What Does Shenmue Mean To You?

[RyoHazuki84]

While this may have been discussed on previous incarnations of the forum, after everything that has happened this week, this might be a good time to once again share what Shenmue means to us. While we discussed how we got into it, we should focus more on why a good majority of us have stuck with this series for nearly 20 years. I understand some of you members are relatively new to the series so it'd be nice to read your thoughts, too.

I'll admit that I'm one of the long time fans. Shenmue upon its announcement and reading what it conceptually was, was something that appealed to all of my interests when I was 14. I was a fan of Virtua Fighter, I was into martial arts and I was interested in Japanese culture. I was taking Japanese classes back then and at the time, I don't think anybody was sure whether or not Shenmue was going to get a release outside of Japan. So I was already set on getting a Japanese Dreamcast and Shenmue in Japanese at the time when I first saw the Project Berkley disc at a local import stores in Arizona in late 1998, just shortly after the Dreamcast launched in Japan.

Upon getting the Japanese copy on New Year's 1999, the game exceeded my personal expectations. While I had a year and a half of Japanese study (and having the highest grade in my Japanese class) upon purchasing and playing Shenmue the first time, I still couldnt catch everything word for word. I had my notebooks, textbooks, and dictionaries with me while playing. If I didn't understand a word, I'd write it in a notebook, look it up and write it down. I understood greetings, directions, basic grammar and vocab, but none of the deeper stuff. Thanks to playing Shenmue in Japanese, it really motivated my studies 10-fold. It's funny I freaked out my school counselor's because I was mostly a C student in high school, but in Japanese classes (which was notoriously considered the hardest class in my high school), I had the highest grade! In addition to Shenmue, anime, manga, and getting into import gaming as a whole all played big parts behind that. At the time, I didn't think I had a chance of visiting Japan, so Shenmue was my only opportunity to apply what I was learning. But when the English version came out the following November, I still bought it to support the series and out of curiosity how the game would sound in English. While I still have my English copy to this day, I'm too much a purist so I mostly have stuck to playing to the Japanese version since.

Then when I did a homestay in Japan in the summer of 2001 on a government scholarship, Shenmue prepared me so much for what to experience. While I was staying in Hiroshima at that time (and wouldn't visit Yokosuka for the first time until last year), I still got a feeling of Shenmue with the bar districts, neighborhood shrines, people living daily routines, visiting convenience stores, etc. Being in Japan just felt natural to me. Then upon my return, I got Shenmue II. My Japanese had since improved and was able to understand a lot more, but still not enough.

Then when I got to the ending, I just couldn't wait to see Shenmue III. I also pre-ordered a copy of the North American version to Shenmue II but was saddened by its cancellation. I was a senior in high school at the time, was getting ready for college, and couldn't spend the money to buy a new console at the time. But I still continued my Japanese studies in college and would still use Shenmue as my guide. By the time I finished my first year of college, I could understand Shenmue just fine without resorting to using my notes or dictionaries.

And for the past 9 years, I have been living in Japan (though I did live in Ibaraki for a year in 2006, but came out in 2009) and presently live in Yokohama (but I have also lived in Kagawa, Ehime, Hiroshima, Niigata, Saitama and Tochigi prefectures). I finally got around to visiting Yokosuka for the first time and have been there 5 times. While I have seen pictures of the real life Yokosuka, just being there in person is an amazing experience. After playing Shenmue for more than 20 years, just being there for the first time, you also have a feeling of familiarity. You feel like you're visiting a home that you've never visited. You can immediatley contextualize certain locations from the game, etc.

I just feel without Shenmue, I wouldn't be where I am today with my life. While I would have studied Japanese regardless of its existence, Shenmue just added a new ingredient that I couldn't live without. While I always waited for news for Shenmue III, I would always binge play both games 4 times a year for the sake of nostalgia and that some modern open world games don't capture what Shenmue captures with the way you can interact with people, buy objects, and experience a different culture from the comfort of your home. I just knew as long as Suzuki wanted to do it and if we stayed together, then something could have been possible and now Shenmue III is coming out next year.

Considering how Shenmue II ended, I just had to know what happened next. To me, Shenmue is like an ex-lover you could never get over. You ended the relationship with many things left unresolved and you want to know where things go next regardless. Though this may not be a reuniting of an old flame, but still enough to understand to come back together for dinner, catch up on old times, and have some fun. And last, it's kind of crazy I am now married to a Japanese national, and my wife's mother happens to have be from Yokosuka.

