(Top 5) Why you love Shenmue?

~ ひかり ~

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(Top 5) why i love Shenmue Chapter 1: Yokosuka


First i want to start by saying that what inspired me to do this thread was Dan's thread, a thread where he talked about 5 things he love about Shenmue I, that thread is beautiful, thanks Dan. 😊

Shenmue games are very special to me, Shenmue is my favorite video game series. Shenmue even helps me dealing with my mother's death and much more, my grandmother died yesterday, Shenmue helps me dealing with a lot of loss i had in my life, it is like a therapy for me, even writing about Shenmue can make me forget my problems for a time, sometimes i can't even put into words, i just feel so emotional talking about Shenmue.

Shenmue is even inspiring me to write my own story with a Shenmue Style and vibe, i imagine my story as games but right now i don't have the opportunity to make the games, so first i will write the story, probably one day i will talk about my story here. In this thread i will write top 5 reasons why i love the first game so much, i have plans of doing this with II and III also.

This Top 5 is not in order from most important thing to least important, I just want to write 5 things I love most in Shenmue.


1. I can really feel Yokosuka - The Homely feel (The atmosphere and The Immersion) Hazuki Residence.jpg
(Image from one of my playthroughs)



The world feel alive, when i play Shenmue i really feel like i'm in Yokosuka Japan, i remember about the places in the game with a warm feeling in my heart, the immersion i feel when i play the game is a unique and beautiful feeling. It is a lot of things together that makes me feel like i'm there when i play, and now i will talk about those things.

- The weather System
The Weather System is perfect in my opinion, in the game we can see snowy days, sunny days, rainy days, cloudy days, the transitions between the weathers and the day and night are natural and really well done, this is one of the things that make me feel like i'm there


shenmuesnow.jpg



- The characters and animals
All the characters in the game are different and unique, they have their own stories, routines, voices and much more, it is amazing. I think in the game there is no 2 NPCs that are the same, every character is unique and this is beautiful, one of my favorite things about Shenmue is talking with the characters and getting to know more about them. The animals are unique too, in the game we can see different cats, dogs and birds, we can hear the sounds they make, and all of this combined with the music makes the atmosphere of the game unique and sweet.


Noriko.jpg

(Image from one of my playthroughs)


Freedom/Side Activities/Mini Games
Another nice thing about the game is that we can choose what we want to do, we can advance the story or we can buy capsule toys, train, play games in YOU Arcade, call other characters and much more, the freedom aspect of the game is really beautiful, sometimes we don't have a lot of freedom in the game like in the forklift job where we have a schedule, but most of the time in the game we can choose what to do, and i love all the side activities and mini games, they are really nice and fun.

Capsule toy.jpg

(Image from one of my playthroughs)




- The Details
One of the things i love about the game is the attention to details. One good example is when is christmas time, in Dobuita we can see a lot of things about christmas, we can see Santa Claus, we can hear a christmas song and much more, another nice example is on the first day of January, on the first day of january we can see some characters with kimono, if i remember right it is Noriko, Miki and Eri. We can see in Dobuita that in 1987 is the year of the rabbit.

Ryo writes every clue and sometimes his feelings on his notebook, this is one detail that i love about Shenmue and i really hope this stays in all Shenmue games.

In the game we have a lot of different dialogues and scenes that we can only see if we do it on the right time, like Nozomi bringing flowers to the Hazuki Residence and Ine-san commenting with Ryo about it, i still don't know how i unlocked this part. I remember when i was playing the game from begining to the end for the third time, i unlocked a new thing on the notebook, was something about Guilin, i think it was that the phantom river stones are only found in Guilin, something like that, i remember when i saw it i thought... "Wooow, this is a really nice detail, in the first game Guilin is mentioned, this is a beautiful detail."

Another detail that i love is that Ine-san give money to Ryo, Ryo is in his hometown, this place is more safe and calm because he knows the place, and in Shenmue II everything changed about this, i love this details

Another beautiful detail is when the Shenhua scene appear when we dont press any button, details like this makes the game more special to me.

I could go on and on about the beautiful details in the game, but if i continue my post will be really big so i will stop for now about the details, all i can say is that the details in the game are wonderful and sweet, and this is one of the things that makes Shenmue so unique for me, the attention to details.


Shenhua.png

(Image from one of my playthroughs)





2. The music

In my opinion a soundtrack is a very important part of a game, the soundtrack of the game is a masterpiece in my opinion, one of my favorite soundtracks of all time, everything i said so far + the music makes the atmosphere of Shenmue perfect, when i play Shenmue is like i enter in that world, is like i'm really there in 80s Yokosuka Japan, it is a really special and unique feeling, i just feel this things when i play Shenmue games, it is even emotional when i talk about this.

