Holy hell, Pol!!! That's an amazing collection indeed o_O
Do the statues in that catalogue actually exist anywhere?

i was just playing lucky hit in shenmue 2 - the one with the move scroll prize on dragon street - and my marble actually got stuck between some of the nails!

the owner says something like ' oh dear, this board is very old, that one doesn't count' and it gives you another go.

i must have played thousands of games of lucky hit and this has never happened to me before.
Whoa, I never heard of this before, didn't know it was possible :shock:

It is possible. In fact, the guy who speedran the game at SGDQ this year played on 360. He ran into some sound problems in the Golden Quarter and just general lag in places.

Of course, he skipped nearly the entirety of Kowloon by glitching through walls. :P
Yeah, I'm familiar with puri_puri's runs :P Though technically he 'completed' the game, it was by skipping most of Kowloon as you say. Hence I'm wondering if it's possible without using glitches or skips.

Notice the 'Magic Maze' system is mentioned in this one
http://i.imgur.com/PzfD3aN.jpg

I can't say I've seen the screenshots featured in the Dreamcast Fan #4 scans before, either (the early shots of stuff that would end up in S2)

Thanks for these Phong ^_^

Haha, I guess this is kind of amusing in retrospect, I'm not sure it was intentional though

Wow, that *is* nice detail on the sushi. Never thought to look that close before :D
By the way, Kids Dural C is an unlockable 'costume' for Dural in VF Kids, the fish actually floats in her head as seen here:

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/virtuafighter/images/a/a4/VFKids_Dural_Fish.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/185?cb=20130717031742

EDIT: Found a video as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmFiqgXXmGk

Ok, I don't know anything about this supposed secret fight sequence, but stop acting like visitors to the shrine is some super secret amazing thing. I'm sure most of us know some characters visit the shrine, like Liu-san first thing in the morning, and sometimes the kids in the neighbourhood.

Also, the fact Fangmei hides her sadness is still ultimately a foil to Ryo, who doesn't know what to do with his sadness. The entire point, I feel, is to show how many characters react to sadness and loneliness to contrast with Ryo and the many paths he can take. Ine-san deals with her depression by cleaning all day and making sure the Hazuki residence operates as Iwao wished it. Fuku deals with his depression by funneling his sadness into his martial arts and practicing everyday to be the student Iwao wished him to be. Fangmei lost her parents and was placed in an orphanage. She honors the caretaker that adopted her every day by showing her gratitude to her temple and her faith. Wong and Ren are also orphans; both turned to crime to deal with their lack of needs. Xiuying not only had her parents murdered, but she lost her brother as he was driven to revenge. Instead of lashing out and going with him, she turned to religion and martial arts as a manner of dealing with her demons. Shenhua never knew her original parents, and has a stepdad. She deals with life knowing the only way she knows how and is pretty happy. Lan Di let his anger stew for decades to exact his revenge. His father was murdered, and he turned to crime and martial arts.

Mostly every character of import has their own demons that are relatable to Ryo's struggle for vengeance. The important thing to grasp is that they've all gone in their own ways of handling death and sadness. Shenmue is a story about Ryo Hazuki and the "potential that could either destroy him or realize his will." Mostly every character is there as a foil to show THEY handle their own personal demons to help Ryo along his path.

Expect Ling Ling to be another foil

Ultimately, how Fangmei feels isn't important - it's what she DOES - that's important for Ryo to learn a lesson from.
Some interesting thoughts here - it's kind of intriguing, for me anyway, to look back on certain details of Shenmue's story now that I'm older, and pick up on things my teenage self wouldn't necessarily have understood/appreciated. The theme of losing your parents and how you choose to deal with it seems to be a major one, which as you say all of the orphaned characters in the game deal with it differently. While I've always thought the whole 'dating sim' aspect of the game with Fangmei is a bit weird/creepy (Ryo bonds more with a 14 year old than a school friend of his back in Japan who was the same age as him??), her role as a character is still important, as it shows despite losing her parents she has still been able to carry on and live her life, even if her cheerful nature is sometimes just putting on a brave face. You are quite right that she is intended to demonstrate to Ryo one of the many ways you can deal with loneliness and grief.

