The Shenmue trilogy

[Workyticket]

Will definitely be grabbing this. My only Shenmue experience was playing 2 on the Xbox. At the time I found it a kind of baffling experience just by dint of how different it was to games of the time, but having fallen in love with the Yakuza series over the last year I feel ready to jump into Shenmue again.

[chase210]

Whose playing this then? I haven't installed it yet.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Me!

Or at least I will be when I get minute to install. My PS4 copy arrived on Monday and can't wait to jump in.

I played through both games once on Dreamcast at original release and still own those copies. Really excited to play through the first game in Japanese with subs, as the original western release was English VO only and while it had a cheesy charm, the sequel was Japanese with subs due to costing cutting and actually really benefited from it in my opinion.

There's a really good analysis of these new versions from John Linneman over at Digital Foundry, both the article itself and the video: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digi ... h-analysis

Looks to be really light touch but sympathetic upgrade which is exactly what I was hoping for rather than anything too intrusive.

I'm just so delighted this exists. Could almost shed a happy little tear...

[KSubzero1000]

I've installed them and am looking forward to diving into the first one as soon as I'm done with my current games, which might take a few weeks. They belong to the shameful list of gaming classics that unfortunately passed me by, and I'm very happy to finally have the chance to experience them for myself. Games with charm and personality are always a plus in my book, and these appear to have plenty in store.

Also:

Really excited to play through the first game in Japanese with subs

Yes, same here. I always prefer original voice tracks and I'm glad they included both options this time around.

[chase210]

You guys were not kidding about the English voice acting being appalling then.

[Stanshall]

The voice work reminds me of the Audiogalaxy days, downloading a 96kbps vinyl rip because it was all we could get our hands on. Quite charming, in its own way.

[Simonsloth]

Having never played a Shenmue game I’m left feeling like I’m missing the point. Rather than spending time with the mini games I’m opening the watch in the menu and doing something else until the clock reaches the correct time. The side quests and distractions are just a bit too superfluous for me. It’s a bit of a chore really. Hoping I’m wrong.

[dezm0nd]

You’re not the only one to feel that way mate

[Suits]

Yeah, I appreciate it for the things it did, or hinted at doing back in the day for games.

It's just not something I can get into now, or even watch unfortunately.

[DomsBeard]

Going to wait till just before 3 comes out then replay 1 and 2.

Cannot believe I have not bought them already but become wrapped up in Yakuza

[Alex79]

The HD pack on Shenmue 1 and 2 on PS4 - is it in widescreen or 4:3? Because some screen shots I saw look like 4:3!?

[Simonsloth]

Going to wait till just before 3 comes out then replay 1 and 2.

Cannot believe I have not bought them already but become wrapped up in Yakuza

I think the yakuza series has skewed my perspective of Shenmue completely. It’s taken nearly all the much lauded features and improved every one. I can see why it was revered for its time but in 2018 its a chore rather than fun. The whole third act felt like actual work and when it crashed in a sequence near the end I realised I had lost 3 in game days! Was soul destroying.

[Simonsloth]

Word of warning. There’s a bug which sometimes occurs whereby there is no option to save your clear data after the credits. This happened to me and I’m not alone.

This means I either go back and do the final few sequences again or start the sequel with a generic save.

Apparently if you try and skip the credits too much or if your controller turns off during the long credits it happens

[KSubzero1000]

Interesting article about the Shenmue fan community:

https://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-fa ... henmue-die

[Alex79]

I've decided I'm definitely getting these. Maybe not this payday, and possibly in an Xmas sale, but I really feel like I need to play them from the point of view of someone who just absolutely loves video games and their historical significance. I may save them for the Christmas break.

[chase210]

This is really kind of... rubbish? Like its just awful, I don't know what I expected but, yeah, what a load of cobblers.

[DomsBeard]

I've decided I'm definitely getting these. Maybe not this payday, and possibly in an Xmas sale, but I really feel like I need to play them from the point of view of someone who just absolutely loves video games and their historical significance. I may save them for the Christmas break.

Sounds like a good plan to me Alex. Shenmue 3 is my Half Life 3 to give a context of how much I love these games. They will not have aged well. I remember from the Shenmue episodes not being able to disagree with Leon's issues with the game.

[Simonsloth]

I think I’m pretty far into the sequel and I must say this is everything I thought Shenmue was supposed to be. I’m absolutely enthralled.

There are several quality of life improvements and the ability to ask passers by for directions and them to point the way or even take you there themselves is genius. There stil seems to be a lot of pointless stuff and the QTEs are even more infuriating but I am now happy I backed the third game.

[Alex79]

I'm a couple of hours in to the first game and enjoying it so far. It's slow, ponderous and the controls are terrible, but it's still getting a pass at this point. One thing that irks me, as usual, is that no thought has been given to remote play. The back pad of the Vita has been used for run and zoom, which are both used extensively. All they needed to do was flip the shoulder button commands, but nobody really cares about remote play any more

[Simonsloth]

I'm a couple of hours in to the first game and enjoying it so far. It's slow, ponderous and the controls are terrible, but it's still getting a pass at this point. One thing that irks me, as usual, is that no thought has been given to remote play. The back pad of the Vita has been used for run and zoom, which are both used extensively. All they needed to do was flip the shoulder button commands, but nobody really cares about remote play any more

I’ve never really managed to get it to run adequately. I have a great router, fibre broadband and it’s still choppy. Maybe it’s my first generation vita. Whenever Its worked it’s always been great. Can you not customise the controls?