Shenmue Dojo

MiTT3NZ wrote: Gary, RLY, what is up with these kisses?

Nothing wrong with some manly x's, my good man. Plus, I always do it, no matter where/what I'm posting .

Nankeiro wrote: There are some! I mean, a lot of things in these awesome games let me speechless... But right now i'm thinking of the titanic work done on the facial expressions and graphic detail on everyone!! Fantastic.

Totally, man. Even today, Shenmue still boasts pretty impressive graphics, at least in terms of facial detail, etc. Blew me away as a young'n.

SlySpy wrote:I suppose one of my favorites would be the entire existence of Nagai Industries. It's never told to you, but strongly implied that they're some kind of yakuza with a measure of power. Everything about that place, the camera at the front entrance, the fancy dressing of the people within, the implied code/respect that people have which make them almost scold Ryo for even going inside, all reeked of a richness of detail. This yakuza has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of either Shenmue 1 or 2, but the fact that it's even there is something I feel is missing from a lot of other games these days.

Woah! Before settling on the NPC thing, I was going to go with Nagai Industries as well, pretty much for those exact reasons. I always assumed that you had to visit them to find out about Charlie during the game, but, alas, they're simply optional.

Who Really Cares? wrote: Gotta be putting in the actual weather from that time or that no NPC looks the same and all have their own daily lives.

Facial textures of Mad Angels members were reused numerous times, but, apart from that, I totally agree.

nskachu wrote: Very important detaißs were the background noises. They created a whole new atmosphere. That's also what made it so realistic.

The 'bird' noise that you hear during the evenings is my personal favourite, if you can count that as one. Do you know the one I'm referring to?


xx

I guess the real breakthrough detail has to come from the gameplay.

Being able to manipulate everything, even the items in your inventory. Not so much the fact that people are different and have routines, but the fact you can talk to every single one of them (which gets even more expanded in II, with the different topics of conversation and the ability to follow them) because otherwise it wouldn't make sense, if you couldn't interact with them...)

The fact that day/night cycles tie-in with gameplay, setting your gameplay schedules of work-investigation-play, even forcing you to kill time because some place you had to visit had closed down, or you were waiting for the bus, or for it to be time to go to bed. And suddenly it seems we're not talking about a video game character but about a real person that somehow only lives through us. And without the gameplay, it could be visually rich and impressive, but it wouldn't have the the enduring qualities we can only get from interaction.

Totally agree. THAT is Shenmue. An amazing universe of detail in graphics, sound and interactivity.

I liked the example that someone brought up in another recent topic. The fact that we're never supposed to be awake at dawn to see it, but they programmed a full sunrise anyway. Why? Because Shenmue, that's why.

^
That's a bit like having a fancy lining in your jacket. You know hardly anyone is ever going to see it, but you know it's there, and it makes you appreciate your jacket all the more. Haha.

IMO the games music shows best Shenmue's attention to detail. I can't think of much else if anything that has a seperate song playing for each different location, as well as hundreds of other tracks...

It's funny how in S1 they made a 2 minute song for it to be played for about 5 seconds when the street lights were turned on!?

I liked that in the second game an NPC might actually answer the door when you knocked on a random one in an apartment complex.

I also really liked how much homework went into studying the martial arts aspect of the game. One of the move scroll store owners in the Thousand White building asks Ryo if Ryo has practiced martial arts. Ryo replies that he has and asks the store owner how he could tell. The store owner says he could tell by the way Ryo shifts his balance when he walks.

A couple of years ago when I was switching martial art schools one of the teachers asked if I had taken martial arts before on my first day there. I said "yeah, how did you know?" The teacher said he knew by the way I shifted my balance when I walked.

Calshot wrote: I liked that in the second game an NPC might actually answer the door when you knocked on a random one in an apartment complex.

Once in a blue moon, this would happen in the first game as well. Try knocking on a bunch of doors in Sakuragaoka.

Lan Di-sama wrote:Once in a blue moon, this would happen in the first game as well. Try knocking on a bunch of doors in Sakuragaoka.

Yamanose, too, from what I remember, although there are so few houses around there.

xx

My favorite details were the backgrounds for all the NPCs and the micro-detail put into the stores.

SlySpy wrote:I suppose one of my favorites would be the entire existence of Nagai Industries. It's never told to you, but strongly implied that they're some kind of yakuza with a measure of power. Everything about that place, the camera at the front entrance, the fancy dressing of the people within, the implied code/respect that people have which make them almost scold Ryo for even going inside, all reeked of a richness of detail. This yakuza has absolutely nothing to do with the plot of either Shenmue 1 or 2, but the fact that it's even there is something I feel is missing from a lot of other games these days.

You know, I've always wondered about this section of the game. I went in there just for the hell of it one time, and I completely agree with you. Even the music that plays when you're inside is amazing.

Hey, what about the Mahjong Parlor? That's a great place to go into as well. Great attention to detail and, once again, an awesome score. But the guy there is always too tired from the night before to talk to Ryo.

You'd think that there would eventually be some kind of incident and/or cut scene at these places, or that they would be of some relevance to the storyline. But, no. Crazy.

I think it would've been hella cool if Ryo was able to go into the tattoo parlor and get some ink.

I can't help but walk (never fun) when it's snowing. Absolutely gorgeous. I also find myself stopping and zooming in on various things quite often (i.e. the people's faces, the sky, trees, leaves, even just the textures in the house and other places). I actually stared at the sky for a whole day and watched it go from morning to night. Is that crazy?

I remember going around to each and every area to listen to "Nightfall" at 7pm and see each place's own little cutscene. Amazing.