- Joined
- Oct 27, 2019
- Favourite title
- Shenmue
- Currently playing
- Shenmue III (PS4)
(Top 5) Why i love Shenmue III
Some weeks ago i did two threads, one thread to talk 5 things i love the most in Shenmue I, and other thread to talk about 5 things i love the most in
Shenmue II. Here is the threads. (Top 5) Why i love Shenmue | Shenmue Dojo (Top 5) Why i love Shenmue II | Shenmue Dojo
Now is time to talk about 5 things i love the most in Shenmue III.
Shenmue III had mixed reactions even among the Shenmue community, some people love the game and think it was a beautiful sequel, some people see flaws but like the game, and some people hate everything about the game, so before i start talking about the game i really want to say 2 things about this subject.
1. If you hate Shenmue III that’s okay, it is your opinion and you have all the rights to dislike the game, i’m not trying to silence you
2. I’m not here to fight. Everything i will write here is not a fact, is just my opinion about the game and i have the rights to have this opinion, i have the rights to love the game.
When Shenmue III released i saw many critics saying that Shenmue III is dated, archaic and much more. In my opinion this is really sad, i don’t use words like this to talk about music, movies, animes, games and more, games to me are arts, they don’t age poorly, they are not dated, they don’t have a expiration date, nothing like that.
People said this about Shenmue III just because Shenmue III have the same style as the previous games in the series, for example Ryo cannot jump in Shenmue III, some people think that this is dated and archaic, i really don’t agree with this, in my opinion creators have different styles. Diversity and different styles are good things for the gaming industry.
Shenmue is inspiring me to write my own story with a Shenmue vibe and style, i imagine my story as games, you know how i imagine the gameplay of my games? similar to Shenmue games, it is bad that i want to do games in this style? of course not, is just a different style and there is nothing wrong about this.
A good example for this is FF VII, just because the FF VII classic original was released more than 20 years ago it means that the game is not good anymore? just because now we have better graphics and we have the remake it means that the classic is not good anymore? it means that the classic don’t have value anymore? i don’t agree with this things, i know i have a unpopular opinion, games are arts for me and they don’t have a expiration date. i’m not trying
to make people agree with me, if you disagree with me it’s okay, i’m only saying my opinion.
Before i start talking about the things i love about the game i want to say just one more thing. As a creator myself i think what happened to Yu Suzuki was really sad, one time he even said that if he continued to do one chapter per game that he would not complete Shenmue in his lifetime.
He had to compromise his original vision, he had to cut things, he had to wait 18 years to release Shenmue III, He don’t know if he will have the opportunity to finish his story in gaming format and much more. If i had lots of money like Bill Gates for example i would give enough money for Yu Suzuki to do the remaining games to finish the saga.
He had to deal with hate, i think some people even called him a traitor, some people now disrespect Yu Suzuki, this is really sad, people are not oblige to like Shenmue III, people can dislike the game all they want but i know one thing, i know that Yu Suzuki deserves respect. He always say that he did Shenmue III for the fans, Yu Suzuki don’t have the obligation to continue Shenmue, he continued and one of the reasons that he did Shenmue III was because of the fans, in my opinion he cares a lot about us Shenmue fans and this is beautiful.
I hope one day Yu Suzuki release the original Akira scripts for the fans, this way we will be able to see his original vision, i really hope one day we can see the scripts.
I will talk now about 5 things i love in Shenmue III, this top 5 is not in order to most important to least important, i just want to talk about 5 things i love the most in Shenmue III.
1. The exploration/The Atmosphere/The Immersion
One of the things i love about the game is the exploration and catching objects, we can make Ryo open a lot of things, we can make Ryo touch and examine the objects, some things we can pick for ourselves like the banana and apple in Shenhua’s house, we can collect herbs, we can explore and touch a lot of things in the game, we have the inventory with some things of the previous games of the series and much more.
I forgot to talk about this in my other threads, the threads about Shenmue I and Shenmue II, i love to open and examine a lot of things not only in Shenmue III but in all Shenmue games, the way we can do this in the Shenmue games are really unique, is one of my favorite things of the series. The attention to detail about this is really beautiful.
Another thing i like about the exploration in the game is that some areas are only available to us later, this way we learn more about the locations little by little, i like this style in the Shenmue games.
I love the atmosphere and the immersion of the game, specially in Bailu Village. The atmosphere and immersion of living in a small village in China it is something really beautiful and unique.
The immersion is one of the things i love about the game, when i play the game it really feels like im there in that place living this journey and this is beautiful, what i feel playing the Shenmue games is really unique and special.
2. The Shenmue One Vibe
Another thing i love about Shenmue III is that the game have similar things to the first game, i really don’t agree when people compare a lot Shenmue III with Shenmue II, as if Shenmue III to be good had to do everything that Shenmue II did, if you think like this it’s okay, it is your opinion, i just don’t
agree with this, this is one of the reasons why i think 18 years of wait did damage to people expectations about the game.
In my opinion the 18 years of wait made people to imagine the perfect Shenmue III in their heads for so long that this did damage, the 18 years of hype did damage to people expectations, a good example for this is Final Fantasy XV, before the name of the game was not FF XV.
The name of the game was Final Fantasy Versus XIII, at that time in 2006 i saw the Noctis trailer and i was so excited, i had to wait so many years for this game, SQUARE-ENIX even decided to start the creation of the game again but with the name FF XV, the game was released in 2016.
One of the reasons i was hype for FFXV was because i was waiting for so long, i imagined a version of the game for so long in my head that this did damage, i like FF XV but i expected so much more about this game, some things that i saw in the FF Versus XIII trailers was not in the final version of the game, so i expected so much more about the game, waiting for a thing for so long can really do damage to people’s expectations in my opinion.
Now when i have to wait a lot for something i feel excited but not to the point of imagining something perfect, not to the point of imagining a perfect version in my head, the version of my dreams, in my opinion is better this way.
I really think that if Shenmue III had been released for Dreamcast or Playstation 2 in 2002,2003 or2004 more people would have been more accepted with the game and with the story that didn’t progress a lot like Shenmue II did, i really think if Shenmue III had been released in that time the story progression
would have been the same or maybe even less, maybe just Bailu Village, i don't know, i just think people would have more accepted with the game, the 18 years of wait really did damage in peoples expectations but this my opinion, if you disagree is okay.
I finished Shenmue II in the end of 2017, i didn’t had to wait a lot for Shenmue III, of course i was excited about the game but i didn’t imagined a perfect version of Shenmue III in my head for 18 years, i didn’t imagined that Shenmue III needed to be just like Shenmue II to be good, nothing like that, but just to be clear i need to say one more time that if you dislike Shenmue III that’s okay, it is your opinion and you have all the rights to dislike the game.
Shenmue III for me have a different vibe and atmosphere, a calming vibe, it is a different game and that’s okay, Shenmue III didn’t have to be like Shenmue II, I remember seeing somewhere that before Shenmue III release Yu Suzuki said that the game have a homely feel, something like that. I dont know if this is his original vision for Shenmue III but i really love this in the game.