To me, Shenmue must have been my destiny. I was 17 when I first played Shenmue II and I am presently 34. It's crazy I had to wait just shortly over half of my present life time to wait for Shenmue III. I thought I'd grow out of Shenmue and video games as a whole, but I proved myself wrong and after everything that's happened, I'm glad I could wait with no regrets.

 

[spud1897]

I'd wrote this for Shenmue Forever on Facebook and I feel this sums it up well.

 

[Hazuki_san]

To me at the time Shenmue was everything I dreamt games could one day become.

I always wondered what it would be like to have a game that had what felt like real living and breathing world that you could get lost in, a game that paid attention to detail and really immersed you. The first time I saw Shenmue I think was in 1998 or maybe 1999 I'm not sure, it was in a promotional tape sent to game retailers promoting the upcoming Dreamcast. I don't remember the trailer exactly except for a few glimpses of Ryo catching a leaf, a few action sequences and running in the forest, but I knew from watching it that was going to be one of the best games on the platform, as time went on I read more about it and learned that the game was going to not only be everything I wanted from a game but it was also a classic martial arts story which was the cherry on top.

The game redefined my expectations of what a game could be and raised the bar to a level I didn't see anything else come close until many years later.

 

[Kodama]

Shenmue means way more to me than I can put in words...

 

[Cyberman]

At the time, Shenmue was unique. What other game allowed you to interact with other people, buy a soda, knock on people's doors or play arcade games? Truly a great experience that live in our memories forever.

 

[Kryptonman78]

I played only on Playstation1 in the end of 90's. When my brother bought a Dreamcast, I think it was 2001 or 2002, Shenmue 1 and 2 were already released but I didn't knew anything about them.

So, when my brother bought it as I mentioned, he bought it with Shenmue 1 together. After a few weeks he gave me the console and game without even really playing, because he didnt have had the time.

I will never forget my emotional flash when I saw the opening sequence in the dojo. I couldn't understand how I missed any news about this game. I just could not believe how outstanding great this game was.

I immediately bought Shenmue 2, and can't describe my emotions in the final fight against Dou Niou on the roof under the eyes of LanDi.

I didn't know that the story wouldn't be finished until middle of CD4 in Guilin. There are no words to describe my disappontment after the cliffhanger.

I guess I googeld until 2008 or 2009 DAILY for news on Shenmue 3.

I admit I lost hope.

Meanwhile I studied electrical engineering and became a plc programmer in industrial plants. In summer 2015, while I was working in Denmark a friend send me a whatsapp about a succsessfull kickstarter project and that shenmue 3 was confirmed.

Then I was sure the world must be indeed crazy.

Btw, I just finished both remastered parts on PS4. The game did lose nothing of its magic for me.

I dont think I'll ever forget this feeling "beeing" Ryo on his journey.

 

[pilman]

Shenmue to me played a large role in my life and my prospects/outlook. I had never heard of Shenmue until sometime 2001, a classmate told me about it's existence and the concepts seemed fascinating to me except I didn't have a Dreamcast.

I still read webpages about it and it seemed fascinating but I had no way to play it.

By 2002 during some rough times and moving, found out shenmue IIx was coming to Xbox so i picked it up at blockbuster then later my mother bought it for my birthday november 2002.

While I had not played the original at that time, I watched the cheesy movie of the first game and played the second. The idea of being in this foreign country getting off the boat with no understanding or knowledge of the country, no friends and just a backpack being vulnerable as a foreign tourist and trying to find someone deep in Hong Kong intrigued me. Just the concept of not knowing who you could trust and this massive city, the shops, people, street vendors.

By the time I hit Kowloon I knew how attached I was to the story.

I defended the game defiantly against haters. I was dealing with halo fanboys who didn't understand my taste in games or who wanted to skip cutscenes and merely cause trouble. I remember friends laughing and making fun of the game or didn't like the slow nature.

I don't know what caused me to become so passionate for Shenmue, I used to find Ryo so stubborn and awkward at times, but it was his determination to do what was necessary to find what he needed and being loyal to his father.