This song is a good example of how the soundtrack is important for the atmosphere and vibe of the game, this song is one of my favorite songs of the first game.


3. The slow pace
The slow pace is one of my favorite things about the game, in my opinion Shenmue games are the kind of game that I like to make the most of my time with the game and enjoy

Things happen in a slow way and the way they did it was perfect in my opinion, i don't have a problem with slow pace in games, i love this type of games, for me a game don't need to have big explosions and fights all the time to be good but i like violent games too.

Some people say that Shenmue is a boring game, for me Shenmue is a calm and relaxing game, it really is like a therapy for me, like i said on the beginning Shenmue even helps me dealing with my mother's death and other problems in my life, I lost my mother and Ryo lost his father, i can relate to this and playing the game is like i have a connection with Ryo and his journey, it is something unique and playing Shenmue really helps me a lot.

Yamanose.jpg

(Image from one of my playthroughs)





4. Martial Arts/Helping people

Martial Arts are a very important part of Shenmue games. The care, respect and attention to detail they had with martial arts is something really beautiful and special, every detail about martial arts in the game is handle with extreme care and i love this.

Ryo only enter in fights when someone attack him first, when he needs to fight somebody to get closer to Lan Di, and when he decides to help someone, Ryo don't carry guns and knifes, he only use his fists and this is linked to martial arts, Ryo is like a hero but without a cape, well... he is a hero with a jacket. 😊

Everytime he sees a character in need and in danger he help them, Ryo helping Megumi-chan and the kitten, Ryo helping the old lady trying to find a house, Ryo saving Xie Gao Wen, Ryo saving the homeless man Shozo Mizuki then later Ryo learns a move with him, it was a important lesson in my opinion, we should never judge and underestimate a person because of how this person looks and what this person wears. Ryo saving Mark and Nozomi, there are a lot of this sweet moments in the game and i love this, this is one of the things i love not only in the first game, i love this in all Shenmue games.

Shen_Whats_Wrong_Gaowen.png




5. (The Story) Shenmue I is a rollercoaster of emotions
Shenmue I Story for me is tragical, calm, relaxing, mysterious, sweet, sad, emotional and much more, for me it really is a rollercoaster of emotions. The story begins with a big and tragical moment, later we have sweet and calm scenes, for example the Megumi and the kitten scene, mysterious scenes when Ryo found the Phoenix mirror, mysterious dreams with Shenhua, the awesome and intense 70 man battle scene, sad and emotional moments when we see that everything is changing, was so sad and emotional seeing Tom leaving Japan, Nozomi giving a amulet to Ryo, saying goodbye to him and going to Canada.

The ending is really sad and emotional to me, we really got the chance to really feel Yokosuka and the characters, so when i see Ryo leaving Japan is really emotional, we really don't know if Ryo will come back to Japan one day, we don't know if Ryo will see this characters again, seeing Ryo searching for a path in life and starting a journey is really emotional to me, the ending really touched my heart. In my opinion the first game really is only the introduction to the story, was a beautiful way to start Ryo's story.

I love the story of Shenmue, is one of my favorite things about the games, it is super important for me and i love talking about the story of Shenmue, it is a awesome and special feeling.


Shenmue for me is unique, sweet and special, a beauty work of art, a masterpiece that touched my heart.


End of Shenmue I.jpg
 
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Hiki, thank you for your kind words in the opening! I am very happy to know that my thread last year inspired you to make your own version.

This was an enjoyable read with lots of good points made, and it’s fascinating to know how the game touches you. It’s safe to say that you aren’t alone with that.

In fact, it’s no surprise that Shenmue has the dedicated fan base that it does. The story is built on love and friendship, and then manifests into a video game a little more with the revenge and adventure aspects. It’s story-telling is probably it’s strongest suit, and makes it so memorable. After all, some games are forgettable, but it tells us a lot, in that the demand for the third game was so high, despite fans waiting for it since 2001. Plenty of strong video game franchises have been made since 2001, yet Shenmue was still remembered fondly, and people longed and then campaigned passionately for the third game. That is indeed special.

Everybody should know that English isn’t your first language, which makes your accomplishment in writing something like this even more special. Well done on a great piece!
 
Hiki, thank you for your kind words in the opening! I am very happy to know that my thread last year inspired you to make your own version.

This was an enjoyable read with lots of good points made, and it’s fascinating to know how the game touches you. It’s safe to say that you aren’t alone with that.

