Agreed, I'm only a few hours in but it's impressive how much they've stayed on track. I've not even seen all of Bailu Village and I already love it, straying off the main quest for a bit I found an area for fishing (I don't think any game has a bad fishing minigame, even Fire Emblem's was simply 'whatever') so excited for that later, I found a temple where you could read the wishes everyone had put up (was weird for me, still cool but after going to a place like this for real a few weeks ago it definitely hit different) and a young lass to spar with, you can spar with a lot of people so I dunno' what's different but I can imagine she's like Izumi for all I know and you can fight her properly later by talking to her more.
I think the stamina thing a bit unecessary, as I wouldn't run all the time but sometimes I want to and my stamina drains fast at the moment so it's a little annoying, but I hear you can increase it? I'm going to assume it's from the Horse Stance training and/or the One-Inch Punch minigame (which is a fun little minigame actually, very satisfying sound effect).
Combat feels the most different probably, it's never been great in Shenmue but I think it felt satisfying enough as a very Virtua Fighter Lite. Here you have more movement and there's a real satisfying feeling when you drop someone like a sack of shit with the Counter Elbow Assault (which for some reason doesn't have an animation) with the sound effect. So far I can't say much about it, the game's tutorial for it is literally 'press buttons lol' and I accidentally did a slow motion dodge so there's obviously more going on.
I've still never seen a game with such a gap between it and it's prequel so effortlessly pick up the thread left behind and carry on like literally nothing happened.
I realise now that I was secretly hoping to see poor reviews for this, so that I wouldn't feel like I was missing out by not getting it.
But every new impression I read, my resolve weakens.
I might have to finally start on the PS4 release of the first (two?!) games that've been sat in my backlog for months - firstly to satisfy the temptation for the new one, but also to see if I'm actually in a place to play through something this… idiosyncratic.
The combat system's pretty good, once you work it out. (The tutorial, which literally says "press all the buttons and see what happens", is the most Shenmue thing ever).
It's all about the move scrolls. You can see your basic moves in the menu but the ones to concentrate on are the ones with yellow dots - these are the ones that can be upgraded. You start with three and there are lots more to acquire throughout the game.
You level them up by sparring. Select the move you want to upgrade using L1 and R1 and it'll show up at the bottom of the screen. Then practise that over and over using the button prompts it shows - you'll see it levelling up. Occasionally you'll get a QTE and getting a good result there will level it up quicker. Once it tops out at level 10 it'll say "MASTER" and the yellow dot changes to a star. It'll do a lot more damage after that. Also doing this will upgrade your Attack stat after each fight which slowly increases your damage as you level.
In an actual fight (i.e. against the monks at the dojo, or the story battles), you can select your moves using L1 and R1 as before but then R2 will activate the move you've chosen, so you don't need to fumble for the button combinations. Then it's all about spacing and timing. Opponents seem to get better at blocking moves you use repeatedly so mix it up as much as you can. Oh, and L2 is block.
By default (Automatic) the moves you have available will be the last few you picked up, but you can use one of a few Manual presets to select the moves that'll be available to you, whether that's your best moves for a tricky fight or simply the ones you want to try and upgrade when sparring.
Horse Stance and One-Inch Punch level up your Endurance stat - as you do so, you'll see new bubbles being added to your stamina wheel and this gives you more health in battles and/or lets you run for longer. Stamina decreases fairly slowly as you run until you get down to the last three bubbles, which do regenerate but also drain really quickly. At that point you'll either need to be walking around slowly, or eating in order to regain health.
It's all quite compulsive, and there are some fairly tricky requirements for getting all the move scrolls in the village, which are going to keep me busy for quite some time.
Hmmm, the more I play this game the less I like the combat, I'd say it's arguably the worst part of the game now. It feels okay, maybe even fun when you fight someone fairly weak and drop him to the ground with a well placed elbow to the ribs but when you fight someone who is strong, it gets really frustrating fast imo. I tried over and over to fight the last dojo fight and he'd eventually chip me through my block or just waste me when I tried to attack or dodge and I'm on like 11/10 for stats. I did eventually beat him unintentionally with a glitch where I Tornado Kicked him against the stairs and he just…sat there, looking like he was completely knocked out.
I think even if I learned that I was doing it wrong maybe, it probably still wouldn't feel as good as Shenmue 2's combat, it's missing throws (which I thought was what the Hazuki style featured heavily?) and a better dodge IMO. Just look at the Counter Elbow Assault now, it's awful compared to the Shenmue 2 version. Optimal play so far is just baiting openings for Tornado Kick and it's just a bit meh.
