Shenmue: Love it or hate it?

I've recently bought a copy of Shenmue from a local store, and I've never played it before (I'm going to try the game out soon). However, I've heard a lot about this game. I know that it was Yu Suzuki's most ambitious game, it was the most expensive game ever produce before GTAIV, and it was incredibly innovative for its time. But I know it's often regarded as a "love it or hate" it game. Opinion are all over the place, it's either called a classic masterpiece for some or a dull outdated piece of crap to others.

What's your opinion? Do you love it? Do you hate it? Do you have a middle ground opinion?

I can say with 100% sincerity that I love everything about this game. It's easy to look back and be cynical about it, especially stuff like the QTEs, but they were an experimental attempt to add elements that hadn't existed in previous games.

There were a lot of incredible PC games coming out in 99 and 2000, but for a console game this was mindblowing. You really got to immerse yourself in the environment in a way that no other game of its time allowed. Even in most games today, you can't browse around in a convenience store and react to almost every item on the shelves. It had a great fighting system (straight out of virtua fighter) a working arcade and lots of quests to get you to explore the city.

It may not be the greatest game ever made, but it was an admirable attempt to push games into new territory and some really good games like Yakuza, Dreamfall and RE4 really feel like they owe a great debt to the game.

If you like it at all, I'd recommend the sequel.

I actually started playing through this game yesterday! Being a fan of the Yakuza series, I was not afraid of there being "slow" moments in the Japanese game design. So far I love it. Voice acting can be horrid at times but it just makes me appreciate of how much better VA is nowadays. The controls can be a bit troublesome with you holding down the right trigger to run and unintentionally not making turns correctly.

The thought of a remake of both Shenmue 1 and 2 using the Yakuza engine is something that I really hope for.

It's good fun if you just try to experiment and not take it too seriously.

Shenmue changed the way I look at video games. It is the defining game of my 30+ years or pressing buttons on plastic controllers. Its also TERRIBLE. This is not a good game, but it is my all time favorite game and I cant recommend it more to anyone that has never played it.

Shenmue 2 is easy to find for just a few bucks on the original Xbox and is backwards compatible with 360.

In retrospect, I probably liked Shenmue more than I should have. But my admiration for it hasn't changed. The controls are clunky, the pacing is questionable, but I'm damn glad that game was made. It was the first time I remember a developer actually going out of their way to create a town, then populate it with people who had daily lives. And it's the first game I remember that tried to do facial expressions right, especially the eyes. Also, I enjoyed the story. I think it did that sort of "revenge" story right. Now someone just needs to finish it.

So I didn't really enjoy playing it. It's something I'd rather watch than play, and all my attempts to pick it up again never ended with a completely finished game. But I feel it's one of those games that pushed the envelope at the time. I feel that it mostly succeeded in its attempt to create a living, breathing world. But more importantly, it told other developers, "yes, we can pull this off."

Shenmue is a series I love. The original game is flawed beyond belief, but despite that I still really enjoy playing it. The voice acting is poor, it sometimes feels like you're going nowhere on the first play through and it often fails to deliver on promises it tries to set up. And the QTE makes me wanna kill myself. However the story is great and the world is emersive. Once you get into Shenmue, it kinda doesn't let you go. Thankfully Shenmue 2 is much better, and if you've got an European version it has the Japanese (and therefore good) voice acting. It controls better and sounds better, it looks nicer, and a lot of the niggles from the first game are ironed out. Really, people lay into Shenmue 1, but the sequal fixes a lot of those problems and is all the better for it. So to sum up, I really like Shenmue.

It's a fantastic game and still plays well enough. It's slow but it's a fun experience on the whole.

I much prefer the Japanese version though, the English voice acting is not so good, Ryo is ok in English but many other characters sound bizarre.

I have even fonder memories of Shenmue 2, some really great moments in there.

Edit: Also, Shenmue hooked up with a VGA box on Dreamcast looks better than most Wii games. I'm not joking.

Damn screw you. I want to play Shenmue now. I'm going to boot up my Dreamcast.