We have a lot of things similar to the first game in Shenmue III, especially in Bailu Village, in Bailu Village we have a slow pace, things happen in a slow way similar to the first game and i love this.
We have the little girl Lin Zhou that Ryo talks similar to Megumi-chan, we have the other kids in the village that reminded me of the kids in the first game, i love the hide and seek part with the kids in the third game, it is really a sweet part and makes me remember the first game, i love the hide and seek part, sweet and beautiful, i love this calm and peaceful moments in the Shenmue Games.
Ryo stays in Shenhua’s house and have to come back every night similar to what he had to do in Yokosuka. Ryo have a room for him, Shenhua take care of the house similar to Ine-san, some areas in the game are only available to us later, we have the Bailu Martial Hall near the house where we can train and much more. Shenmue I have the homely feel, Shenmue II have the adventure feel, Shenmue III have the homely feel in Bailu Village and the adventure feel in Niaowu.
I know Bailu Village is not Ryo’s hometown but it was like a second home to him in my opinion, he had plenty of time to get to know more the people and the things in the village, to really live in Bailu Village, Bailu Village is a calm time in Ryo’s journey and i love that, i never expected Bailu Village to have big action scenes like in Kowloon.
i love this peaceful vibe in Bailu Village in Shenmue III and i crave for more peaceful games like this, i even feel emotional talking about this, i hope one day i can live in a peaceful place similar to Bailu Village, i hope one day i can say to Yu Suzuki how much the Shenmue games helps me dealing with my mother’s death and other losses i had in my life, Ryo is on journey to find his path in life, i’m still trying to find my path in life aswell and the Shenmue Games really helps me with this too, it is a beautiful and unique feeling.
Shenmue III for me have similar things to Shenmue I and i think Shenmue IV will have similar things to Shenmue II. I like Niaowu but Bailu Village is the best location for me in the game. Bailu Village really has a homely feel to me, really has a Shenmue One vibe to me and i love that, it is really beautiful in my opinion.
3. The Shenmue World and the new things (My experience with the game)
One time before the release of Shenmue III Yu Suzuki said...
"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."
"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 remember i read this interview before the release of Shenmue III, before i played the game, i remember thinking "I will definitely do this, i will definitely play Shenmue III in a slow way, taking my time with the game, seeing everything the game has to offer."
I said this to myself before the release of the game and this is what i did playing the game and i dont regret it, i prefer to play the Shenmue games in a slow way and really feel the Shenmue world, i think i played more than 80 hours in my first playtrough, something like this, i had a amazing experience playing the game, i really felt this game with all my heart and it was beautiful.
The world of the game is really beautiful, the game is gorgeous, i love the graphics and scenarios of the game, is one of the beautiful and sweet things in Shenmue III in my opinion. In a lot of moments of the game we can do others things to wait for specific scenes or we can choose the option to go to the
specific scene without waiting, for people that don’t like waiting in games this option is good, i prefer to play Shenmue games in a slow way.
I will not talk in depth about the combat system but i thought that the combat system was okay, i love the Virtual Fighter combat system in the previous games but this new system was okay, i didn’t hate it, i need to play Shenmue III again to have more thoughts about the new combat system.
I love the Shenmue saved part, some people think that this broke the immersion in Niaowu but in my opinion the Shenmue saved part is really sweet and special, 18 years for this game to be released, this part was a way to celebrate Shenmue's come back and to say thanks to the people that helped the game being made, I really found this part interesting and beautiful, i look as a Shenmue celebration, I have no problems with this part.
The QTEs scenes in this game are beautiful and really well done, and the fail scenes are funny, the way they did it was really wonderful in my opinion.
We are free to choose what we can do in the game, there is a lot of things we can do in this game. We can buy capsule toys, i love the capsule toys with Shenmue I and Shenmue II characters, in my opinion was a really nice touch to the game, i like the other capsule toys too.
In Bailu Village we can work chopping wood, we can play mini games in Hi-Tech Land Panda and i love all the mini games, we can pick up herbs to sell to Tao-san, we can train, learn new moves and fight the other members in the Bailu Hall and i love this part so much, in different parts of the village we can train the One Inch Punch and the Horse Stance, this is one of the ways we can level up in the game and i think this is a improvement, i really like the training in this game, in martial arts training we have to repeat a lot of things and was really nice to see that we can learn a lot of moves in the game, i really felt like a martial artist , in this case Ryo.
Martial Arts are a very important part in the Shenmue games, the attention to detail and care with martial arts in the Shenmue games is something really unique, sweet and special, is one of the things i love the most in Shenmue.
Another thing we can do in Bailu Village is buying food, we have to eat in the game to fill our health, if we don’t eat then Ryo will get to the point where he can run just a little and then he stops and say he needs to eat something, i will talk more about the food system later.
In Niaowu we have to pay everyday to stay in a hotel room, in Niaowu is really important to administrate our money well in the game. In Niaowu we can buy and collect international cards, we can use this cards to call to our friends that live in Yokosuka and Hong Kong, now is more easier to call the characters, it was a improvement in my opinion.
I played the game in japanese, the phone calls were beautiful and sweet in my opinion and with a beautiful song. everytime i called the characters i felt a warm feeling in my heart, i did all the options, we can even see Ryo happy in some of the calls, the phone calls is really touching and special and it helps me so much.
Like i said before i wish i could say to Yu Suzuki how much Shenmue helps me dealing with difficult times in my life, in my opinion the phone calls the way they did it in this game is a beautiful addition, i hope the phone calls come back in Shenmue IV.
Another thing i love in the game is searching for Bailu-chans in Bailu Village and searching for Chobu-chans in Niaowu. It is so fun to search for
them and they way they did it in the game was really nice and creative, i love so much searching for them and this is so Shenmue for me, beautiful
addition.
Another thing i love is the Rose Garden Tournament part, was really fun fighting there.
We have more options to earn money in Niaowu, the forklift is back and i really enjoyed the way they did it, we can work chopping wood, we can fish in different parts of Niaowu, we can collect herbs to sell, we have the Wu Shen hall where we can train.
Another way to make money in the game is gambling, exchanging tokens for prizes and then selling the prizes if we want, in my opinion all of this have a connection, the world in Shenmue III feels connected, everything feels connected, i really feel that this is a improvement, and we have a lot of ways to make money in the game, i love all the new ways to make money, i love the way they did it.
The food system-
Now i will talk about what i thought about the food system, some people like the food system and other people think that the system was a mistake, in my opinion this system is not a mistake, was a nice addition that Ryo can eat in the game, the game have a BIG variety of foods and drinks and i love this, every food and drink have a different effect on Ryo, i love this variety of foods and drinks, in this part i really love what they did about the variety of foods and drinks but what i dislike in this system is just one thing.
