What's your biggest Shenmue mystery?

[BlueMue]

How did Ryo actually know there was something going wrong back home?

I have a theory that Ryo was just on his way home from school and he saw the black car himself. It may have even nearly hit him too. So Ryo sees where it's headed, he's angry at the driver and he suspects something is going on, since such cars never come through there.

You could say that Ryo seems surprised when he looks at the car, parked near the entrance but you can just as easily consider his expression as anger. What makes this theory plausible is that there doesn't seem to have much time at all passed between the arrival of Lan Di and the arrival of Ryo. Ine-San is still laying on the floor and it doesn't seem that there has been much going on in the Dojo either if you consider where the dialogue starts.

I know what the developers were going for with the abrupt start of the game but I'd like to see an expanded opening to this. At least show what I've mentioned or go even futher and use the opportunity to show a bit of Ryo and his friends in school, to establish some of the characters. I also find it weird that they decided to have the game start on the very day that Ryo turns 18 but never ever mention this in the slightest, nor gave it any significance in the game.

[ShenGCH]

How did Ryo actually know there was something going wrong back home?

I have a theory that Ryo was just on his way home from school and he saw the black car himself. It may have even nearly hit him too. So Ryo sees where it's headed, he's angry at the driver and he suspects something is going on, since such cars never come through there.

You could say that Ryo seems surprised when he looks at the car, parked near the entrance but you can just as easily consider his expression as anger. What makes this theory plausible is that there doesn't seem to have much time at all passed between the arrival of Lan Di and the arrival of Ryo. Ine-San is still laying on the floor and it doesn't seem that there has been much going on in the Dojo either if you consider where the dialogue starts.

I know what the developers were going for with the abrupt start of the game but I'd like to see an expanded opening to this. At least show what I've mentioned or go even futher and use the opportunity to show a bit of Ryo and his friends in school, to establish some of the characters. I also find it weird that they decided to have the game start on the very day that Ryo turns 18 but never ever mention this in the slightest, nor gave it any significance in the game.

November 29th, 1986, fell on a Saturday, so chances are he wasn't on his way home from school (as far as I'm aware, some schools in Japan do operate on Saturday, but it's just conjecture at this point). As you stated, November 29th is also Ryo's birthday, so maybe he was hanging out with some pals in Sakuragaoka (the park, perhaps?) and that's when they saw and/or heard the car hurtling through the neighbourhood, and what with Ryo's house being at the 'end of the line', as well as there being no other entry/exit point by road in Sakuragaoka other than the one by the park, he must have sensed that's where the car was heading.

[Zoltor]

How did Ryo actually know there was something going wrong back home?

I have a theory that Ryo was just on his way home from school and he saw the black car himself. It may have even nearly hit him too. So Ryo sees where it's headed, he's angry at the driver and he suspects something is going on, since such cars never come through there.

You could say that Ryo seems surprised when he looks at the car, parked near the entrance but you can just as easily consider his expression as anger. What makes this theory plausible is that there doesn't seem to have much time at all passed between the arrival of Lan Di and the arrival of Ryo. Ine-San is still laying on the floor and it doesn't seem that there has been much going on in the Dojo either if you consider where the dialogue starts.

I know what the developers were going for with the abrupt start of the game but I'd like to see an expanded opening to this. At least show what I've mentioned or go even futher and use the opportunity to show a bit of Ryo and his friends in school, to establish some of the characters. I also find it weird that they decided to have the game start on the very day that Ryo turns 18 but never ever mention this in the slightest, nor gave it any significance in the game.

November 29th, 1986, fell on a Saturday, so chances are he wasn't on his way home from school (as far as I'm aware, some schools in Japan do operate on Saturday, but it's just conjecture at this point). As you stated, November 29th is also Ryo's birthday, so maybe he was hanging out with some pals in Sakuragaoka (the park, perhaps?) and that's when they saw and/or heard the car hurtling through the neighbourhood, and what with Ryo's house being at the 'end of the line', as well as there being no other entry/exit point by road in Sakuragaoka other than the one by the park, he must have sensed that's where the car was heading.

In Japan, Isn't there school on Saturdays, be it a half aday, I remember hearing that the concept of weekends, in Japan, and asia ingeneral, is completely different from the west.

[ShenGCH]

How did Ryo actually know there was something going wrong back home?

I have a theory that Ryo was just on his way home from school and he saw the black car himself. It may have even nearly hit to. So Ryo sees where it's headed, he's angry at the driver and he suspects something is going on, since such cars never come through there.

You could say that Ryo seems surprised when he looks at the car, parked near the entrance but you can just as easily consider his expression as anger. What makes this theory plausible is that there doesn't seem to have much time at all passed between the arrival of Lan Di and the arrival of Ryo. Ine-San is still laying on the floor and it doesn't seem that there has been much going on in the Dojo either if you consider where the dialogue starts.

