Great possibility of a shenmue 3?

[Blu]

I say it's worth a Together Retro. I just started another playthrough of it. It's great to break the game up into a few sections here and there. Reveal a few plot elements, then take a break.

Until I have to find sailors. Then it's on!

[pierrot]

I find it interesting that die-hard Shenmue fans tend to pair the phrase "GIVE US SHENMUE III" with "I WANNA KICK LAN DI'S ASS". The thing that MADE Shenmue for me was the realization that Yu Suzuki was baiting you -- the words of wisdom which Ryo constantly ignores (including his father's own "Keep friends, those you love, close to you"), the ludicrousness of a practicing Buddhist (Ryo has a Buddhist altar in his house) PRAYING for REVENGE (for those uninitiated to the philosophy, a good Buddhist would NEVER do such a thing), and above all, the fact that the plot and world of the game leave open SO MANY alternatives to the game's main storyline.

Nice post.
I agree for the most part, but while I don't think it necessarily devalues your point, I wouldn't read too much into Ryo's religious beliefs.
Religion in Japan is a bit tricky; yes, they often keep Buddhist alters for deceased family members in their homes, and yes, they can be seen praying for shallow and vapid desires in Shinto shrines dedicated to fox spirits. Ask a random Japanese person on the street what religion they affiliate with, however, and you will more than likely get a fairly confused answer.
'Religious' practices don't really denote the religion of the practitioner in Japan, because those practices are much more a societal practice so ingrained in the culture that it's lost most of its religious connotation.

I say it's worth a Together Retro.

I think it would be really cool to play Shenmue for Together Retro. It's truly classic, if maybe a bit long.

[floattube]

I find it interesting that die-hard Shenmue fans tend to pair the phrase "GIVE US SHENMUE III" with "I WANNA KICK LAN DI'S ASS". The thing that MADE Shenmue for me was the realization that Yu Suzuki was baiting you -- the words of wisdom which Ryo constantly ignores (including his father's own "Keep friends, those you love, close to you"), the ludicrousness of a practicing Buddhist (Ryo has a Buddhist altar in his house) PRAYING for REVENGE (for those uninitiated to the philosophy, a good Buddhist would NEVER do such a thing), and above all, the fact that the plot and world of the game leave open SO MANY alternatives to the game's main storyline.

Nice post.
I agree for the most part, but while I don't think it necessarily devalues your point, I wouldn't read too much into Ryo's religious beliefs.
Religion in Japan is a bit tricky; yes, they often keep Buddhist alters for deceased family members in their homes, and yes, they can be seen praying for shallow and vapid desires in Shinto shrines dedicated to fox spirits. Ask a random Japanese person on the street what religion they affiliate with, however, and you will more than likely get a fairly confused answer.
'Religious' practices don't really denote the religion of the practitioner in Japan, because those practices are much more a societal practice so ingrained in the culture that it's lost most of its religious connotation.

I say it's worth a Together Retro.

I think it would be really cool to play Shenmue for Together Retro. It's truly classic, if maybe a bit long.

A bit long? I beat it in less then a week with very few hours logged in. I say a month is enough to do about everything in the game.

[CD AGES]

A bit long? I beat it in less then a week with very few hours logged in. I say a month is enough to do about everything in the game

Easily!

[pierrot]

A bit long? I beat it in less then a week with very few hours logged in. I say a month is enough to do about everything in the game

Easily!

I just meant in comparison to the games that usually seem to make it into together retro.

Though, personally, I would have a tough time getting through the game in under a week these days. I tend to doddle; and I spend excessive amounts of time talking to people, collecting gachapon figures, completing notepad entries, practicing moves, etc, so it's a long game for me at least.

[floattube]

I just meant in comparison to the games that usually seem to make it into together retro.

Though, personally, I would have a tough time getting through the game in under a week these days. I tend to doddle; and I spend excessive amounts of time talking to people, collecting gachapon figures, completing notepad entries, practicing moves, etc, so it's a long game for me at least.

You can always play it for more than one month...

[robbievgb]

Ryo Hazuki's tendency to ignore beautiful women has become something of a joke in the gaming community, but gamers aren't seeing how much deeper the roots of the problem go. He leaves his friends because of his quest. He doesn't finish school because of his quest. He can't hold a job because of his quest. He spends all of his brother-figure's dough and leaves him behind because of his quest. People close to him get kidnapped or injured because of his quest. And most important of all, he is becoming his own enemy because of his quest. Before Lan Di kills Ryo's father, he mentions the man Ryo's father killed in Meng Cun. Lan Di's is a revenge story. Ryo's is a revenge story. Xiuying compares Ryo to her brother Ziming, who ended up becoming one of the Chi You Men... the organization that Lan Di is a high-ranking member of.

This.

I think it wasn't until I started recounting the plot to my fiance (years and years after playing the original) that I came to this realization. It's a recurring theme throughout both games.

I always thought Ryo was intentionally left emotionless and cold so that you could inject your own emotions into the story and create feelings for it's non-playable characters. Sometimes I found it frustrating how cold Ryo's character could be to the rest of the lively cast. Maybe Ryo would change as the series progressed and he learned more about Lan Di? We'll probably never know.

[Original_Name]

"Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster; and if you gaze into the abyss the abyss gazes into you."

-Friedrich Nietzsche. Seriously, never underestimate the genius of Dreamcast-era Sega.

Anyway, I'm reviving this thread because SHENMUE HAS INVADED MY PERSONAL LIFE. Basically, there's a Japanese foreign exchange student at my university who's apparently had a crush on me for awhile, completely unbeknownst to my clueless self, and what would her name be, but... Nozomi. She's in every way adorable, so I think I'm gonna eschew the Ryo Hazuki aesthetic and pay her some attention (and fight the urge to ask her where I can find some sailors).

So basically, Shenmue III isn't a video game... it's my life.

[Opa Opa]

She's in every way adorable, so I think I'm gonna eschew the Ryo Hazuki aesthetic and pay her some attention (and fight the urge to ask her where I can find some sailors).

Oh, you gotta have a little fun. Wear one of these every time you see her.

[Original_Name]

Complete list of responses to real-life Nozomi:

"I see."
"Is that so?"
"Let's get sweaty."

EDIT:

It's actually hilarious that you bring that jacket up, since I've been debating whether I should order it for at least a month now.