This one thing is that the health part runs out so fast, specially in the beggining of the game, i really think that this system have to improve about this, i think will be better for Shenmue IV if the health runs out a little bit slower, some foods in the game are better for Ryo than others, i really don’t remember what is the best foods in the game, i remember garlic is one of the best, the player needs to think and choose what is better for Ryo and in my opinion this part about choosing what to eat is a good thing, players can have different experiences with the game.
When we train and level up Ryo we can see that Ryo can endure more without eating and this is good, we can see Ryo getting stronger, the training is really important in the game and i love this, i think they thought that the food system would work really good because of the New Game+ option, in this option we can start a new game with all the items, lv and much more of the previous playtrough, so if the person choose the New Game+ after beating the game for the first time i really think that they will not have much problems with this system. if Yu Suzuki put the food system in Shenmue IV i really think it will come with improvements. I love the Food System i just think it needs improvements, the food system can get better.
I talked a lot about the new things we have in Shenmue III, about chopping wood, this job starts with a calm song but if we do good in the job the song change for 2 other songs, i love chopping wood in the game and i love the way they did this,
I love fishing, forklift, collecting herbs is one of my favorite things in the game, was a beautiful addition, i like the new gambling, prizes and mini games. Other new thing in Shenmue III is that now we can change Ryo’s clothes and Shenhuas clothes, sadly we just have 2 options for Shenhua, i wanted to put those dresses of the stores in Shenhua but there is no way, for Ryo we have a lot of options, i love the clothes in the game for both characters, in my opinion it is a nice addition to customize the characters in the way we want, we can use the original clothes or different clothes, was a beautiful addition
I don’t remember right now more new things we can do in the game, if i remember i will edit this part, my final thoughts about The Shenmue World and the new things is that i love the new additions in the game, i love the world, the graphics and the scenarios in the game are wonderful, the visuals and locations in the game are beautiful, i had a beautiful experience with the game i just think the Food System needs improvements.
4. The Music
I said in my other threads that a soundtrack is a important part of a game, that it is important for the atmosphere, immersion and vibe of the game. One particular part of the game really touched my heart, and one song in the game helped me feeling this way.
I think it was my first night on Shenhua’s house, Ryo talked a little bit with Shenhua, after that a beautiful song started, i entered in the room where Ryo stays and sleep, i was gonna save the game but the song is so beautiful that in that moment i just put the controller on my bed and i felt a beautiful feeling, i think i even remembered everything that Ryo has gone through in the previous games, this whole journey that he's doing, and that now he is living a peaceful life in Bailu Village with Shenhua, having a calm and peaceful time in his life.
I just let the controller in my bed and the song playing over and over again, i even imagine me there in Guilin, i reflected about a lot of things, Shenmue games helps me a lot, was a beautiful and special moment to me, this song is one of my favorite songs in the game. The Shenmue soundtracks are masterpieces to me.
5. The characters and the Story
Shenmue III begins in the same part that Shenmue II ended, the cave part. About Shenhua’s clothes in this part i didn’t understood why in this part she is not wearing her classic outfit, i understand that Yu Suzuki wanted to do something different this time but in my opinion in this part Shenhua should have been with her classic outfit, then later in her house she could have changed her clothes, i would prefer this way.
In Shenmue III some things in the opening scene were different than what we saw in Shenmue II, maybe now Yu Suzuki did his original vision of this scene, was sad to see that some things changed in this part but for me it wasn't something that affected me in a extreme way, i just hope that other mystical elements remain. I really want to know more about the mirrors, Shenhua’s powers and the Shenmue tree.
The NPCs in the game are all unique and different, they have their own routines, stories, voices and much more, i love the characters in this game, i love this not only in Shenmue III but in all the Shenmue games, this details are beautiful, one of my favorite thing in the Shenmue games is talking wiht NPCs and getting to know more about them. I think we can talk to all NPCs in Bailu Village but sadly we can’t talk to all the NPCs in Niaowu, maybe this was a budget problem and i really understand.
I remember one time on Facebook when i saw one person saying that Shenmue III just have 20 minutes of story, i really disagree with this, Shenmue III story is not just the castle part, it is much more than this in my opinion. the main plot of the game is to find Yunshen Yuan, Shenhua’s father, so in the beggining of the game we have to find clues about what happened to Yuan, In Shenmue III things happen in a slow way but the game have a story, the story didn’t have much story progress like Shenmue II but Shenmue III have a story.
While searching for more clues in Bailu Village Ryo lived with Shenhua and got closer to her, he got to know Shenhua better and the bond with her got stronger, this was sweet and beautiful. He got to know more about what his father Iwao did in Bailu Village, was touching for me Ryo seeing what Iwao did in that tree, another touching moment for me was seeing the lady in the temple giving something that Iwao did for Akane, Ryo’s mother, was touching for me and we learned the name of his mother in this game, i hope we can see her story, i really want to know more about Akane.
Ryo was losing against Yanlang, he met Master Sun and trained with him, this training was beautiful in my opinion, and catching chickens is challeging and fun at the same time. 😆
With him Ryo learned the body check, with him and other villagers Ryo learned more about the origin of the mirrors, we saw interesting flashbacks about the time when the emperor and empress came to Bailu Village about the mirrors, We saw Ryo finally winning against Yanlang using the Body Check and this was beautiful, we had a mysterious scene where probably Shenhua used her powers to take the informations from Yanlang, i remember she did something similar to Chai aswell, and in Niaowu she did something with Ren too, i really want to see more about Shenhua’s powers, hope we can see more about that in Shenmue IV and V.
Later we learned that Ryo and Shenhua need to go to Niaowu, that her father is there somewhere, I love the final scene in Bailu Village and i love that in this scene we can see Ryo training at night, in my opinion this scene with Ryo was really to show that he trains everyday, every night, without neglect, that he really have GON and that he is really focus on what he wants, the final scene in Bailu Village is sweet and beautiful.
They go to Niaowu, in the boat we could see a mysterious woman, this mysterious woman appear in some scenes in Niaowu.
They try to find more clues about what happened to Shenhua’s father, in Niaowu Ryo saw and talked with Ren again, in Niaowu Ryo met new characters
too, he met a lot of characters, but major characters he met Shiling ling, Ryo helped her, he met the Red Snakes and lost to Longqi Ge, he met Qiu Hsu, Grandmaster Bei, Grandmaster Bei teaches the reverse body check to Ryo.
We learned that the Mysterious woman is Niao Sun, Niao Sun kidnapped Shenhua, so Ryo and Ren decides to go to the castle, Ren decides to call 3 more characters for this. The characters are Shiling Ling, Qiu Hsu and Grandemaster Bei, characteres Ryo met before, so they go to the castle to save Shenhua, Ryo save Yuan. Ryo gave the phoenix mirror to Niao Sun, this way he saved Shenhua, Ryo learned that Lan Di was in the castle, so Ryo finally uses the reverse body check and defeated Longqi Ge, Ryo finally have another encounter with Lan Di, Ryo defeated two of the Lan Dis guys, he showed that he improved, even Lan Di said... "Hmph. It seems you improved a bit..."
