Shenmue Review (continued)
More User Submitted Shenmue Reviews
Date: 2004-04-26
Not That Great for all the Hype
I read the reviews of this all over the internet. Everyone was all like 'woooooowwwwww, this game is -awesome-' so I found it used for $12 and went ahead and got it. At first, I thought it was pretty cool. I loved being able to meander around and talk to people, find out important information, etc. etc. But the longer I played, the less I liked it. Your character, Ryo, is looking to revenge his father's death. But to do so he starts getting involved in the seedy underbelly of whatever city it is he lives in. By the end he's beating the bejeesis out of people just for bumping into him, which is a terrible thing to see happen to someone who's supposed to be 18, even if they are just a game character. Toward the end it gets very cheesy. Nozomi is leaving for Canada, and Tom is leaving for America. *sniff* And Gui Zhang gets hurt! Geez, I was expecting them to then say that the kitten you rescued earlier had died and Ine-san came down with some horrible disease etc. etc. And you were left with no resolution. It seemed an awful lot of work to do to find out the bad guy had gone to Hong Kong. Overall, I did not feel that the effort was worth it.
Date: 2004-04-01
certeinly the arafic is great.
When I played Shenmue, I felt that the grafic was great honestly, even if I consider that the game is about 5 years ago, the grafic is wonderful. I think that Shemue explain the scene in Chinese very well. As if I can feel the atmosphere directly. For instance when I take a walk in the town of the game, for too reality, I concentlate to even tree or dogs or cat. But I wanted story worked out more. If you play the game, somebody can feel the atmosphere in Chenese. Thank you for reading poor English.
Date: 2004-02-18
The definition of epic.
I am so terribly upset that Shenmue 2 was not released for the Dreamcast in the USA. It's a horrific shame, because this is one of the very best, elite of elite cream of the crop games that you don't ever get to see. This really is Virtual Fighter the RPG, or originally that was supposedly the concept. Graphics are quite wonderful, the areas are huge and planned out, and combat can be both quick and fun to watch. And you can play Space Harrier. Do any other games today give you that ability? Though, if you don't have decent reflexes, you might find Ryo getting plastered across the pavement more often or not. But the game does have areas where you can practice that too. It's great to watch Ryo suddenly bust out the karate and start beating the heck out of the bad guys. At least, I'd assume it would be Karate. After all, that's Japanese, and Kung Fu is Chinese...though there are so many different schools to that too. Maybe it's neither. Why can't they make a Bruce Lee game like this?
Date: 2004-01-29
Shenmue, WOW!!!
Name: Shenmue
System: Dreamcast
Release and development: Sega-AM2 and Sega
US release date: November of 2000
Development and/or staff origin: Japan
Supported devices: VGA and VMU along with discontinued online support
Genre: RPG Story elements score: 9.9 out of 10 Story elements: Shenmue is based on the ever popular Japanese story of seek revenge for someone's provoked death, in this case the father of Shenmue. The plot may seem shallow when first starting the game, yet after a few events becomes very deep. It seems that the story is communicated to the audience in a very elegant manor. Shenmue demonstrates some of the best execution of plot to this date in the RPG genre. Game play system score: 10 out of 10 Game play system: Shenmue demonstrates one of the best exploration systems of the RPG world. Shenmue consists of a free roaming system that allows the gamer to enter most buildings and truly enjoy the environment. The battle system is based around a fighting system found in fighting games and is also a free roam system. The battle system is enjoyable for fans of non-turned based RPG's and can be appealing to others as well. The only flaw is the time system; you wake up at 8:30 and must be home at 11:30. Each hour is performed in a time frame of 5 minutes and some events only occur at certain times (such as the ability to talk to key game characters). Also great deals of quick time events (reaction timing) are included as side quests and in standard progression of game play. Environment and artistic value score: 10 out of 10 Environment and artistic value: The environment and character interaction with the environment is truly beautiful. Very few games compare with the aesthetic beauty of Shenmue. Also a unique time and weather system add to visual enjoyment for the gamer. Graphics score: 10 out of 10 Graphics: As with the environments, the graphics accurately depicted the lavished style of the game play. Even though the graphics are a bit dated to current standards, they can still be considered revolutionary. The few flaws that the camera system does posses are quickly overshadowed by the other factors. Take in to consideration that the original Japanese release of this game has a date of late 1999, and the gamer will be amazed at the visual quality. Overall the graphics show the up most visual quality of Dreamcast titles. Sound score: 1 out of 10 Sound: This is the most lacking part of Shenmue. Ambient sound is produced well and at a fairly high sample quality. The major problems exist in the area of voice acting. Sega should have kept the Japanese soundtrack with subtitles. The remedy to the US release is the ability to only have text active and no voice acting (available in options menu). Music score: 10 out of 10 Music: Possibly the best RPG soundtrack in relation to a Dreamcast title. The music is breathtaking and is perfectly dynamic to the environments and situations. If you don't get the game (I say this a lot) invest in the soundtrack. A nice touch is that the soundtrack comes available upon the included passport disc to Shenmue. Yet you can only enjoy the soundtrack of the passport disc by the use of your Dreamcast. Replay value score: 8 out of 10 Replay value: If you enjoy it the first time it can be fun to play through it a few more times. Not much change through a replay will be evident, other than it is much shorter since all the exploration can be kept to minimum. Overall score: 10 out of 10 Bottom line: A great timeless Dreamcast title that can be found used for under $20 and is to this day very enjoyable. If you don't own a Dreamcast it may be worth shelling out $60 for a used Dreamcast, controller, memory card and Shenmue. Pros: Great story, Good Game play, awesome visuals, and breathtaking music Cons: The voice acting is very low in quality
Date: 2004-01-26
Ryo Hazuki is One Bad Dude
I don't have much to say on this game; the reviewers that have come before me pretty much covered it all. I just wanted to put my two cents in. Shenmue is one of the greatest games I have ever played. I blew through it in about a week (for me, that's pretty quick, as I'm a slow gamer), I was so absorbed in it. The plot, although not anything refreshingly new, was solid. All the characters were pretty believable, and it was cool that they all actually TALKED (albeit some of the voice actors weren't that talented). And all the little things did it for me... like the vending machines, the way Ryo takes off his shoes when he goes inside the house, and the fact that you actually get a job... and you have to really do the work! And it's the only game that could BEGIN to rival Final Fantasy VII for "Best Motorcycle Sequence In An RPG". Very few titles rival this one on my list of all-time faves... Maniac Mansion, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Zelda: Ocarina Of Time... Earthworm Jim, heh. I own a LOT of games, and Shenmue is one I would never, EVER consider selling. ...It also doesn't hurt that I love the 80s. The Buggles' "The Age Of Plastic" is in my car stereo.
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