Following 2002 all I did was research as much as I could, I would read speculation stories here on shenmuedojo and read landcs postings, tails character guide, the world of shenmue fascinated me to the point I went into a restaurant in game and craved what I saw. When I went into a store I felt like I was really there just zooming in on objects. I found the minigames fun and entertaining. I suppose Shenmues world was just so pure and different from our world that people seemed to care so much for others.

As youtube became a thing, I would seek out rare beta footage and project berkley stuff. As it seemed we were unlikely to ever see Shenmue III by 2007 to about 2014 I of course got into emulators and trying to find more secrets and cutscenes. I started looking into Shenmue music and I still visited the forums always learning something new.

 

[Revan]

Here's my deep, intellectual thoughts on the matter.

*Ahem*: Shenmue is one of the greatest games ever made in the whole universe and if you disagree with me I shall come over there and Darkside Hazuki your ass.

 

[ShenGCH]

I doubt I will ever truly be able to put into words what Shenmue means to me, so this (an articulation of my thoughts which I decided to commit to words about a year ago) will have to suffice:

Shenmue, the game I attribute to why I still admire and adore games as much as I do to this very day, means the most to me in this respect, it having helped me through some very tough, unstable times during my childhood. It became a safety blanket of sorts, and remains such to this very day. (Of course, the comfort factor isn't the only thing that makes it so special to me - it's an excellent game to boot.) Where in the real world I was a meek, timid, socially awkward little weakling who never learned to stand up for himself, in Shenmue, a game grounded to reality by design, I was able to connect to its world in a way I was never able to with the real world. In Shenmue, the protagonist is not a secret agent, a space marine, a mage, or even a ninja - nope, Ryo Hazuki is just a regular, everyday eighteen-year-old living in an unremarkable Japanese town - a very welcome change to the commonplace feudal or super high-tech setting of Japan - who experiences a great tragedy and takes it upon himself to avenge, and uncover the reason behind, his father's murder at the hands of a Chinese black market cartel leader.

The game, which takes place across four areas of the sleepy city of Yokosuka, Japan, is, outside of the occasional QTE sequence or Free Battle - both of which are distinctly separate from the main exploration gameplay - very pedestrian and chilled in nature. Walking around, conversing with NPCs, sleuthing, partaking in side activities (such as feeding a stray kitten, playing arcade games, or training Ryo's moves), the odd puzzle-solving sequence, and, of course, forklifts - this is how the majority of players will spend their time, and it is just so refreshing compared to, say, traversing the world in an RPG in search of a new quest where danger potentially lurks around every corner. What some would argue as one of the game's biggest flaws, the pacing, actually fits perfectly with the game's intentional realism; instead of simply being able to go from A-to-B without a second thought, the time of day and, by extension, waiting for time-sensitive events play a vital role in the proceedings. It is during this down-time players are presented with a choice: put the controller down and twiddle their thumbs in wait of the next event or soak up what the world has to offer to kill time before heading off to the next event. It is entirely up to the player; it is whatever they choose to make it.

In time, and as if by magic, the player is made to feel at home very quickly; and although Ryo is familiar with (three out of four of) the locales and many of the locals, the player is a total stranger to them, but as the story progresses and more and more is learned about them, players are able to familiarise themselves with their knowledge and expertise, who they know, what's going on in their personal lives, the play of their daily routines, and how they could possibly be of help as progress is made through the story. Before you know it, it is almost as if you know, and can depend on, them in times of need; more often than not, they come up trumps. A real connection and sense of solidarity is formed. It's both strange and enlightening, yet makes complete sense given the circumstances. There's a real sense of community, familiarity, belonging, and comfort I've just never experienced in any other game before - or since - where, on the other side of the fence, the world and its happenings typically feel like a backdrop or linear path to the next point in the story, rinse and repeat.

Shenmue has something very magical flowing through its veins - fans will attest to this; still no-one has been able to nail down exactly what it is that makes it, or even us, feel the way it does, which is why 'magical' is perhaps the most appropriate description - and every day I am thankful not just for having it in my life, but for it being part of my life, especially at a time when I needed it most. I shudder to think how or where I would have ended up without it, which might sound pathetic, but, hey, it worked for me. Thank you, Shenmue.

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

When I first picked it up in 2005 (I was 16), I played it with a guide and it made me understand and appreciate the game more; I remember being pissed that the first ended without a resolution to Lan Di (I didn't know the history and backstory at that time) and while I loved the title and thought it was phenomenal, it still didn't stick out for me like a Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Virtua Fighter 2 or even a Soul Calibur did.