Ryo and Lan Di had their first real battle, in this first battle Ryo tried so hard to defeat Lan Di but his moves were not enough, meanwhile Niao Sun betrayed Lan Di and said to the others to put the place on fire, she really wanted to kill Lan Di, in this battle Ryo showed that he improved a bit as a martial artist but was not enough, then Ren saves Ryo, the place was on fire but Ryo still wanted to fight Lan Di, Ren was there to make sure Ryo doesn't do something terrible, everyone escaped the castle. I really like the scenes in the castle and i think this scenes was intense, i really like this part. Baisha was cut of the game and this was sad but overall i like the ending parts of the game.
Ryo couldn't defeat Lan Di or hit him but he showed that he improved a bit and I love this, this was the first real battle with Lan Di so i love that this battle happened this way, i love that Ryo is growing little by little, and this way when he defeat Lan Di in a battle the moment for me will be more emotional and beautiful.
After that Ryo said goodbye to the new friends he did in Niaowu, and this is one of the few things i dislike about the game, not the goodbye part but in my opinion Shiling Ling and Qsu Hi didn’t had much story and character development, Grandmaster Bei had a little bit more than them because he trained Ryo, i wish they had more scenes with Ryo and things like that, this way the goodbye part would have been more emotional, you know? this is one of the few things i dislike in Shenmue III.
Then Ryo had a serious talk with Shenhua’s father, in this talk Ryo learned that Sunming Zhao at one point had the mirrors, that the mirrors were entrusted to him, that he died under mysterious circumstances, and that after his death Lan Di was raised by the Chi You Men, Ryo learned some things with him and i think it was okay, i wished for more but for me it was okay, i don’t remember right now if Ryo learned other things with him, if someone remember please tell me.
And in the ending we saw Ryo, Shenhua and Ren. This is a story that has only 20 minutes? not for me, Shenmue III have a story but things happen in a slow way similar to Shenmue One
Now i will talk about one of my favorite parts in the Shenmue series, i will talk about the conversations between Ryo and Shenhua.
Every night in Bailu Village we can talk with Shenhua and we have options to choose, and every night the conversation is different, we can even see
beautiful scenes where Ryo take off his shoes and put his shoes, this is so Shenmue to me and i love this details in the game.
We can even play a funny face off game with Shenhua, i love the face off game, we can even see Ryo laughing and smiling, this was beautiful to see, with the conversations we can learn more about Ryo and more about Shenhua, their bond got stronger with this conversations, the conversations with Shenhua are one of my favorite things about Shenmue III.
I remember that after some nights Shenhua started to be more lovely with Ryo, she began to wake up him saying good morning, she began to say good bye when Ryo leaves the house, we can even see Ryo responding in a calm way while doing a happy and calm face, something that we never saw before.
i don’t remember Ryo super calm and a little happy in Shenmue I and Shenmue II like this, but in Shenmue III we can see this sweet moments between Ryo and Shenhua with a beautiful soundtrack, i saw a different side of Ryo, i saw him opening more his feelings and being more calm and i love this, and this is how a lot of days in Bailu Village began, sometimes i can’t even put into words this sweet moments in the the game with Ryo and Shenhua, the conversations with her, the funny face game, seeing Shenhua waking up Ryo saying good morning, seeing her saying goodbye to Ryo, seeing Ryo a little happy in this moments and everything about those scenes really touched my heart. I spended so much time in Bailu Village and it was sweet and beautiful to me.
Being able to experience in gaming format a peaceful and simple life in Guilin was super unique and special to me, i love so much the calmer moments in the Shenmue games, i crave for more games that have this moments, i need more games with moments like this in the gaming industry.
In Niaowu the conversations with Shenhua continue but sadly it is not deep conversations where we have options to choose, but the conversations in Niaowu in the hotel are interesting too, it is not deep conversations but it is nice and show a little bit more the bond between Ryo and Shenhua.
For me Shenmue I is only the introduction to the story, Shenmue II is the beginning of the adventure and Shenmue III is the training and calm part of Ryo’s Journey, a part where Ryo trains everyday without neglect, a part where Ryo and Shenhua live together and develop their friendship and their bond got stronger, a part where Ryo lives a more peaceful and calm life in Guilin Bailu Village, a part where he have his first real battle with Lan Di and we can see that Ryo improved a little and i love that, Ryo will improve even more and i think the next battles between Ryo and Lan Di will be beautiful to see.
Yu Suzuki and his team did everything from scratch with limited budget, what they achieved is really beautiful, i’m not saying the game is perfect but in my opinion what they achieved was really beautiful, a true Shenmue experience and i love that, i’m really glad Shenmue III exists.
I like the ending scene with Ryo, Ren and Shenhua. Ren only thinking about treasure but in my opinion this will change in Shenmue IV and V, i really have
a feeling that maybe Ren will die saving Ryo, and Ryo will start to remember his father’s words and Xiuying’s words, and he will start to reflect if the revenge path is really the right path for him. In the ending scene Shenhua thinking those words about Ryo.
Ryo in the final scene thinking with a big desire for revenge, still wanting to kill Lan Di. For me Shenmue is not just about Ryo wanting to kill Lan Di, it is much more than this, for me Shenmue is about Ryo’s journey, it is about the people he meet and what he learns from them, it is about Ryo growing as a martial artist and as a character, what is the most important thing is not the destination but the journey, and it is beautiful to see Ryo’s journey, Ryo learning with the people he meet and trying to find a path in his life and living this journey is something really emotional to me, and one day i think Ryo will forget about revenge.
Ryo’s grow as a character is a slow grow but the speed doesn't matter, he is growing little by little, what is important is that Ryo is learning with the people he is meeting along the way, in my opinion one day Ryo will be similar to Akira and this will be wonderful to see, 😊
The ending of Shenmue III is really a build up for exciting things i think will happen in Shenmue IV, and what do i think will happen in Shenmue IV? A intense Chi You Men arc. I really think that when Yu Suzuki finish the Shenmue saga i will appreaciate more the whole story, i will appreaciate the whole Ryo's Journey, i will appreaciate even more what Shenmue III is for me, a peaceful, calm and simple time in Ryo's journey.
I took a lot of days to think and write all of this and made this thread, i really wanted to put a lot of my thoughts about the game here, thanks for everyone that read everything, really means a lot to me. 😊
Shenmue games are more than games to me, Shenmue Games are unforgettable and unique experiences.
Shenmue III story for me is calm, peaceful, living a simple and sweet life in Bailu Village and later exploring Niaowu, developing and strengthening the bond with Shenhua, mysterious moments, funny moments, touching moments, learning and training moments, overcoming limits moments, anger moments and much more. It is a 10/10 masterpiece game for me? no, if i had to give a score for the game i would give 8.5 for the game. For me Shenmue III is a beautiful, charming, calm, peaceful, unique and special game, a beauty work of art, a game that really touched my heart.