I loved the game at the time when I played it on my Dreamcast but I'm not sure how it would hold up playing it now since every other game these days is a huge sandbox. I'm looking forward to playing Yakuza 3 though.

Shenmue and Shenmue 2 hold very special places in my heart. Sadly I don't own a Dreamcast or the original game. I wonder if anyone has pulled off an emulator?

Anyway, I'll probably be waiting in vain for Shenmue 3 until the day I die. Hardcore fan represent.

@Sooty said:

Edit: Also, Shenmue hooked up with a VGA box on Dreamcast looks better than most Wii games. I'm not joking.

Damn screw you. I want to play Shenmue now. I'm going to boot up my Dreamcast.

I've always been meaning to purchase a VGA box but just never got around to it/never had the cash. Really need to get around on doing that.

been wanting to play it for ages. wish they'd just port it to xbla.

@Toms115 said:

been wanting to play it for ages. wish they'd just port it to xbla.

I was just lucky to find a copy from Goodwill.

@tofer50 said:

@Toms115 said:

been wanting to play it for ages. wish they'd just port it to xbla.

I was just lucky to find a copy from Goodwill.

there a bunch of copies on ebay/amazon etc., i just don't have a dreamcast.

@OllyOxenFree:

I'm down with the Yakuza series myself. How would you stack Shenmue against the Yakuza games if at all so far? I've always thought about playing it just for the sake of knowing what it was but never get around to it. Now that I think about it Yakuza is pretty much Shenmue.. right?

@Enns said:

@OllyOxenFree:

I'm down with the Yakuza series myself. How would you stack Shenmue against the Yakuza games if at all so far? I've always thought about playing it just for the sake of knowing what it was but never get around to it. Now that I think about it Yakuza is pretty much Shenmue.. right?

Yes, after playing a couple of hours of Shenmue I can totally see the Yakuza series as a spiritual successor. That's why just seeing this remade in the Yakuza engine is very plausible for me. As for which is better... that is hard to say right now.

I haven't beaten any of the Shenmue games yet, but I feel sorry for Shenmue fans. Shenmue II ended on a cliff-hanger and the story hasn't been concluded.

I love both Shenmue 1 and 2 and consider them to be 2 of my favorite games.

I found the first one boring, and didn't bother with the second.

I love them both, can't really fault either game other than Shenmue II's few ridiculous QTE's.

I played Shenmue 2 without any context and I honestly hated it. Maybe the translation was terrible, and it would have been better with Japanese voices, but I thought the dialog was boring and awful, and the voice acting beyond bad. Similar to Heavy Rain, in a game where the whole point is to see the story through, faults like that are inexcusable. On top of that I didn't like any of the gameplay. The second time I had to stack boxes to make money I almost quit outright. I'm kind of amazed I managed to finish it.

I don't know - I don't mean to be a complete hater, but I find almost nothing to like about it. I guess the ambition is admirable, but that doesn't make it fun to play or watch.

I loved Shenmue. I don't think I can go back to it however.

Does anyone know where I can find some sailors?

I feel a 6.8 is an addiquate description. Theres some interesting systems and was really new at the time. The dialogue and narrative just didnt grab me at all and the gameplay mechanics weren't pulling it along for me either. Some really cool ideas that probably gave alot of inspiration for future games so I have to give it props for doing some new things, but the main substance itself didnt have enough of a hook for me to really enjoy it as many fans have seen in it. Wish I could love it, just cant get into it.

It's certainly one of those games that even if you love it,there are elements to it that make you cringe.But at the time that came out,there really was little else like it,especially on this side of the waters,and the attempts to make all the small details,well,more detailed,really went a long way into making a connection with the world around you.So for all the terrible/"hilarious for all the wrong reasons" parts (Sailors?),it's still a bit of a time capsule and something I remember fondly.

I think Shenmue was great for its time. I played it in 2000 and it was incredible. You could do things in that game that you could not do in any game prior. It was such an ambitious game. It was also a fork lift simulator.

Neither. I liked Shenmue. I didn't play enough of it to love it or hate it.

I just remember that it blew me away the first time I played through it, thats all that matters to me, I wouldnt dare look back at it now but it was such an experience for me.