I still gave the game a 10/10 for the review wrote and I still place it amongst the 20 greatest games ever made. It took a second playthrough (once I learned of the story and the lore), but the basement of the Hazuki Dojo is my favourite part of the game and it just gets me so excited to play, even though I've played it 11 times lol.

Fast forward just under 3 years (2008) and I find Shenmue II, PAL, *MINT CONDITION* (save for a slight crease on one corner of the sleeve) at a shop. The guy was rude and unknowing, so I got it for $25.00. He tried to sell me the first game too and when I said no because I had it already, he was pissed (unfriendly people; haven't been back to that shop since).

I started playing 'mue II that evening and THAT is where the love and appreciation for the series truly came in, for me; the attention to detail, the size of the game, the absolute wondrousness that is the plot and characters, I was blown away and took in every single tiny aspect. I especially enjoyed the, "quest for the 4 Wude," and, while it took me a second playthrough to truly get it, I have based every principle and moment of my life (that I can base, anyways lol), on Yi: Its in my Instagram description of myself, Its (somewhere) in my Facebook description of myself and I recite it often to my friends, peers, co-workers and family. Always, ALWAYS, act without hesitation and do what is right in your heart; otherwise, you will miss out on things in life, you will not go into a situation, fully and with your best intentions and you most certainly will have a level of superficial/fakeness to yourself.

Anyways, the Fangmei portion of the game is still a bit, "meh," for me (its done absolutely brilliantly and Yu is masterful at conveying and relaying human emotions/interactions, but I just don't appreciate the first half of disc two that much, despite having completed Fangmei's sidequest EVERY time I've played the game, outside of the first playthrough), then Xiuying takes hold and I'm captivated by this impeccably-created character; I am not a feminist in the slightest, but never before had I been exposed to such a strong, accomplished and badass female videogame character, Xiuying is easily one of Sega's 5 best-ever created characters.

So Disc 2 is a bit of a lull, aside from Xiuying and Ren, then disc 3 begins; Gaming. Heaven. I still haven't recovered by how blown away I was by it, the first time around lol. The game builds up and builds up, then Five Stars Corp happened; my favourite part of either of the two games and it is just a bigger, more cool and more lore-filled version of the Hazuki Dojo basement. Then we find out that Xiuying is (or was raised, at least) Catholic. Then we start the Street Fights. Then we get to play an Arcade Perfect (basically) port of Afterburner. More and more building up with awesomeness and wonder. Then, the Yellowhead building...

And thus begins the Greatest Hour (and a bit!) of Gaming History. From the different and "sense of fun," music that plays upon first entering the Yellowhead, to the transition to dark halls with little light (and Hang On!) and QTEs, to the transition to lighter halls, with little sprinklings of gameplay variation on each floor, to the epic Street Fight, followed by one of the most thrilling scenes I have seen in any medium, ever, finally followed by Counter Elbow Assault, Zhu Yuanda and even MORE lore and backstory...

THAT is what defines Shenmue, to me. THAT is what makes the game so special, as I had never played anything like that in my life and still haven't/probably never will.

Then the come down, with Disc 4 and Guilin and a bit more lore is fleshed out, followed by the amazing final scene... Once the Erhu hits, tears stream down my face every time and I can't help myself.

Shenmue II: The Greatest Achievement in Video Game Creation. That's what Shenmue means to me.

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

I've said this before on Twitter but to me the Shenmue series is the most spiritual game I've ever played. Never had I played a series that showed the depth of not only Asian culture but martial arts as well. The enriching philosophy, in depth detail, and the rich history based off of mostly realistic martial arts made this series unlike any other. When I started taking martial art lessons the Shenmue games became even more immersive than before. You can feel the powerful atmosphere that you can't feel elsewhere. It's not something I can explain very well its something you experience yourself.

Thanks to Shenmue I saw countries like Japan as more than just video games and anime. I became engrossed in Asian philosophy, war history, myths, martial arts, music, and even mundane things like calligraphy, tea ceremonies, aromatherapy, medicine, meditation, and traditional Asian artwork.

To this day no other game series has given me this feeling. And I owe the broadening of my horizons thanks to these games. And that's what this series means to me. Shenmue isn't just a game to me it's a spiritual enriching experience.