Some weeks ago i did two threads, one thread to talk 5 things i love the most in Shenmue I, and other thread to talk about 5 things i love the most in
Shenmue II. Here is the threads. (Top 5) Why i love Shenmue | Shenmue Dojo (Top 5) Why i love Shenmue II | Shenmue Dojo
Now is time to talk about 5 things i love the most in Shenmue III.
Shenmue III had mixed reactions even among the Shenmue community, some people love the game and think it was a beautiful sequel, some people see flaws but like the game, and some people hate everything about the game, so before i start talking about the game i really want to say 2 things about this subject.
1. If you hate Shenmue III that’s okay, it is your opinion and you have all the rights to dislike the game, i’m not trying to silence you
2. I’m not here to fight. Everything i will write here is not a fact, is just my opinion about the game and i have the rights to have this opinion, i have the rights to love the game.
When Shenmue III released i saw many critics saying that Shenmue III is dated, archaic and much more. In my opinion this is really sad, i don’t use words like this to talk about music, movies, animes, games and more, games to me are arts, they don’t age poorly, they are not dated, they don’t have a expiration date, nothing like that.
People said this about Shenmue III just because Shenmue III have the same style as the previous games in the series, for example Ryo cannot jump in Shenmue III, some people think that this is dated and archaic, i really don’t agree with this, in my opinion creators have different styles. Diversity and different styles are good things for the gaming industry.
Shenmue is inspiring me to write my own story with a Shenmue vibe and style, i imagine my story as games, you know how i imagine the gameplay of my games? similar to Shenmue games, it is bad that i want to do games in this style? of course not, is just a different style and there is nothing wrong about this.
A good example for this is FF VII, just because the FF VII classic original was released more than 20 years ago it means that the game is not good anymore? just because now we have better graphics and we have the remake it means that the classic is not good anymore? it means that the classic don’t have value anymore? i don’t agree with this things, i know i have a unpopular opinion, games are arts for me and they don’t have a expiration date. i’m not trying
to make people agree with me, if you disagree with me it’s okay, i’m only saying my opinion.
Before i start talking about the things i love about the game i want to say just one more thing. As a creator myself i think what happened to Yu Suzuki was really sad, one time he even said that if he continued to do one chapter per game that he would not complete Shenmue in his lifetime.
He had to compromise his original vision, he had to cut things, he had to wait 18 years to release Shenmue III, He don’t know if he will have the opportunity to finish his story in gaming format and much more. If i had lots of money like Bill Gates for example i would give enough money for Yu Suzuki to do the remaining games to finish the saga.
He had to deal with hate, i think some people even called him a traitor, some people now disrespect Yu Suzuki, this is really sad, people are not oblige to like Shenmue III, people can dislike the game all they want but i know one thing, i know that Yu Suzuki deserves respect. He always say that he did Shenmue III for the fans, Yu Suzuki don’t have the obligation to continue Shenmue, he continued and one of the reasons that he did Shenmue III was because of the fans, in my opinion he cares a lot about us Shenmue fans and this is beautiful.
I hope one day Yu Suzuki release the original Akira scripts for the fans, this way we will be able to see his original vision, i really hope one day we can see the scripts.
I will talk now about 5 things i love in Shenmue III, this top 5 is not in order to most important to least important, i just want to talk about 5 things i love the most in Shenmue III.
1. The exploration/The Atmosphere/The Immersion
One of the things i love about the game is the exploration and catching objects, we can make Ryo open a lot of things, we can make Ryo touch and examine the objects, some things we can pick for ourselves like the banana and apple in Shenhua’s house, we can collect herbs, we can explore and touch a lot of things in the game, we have the inventory with some things of the previous games of the series and much more.
I forgot to talk about this in my other threads, the threads about Shenmue I and Shenmue II, i love to open and examine a lot of things not only in Shenmue III but in all Shenmue games, the way we can do this in the Shenmue games are really unique, is one of my favorite things of the series. The attention to detail about this is really beautiful.
Another thing i like about the exploration in the game is that some areas are only available to us later, this way we learn more about the locations little by little, i like this style in the Shenmue games.
I love the atmosphere and the immersion of the game, specially in Bailu Village. The atmosphere and immersion of living in a small village in China it is something really beautiful and unique.
The immersion is one of the things i love about the game, when i play the game it really feels like im there in that place living this journey and this is beautiful, what i feel playing the Shenmue games is really unique and special.
2. The Shenmue One Vibe
Another thing i love about Shenmue III is that the game have similar things to the first game, i really don’t agree when people compare a lot Shenmue III with Shenmue II, as if Shenmue III to be good had to do everything that Shenmue II did, if you think like this it’s okay, it is your opinion, i just don’t
agree with this, this is one of the reasons why i think 18 years of wait did damage to people expectations about the game.
In my opinion the 18 years of wait made people to imagine the perfect Shenmue III in their heads for so long that this did damage, the 18 years of hype did damage to people expectations, a good example for this is Final Fantasy XV, before the name of the game was not FF XV.
The name of the game was Final Fantasy Versus XIII, at that time in 2006 i saw the Noctis trailer and i was so excited, i had to wait so many years for this game, SQUARE-ENIX even decided to start the creation of the game again but with the name FF XV, the game was released in 2016.
One of the reasons i was hype for FFXV was because i was waiting for so long, i imagined a version of the game for so long in my head that this did damage, i like FF XV but i expected so much more about this game, some things that i saw in the FF Versus XIII trailers was not in the final version of the game, so i expected so much more about the game, waiting for a thing for so long can really do damage to people’s expectations in my opinion.
Now when i have to wait a lot for something i feel excited but not to the point of imagining something perfect, not to the point of imagining a perfect version in my head, the version of my dreams, in my opinion is better this way.
I really think that if Shenmue III had been released for Dreamcast or Playstation 2 in 2002,2003 or2004 more people would have been more accepted with the game and with the story that didn’t progress a lot like Shenmue II did, i really think if Shenmue III had been released in that time the story progression
would have been the same or maybe even less, maybe just Bailu Village, i don't know, i just think people would have more accepted with the game, the 18 years of wait really did damage in peoples expectations but this my opinion, if you disagree is okay.
I finished Shenmue II in the end of 2017, i didn’t had to wait a lot for Shenmue III, of course i was excited about the game but i didn’t imagined a perfect version of Shenmue III in my head for 18 years, i didn’t imagined that Shenmue III needed to be just like Shenmue II to be good, nothing like that, but just to be clear i need to say one more time that if you dislike Shenmue III that’s okay, it is your opinion and you have all the rights to dislike the game.
Shenmue III for me have a different vibe and atmosphere, a calming vibe, it is a different game and that’s okay, Shenmue III didn’t have to be like Shenmue II, I remember seeing somewhere that before Shenmue III release Yu Suzuki said that the game have a homely feel, something like that. I dont know if this is his original vision for Shenmue III but i really love this in the game.
