Is Shenmue your favourite video game series of all time?

[Fenix]

Yes it is.

And then, next one could be Phantasy Star Online, Virtua Fighter, Soul Calibur, Sonic Adventure, Streets of Rage...

[dexter_pt]

No doubt it is

[braveOne]

No. It is up there, though. Definitely top five. A great couple of games, and I hope this is a start towards three. I can be optimistic.

[KiBa]

Yes and no, as far as sheer fun goes. There are plenty of other games in my personal pantheon. But let me put it this way: the latter half of Shenmue 2 was the closest thing to a religious experience I've ever encountered in all my life.

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

I see shenmue more like an experience than a videogame.

[shredingskin]

Plus as limited as it is by comparison, I prefer Omikron over Shenmue. Better atmosphere, better story, better VA (ironic considering its only got progressively worse as its creator ventured on more cinematic endevors with the media), better characters...would say better music but I think Shenmue's soundtrack is right on par. The edge Shenmue has is its variety in things to do and has more hidden little places. The hidden places in Omikron are neat but not particularly awe inducing aside from the fight tournament and Bowie concerts.

That's taste, I agree that omikron cyberpunk atmosphere is great, better VA (but more limited), characters... I can't really say, Ryo is pretty much a robot, and a lot of the secondary characters are more cliche than anything else, but omikron in my opinion didn't have great characters (as in most graphic adventures games). About the story yes, Omikron is fucking creative (also a little nonsensical like most of cage's games), but we don't know much about shenmue real story (specially after the breaking real world magixxxx in shenmue II ending).

Omikron seems like an unpolished game against shenmue, omikron combat is bad (as is the fps and platform segments), combat in shenmue is pretty good (and most QTEs are very well done), not counting shenmue full dialogue and better graphics.

I say that shenmue is my favorite game for a lot of reasons but mostly because I never saw a game like it, now days we have bigger and "better" worlds, better voice acting, but look at skyrim: an amazing world but I feel that i'm just roaming the place doing stupid quests, mass effect that has lots of interactions and dialog but seems too sketched and less free than shenmue (although you can do a lot of sidequests). That's what I love about shenmue, just doesn't "fit" in any genre you have all this assets that are always trying to develop the story, for me seems like the way gaming should be, today we have all this genres that change story and settings but basically they are "genre games". Shenmue should be classified as a "martial arts" game.

That's what I love about Shenmue, and I think a lot of games should take an example from this game.

[Bluecast]

I see shenmue more like an experience than a videogame.

Although Shenmue isn't an RPG I see almost every RPG I play & love to be an experience.

I love Shenmue for it's music detail and atmoshere. Story wise it's very very weak.

[shredingskin]

I see shenmue more like an experience than a videogame.

Although Shenmue isn't an RPG I see almost every RPG I play & love to be an experience.

I love Shenmue for it's music detail and atmoshere. Story wise it's very very weak.

For me playing a regular jrpg wrpg, isn't a experience in the way that I feel like i'm always doing the same (in jrpgs: turn battles - cinematic - roam town - cinematic - battle, and in wrpgs: talk to people recieve secondary quests - choose the main story or choose secondary).

Making a contemporary game isn't easy. I think that shenmue writing in some places is pretty bad, but why do you call it very very weak ??

[Kenny]

True it is taste. Omikron's fight system was derivative of Tekken 3. It was better in '99-00 than today whenever I try it. For some reason a bunch of bugs have appeared and I can't do the same moves as accurately as I did back in the day. Maybe its a compatibility issue cause we're talking it running on a 1998 Compaq vs a 2008 Macbook Pro.

Shenmue system is too stiff and a tad clunky for me. I don't like the VF fight system. But I didn't mention the gameplay on purpose cause to me it is a matter of preference but also it's not the real reason why I enjoy the game. Shenmue as a whole had alot of great ideas but failed on others. Same could be said for Omikron but as cinematic experiences, I found it more worthwhile.

[shredingskin]

Maybe its a compatibility issue cause we're talking it running on a 1998 Compaq vs a 2008 Macbook Pro.

Let's not talk about the mess that was the game in dreamcast, 5 seconds or so just to see the inventory.

I don't know why people say that shenmue's controls are bad, I think they are pretty good.

I wouldn't call shenmue combat stiff, but a little disproportioned, in the way that most of the time is "dodging" and then strike but you have so many moves and most of the non bosses are easily defeated with elbow assault or a couple of kicks.

