Shenmue and Guns

[MadeManG74]

I was thinking about this a while ago, it seems that in Shenmue, despite all the organised crime and gang warfare, there has never been a single gun introduced into the game. We have seen knives, blunt weapons and even a chainsaw, but never seen somebody use a gun.

Now before I go any further, I'll make it clear that I hope that we never see Ryo 'packing heat' in a Shenmue game or ever have a shootout, but I was thinking it would be interesting If a gun was ever introduced into the story.

Ryo is able to take on several people at a time in combat, but what would happen if somebody pulled a gun on him? At a distance, he would be helpless, it would be a huge shift in momentum for the series, as Ryo would be in a rare scenario of being helpless against an enemy. Even against large odds (70 man battle and Do Niu) he is still able to hold his own, and has never really had no option. The closest I can think of is when Nozomi was kidnapped.

I was thinking it could be used in an interesting way, having Ryo fight his way to somebody who he can easily best, only to have them pull a gun in a cowardly fashion. An inferior enemy who has 'cheated' to even the odds and tip the scales in his favour. You can imagine how frustrated and angry the player would be at that character, and how much of a surprise it would be.

What do you guys think? Would introducing a gun into Shenmue ever work? Or would it completely ruin the game for you? Am I a fool for even contemplating it?

[HappyKillmore]

Well there are some guns in the game. When you get to Kowloon in some of the rooms in the buildings (such as the yellow head) have a gun cabinet or guns lying on a table. They are just flat textures though. But no, no gun has ever been pulled on Ryo. I personally do not think that guns are suited to Shenmue. The only way they could make it work is if they were unrealistic. Like in Yakuza, sometimes towards the end of the game enemies have guns in fights, but if you get shot its not an instant death, just takes your health down. I'd prefer not to see it in Shenmue though

[WantaShenmue3]

I think those in Shenmue 2 are toy guns that you can buy from the Abe Store in Sakuragaoka.

[MadeManG74]

Well there are some guns in the game. When you get to Kowloon in some of the rooms in the buildings (such as the yellow head) have a gun cabinet or guns lying on a table. They are just flat textures though. But no, no gun has ever been pulled on Ryo. I personally do not think that guns are suited to Shenmue. The only way they could make it work is if they were unrealistic. Like in Yakuza, sometimes towards the end of the game enemies have guns in fights, but if you get shot its not an instant death, just takes your health down. I'd prefer not to see it in Shenmue though

I would never expect someone to actually shoot Ryo with a gun, as I said in the first post, I dont want to see any shootouts, so I wouldn't expect Ryo to survive gunshots, but rather just the presence of a gun would completely throw out the ordianry power balance of Shenmue, and lead to some interesting and so far unseen scenarios.

[2ndOpp]

Could make for an interesting QTE...

I think on both sides there is to much honor involved to use a gun.

[MiTT3NZ]

I agree that the introduction of 'the gun' would be an interesting approach. However, if ever it did happen, a they must have a reallistic take on it, like how much power they would have, and only threaten to use it at first. The majority of the time in real life, it's only used as a means of intimidation, as it is one of the biggest threats known to man.

A dramatic scene in which an important character is shot would go down pretty well in my eyes, as it'd extend Ryo's quest for vengeance, which may cause him to question his motives. Is it right that he feels responsible for every unfortunate event he witnesses? Should he fulfil his quest to the full? Or is he just slowly turning into a vigilante? Obviously though, Shenmue isn't quite as reallistic in the storytelling department as we'd all like to make out.

So yeah, a one-off scene with a gun would be good, but frequent appearances would be fucking stupid.

[redline]

if there was a gun or guns in shenmue, i would think we would be looking at the jackey chan effect ( kung fu wins all)

but the QTE's would be nice " bib- bib- bib (press X) Na..NNnnnaaaa bAnG (ryos head comes off)"

[Hazuki Legend]

I'm not a big fan of intriducing guns into Shenmue but MadeMan's suggestion could fit well in the game. Could you imagine getting so close to Lan Di and someone (not sure who) pulls a gun out on Ryo and he instantly stops and realises the situation he's in.

Like others have said, if used in the right situation and only once then it could work.

[Bluecast]

I remember Bruce Lee saying something to the effect if you were to fight realistic with a gun involved no matter how good you are ..Bam .

Also I think of this Think of the guy with the sword as Ryo (just minus the sword but using fancy martial arts moves instead)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkLXdLgOybE

[stigee]

I can see guns being used in a QTE or cut-scene but I would not want to see Shenmue turn into Yakuza. Good game but running around trying to fight thugs with guns when all you have is your fists got really tiresome.

[longzun zhao]

maybe if shenmue was more like asia there would be loads of stuff to put into the game.do you ever see a police officer not a security guard

[2ndOpp]

Ong Bak fought guys with guns :p

[MadeManG74]

I'm not a big fan of intriducing guns into Shenmue but MadeMan's suggestion could fit well in the game. Could you imagine getting so close to Lan Di and someone (not sure who) pulls a gun out on Ryo and he instantly stops and realises the situation he's in.

Like others have said, if used in the right situation and only once then it could work.

Thats exactly the sort of thing I was talking about. It would just be such a shift in the whole power game, and could be absolutely devastating to Ryo.

I don't know If I would have Lan Di involved since he is seemingly lethal enough without weapons, but It would be the ultimate frustration to be so close to him and then some pathetic underling stops you dead in your tracks by threatening you with a gun. Especially since you and he know that without it he would not even be a concern.

Also Ryudo, I think I know what you are talking about, in 'Enter the Dragon' when he is speaking with the agent and he asks him to assassinate Hwang (?) in the martial arts tournament
"Guns. Why not just pull out a .45 and 'bang!' Settle it?"
"No Guns. Hwang doesnt allow any guns on the island, can't say I blame him. Any bloody fool can pull a trigger..."

[Jesus]

In my opinion I think Shenmue should stay away from guns and stick to martial arts. That's how the originally started and that's how I think they should be kept. But hey, that's just me...

[OL]

It's never struck me as odd that there aren't any guns in the games. I'm actually surprised that this hasn't been mentioned yet, but guns are illegal in Japan, except for use by police officers. Street thugs and whatnot over there generally find other means of fucking people up, and we've seen those methods in the games (knives, blunt objects, etc). I'm not sure about Hong Kong, but I wouldn't be surprised if guns were illegal there as well.