We have a lot of things similar to the first game in Shenmue III, especially in Bailu Village, in Bailu Village we have a slow pace, things happen in a slow way similar to the first game and i love this.
We have the little girl Lin Zhou that Ryo talks similar to Megumi-chan, we have the other kids in the village that reminded me of the kids in the first game, i love the hide and seek part with the kids in the third game, it is really a sweet part and makes me remember the first game, i love the hide and seek part, sweet and beautiful, i love this calm and peaceful moments in the Shenmue Games.
Ryo stays in Shenhua’s house and have to come back every night similar to what he had to do in Yokosuka. Ryo have a room for him, Shenhua take care of the house similar to Ine-san, some areas in the game are only available to us later, we have the Bailu Martial Hall near the house where we can train and much more. Shenmue I have the homely feel, Shenmue II have the adventure feel, Shenmue III have the homely feel in Bailu Village and the adventure feel in Niaowu.
I know Bailu Village is not Ryo’s hometown but it was like a second home to him in my opinion, he had plenty of time to get to know more the people and the things in the village, to really live in Bailu Village, Bailu Village is a calm time in Ryo’s journey and i love that, i never expected Bailu Village to have big action scenes like in Kowloon.
i love this peaceful vibe in Bailu Village in Shenmue III and i crave for more peaceful games like this, i even feel emotional talking about this, i hope one day i can live in a peaceful place similar to Bailu Village, i hope one day i can say to Yu Suzuki how much the Shenmue games helps me dealing with my mother’s death and other losses i had in my life, Ryo is on journey to find his path in life, i’m still trying to find my path in life aswell and the Shenmue Games really helps me with this too, it is a beautiful and unique feeling.
Shenmue III for me have similar things to Shenmue I and i think Shenmue IV will have similar things to Shenmue II. I like Niaowu but Bailu Village is the best location for me in the game. Bailu Village really has a homely feel to me, really has a Shenmue One vibe to me and i love that, it is really beautiful in my opinion.
3. The Shenmue World and the new things (My experience with the game)
One time before the release of Shenmue III Yu Suzuki said...
"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."
"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 remember i read this interview before the release of Shenmue III, before i played the game, i remember thinking "I will definitely do this, i will definitely play Shenmue III in a slow way, taking my time with the game, seeing everything the game has to offer."
I said this to myself before the release of the game and this is what i did playing the game and i dont regret it, i prefer to play the Shenmue games in a slow way and really feel the Shenmue world, i think i played more than 80 hours in my first playtrough, something like this, i had a amazing experience playing the game, i really felt this game with all my heart and it was beautiful.
The world of the game is really beautiful, the game is gorgeous, i love the graphics and scenarios of the game, is one of the beautiful and sweet things in Shenmue III in my opinion. In a lot of moments of the game we can do others things to wait for specific scenes or we can choose the option to go to the
specific scene without waiting, for people that don’t like waiting in games this option is good, i prefer to play Shenmue games in a slow way.
I will not talk in depth about the combat system but i thought that the combat system was okay, i love the Virtual Fighter combat system in the previous games but this new system was okay, i didn’t hate it, i need to play Shenmue III again to have more thoughts about the new combat system.
I love the Shenmue saved part, some people think that this broke the immersion in Niaowu but in my opinion the Shenmue saved part is really sweet and special, 18 years for this game to be released, this part was a way to celebrate Shenmue's come back and to say thanks to the people that helped the game being made, I really found this part interesting and beautiful, i look as a Shenmue celebration, I have no problems with this part.
The QTEs scenes in this game are beautiful and really well done, and the fail scenes are funny, the way they did it was really wonderful in my opinion.
We are free to choose what we can do in the game, there is a lot of things we can do in this game. We can buy capsule toys, i love the capsule toys with Shenmue I and Shenmue II characters, in my opinion was a really nice touch to the game, i like the other capsule toys too.
In Bailu Village we can work chopping wood, we can play mini games in Hi-Tech Land Panda and i love all the mini games, we can pick up herbs to sell to Tao-san, we can train, learn new moves and fight the other members in the Bailu Hall and i love this part so much, in different parts of the village we can train the One Inch Punch and the Horse Stance, this is one of the ways we can level up in the game and i think this is a improvement, i really like the training in this game, in martial arts training we have to repeat a lot of things and was really nice to see that we can learn a lot of moves in the game, i really felt like a martial artist , in this case Ryo.
Martial Arts are a very important part in the Shenmue games, the attention to detail and care with martial arts in the Shenmue games is something really unique, sweet and special, is one of the things i love the most in Shenmue.
Another thing we can do in Bailu Village is buying food, we have to eat in the game to fill our health, if we don’t eat then Ryo will get to the point where he can run just a little and then he stops and say he needs to eat something, i will talk more about the food system later.
In Niaowu we have to pay everyday to stay in a hotel room, in Niaowu is really important to administrate our money well in the game. In Niaowu we can buy and collect international cards, we can use this cards to call to our friends that live in Yokosuka and Hong Kong, now is more easier to call the characters, it was a improvement in my opinion.
I played the game in japanese, the phone calls were beautiful and sweet in my opinion and with a beautiful song. everytime i called the characters i felt a warm feeling in my heart, i did all the options, we can even see Ryo happy in some of the calls, the phone calls is really touching and special and it helps me so much.
Like i said before i wish i could say to Yu Suzuki how much Shenmue helps me dealing with difficult times in my life, in my opinion the phone calls the way they did it in this game is a beautiful addition, i hope the phone calls come back in Shenmue IV.
Another thing i love in the game is searching for Bailu-chans in Bailu Village and searching for Chobu-chans in Niaowu. It is so fun to search for
them and they way they did it in the game was really nice and creative, i love so much searching for them and this is so Shenmue for me, beautiful
addition.
Another thing i love is the Rose Garden Tournament part, was really fun fighting there.
We have more options to earn money in Niaowu, the forklift is back and i really enjoyed the way they did it, we can work chopping wood, we can fish in different parts of Niaowu, we can collect herbs to sell, we have the Wu Shen hall where we can train.
Another way to make money in the game is gambling, exchanging tokens for prizes and then selling the prizes if we want, in my opinion all of this have a connection, the world in Shenmue III feels connected, everything feels connected, i really feel that this is a improvement, and we have a lot of ways to make money in the game, i love all the new ways to make money, i love the way they did it.
The food system-
Now i will talk about what i thought about the food system, some people like the food system and other people think that the system was a mistake, in my opinion this system is not a mistake, was a nice addition that Ryo can eat in the game, the game have a BIG variety of foods and drinks and i love this, every food and drink have a different effect on Ryo, i love this variety of foods and drinks, in this part i really love what they did about the variety of foods and drinks but what i dislike in this system is just one thing.
