How does shenmue hold up today?

[C..]

Haha I was just playing it the other day and had the scene where he's too broke to afford a can of drink from the vending machine and then I just found that picture.

"I'm thirsty I want a drink, but I don't have any change" ;)

[south carmain]

It's the same game that was released nearly 14 years ago. I don't get how people start disliking old games just because new ones have better visuals, it was fun back then and is still fun today in my opinion. People complain about "outdated" tank controls but in reality there is nothing outdated about them, if yu suzuki wanted to he could have made them completely fluid at the time, there were no restrictions forcing him to chose them, also the fighting system is better than 90% of games released today

[MiTT3NZ]

They cheated with the Kowloon building rooms though.

[Erevador]

I have a unique perspective on this I think, since I am just now playing Shenmue for the first time! After years of wanting to play the game (ever since I saw it on reviewed on Tech TV when it came out), I finally bought a Dreamcast in order to play the game. I'm really blown away with this game. So much about this game feels ahead of it's time, to the extent that I'm left feeling that some of the things being done by modern games like HEAVY RAIN where being done by Shenmue ten years earlier quite well.

The scope of the game and the depth of it are so impressive to me. I think it's aged magnficently because rather than focusing on MACRO-DETAIL (like say... GTA III, or Elder Scrolls, which attempted to simulate a giant world, but with a lack of detail in individual elements of that world) it focuses on MICRO-DETAIL. Every little thing you pick up is thoughtfully constructed. It's such an unusual game. It joins the rare club of older games (like Silent Hill 2, for example) that I feel haven't aged at all. There are still no other games quite like Shenmue.

I'm in love with this game. I have Shenmue II ready to go on the original Xbox when I beat this one.

[C..]

They cheated with the Kowloon building rooms though.

How so? I realise not every room was used but still.

[MiTT3NZ]

They wrote a script to randomly generate the rooms that aren't story-essential.

[drunkensailor]

I have a unique perspective on this I think, since I am just now playing Shenmue for the first time! After years of wanting to play the game (ever since I saw it on reviewed on Tech TV when it came out), I finally bought a Dreamcast in order to play the game. I'm really blown away with this game. So much about this game feels ahead of it's time, to the extent that I'm left feeling that some of the things being done by modern games like HEAVY RAIN where being done by Shenmue ten years earlier quite well.

The scope of the game and the depth of it are so impressive to me. I think it's aged magnficently because rather than focusing on MACRO-DETAIL (like say... GTA III, or Elder Scrolls, which attempted to simulate a giant world, but with a lack of detail in individual elements of that world) it focuses on MICRO-DETAIL. Every little thing you pick up is thoughtfully constructed. It's such an unusual game. It joins the rare club of older games (like Silent Hill 2, for example) that I feel haven't aged at all. There are still no other games quite like Shenmue.

I'm in love with this game. I have Shenmue II ready to go on the original Xbox when I beat this one.

I hope you will also play shenmue 2 on dreamcast after this

[drunkensailor]

also what in the hell is bad about shenmue? nothing aged badly or is dated gameplay wise. the only thing you could argue is the forced d-pad controlls in shenmue 1. but shenmue 2 already removed that and played perfectly with analogue. almost 15 years later and this game is still perfect to me

[BlueMue]

Shenmue II's analoge controlls are far from perfect though. You cannot acjust the camera while running like usual. Not even on the Xbox where the right stick is just a duplicate of the left one, it makes Ryo walk.

There are things that have aged, but they aren't aestetic choices and just technical. The load times for example. It just wasn't possible to stream such a detailled world without any load pauses. There are other things like the slowdowns, fading NPCs and the wonky camera during fights at times. Those didn't come up with age though, they were faults even back then.

[drunkensailor]

Shenmue II's analoge controlls are far from perfect though. You cannot acjust the camera while running like usual. Not even on the Xbox where the right stick is just a duplicate of the left one, it makes Ryo walk.

There are things that have aged, but they aren't aestetic choices and just technical. The load times for example. It just wasn't possible to stream such a detailled world without any load pauses. There are other things like the slowdowns, fading NPCs and the wonky camera during fights at times. Those didn't come up with age though, they were faults even back then.

that's because the dreamcast had 1 analogue stick, still I'ms ure while holding b you could change camera while walking with d-pad or analogue if I'm not mistaken. also the game suffers from no camera issues except perhaps facing multiple opponents but that would still be hard to do today

[Axm]

I think Shenmue holds up extremely well when compared to many open world games these days. Weather, time, interiors, being able to pick up and observe hundreds of unique objects. Mini games, multi segment QTE's, multiple mini games, multiple arcade games, unique separate battles. NPC character development.. Man I feel I could just keep going. Shenmue 1&2 hold up extremely well and still very impressive.

[Yama]

I think Shenmue holds up extremely well when compared to many open world games these days. Weather, time, interiors, being able to pick up and observe hundreds of unique objects. Mini games, multi segment QTE's, multiple mini games, multiple arcade games, unique separate battles. NPC character development.. Man I feel I could just keep going. Shenmue 1&2 hold up extremely well and still very impressive.

I forgot to mention, the battle system (specifically Shenmue II's with the improved dodge mechanic) is still fun, fluid and rewarding. Virtua Fighter light, swoosh.

[BlueMue]

that's because the dreamcast had 1 analogue stick, still I'ms ure while holding b you could change camera while walking with d-pad or analogue if I'm not mistaken.

Yeah, I wasn't criticizing the Dreamcast version but the Xbox version. Why didn't they add support for the second stick in analog mode? At least it's easier to control Ryo and the camera at the same time in digital mode then it was with the Dreamcast controller.

I'm fine with the controlls. They're absolutely natural to me, an absolutely integral part of Shenmue to me. They also improved them in some details in Shenmue II. If you play them back to back you'll notice that Ryo reacts faster, slows down when he's about to hit a wall or something and the camera movement is much faster.

I forgot to mention, the battle system (specifically Shenmue II's with the improved dodge mechanic) is still fun, fluid and rewarding. Virtua Fighter light, swoosh.

In my opinion they actually changed the timing for the worse in Shenmue II. You know, it took me years to learn the dodge counter attacks in Shenmue and then years again to find out, that they're all still there in Shenmue II.
The time frame you get to counter is so small that I honestly thought they removed the counters for a loooong time.
On the other hand it's much easier to throw the enemies in Shenmue II because they changes some timing and distance stuff there. Overall the fighting system in Shenmue II is more fun, especially if you get the timing for the counters down.

I think the fighting system of both games get's way to little praise. It's actually rather deep and really fun with the dodge counters, collar grab and the throws. It's also pretty unique because of these mechanics.

[MiTT3NZ]

Yeah, I preferred Shenmue I's battle system. Shenmue II's was easier, no doubt, but it felt too rigid.

[Yama]

I found the counters to have an incredibly large window, though maybe it's because I play fighters competitively. Compared to several just inputs like just frame hits and just guards (red parry), you essentially have all day.