What was Shenhua doing while interrogating the thug at hermits nest

I loved the scene. As mentioned earlier by others it gave her a sense of humour and allows her to not be the damsel in distress like nozomi. Also makes more sense for her to walk into dangerous situations later without her being useless.
 
And like AK says in his review, there’s a few points in the game where you see Shenhua’s “abilities” come into play. Some more subtle, like when Ren first meets her in the Niaowu hotel. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this side of her character progresses.
 
Last edited:
I think you guys are overthinking this. For me, it was another lame attempt to be funny and nothing more.

Regarding the below, I can't see what everyone is reacting to? What's the time stamp?

i don’t think so at all mate. She most definitely is meant to have abilities that aren’t easily explained. She seems to be able to communicate without using words.
 
I suppose it's the "other side" Yu referred at the time:

That being said, the old Shenhua was sort of a tomboy, and although the Shenmue 3 Shenhua has not completely changed, you will see as you play that she has other sides to her that have yet to be revealed…
 
I loved this scene. They hinted at her powers but kept it ambiguous, which I liked a lot. We know she can communicate with nature and animals, and she doesn't consider either strange or magical -- she just does it. Without this scene, her character would've felt kinda one-dimensional, like a few of the other characters in the game.
 
The scene hints at us that there are layers of Shenhua we still don't know or she hasn't showed yet to Ryo, but the townspeople know her mundane behaviour more. Also it hints she can use her powers in ways we can't use yet but opens expectations for the future.
It's a good scene, I don't have any problem with it.
 
I'm glad there's a whole thread on this moment, because it seemed odd to me too. I love that it was one of the few 'supernatural' elements in the game, but I definitely agree it was out of character.
If the thug had been sad or repentant rather than terrified it would make more sense, we could figure that Shenhua used a 'power' on him, but more to give him empathy rather than scare him into talking. Lines like 'Ding ding ding' were weird, but there were some weird dialogue choices in the game that felt like it was written by a meme-lover or something so maybe they had someone trying to sneak in jokes in the script?

Either way, very curious scene that I'm divided on. I love the supernatural aspect, but hated its execution.
 
I'm fine with it. It made more sense to me than the reveal of Niao Sun did.

Ryo, and the audience, had only really known Shenhua for a week or 2 at this point, so I don't really think that we can determine if something was in character for her or not. We are still developing her character at this point.

Timeline point FTW. Ryo has only known Shenhua for around 2 weeks in game time. The nuance of the her character is not out of the bag. These 'inconsistencies' mentioned are clearly aspects to her character not fully developed when we were learning who she is in the cave with the firewood and the journey to Bailu in S2.

I think it was an opportunity to be playful with her character and they just 'over directed' the scene. Like a meme/anime/abstract bit of fun. Probably just a translation/joke not coming through as it should.

I think she is a lot more interesting because of it. Clearly not someone to be taken lightly and not a shrieking princess. If Ren walks away then clearly she is someone with power and a strong will. Clearly she is discovering how she can use her power.

I thought the scene was justifiably good in the sense we discovered a new angle on her personality however any comedic value was lost on me because it was a little forced. Just needed a little more subtlety and nuance.

'Ding Ding Ding' would've worked beautifully if the thug reacted in a defeatist way and Ryo was confused and more shocked by her response. Also a line or two of justification from the others would've helped if you chose to talk with them afterwards: "When there's a glimmer in her eye. There's no stopping her" "If you push her too far then it's like something or someone possesses her. Always been that way for as long as I can remember" - just something like that...

Scene made sense but needed a more delicate approach to direction....
 
Timeline point FTW. Ryo has only known Shenhua for around 2 weeks in game time. The nuance of the her character is not out of the bag. These 'inconsistencies' mentioned are clearly aspects to her character not fully developed when we were learning who she is in the cave with the firewood and the journey to Bailu in S2.

I think it was an opportunity to be playful with her character and they just 'over directed' the scene. Like a meme/anime/abstract bit of fun. Probably just a translation/joke not coming through as it should.

I think she is a lot more interesting because of it. Clearly not someone to be taken lightly and not a shrieking princess. If Ren walks away then clearly she is someone with power and a strong will. Clearly she is discovering how she can use her power.

I thought the scene was justifiably good in the sense we discovered a new angle on her personality however any comedic value was lost on me because it was a little forced. Just needed a little more subtlety and nuance.

'Ding Ding Ding' would've worked beautifully if the thug reacted in a defeatist way and Ryo was confused and more shocked by her response. Also a line or two of justification from the others would've helped if you chose to talk with them afterwards: "When there's a glimmer in her eye. There's no stopping her" "If you push her too far then it's like something or someone possesses her. Always been that way for as long as I can remember" - just something like that...

Scene made sense but needed a more delicate approach to direction....

I agree that the direction in the scene needed a more delicate approach.
Unfortunately that could be said for a lot of the story elements in Shenmue 3. We are left using our imagination to flesh out the nuances or soften the edges of some of the writing and cutscene direction. Hopefully this will be improved upon in the next game.
 
IMO, mind control.
(I don't know why but "dragon" comes to my mind when I 1st saw her in S1...)
She use it with the thug, Chai or Ren.. And others like me :) Maybe Ryo when he is upsets not finding clues..or when he fights?

If that's the case, why she didn't use it when she was trapped? Niao sun's counters ability versus shenhua's mind?
 
Last edited:
IMO, mind control.
(I don't know why but "dragon" comes to my mind when I 1st saw her in S1...)
She use it with the thug, Chai or Ren.. And others like me :) Maybe on Ryo when he upstets not finding clues..or fighting?

If that's the case, why she didn't use it when she was trapped? Niao sun's negates?
Huh, yeah that's a good point. Why didn't she use her mind control or whatever is implied when she's been kidnapped?
 
in Shenmue 2, Shenhua stated she can talk to animals, so maybe she has the ability to inject fear into opponents through her eyes, emulating the fear someone would feel while seeing a grizzly bear for example
 
Back
Top