My Feelings on Shenmue Summed-Up Prefectly

[burningdoom]

Man, this guy gets it. I saw this post on another board and it gave me a good laugh.

What the fuck, man?

I just got a Dreamcast and started playing Shenmue for the first time. If Yakuza is anything like this I refuse to play that game.

My first 2 hours of Shenmue:

Ryo: I need clues to find the men who killed my dad!

*random little girl appears*

Girl: Hi Ryo! Did you see the kitty?! It's momma was ran over by a speeding black car!
Ryo: Speeding black car? Do you know anyone who knows about it?
Girl: Ask me sister! Hey, Ryo are you going to help me name the kitty?!
Ryo: Sure thing.

*talks to every single person in this section of the town*

Ryo: Hi. On the day the snow turned to rain did you see a black car?
Woman: Black car hmmm? If you want to know about that you should ask that lady!
Ryo: Okay.

*knocks on some doors*

*some man walks into his house*

Me: Oh. Well I guess I'll ask this guy for some info...

*Ryo knocks on door*

Ryo: Seems they're not in...

Me: AEJF;ALSIJF

Me: I guess I'll look for that lady then...now what was her name? alf?dafj? ladfaldfj? I forgot. Whatever.

*walks around looking for the lady*

*some old lady comes out of nowhere and asks for help to some person's house yet can somehow wait for me in the park because she's a bitch*

*found the lady*

Ryo: On the day the snow turned to rain did you see a black car?
Lady: Hmmmm! I sure did! But I didn't get that much of a glimpse of it! You should talk to the people in the shopping district! I'm sure they saw it!
Ryo: Okay.
Me: aldsjf;dafj;das

*Ryu travels to the shopping district*

Ryu to random people: On the day the snow turned to rain did you see a black car?
Shop keepers: Hi Ryo!
Ryo: On the day the snow turned to rain did you see a black car?
Person: You should check out the hamburger place! I'm sure someone saw it there!

*travels for 30 minutes looking for a fucking hamburger place*

Ryo: On the day the snow turned to rain did you see a black car?
Hamburger place guy: Nope! You should try Tom! Apparently he got in an argument with the people in the car!
Ryo: Okay.
Me: WHO THE FUCK IS FUCKING TOM

*travels looking around and encounters Tom*

Tom: HEYA BOYEEEEEEEE! WHAT'S UP MAN!?!?
Ryo: On the day the snow turned to rain did you see a black car? I heard you got in trouble with them.
Tom: ME?! NO-NO!!
Ryo: Okay.

*talks to more people to get clues*

*Ryo walks to the Chinese restaraunt*

Ryo: On the day the snow turned to rain did you see a black car? You're Chinese so I'm going to assume that, since my father's killer was Chinese you know him. Speak up or I'll kill you. I'm racist.
Shop owner: Me? Nawwwwwww! But if you're looking for Chinese people you should look for the Three Blades!
Ryo: Okay.
Me: WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK IS THE THREE BLADES AND WHY DO I HAVE TO LOOK FOR 3 DIFFERENT PEOPLE NOW?!!?

*Ryo looks around the whole time talking to every fucking citezen in the area*

Ryo: On the day the snow turned to rain did you see a black car? I know about the Three Blades you Chinese bastard! Speak up!
Tailor guy: How'd you know about that you Japanese son of a bitch? Talk to the barber.
Ryo: Okay.

*Ryo travels to the barber shop*

Ryo: On the day the snow turned to rain did you see a black car? I know about the Three Blades you Chinese bastard! Speak up!
Barber: Oh! I don't know a man named Lan Di. They must have meant my father! He's in Suzume Park after eating Soba everyday!
Ryo: Okay.
Me: FUCK THIS SHIT!

*resets Dreamcast and plays Jet Set Radio instead*

Couple all that I just typed along with AWFUL sluggish controls, the fact that it takes a long time to get anywhere, the awful maps..

Really. Someone tell me what is great about this game? Because from my 2+ hour experience with it so far, it's one of the worst games I've ever fucking played.

Thank God for Jet Grind Radio. Thank the holy heavens.