This one thing is that the health part runs out so fast, specially in the beggining of the game, i really think that this system have to improve about this, i think will be better for Shenmue IV if the health runs out a little bit slower, some foods in the game are better for Ryo than others, i really don’t remember what is the best foods in the game, i remember garlic is one of the best, the player needs to think and choose what is better for Ryo and in my opinion this part about choosing what to eat is a good thing, players can have different experiences with the game.
When we train and level up Ryo we can see that Ryo can endure more without eating and this is good, we can see Ryo getting stronger, the training is really important in the game and i love this, i think they thought that the food system would work really good because of the New Game+ option, in this option we can start a new game with all the items, lv and much more of the previous playtrough, so if the person choose the New Game+ after beating the game for the first time i really think that they will not have much problems with this system. if Yu Suzuki put the food system in Shenmue IV i really think it will come with improvements. I love the Food System i just think it needs improvements, the food system can get better.
I talked a lot about the new things we have in Shenmue III, about chopping wood, this job starts with a calm song but if we do good in the job the song change for 2 other songs, i love chopping wood in the game and i love the way they did this,
I love fishing, forklift, collecting herbs is one of my favorite things in the game, was a beautiful addition, i like the new gambling, prizes and mini games. Other new thing in Shenmue III is that now we can change Ryo’s clothes and Shenhuas clothes, sadly we just have 2 options for Shenhua, i wanted to put those dresses of the stores in Shenhua but there is no way, for Ryo we have a lot of options, i love the clothes in the game for both characters, in my opinion it is a nice addition to customize the characters in the way we want, we can use the original clothes or different clothes, was a beautiful addition
I don’t remember right now more new things we can do in the game, if i remember i will edit this part, my final thoughts about The Shenmue World and the new things is that i love the new additions in the game, i love the world, the graphics and the scenarios in the game are wonderful, the visuals and locations in the game are beautiful, i had a beautiful experience with the game i just think the Food System needs improvements.
4. The Music
I said in my other threads that a soundtrack is a important part of a game, that it is important for the atmosphere, immersion and vibe of the game. One particular part of the game really touched my heart, and one song in the game helped me feeling this way.
I think it was my first night on Shenhua’s house, Ryo talked a little bit with Shenhua, after that a beautiful song started, i entered in the room where Ryo stays and sleep, i was gonna save the game but the song is so beautiful that in that moment i just put the controller on my bed and i felt a beautiful feeling, i think i even remembered everything that Ryo has gone through in the previous games, this whole journey that he's doing, and that now he is living a peaceful life in Bailu Village with Shenhua, having a calm and peaceful time in his life.
I just let the controller in my bed and the song playing over and over again, i even imagine me there in Guilin, i reflected about a lot of things, Shenmue games helps me a lot, was a beautiful and special moment to me, this song is one of my favorite songs in the game. The Shenmue soundtracks are masterpieces to me.
5. The characters and the Story
Shenmue III begins in the same part that Shenmue II ended, the cave part. About Shenhua’s clothes in this part i didn’t understood why in this part she is not wearing her classic outfit, i understand that Yu Suzuki wanted to do something different this time but in my opinion in this part Shenhua should have been with her classic outfit, then later in her house she could have changed her clothes, i would prefer this way.
In Shenmue III some things in the opening scene were different than what we saw in Shenmue II, maybe now Yu Suzuki did his original vision of this scene, was sad to see that some things changed in this part but for me it wasn't something that affected me in a extreme way, i just hope that other mystical elements remain. I really want to know more about the mirrors, Shenhua’s powers and the Shenmue tree.
The NPCs in the game are all unique and different, they have their own routines, stories, voices and much more, i love the characters in this game, i love this not only in Shenmue III but in all the Shenmue games, this details are beautiful, one of my favorite thing in the Shenmue games is talking wiht NPCs and getting to know more about them. I think we can talk to all NPCs in Bailu Village but sadly we can’t talk to all the NPCs in Niaowu, maybe this was a budget problem and i really understand.
I remember one time on Facebook when i saw one person saying that Shenmue III just have 20 minutes of story, i really disagree with this, Shenmue III story is not just the castle part, it is much more than this in my opinion. the main plot of the game is to find Yunshen Yuan, Shenhua’s father, so in the beggining of the game we have to find clues about what happened to Yuan, In Shenmue III things happen in a slow way but the game have a story, the story didn’t have much story progress like Shenmue II but Shenmue III have a story.
While searching for more clues in Bailu Village Ryo lived with Shenhua and got closer to her, he got to know Shenhua better and the bond with her got stronger, this was sweet and beautiful. He got to know more about what his father Iwao did in Bailu Village, was touching for me Ryo seeing what Iwao did in that tree, another touching moment for me was seeing the lady in the temple giving something that Iwao did for Akane, Ryo’s mother, was touching for me and we learned the name of his mother in this game, i hope we can see her story, i really want to know more about Akane.
Ryo was losing against Yanlang, he met Master Sun and trained with him, this training was beautiful in my opinion, and catching chickens is challeging and fun at the same time. 😆
With him Ryo learned the body check, with him and other villagers Ryo learned more about the origin of the mirrors, we saw interesting flashbacks about the time when the emperor and empress came to Bailu Village about the mirrors, We saw Ryo finally winning against Yanlang using the Body Check and this was beautiful, we had a mysterious scene where probably Shenhua used her powers to take the informations from Yanlang, i remember she did something similar to Chai aswell, and in Niaowu she did something with Ren too, i really want to see more about Shenhua’s powers, hope we can see more about that in Shenmue IV and V.
Later we learned that Ryo and Shenhua need to go to Niaowu, that her father is there somewhere, I love the final scene in Bailu Village and i love that in this scene we can see Ryo training at night, in my opinion this scene with Ryo was really to show that he trains everyday, every night, without neglect, that he really have GON and that he is really focus on what he wants, the final scene in Bailu Village is sweet and beautiful.
They go to Niaowu, in the boat we could see a mysterious woman, this mysterious woman appear in some scenes in Niaowu.
They try to find more clues about what happened to Shenhua’s father, in Niaowu Ryo saw and talked with Ren again, in Niaowu Ryo met new characters
too, he met a lot of characters, but major characters he met Shiling ling, Ryo helped her, he met the Red Snakes and lost to Longqi Ge, he met Qiu Hsu, Grandmaster Bei, Grandmaster Bei teaches the reverse body check to Ryo.
We learned that the Mysterious woman is Niao Sun, Niao Sun kidnapped Shenhua, so Ryo and Ren decides to go to the castle, Ren decides to call 3 more characters for this. The characters are Shiling Ling, Qiu Hsu and Grandemaster Bei, characteres Ryo met before, so they go to the castle to save Shenhua, Ryo save Yuan. Ryo gave the phoenix mirror to Niao Sun, this way he saved Shenhua, Ryo learned that Lan Di was in the castle, so Ryo finally uses the reverse body check and defeated Longqi Ge, Ryo finally have another encounter with Lan Di, Ryo defeated two of the Lan Dis guys, he showed that he improved, even Lan Di said... "Hmph. It seems you improved a bit..."
