprise said:
I am replaying Shenmue 1 with my son currently and I had never really noticed how much waiting around there is in that game and my son got bored of the arcade after about 5 minutes 😂.
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Yeah. Shenmue truly was a lightning in a bottle type of thing. The games are still great but the impact they had back when they released can never be recreated. I could have spent all day at You Arcade. But I didn't live in 2023 at the time.
 
l didnt care that much about hang on or space harrier. They were fun for a few minutes but I wouldn’t spend all day playing them. The mind blowing thing for me was just the concept of playing a video game within a video game.
 
The arcadey slice of life was awesome when S1 first came out but it was the pachinkos the feature that took over me to the extent of hearing the tune in my head while at school.
And in S3 extras, I loved the concept of archaic mechanic games. Wishing they add some collectible and playable lcd keychain handhelds in the future.
 
I think alot of people missed on a lot of things Shenmue 3 did effectively better. I think this thread already said it all. But yeah, the fighting system against multiple opponents is way better, IMO. I also think that the side content is better in Shenmue 3 (both quality and quantity wise). The usage of money was also way better. Sure, the stamina system was, IMO, badly implemented. But at least it made money and shops being useful for real. I.E, in S1/2, you could drink sodas, it was fun and a good interaction with the world, but it was totally useless. Here, you have to have money to have food to fill the stamina. So I think it's way better this way.

Also, this one is quite subjective and personnal. But I think Bailu is my favorite place in the whole series.
 
A hard question. From the pure point of view of a fun game, Shenmue 3 was the most exhausting game due to the strength meter.

But if you see the game as a how to become a martialist simulator the game is perfect. The new elements just turn you into Ryo and you are not only playing Ryo. You feel his hardships when playing the game. 1 and 2 also have that features but they have been perfected in Shenmue 3.

I also like that Ryo slowly becomes more human again as his interactions with Shenhua clearly show. Some of the interactions like the games Ryo and Shenhua play at her house in the evening came off a bit goofy due to suboptimal facial animations I still enjoy them. Because they show a new side of Ryo.
 
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darksniper said:
Shenmue III has the best ending of the series. An argument can be made for Shenmue II if the game ended after the Dou Niu fight. But Shenmue III's mere existence negates the cliffhanger aspect of the ending of II.

I thought Shenmue III had a good variety of original arcade games in the game. With the limited budget YS had to work with, it really shows that Yu Suzuki can make arcade games in his sleep.
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I can't believe I am reading someone saying Shenmue 3 ending is good because for me it was a complete disaster LOL. Shenmue 1 ending was nice and Shenmue 2 ending was mindblowing.
 
luciano_sdv said:
I can't believe I am reading someone saying Shenmue 3 ending is good because for me it was a complete disaster LOL. Shenmue 1 ending was nice and Shenmue 2 ending was mindblowing.
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The only thing wrong with Shenmue 3's ending was the presentation. Felt like a highlights reel.

YS Net ran out of money so they had to cut Baisha and cobble the Old Castle using string and chewing gum.
 
Shenmue 3 overall has better gameplay than Shenmue 1 and 2. The issue is the execution, along with a lot of the ideas didn't fully get finished/realized.

There are a lot more things to do in the world in Shenmue 3 than both 1 and 2 combined

The story and how everything was put together is obviously better in Shenmue 1 and 2, but I'd argue Shenmue 3 had the better overall gameplay. If only Deep Shitver let yset cook the game for one more year, we could have had something on the level of the first two games or greater.
 
Other than combat, which I think is a huge part of Shenmue, I agree. I enjoyed the fishing and herb collecting for some bizarre reason. There's something very therapeutic about going hunting for herbs.

I just wish they had put more little touches into Shenmue 3. Stuff like the cat scenes from Shenmue 1, or helping that old lady find a house she is looking for, your friends popping over to your house to check on you, all those small scenes that really made the first game feel alive.

That said, nothing will beat Shenmue 2 for me. That's Yu Suzuki's masterpiece in the Shenmue franchise imo.
 
Besides execution, Shenmue 3 ending suffers from the dread caused by uncertanty of when we ever (if) get a later chapter or conclusion. Shenmue 1 ending was touching but major cliffhanger. Lan Di doesn't even appears.
We also were so positively overwhelmed by the game last compasses and looking for a certain Shenmue 2 that this isn't take in consideration. Then Shenmue 2 has the epic Lan Di scene which, while powerful, left a bitter sense in many players. And lets not mention the GD4 playable epilogue events.
With all this present, to me Shenmue 3 ending was in balance the most satisfactory chapter conclusion so far. We just badly need more, that's all imo.
 
I don’t mean from a story perspective, but I liked the way the latter stage of S3 mirrored S1 in a way, fight a tonne of enemies with your comrade, boss fight, boat.

In a very superficial fashion the start of S3 has always reminded me of S1 as well, you exit the house and walk down the hill to the town, passing the local store.
 
3 things I can think of which S3 did better than S1...

1. Chicken catching
2. Rock, Paper, Fuckface
3. Playing as other characters than Ryo - oh wait...


😉
 
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