For those here who may have a passing interest in poetry, please check out my first published work, 'The Awakening' -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Awakening-Selection-Poems-Stuart-Peacock-ebook/dp/B017BZBH6M/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1446158264&sr=1-1&keywords=apex+publishing

it is currently only an eBook, admittedly, but hey, it's a start :) Even if you don't own a Kindle, there is a download on that same page for the Kindle app, which works on PC's, smartphones and tablets. You may also notice a little Shenmue inspiration in the final poem in the collection, 'The Surfacing'.

So please, if you do download please leave a review on Amazon, it'd help tremendously :) And let me know what you think in the topic, of course! Thanks :D

I can only afford the $13 for the soundtrack, but hey, every little helps ;)

Peter wrote: It's Shenmue 3. That's good enough for me by miles.

Right? Seriously guys, so much negativity in this topic.

Wow, thanks so much for taking the time to translate the whole thing, Switch. That truly was a fascinating watch, was very interesting to actually see some of the development and discussions going on. One thing I can take away from it for sure is that Suzuki sure is a strict taskmaster :lol: He definitely has to have things just right, certainly a perfectionist. That's why I'm sure Shenmue III will be nothing short of amazing once it's finally here :D

It was interesting to see it within the context of the rivalry with Sony too, especially when they were specifically looking at Final Fantasy VIII. It does indeed show just how far ahead of its time Shenmue truly was - all of that splendour in FFVIII's opening sequence, then once to gameplay its nothing more than fixed camera and text boxes. Suzuki clearly wanted to push the envelope with Shenmue, and his passion really does show through in this video.

It was also cool to see him actually say to the rest of the team 'That QTE noise ruins the mood/music of this scene', change it :lol: when they were working on the forest bits with Shenhua. It was certainly a change for the better as I'm sure many of us can testify!

I took a load of screenshots as there was some interesting beta stuff/differences, I might post some of the more interesting ones along with observations when I get the time :D

Thanks so much again Switch. That was a lovely way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon :)

They show up at both Ling Ling Porridge and Canton Cafe in the Green Market Qr, as well as one of the cafes in the Lucky Charm Qr. It's essentially the exact same QTE and scene for each place though.

Cheers for hosting my character database on there - I'm glad people can use it as a resource

Just a bump to post this; I am being interviewed tomorrow about the book on BBC Essex (3pm) - just in case those in the UK are interested in having a listen. Nervous as hell but excited too, fingers crossed I don't ramble or fluff my words x_x

https://scribblingsofstu.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/the-awakening-interview-on-bbc-essex-radio-1112016-with-tony-fisher/

These screens really are gorgeous Still trying to process that the game actually exists, brings a tear to the eye to see Ryo continue his journey in Guilin after all this time...

https://i2.wp.com/shenmusings.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/cropped-shenmusings-banner-notext1.png?ssl=1&w=450
http://shenmusings.wordpress.com

Hi all! I've recently started my own Shenmue blog. I am intending this blog to be my space to share my thoughts, reflections, trivia and little known facts about the series - writing is the other passion I have in life, and I have wanted to somehow combine these passions for a long time now, hence Shenmusings. Some posts will get into my own personal history of the series, and of course my experiences with this very forum.

I hope you find the blog informative and enlightening to read - here are all of the posts I have made so far:

Discovering Shenmue (Part 1 of 2)
Discovering Shenmue (Part 2 of 2)
The Shenmue II Character Database
Antiquity Trees and Flower Girls: Symbolism in Shenmue (Part 1 of 2)
Antiquity Trees and Flower Girls: Symbolism in Shenmue (Part 2 of 2)
Men in Black Mix Up

LATEST POST:
The Phantom Teahouse Lady (And Other Devious Guidebook Lies)


Also, keep up to date via the Shenmusings Facebook and Twitter pages:
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New post! Enjoy...let me know your thoughts, guys...

https://shenmusings.wordpress.com/2018/ ... rt-2-of-2/

I have scans of the character profile pages from the 'Shenmue II Perfect Guidebook' (which were all translated for my database project), which you can download here;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x963i8zekunixte/Shenmue%20II%20Perfect%20Guidebook%20Scans.rar?m

I don't own the book myself but receieved these scans from the member Eek the Cat way back in 2003, unfortunately I don't think he's popped up here again since the S3 announcement :(

Apologies for it being so long - new post!

https://shenmusings.wordpress.com/2018/ ... ck-mix-up/

Don't know if anyone out there would be able to view and compare the two character models...