Shenmue is just one of those games that everyone speaks the world of, but bored me to freaking tears. And don't tell me it's because it hasn't aged well, this is how I felt when the Dreamcast was new and I had just bought one with my new job money. Luckily Resident Evil: Code Veronica and Marvel vs. Capcom were also day 1 purchases for me.

[turf]

If your interested, Foxhack has a copy for sale I think.   

[desocietas]

If your interested, Foxhack has a copy for sale I think.   

lol i know, good timing, huh?

[burningdoom]

Sorry Fox, didn't mean to step on your toes. I didn't realize. 

[soera]

I dont think your interpretation of how you feel about a game is going to sway a potential buyer on that. I could spew all sorts of crap about Call of Duty while standing at a Gamestop counter and Im sure someone will buy a copy while Im there.

[davifus]

You should put a spoiler tag. This might ruin a great moment in the game for me  .   

[burningdoom]

You should put a spoiler tag. This might ruin a great moment in the game for me  .

He's only describing the very beginning of the game. There really are no spoilers in there if you've played the very beginning area of the game.

[davifus]

You should put a spoiler tag. This might ruin a great moment in the game for me  .

He's only describing the very beginning of the game. There really are no spoilers in there if you've played the very beginning area of the game.

Well I haven't played any of it yet.

[burningdoom]

You should put a spoiler tag. This might ruin a great moment in the game for me  .

He's only describing the very beginning of the game. There really are no spoilers in there if you've played the very beginning area of the game.

Well I haven't played any of it yet.

Trust me, nothing big was spoiled, at all. And regardless, it's a game from 15 years ago. Even if I did post spoilers, it was 15 years ago!

[desocietas]

Trust me, nothing big was spoiled, at all. And regardless, it's a game from 15 years ago. Even if I did post spoilers, it was 15 years ago!

Heh some of us don't get around to playing games until later (folks around here know I have a tendency to buy games and shelve them for a long, long time)... I have never played Shenmue but just recently acquired a Dreamcast and Shenmue, but I only skimmed through your impressions so as to not spoil it for myself in any way.

The bf and I just started The Last of Us Remastered on PS4 and are super happy that we don't know *anything* about the game (neither of us have played it nor watched other people play it).  If someone had ruined the ending for us already, we'd be less hyped about it, of course.

[bikingjahuty]

If they had this much trouble figuring out what to do in the beginning they obviously were not listening to what the characters were saying.


Shenmue is an incredible game because of how immersive and expansive it is. You can talk to anyone, go into almost every building, knock on every door, interact with thousands of objects, ect. In addition to that it has a very interesting and engaging story that only gets better and better the further in the game you get. I feel like Shenmue 2 does all this and then doubles it. It was a very unique game for the time and still is even to this day. With me and many other people who played and enjoyed it, its immersion made it very easy to get involved in Ryo's quest for revenge, and the story just made it that much better.


Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I find this person's critique to be full of hyperbole and misrepresents the game.

[Warmsignal]

Just briefly skimming through that post makes me want to plug up my Dreamcast and play it again! It's been a few years. Awesome game.

[sin2beta]

It is a great game. I don't know why I like it, but I do. When I first bought it, I played it almost nonstop till I beat it. Just recently, I was capturing footage on it and my girlfriend was immersed in the story. Even with the terrible acting. However, it is not for everyone. Especially now. 

[argyle]

Yup, and at the time there was nothing even remotely like it. I remember just getting lost in the world. That said, I think that's the key distinction - you have to enjoy a game that has a very slow, relaxed pace that just lets you explore.

Yakuza's only similarity is that it does recreate a pretty detailed modern Japanese environment, but not only is there a LOT more action but overall the game is much more of a guided experience. Sure, you can still do some exploring on your own but you almost always have a list of quests to work on and know exactly where to head to continue the main story.

Personally, I do prefer the Yakuza games to Shenmue, but that said I still have a soft spot for Shenmue. It was definitely one of the jewels of the Dreamcast.

[badATchaos]

Darth Vader is Luke's father. Spoilers