When I first wrote this post I was excited to get started and get it out there just so I could get the ball rolling, little did I know how much of a personal undertaking this would be because Shenmue is what I would consider my favourite video game. What I mean to say is I want to do the game justice and write about all of the things I've had rattling around in my head since playing it for the first time as well as give a fair chunk on exposition involving the games development history. So I'm giving it another shot and going to hopefully do what I set out to and pay tribute to the video game that means so much to me.
Shenmue was originally released in 1999 on the SEGA Dreamcast. An open world RPG that was truly ahead of it's time. Shenmue lets the player explore an ambitious setting based on actual locations in full 3D combining mechanics of adventure games and a solid fighting system culminating in a very original experience. Directed by Yu Suzuki, the legendary games designer often compared to Shigeru Miyamoto for outstanding innovation in the field of video games. Yu had originally envisioned Shenmue to be a Virtua Fighter RPG featuring many of the series characters but as the game's development progressed the story had changed and abandoned the Virtua Fighter roots to become an original IP. At it's time Shenmue was the most expensive video game ever produced and unfortunately along with it's poor sales and fierce competition it is considered a flop and is speculated as one of the reasons SEGA went out of the video games console business. Shenmue is now considered a cult favourite and to this day fans still rally together in hopes of a third installment to the series.
Unfortunately I never had the pleasure of owning Shenmue when it was first released, it wasn't until many years later when I was in college that a friend had brought it to my attention, singing it's praises and expressing the same fanaticism that I share now, he persuaded me to check it out. A few months later I was working a crummy job at a terrible independent coffee shop, I had some disposable income and not a lot else going on outside of the job so I hopped on EBAY and bought myself a Dreamcast console and a copy of Shenmue. needless to say when I fired up the game I was blown away.
Shenmue tells the story of an 18 year old boy called Ryo Hazuki, he returns home to find his father, Iwao in a fight to the death with an eccentric Chinese martial artist named Lan Di. Ryo leaps into the fray but neither father nor son are match for Lan Di's incredible fighting ability. Lan Di demands an antique mirror from Iwao and hold his son at ransom, He has no choice but to comply and submits to his demands. Ryo is thrown to the side as Lan Di claims Iwao murdered a man named Zhao Sun Ming, Lan Di tells Iwao to raise to his feet so he may allow him to die like a warrior and then finally delivers the death blow. The last scene is Ryo comforting his father and in his last words Iwao apologises and says keep your friends and loved ones close to you. The game finally picks up a few days after the event, Ryo has physically healed and he sets off to track down Lan Di.
In your first few (in-game) days you wander around the local town interacting with members of the public hoping to find leads to piece together the events and generally exploring. When I began research on the game I found that people's opinions of the gameplay to be quite polarizing some people thought this to be tedious whereas others got completely immersed in the world around them, For me it is easy to see both sides of this argument it's definitely a Marmite affair the way I think about it though is you are living the life of Ryo and not everyday is going to be packed with thrills and spills. What shenmue initially lacks in action it more than makes up for in atmosphere, every inch of the world around you (although comparitivley small by modern standards) is incredibly detailed, from Shops and Scenery you can interact with to the pedestrians that go about their day on a real day/night cycle. Shenmue makes you feel like you're part of the world if you are willing to let it.
If there is one flaw which I cannot argue is that the voice acting is pretty laughable a character named Goro springs to mind who greets you by asking "What's groovin' bro?" I would only argue that this adds to the humor and charm of the game though. Shenmue's main man Ryo isn't Mr. Personality either though, I've heard other outlets comparing his dialogue to that of a person with Asperger syndrome which is quite funny if a bit mean. A writer over at Eurogamer brought up an interesting point saying that Shenmue was a game of mourning, that the reason Ryo is so disconnected from everyone is because he's just seen his father die which is true, it made me look at things in a very different way when I was playing. There are times in game when you go into a little corner shop and the old lady who works their will call you "Baby boy Ryo." and talks of when you were younger, Ryo all the while not looking impressed, or when you talk to a girl who is clearly looking for your affection and she expresses concern for your well-being but you have your mind set on asking her for directions to continue on your quest for revenge. It does pull at your heart strings and I want to believe that this is what the developers intended.
I'm going to leave it there for now I think we'll call that part 1. In the next few parts I'm going to talk about the gameplay and combat and also share some of my personal experiences playing.
Thank's for reading,
Kris.
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