I know what the developers were going for with the abrupt start of the game but I'd like to see an expanded opening to this. At least show what I've mentioned or go even futher and use the opportunity to show a bit of Ryo and his friends in school, to establish some of the characters. I also find it weird that they decided to have the game start on the very day that Ryo turns 18 but never ever mention this in the slightest, nor gave it any significance in the game.

November 29th, 1986, fell on a Saturday, so chances are he wasn't on his way home from school (as far as I'm aware, some schools in Japan do operate on Saturday, but it's just conjecture at this point). As you stated, November 29th is also Ryo's birthday, so maybe he was hanging out with some pals in Sakuragaoka (the park, perhaps?) and that's when they saw and/or heard the car hurtling through the neighbourhood, and what with Ryo's house being at the 'end of the line', as well as there being no other entry/exit point by road in Sakuragaoka other than the one by the park, he must have sensed that's where the car was heading.

In Japan, Isn't there school on Saturdays, be it a half aday, I remember hearing that the concept of weekends, in Japan, and asia ingeneral, is completely different from the west.

Either way, Ryo is seen rushing home at 4:00pm, so school would have been out for a good few hours beforehand. He isn't wearing his school uniform either.

[BlueMue]

He isn't wearing his school uniform either.

I can't imagine Ryo ever wearing such a thing. There isn't one in his closet either.

But yeah, the timing of the games might not be the best for him to come from school after all.
It's still possible he was just hangig out around the area and saw the car after all, like you said.

[Zoltor]

He isn't wearing his school uniform either.

I can't imagine Ryo ever wearing such a thing. There isn't one in his closet either.

But yeah, the timing of the games might not be the best for him to come from school after all.
It's still possible he was just hangig out around the area and saw the car after all, like you said.

It's very common for Japanese to change out of there school uniform even without going home. Most businesses have personal lockers, and untop of that, Ryo is always carrying his bag, so yea, he could've easily changed out of his Uniform, and hung out for a few hours after school.

Lets be real, It's pretty obvios Ryo spends a lot of time hanging out after school. People don't just know him, because who his father is, It's pretty obvious people see Ryo all the damn time.

[MaxTheRabbit]

why didn't ryo knock the bottom out of nozomi?

[InsanityIsCrazy]

What would shenmue look like if it was an in-depth, exploratory huniepop?

[mrandyk]

I seem to recall (from the post-mortem?) that Ryo had a tournament that day, which is where the bandage on his face comes from. Perhaps Ine San called the place where the tournament was being held and told Ryo to come home right away?

[ShenGCH]

I seem to recall (from the post-mortem?) that Ryo had a tournament that day, which is where the bandage on his face comes from. Perhaps Ine San called the place where the tournament was being held and told Ryo to come home right away?

As stated by BlueMue, clearly not much time has passed between the arrival of Lan Di and Ryo coming home, so it's unlikely. Ryo definitely got the plaster (or bandage, whatever you wanna call it ) as the result of an injury at a tournament, but I'm pretty sure the aforementioned events were spaced apart.

[oreh]

If ryo wants to wreck nozomi

[The_Intruder]

Meeting the Master who wrote the mysterious scroll and learning more about Shenhua.

[Mr357]

I seem to recall (from the post-mortem?) that Ryo had a tournament that day, which is where the bandage on his face comes from. Perhaps Ine San called the place where the tournament was being held and told Ryo to come home right away?

I think it's more likely that Ryo knew something was wrong because his dad, Fuku-san, and Ine-san didn't show up to watch him compete. This could also explain the bandage since it obviously would have upset him and might have made him lose his focus during the tournament.

[ShenGCH]

I seem to recall (from the post-mortem?) that Ryo had a tournament that day, which is where the bandage on his face comes from. Perhaps Ine San called the place where the tournament was being held and told Ryo to come home right away?

I think it's more likely that Ryo knew something was wrong because his dad, Fuku-san, and Ine-san didn't show up to watch him compete. This could also explain the bandage since it obviously would have upset him and might have made him lose his focus during the tournament.

Surely they would have all gone at the same time, though, no? Iwao, especially, would have been there doing warm-ups and such.

[BlueMue]

I must've been in one of the interviews with Suzuki, there was no mentioning of the bandage in the post-mortem.
I forgot what exactly he said but I don't think he ever clearly said that the tournament was on that day and just mentioned it more loosely.

One thing I'm wondering now is if we will ever see Ryo visit the grave of his father. The game obviously skips anything that happened after Iwaos death by jumping ahead 4 days and leaves a bunch of stuff unsolved. Maybe they keep the scene for a very emotional flashback or for the end of the story, when Ryo returns home again. But maybe I'm just thinking too much of MGS 3 and MGS 4.