Ryo and Lan Di had their first real battle, in this first battle Ryo tried so hard to defeat Lan Di but his moves were not enough, meanwhile Niao Sun betrayed Lan Di and said to the others to put the place on fire, she really wanted to kill Lan Di, in this battle Ryo showed that he improved a bit as a martial artist but was not enough, then Ren saves Ryo, the place was on fire but Ryo still wanted to fight Lan Di, Ren was there to make sure Ryo doesn't do something terrible, everyone escaped the castle. I really like the scenes in the castle and i think this scenes was intense, i really like this part. Baisha was cut of the game and this was sad but overall i like the ending parts of the game.
Ryo couldn't defeat Lan Di or hit him but he showed that he improved a bit and I love this, this was the first real battle with Lan Di so i love that this battle happened this way, i love that Ryo is growing little by little, and this way when he defeat Lan Di in a battle the moment for me will be more emotional and beautiful.
After that Ryo said goodbye to the new friends he did in Niaowu, and this is one of the few things i dislike about the game, not the goodbye part but in my opinion Shiling Ling and Qsu Hi didn’t had much story and character development, Grandmaster Bei had a little bit more than them because he trained Ryo, i wish they had more scenes with Ryo and things like that, this way the goodbye part would have been more emotional, you know? this is one of the few things i dislike in Shenmue III.
Then Ryo had a serious talk with Shenhua’s father, in this talk Ryo learned that Sunming Zhao at one point had the mirrors, that the mirrors were entrusted to him, that he died under mysterious circumstances, and that after his death Lan Di was raised by the Chi You Men, Ryo learned some things with him and i think it was okay, i wished for more but for me it was okay, i don’t remember right now if Ryo learned other things with him, if someone remember please tell me.
And in the ending we saw Ryo, Shenhua and Ren. This is a story that has only 20 minutes? not for me, Shenmue III have a story but things happen in a slow way similar to Shenmue One
Now i will talk about one of my favorite parts in the Shenmue series, i will talk about the conversations between Ryo and Shenhua.
Every night in Bailu Village we can talk with Shenhua and we have options to choose, and every night the conversation is different, we can even see
beautiful scenes where Ryo take off his shoes and put his shoes, this is so Shenmue to me and i love this details in the game.
We can even play a funny face off game with Shenhua, i love the face off game, we can even see Ryo laughing and smiling, this was beautiful to see, with the conversations we can learn more about Ryo and more about Shenhua, their bond got stronger with this conversations, the conversations with Shenhua are one of my favorite things about Shenmue III.
I remember that after some nights Shenhua started to be more lovely with Ryo, she began to wake up him saying good morning, she began to say good bye when Ryo leaves the house, we can even see Ryo responding in a calm way while doing a happy and calm face, something that we never saw before.
i don’t remember Ryo super calm and a little happy in Shenmue I and Shenmue II like this, but in Shenmue III we can see this sweet moments between Ryo and Shenhua with a beautiful soundtrack, i saw a different side of Ryo, i saw him opening more his feelings and being more calm and i love this, and this is how a lot of days in Bailu Village began, sometimes i can’t even put into words this sweet moments in the the game with Ryo and Shenhua, the conversations with her, the funny face game, seeing Shenhua waking up Ryo saying good morning, seeing her saying goodbye to Ryo, seeing Ryo a little happy in this moments and everything about those scenes really touched my heart. I spended so much time in Bailu Village and it was sweet and beautiful to me.
Being able to experience in gaming format a peaceful and simple life in Guilin was super unique and special to me, i love so much the calmer moments in the Shenmue games, i crave for more games that have this moments, i need more games with moments like this in the gaming industry.
In Niaowu the conversations with Shenhua continue but sadly it is not deep conversations where we have options to choose, but the conversations in Niaowu in the hotel are interesting too, it is not deep conversations but it is nice and show a little bit more the bond between Ryo and Shenhua.
For me Shenmue I is only the introduction to the story, Shenmue II is the beginning of the adventure and Shenmue III is the training and calm part of Ryo’s Journey, a part where Ryo trains everyday without neglect, a part where Ryo and Shenhua live together and develop their friendship and their bond got stronger, a part where Ryo lives a more peaceful and calm life in Guilin Bailu Village, a part where he have his first real battle with Lan Di and we can see that Ryo improved a little and i love that, Ryo will improve even more and i think the next battles between Ryo and Lan Di will be beautiful to see.
Yu Suzuki and his team did everything from scratch with limited budget, what they achieved is really beautiful, i’m not saying the game is perfect but in my opinion what they achieved was really beautiful, a true Shenmue experience and i love that, i’m really glad Shenmue III exists.
I like the ending scene with Ryo, Ren and Shenhua. Ren only thinking about treasure but in my opinion this will change in Shenmue IV and V, i really have
a feeling that maybe Ren will die saving Ryo, and Ryo will start to remember his father’s words and Xiuying’s words, and he will start to reflect if the revenge path is really the right path for him. In the ending scene Shenhua thinking those words about Ryo.
Ryo in the final scene thinking with a big desire for revenge, still wanting to kill Lan Di. For me Shenmue is not just about Ryo wanting to kill Lan Di, it is much more than this, for me Shenmue is about Ryo’s journey, it is about the people he meet and what he learns from them, it is about Ryo growing as a martial artist and as a character, what is the most important thing is not the destination but the journey, and it is beautiful to see Ryo’s journey, Ryo learning with the people he meet and trying to find a path in his life and living this journey is something really emotional to me, and one day i think Ryo will forget about revenge.
Ryo’s grow as a character is a slow grow but the speed doesn't matter, he is growing little by little, what is important is that Ryo is learning with the people he is meeting along the way, in my opinion one day Ryo will be similar to Akira and this will be wonderful to see, 😊
The ending of Shenmue III is really a build up for exciting things i think will happen in Shenmue IV, and what do i think will happen in Shenmue IV? A intense Chi You Men arc. I really think that when Yu Suzuki finish the Shenmue saga i will appreaciate more the whole story, i will appreaciate the whole Ryo's Journey, i will appreaciate even more what Shenmue III is for me, a peaceful, calm and simple time in Ryo's journey.
I took a lot of days to think and write all of this and made this thread, i really wanted to put a lot of my thoughts about the game here, thanks for everyone that read everything, really means a lot to me. 😊
Shenmue games are more than games to me, Shenmue Games are unforgettable and unique experiences.
Shenmue III story for me is calm, peaceful, living a simple and sweet life in Bailu Village and later exploring Niaowu, developing and strengthening the bond with Shenhua, mysterious moments, funny moments, touching moments, learning and training moments, overcoming limits moments, anger moments and much more. It is a 10/10 masterpiece game for me? no, if i had to give a score for the game i would give 8.5 for the game. For me Shenmue III is a beautiful, charming, calm, peaceful, unique and special game, a beauty work of art, a game that really touched my heart.
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