I have been a long time die-hard fan of Shenmue the series. Now, this review took me a while to write due to the novel's worth of drama I have going on in my personal life. I could bloviate about that context, but it honestly isn't worth the breath. Since 1999 I have been interested in and fixated on the concept behind this game. I wasn't one of the launch day purchasers, simply because I was in 9th grade when the system launched, and lacking the funds. I played it extensively at friends' houses, and also got to experience the game Shenmue as well as others, before they did, because of a flea market store I visited a year prior, that had early copies of the Dreamcast system and a few games. So I was well in tune with what was in store. Not many people appreciated the game, but I remember the commercial showcasing the graphics and the mystery gameplay. It didn't show much martial arts at all if I recall, which was weird. I was intrigued by such a simple premise of a boy trying to find out the secret behind his father's murder. Only a year and change after its release, I had a copy myself, which was pretty quick for me at that time. Many people still hadn't played through it. Some gave up after getting bored midway through.
I remember enjoying the bonus disc, where 3D avatars of the main cast explained martial arts principles to you in interactive rooms. It was very unique, and the only game I saw do something similar ever since was Soul Calibur. When I played the game, I never got bored of the exploration, and the training and combat. It all made it feel like a second life. Then the job system kept things interesting, with new events happening almost every work day, and a healthy balance of work and outside activities. The uncovering of secrets and events also moved very naturally. The combat interwove QTE events with directional combos that were easy to learn and hard to master. There were throws, parries, and intricate moves that showed an attention to detail. By the end of the game, I was hooked to the character.
In Shemue, to give a brief synopsis, you play the character of Ryo Hazuki, son of Iwao Hazuki. He is a young 18 year old boy soon to graduate high school, who was raised by his father as a martial artist, in Yokosuka, Japan. His father is very mysterious, and traveled abroad many years ago to China, where he trained with a man named Suming Xiaou. Xiao was murdered, and his son- a Chinese cartel leader named Lan Di, comes to Yokosuka seeking revenge on Ryo's father, who he believes killed him. He takes the mirrors that Iwao brought back, which hold special meaning, and kills him in front of Ryo. As you progress in the story, you find that many who knew both men are adamant that the murder was not committed by Iwao. You also find out that the mirrors have been sought for centuries. Not much more is revealed, as Yu Suzuki wants to milk the story going forward to feed his drug habit.
When Shenmue 2 was released in Japan, I got an import copy and played it with subtitles on my Dreamcast. So I ended up playing it before Americans did on the English Xbox version. I eventually owned both versions and liked them equally. I also beat both of them. Again, the game raised the bar and was a huger version of the first. You explore a larger area. However, there was a slight dip in intricate detail that I forgave. After the events of the second game, the scene went silent. Nothing was heard from the creator- Yu Suziki for 17 years. I doubled in age. Then he announced the kickstarter to release part 3, and everyone got aroused. I however, was afraid. I was afraid because of the reality that I see in people. If you are honest, the world has become more ignorant and intolerant of art and intellectualism. Many people who claim to be fans of the Shenmue series, I observe enjoying debased and mindless entertainment today, and often being disgusted and insulting when discussing the arts. I've often said that it would be impossible to make a tribute or sequel to a great and epic martial arts film of the past with any justice. It would end up being a mockumentary film. When people discuss martial arts, jazz, poetry, boxing, or any other scientific and deep art form, it is with a laughably simply and uninformed diction that disgusts me. So when I think of the fans petitioning Suzuki to finish what he started, I can't imagine him winning them over staying true to what he began.
When I saw previews of the game, the animation looked stiff. I understand the budget for the first game was record breaking, but he hit high numbers on this budget. I missed the kickstarter. I was part of the very first petitions for Shenmue, as an official member, and ringleader of several petition sites. I did so for well over a decade before I discontinued. Our demands fell on deaf ears. When he said he decided to make another game, I was partly angry at the fact that he ignored us for that long, saying that we didn't exist. Then I felt he would cave to the common whims. I ended up getting the game for a steal of a price on black friday, a week or so after its release. I pre-ordered the game, but my copy was sold idiotically by a worker at Gamestop. I tracked down a copy at another branch and had them hold it for me, so I actually picked the game up late due to the release date I had been told being changed at the last minute. I wanted to jump into the game before idiots could spoil it.
The game starts off right where part 2 ended, with Ryo Hazuki- the protagonist, and Shen Hua- the supporting start, exiting the cave, where her father made the duplicate Phoenix mirrors. Sadly, you spend just about the entire game tracking him down, after his abduction. I won't spoil the plot, but it does make up for some expectations in the very last 30 minutes of the freaking game. That was not nearly enough.
The game has a job system, where you can work as a dock loader, similar to the past, as well as a purveyor of herbs, a wood chopper, a gambler, or even a chicken chaser. You don't make nearly enough money in this game. You actually have to resort to a developer encouraged exploit of save spamming, in order to rack in some money from betting at tables. It's disgusting! You have a couple of Martial Arts Halls in the game that you go to and level up you abilities, but the fighting system in Shenmue 3 sucks absolute butt cheeks. You have no throws, and are limited in attack fluidity. Your defensive options leave you with stamina issues and taking massive damage with no control over it. Gone are directional combinations, and now you press sequences of buttons to execute moves. The moves available are also watered down trash with no reference to true martial arts. It is watered down to the fullest. Even Ryo's character puts on the persona of someone who only just started grabbing at the basics of Karate. Due to the combat system, no fight ever felt artistic or magical. And the gear and items you crave in shops require tens of thousands of dollars to purchase. You will slave away for complete 3 or 4 hour sessions of gameplay and make 1 or 2 thousand dollars if you are lucky. The game has no time limit like part 1 did, but there is also now a food system, where every second Ryo is losing health rapidly due to hunger. At a certain point, he bottoms out and requires food to run again. If you enter combat, that nightmare continues. I also could swear that the hunger carries on while fighting, as my health never seemed to stop dropping rapidly. No human is that dependent on food.
After a few hours of gameplay, it became clear that it was stalling for time. dialogue and plot lines stagnated and completely stopped altogether. Everyone cries about Final Fantasy 15 being a bad game, when that game is actually excellent, especially compared with this trash. At the half-way point of the game, there is a sequence with the blind elder of the village, who finally begins to open her mouth about secrets that you need to know. The lore actually takes on impressive form at that time, and it feels like a Shenmue game. After solving a tricky riddle that ties in knowledge you learned so far, you unlock a secret and eventually travel to another area in China to look for Shenhua's father. That area, customary to Shemue's structure, is much larger. It is not as huge as many fools say, but it is enormous. There is a hotel to stay at, that sucks money from you daily, and multiple jobs to take. I actually enjoyed the first area of the game more than the last. After working and stalling, learning very little, you finally get a tip off, after a dozen hours of monotonous gameplay, as to the wherabouts of Shenhua's father and another stonemason. The end of the game was a release from torture, and had some action that was enjoyable to an extent. Some events were clearly fan request fulfillments, but it was entertaining.
As a die-hard fan, I was very angry at the outcome of Suzuki's hard work. He DID compromise in this game, in many ways. Even the casual fans were crying for an improvement to the combat system. Regardless, I will have to think very hard about going forward with this series, as this installment literally sucked almost all of my interest out of seeing an end to the plot. My score, a dismal dragon kick of 6.5/10