Same could be said for Omikron but as cinematic experiences, I found it more worthwhile.

Away from story, shenmue cinematic direction is pretty good, even with the non expressiveness at the time, I don't think that omikron did better. I you talk about storytelling, i can see what you are saying. But Shenmue was pretty awesome in that department, just seeing the arrival to the harbor or kowloon, its great even for now (with pretty much nothing).

[Kenny]

I know you said not to mention it but i'll do it anyway: the dreamcast version of Omikron is an atrocity. Almost unplayable. Shenmue is far superior to that as a game. Plus the sound quality is terrible and the models look like play-doh. Its disgusting. But the PC game is great cause everything was utilized better for a mouse and keyboard.

Shenmue's controls take getting used to. It's like old school RE. Once you got it down, there's nothing much to it. The story thing is just my preference. I like Shenmue better as an experience playing whereas I like Omikron better as an experience in storytelling. Running around, doing mundane things like going into shops or the arcade, waiting for day turning to night, those are the things I like about Shenmue to this day. Omikron doesn't really have that aside from the Bowie Concerts and the library.

[Bluecast]

I see shenmue more like an experience than a videogame.

Although Shenmue isn't an RPG I see almost every RPG I play & love to be an experience.

I love Shenmue for it's music detail and atmoshere. Story wise it's very very weak.

For me playing a regular jrpg wrpg, isn't a experience in the way that I feel like i'm always doing the same (in jrpgs: turn battles - cinematic - roam town - cinematic - battle, and in wrpgs: talk to people recieve secondary quests - choose the main story or choose secondary).

Making a contemporary game isn't easy. I think that shenmue writing in some places is pretty bad, but why do you call it very very weak ??

I could say all you do in Shenmue is walk around and do nothing but talk to people. It's a matter of perspective. Like Niether The Last Story or Xenoblade really fit that. XB has a MMO style and TLS is an action style battle system. Plus many JRPG's don't have turn base. In fact Dragon Slayer & Ys the oldest JRPGs around are action based. TLS there is only one town You're own. XB my god I put 260 hours in just for side quests. You can't just group them all like that.

Why did I say weak? Well the writing isn't that good. Esp much of the dialogue is at times laughably bad. In fact Shenmue has a story very similar to many RPG's. Got to get revenge but he is the chosen one as the start.

[mue 26]

I also disagree that Shenmue's story is very, very weak. It's certainly not Shakespeare, and the dialogue is at times functional at best, but the way the story is expertly paced (albiet a tad too slow for many trigger happy teenage gamers) with the complete attention and dedication to immersing you in it's world and making you genuinely care about the characters (who doesn't love Ine san??!!), even if they're not incredibly complex or ambiguous. I know that I found the trail of narrative breadcrumbs to be incredibly captivating and incredibly satisfying, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. The way we are introduced to Shenhua through mystic and cryptic dreams long before we ever have a clue as to who she is, is just an example of Shenmue's subtle touch, and as a result when I did finally meet her it was almost unbearably exciting, and as if I was just re-united with a long lost friend. And I'm guessing it was just as Yu wanted us to feel, since Ryo is supposed to have a special connection with Shenhua.

No other game I have played, has had such a clear and ambitious vision for telling it's narrative, nor has a video game story crossed oceans quite so convincingly.

As the old saying goes, it's not the story that's important, it's all about the way you tell it.

Omikron is an interesting comparison, as to me it's the polar opposite to Shenmue. It's actual story content is considerably more ambitious than Shenmue's in it's concept and is rather interesting, however it's telling of that story was awfully handled for the most part (in my opinion, of course) and Cage clearly bit off far more than he could chew. Whereas Shenmue's core story content (so far) seems for the most part to resemble traditional(ish) revenge/coming of age tale, but is weaved fantastically with complete deliberation throughout.

The first two Shenmue's games were so deliberate and clear in their vision of telling a story, that I couldn't help but be equally concerned as I was excited by Yu's recent admission that he hopes to make S3 a multiple path game.

I now have an urge to write an essay long Shenmue love letter in this thread (lol), and probably will do when I have the time

[shredingskin]

XB my god I put 260 hours in just for side quests.

Maybe it's a different form of thinking, for me that is just a torture.

Ys the oldest JRPGs around are action based.

But does that means that is an integral piece of storytelling like I said ?. I never liked the YS "brawling".

[Bluecast]

To me there is not better genre than JRPG. To me