In fact, it’s no surprise that Shenmue has the dedicated fan base that it does. The story is built on love and friendship, and then manifests into a video game a little more with the revenge and adventure aspects. It’s story-telling is probably it’s strongest suit, and makes it so memorable. After all, some games are forgettable, but it tells us a lot, in that the demand for the third game was so high, despite fans waiting for it since 2001. Plenty of strong video game franchises have been made since 2001, yet Shenmue was still remembered fondly, and people longed and then campaigned passionately for the third game. That is indeed special.

Everybody should know that English isn’t your first language, which makes your accomplishment in writing something like this even more special. Well done on a great piece!
Yes, your thread inspired me to share more about what I think about the games, thanks for that. 😊

In my opinion it is really beautiful that the fan base is so dedicated and passionate about Shenmue, it is something really special.

I'm glad you liked the post, thanks for the support.
 
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Pretty much the same reason as you. Overall, Shenmue simply catered to a lot of my tastes I had back then, which I still have to this day. I've always been a martial arts and martial arts media enthusiast, I was studying Japanese, I loved Sega, and I was always attracted to things that were never the norm, so Shenmue to me is like finding that woman that's right for you. She might've been gone for 18 years, but eventually, you find your way back to her, and she finds her way back to you. To me, Shenmue is essentially true love of video games.
 
Pretty much the same reason as you. Overall, Shenmue simply catered to a lot of my tastes I had back then, which I still have to this day. I've always been a martial arts and martial arts media enthusiast, I was studying Japanese, I loved Sega, and I was always attracted to things that were never the norm, so Shenmue to me is like finding that woman that's right for you. She might've been gone for 18 years, but eventually, you find your way back to her, and she finds her way back to you. To me, Shenmue is essentially true love of video games.
This is really nice and I can relate to what you wrote, I like martial arts, I like studying Japanese, I like Asian culture and more, many things I love are in Shenmue.

"For me, Shenmue is essentially true love for video games." Beautiful words and I feel the same.

It is always good to talk more about Shenmue with other people, thanks for commenting in the thread. 😊
 
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In regards to #4....I've said it before, I'll say it again. This game solved the issue of Ludo narrative Dissonance issue long before it was a thing coined by gaming journalists. It's one of the things I've always loved about Shenmue. The fights may be sparse in the game, but when they come, they mean something and they're not just there because Ryo needs to fight or to satisfy the players need for action. But they're there because the narrative calls for them. Ryo isn't just running around beating up nameless thugs for no reason to grind XP...the fights are consistent with who he is as a character. It's one of the things I've always appreciated about these games.
 
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In regards to #4....I've said it before, I'll say it again. This game solved the issue of Ludo narrative Dissonance long before it was a thing coined by gaming journalists. It's one of the things I've always loved about Shenmue. The fights may be sparse in the game, but when they come, they mean something and they're not just there because Ryo needs to fight or to satisfy the players need for action. But they're there because the narrative calls for them. Ryo isn't just running around beating up nameless thugs for no reason to grind XP...the fights are consistent with who he is as a character. It's one of the things I've always appreciated about these games.
Interesting comment and i agree with you, when the fights happen in the game they mean something and are consistent with who Ryo is as a character. and everytime he sees a character in need and in danger he help them, i love this things about Shenmue, it is one of the things that makes Shenmue so special and unique in my opinion.
 
Nice to see that you like it my post to the point of feeling emotional about it. The Shenmue fan base is really passionate about the series, i really think that many other Shenmue fans feel similar to what i wrote in my post.

One of the reasons we got Shenmue III was because the fans never gave up, the passion and dedication the Shenmue fan base feel about Shenmue is something really unique and special in my opinion.
 
In all seriousness, I found your opening post touching. The fact that Shenmue has the therapeutic power for your loss (which you have my condolences by the way) is wonderful. I hope one day you'll be able to tell Yu Suzuki this.
 
Would be nice if one day i can tell Yu Suzuki how much Shenmue means to me and how much it helps me, thanks for your kind comment.
 
Your first reason is the main reason why I love Shenmue so much. The atmosphere is the best I have ever experienced in a game. From the surroundings, to the sounds, the people, it just blends in perfectly. This is why I now love Shenmue 1 more than 2. Shenmue 2 used to be my favourite, but Shenmue 1 has that homely feel to it that just can't be beat.
 
Your first reason is the main reason why I love Shenmue so much. The atmosphere is the best I have ever experienced in a game. From the surroundings, to the sounds, the people, it just blends in perfectly. This is why I now love Shenmue 1 more than 2. Shenmue 2 used to be my favourite, but Shenmue 1 has that homely feel to it that just can't be beat.
I agree with you about the homely feel. Shenmue I has the homely feel, Yokosuka is Ryo's hometown, it is more calm and safe for him because of that, Shenmue II is an adventure in a another country, it is a different feeling but amazing too.

Thanks for the comment.
 
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