Shenmue 3 Kickstarter

[Snatch1414]

Let's get over $3 mil today and start getting into the actual game-oriented stretch goals.

[fastbilly1]

Was there anything like Shenmue when it came out? Boggles my mind that it came out a year before GTA 3, was there anything else with a life like world with that much detail, even on PC? I was in 8th grade playing N64 at the time, I don't think I knew anything about this game, we didn't have internet yet and I don't think G4TV was a thing really yet, all my gaming news I was still getting from my Nintendo Power or what I saw in the Blockbuster.

In terms of gameplay, Outcast (1999)
Bigger in size, less "alive," Daggerfall (1996)
and to a lesser extent you have Body Harvest on the N64 (1998)

[Exhuminator]

Like I said, I've played through the game twice. Once in 2000, and again in 2010. Both times I came away impressed with the graphics and atmosphere, but bored with the often tedious "gameplay". The first Shenmue is a convincing real life simulator, yes, but if real life was so entertaining in and of itself we wouldn't be playing video games.

I've driven forklifts in real life, it was more fun than in Shenmue. I have a cat that is more entertaining than the one in the game. If I want to buy and drink a Coke, I can do that in real life, it's more rewarding than in a video game. You get the point. What Shenmue lets me do that I don't do in real life; is get into massive martial arts gang battles. Unfortunately the fighting engine itself wasn't all that hot, and even that part felt rather milquetoast.

Anyway I'm just repeating what I've already said, albeit in more detail. Shenmue is certainly a game worth debating, even all these years later.

[Betagam7]

Was there anything like Shenmue when it came out? Boggles my mind that it came out a year before GTA 3, was there anything else with a life like world with that much detail, even on PC? I was in 8th grade playing N64 at the time, I don't think I knew anything about this game, we didn't have internet yet and I don't think G4TV was a thing really yet, all my gaming news I was still getting from my Nintendo Power or what I saw in the Blockbuster.

Omikron: The Nomad Soul was a clear predecessor in terms of what it was trying to do: create the feel of a living breathing city with multiple characters living there lives and the freedom to do random side quests such as taking in David Bowie concerts at clubs was also similar. That game suffered badly from Quantic Dreams ideas being too far ahead of the technology.

Shenmue also looks dated now and its hard to explain to people trying it today just how mindblowing it was back then in terms of unprecedented realism and interactivity. i don't think GTA is even that valid a comparison because while it does create a huge open world, it's citizens are just empty paper bags blowing about in the breeze. Literally every character in Shenmue's Yokosuka has there own daily life and story going on and can be engaged in conversation about it.

I've driven forklifts in real life, it was more fun than in Shenmue. I have a cat that is more entertaining than the one in the game. If I want to buy and drink a Coke, I can do that in real life, it's more rewarding than in a video game. You get the point.

I get the point but I think you might be misunderstanding the point that most people haven't done these things in 1980's Japan. The setting and the sense of cultural exploration are and were a big part of what made Shenmue an attractive experience to many.

The worst part about not liking Shenmue is hearing people who like Shenmue talk about Shenmue.

It makes me want to go and try to replay it. I know how it turns out though.

I get to the cat, what, 15 minutes in? Shake my head. Turn it off.

I think that for a lot of people it's about what you are looking for in a game. if you want to kill bosses and have lots of action then it isn't the game for you...but then neither are similarly absorbing experiences like Endless Ocean, another game that has received criticism because it's not what some people feel a "game" should be.

[Exhuminator]

but then neither are similarly absorbing experiences like Endless Ocean, another game that has received criticism because it's not what some people feel a "game" should be.

I for one have beaten both Endless Ocean games and written glowing reviews for both of them on this very site. I don't think these are a good correlated analog for what Shenmue was doing.

It sounds like to me what you loved about Shenmue is its atmosphere. And if you feel like absorbing atmosphere is tantamount to actual gameplay, than I can totally understand why you loved this game.

[Snatch1414]

I think with games that have an open world element to them you either get immersed or you don't. Shenmue is no exception. At the end of it all I think it pretty much comes down to "I loved the locales and felt like I was a part of the atmosphere" or "Why do I care about someone's stray cat they found?".

I love Sleeping Dogs and never thought I would. It's a GTA wannabe only there's a lot more brawling than gunplay, and I hate GTA. So why did I care? I dunno. I liked the main character and enjoyed exploring the world. Sometimes that's all it takes.

Plus the sights and sounds remind me of Shenmue........sorry

[RCBH928]

As someone who played Shenmue for the first time recently I must say, its very impressive as a vision of future gaming. The full 3D models, open world, free interaction, and a game that feels alive not scripted is amazing when you think this game was released 2 years after MGS.

The problem with Shenmue is it concentrated more on mimicking life, unlike GTA which concentrated on action and gameplay. It was a mix of many things and the end result it was not favoured by any genre fans. Jack of all trades, master of none. That and the awkward controls didn't help.

[fastbilly1]

As someone who played Shenmue for the first time recently I must say, its very impressive as a vision of future gaming. The full 3D models, open world, free interaction, and a game that feels alive not scripted is amazing when you think this game was released 2 years after MGS.

Now imagine if it was released the same year as MGS but on the Saturn:

[ninjainspandex]

I found the Sailors!

[ExedExes]

I found the Sailors!

They were in the boxes you had to move with the forklift everyday while running over plot kittens, saying "I see" every minute as you got bilked out of your ticket to Hong Kong all while making sure you're home by 11 freaking o clock every night showing Fuku-san who's the real master of this dojo, bitch!

Love it or hate it, a new one's being made y'all.