…anyway, it doesn't matter too much, but that and the absence of actual Sega arcade games are really missed for me. The rest of the game is getting really interesting at least, and Bailu Village remains a wonderful place to live in while I go around asking the locals where to find people.
The combat maybe isn't the game's strong point but I definitely prefer it to the system in the first two games. Maybe it's because you're more of a fighting game fan than me but I just couldn't get on with it before. I got through the whole of Shenmue 1 spamming two moves relentlessly, and in Shenmue 2 I just dodged round people and punched them in the back. At least in this I'm using lots of different moves and unlocking them/levelling them up seems very worthwhile.
I haven't figured out dodges yet though, how do you do those?
My main issue so far is the QTEs (not the combat ones, the in-game ones) are brutally difficult, far more so than before. I haven't done a single one yet without failing it first time round. Oh, and I wish you could pause during cut-scenes or conversations. Apart from that I still the think the game is something of a minor miracle.
Dodging is double tapping in a direction, but my timing is either bad or is it's not that good compared to how it was. I probably am just being bad, but when the hard oppoenents close in I feel so fucked honestly. Don't worry though, I'm not souring on the game already or anything, I am a bit gutted though.
Naiowu is amazing. Got those Shenmue II feels.
Seconded that. I just got here and honestly left Bailu at just the right time I'd say. I found the guestbook in the hotel filled with what I assume to be the comments from the KS backers and it's so nice to read all those comments. T_T
Yeah, that guestbook should be the most terrible, immersion-breaking idea ever but somehow it's really touching and brings home just how much this series means to people.
There's a building later in Niaowu that I won't spoil for you but it's going to blow your mind.
Speaking of Niaowu, I wondered if it was a real place. It isn't, but it's based on a Chinese city called Fenghuang Ancient Town. Google it, it really does look like it. The best bit? Fenghuang means Phoenix.
Okay, so after a pretty massive marathon I've beaten this now and overall positive about the game but some mixed feelings too.
+Feels like Shenmue, very faithful
+Bailu and Niaowu are amazing locations for two very different reasons, the latter is 100% art direction > graphics.
+The mini games are funner than ever and there are even new ones like Fishing. (no Sega arcade really blows though)
+Last hour was cool as fuck
(+ s h r i n e m a i d e n)
-Combat had it's moments but I didn't like it, big shame
-Stamina system should not be in this game, I see what they tried to do but it was obnoxious, making your health and stamina one in the same was a bad idea
-For how long we waited, the story could have moved a lot more!
-fairly obnoxious padding at least twice (tho I used a money 'exploit' so didn't bother me but I'm calling it out for being there)
End section spoilers
Spoiler - click to show minor gripe but why was Ren in this game? He hardly does anything. He helps take down people at the end which could have easily been one of the Grandmasters or just you alone. Ryo finds him in the Markets too and there's such little fanfare it's like 'oh hey it's Ren' it's weird.
Spoiler - click to showWe were teased a Lan Di fight who absolutely destroys Ryo and really makes me wonder if Ryo has even closed the gap between them a little bit. It was cool we got to try and it wasn't a QTE though
It's definitely not better than Shenmue 2 which is still the GOAT, it's a better game to play than Shenmue 1 perhaps but I don't think in the grand scheme of things it's as memorable. Niaowu alone is worth a point or two (I'm not scoring this ty) and if the combat was like it was in Shenmue 2 I think I'd be gushing a lot more.
Shout outs to the conversations you can have with Shenhua in Bailu btw, if you have good opinions like me you probably thought the last 3rd of Shenmue 2 in Guilin was great, well the conversations you can have with her are similar to that and entirely optional.
Bloody hell you really burned through that. Didn’t you just get to Niaowu like, yesterday?
Yeah, I pretty much played it all day, didn't realise I'd hit the end but when I saw I was ready close I decided to just do it.
I can't imagine going through half this game in a single day. I'm stringing it out as long as I can.
The "padding" you describe - whereby you need a certain amount of money at a couple of points to proceed - is straight from Shenmue 2, which pulled the same stunt twice. It's much better here though because the side-activities are so much better and give you other rewards as well, it's actually quite a fun process. In Shenmue 2 you didn't really have any way to make money apart from save scumming the terrible gambling games. Your money exploit's ingenious but I've decided I'm not going to use it unless I get really annoyed with the game.
I think this might be the best Shenmue game of the three - it's certainly the longest, as well as the most "gamey" of them all, if you play it in the way it's intended. My only concern is that - so far - the storyline is almost entirely focused around finding Shenhua's father, and there's very little about Ryo's ongoing hunt for his father's killer. It may pick up towards the end but I'm not clicking your spoilers above, for obvious reasons. In a way it makes sense, it gives the game a self-contained storyline that makes the whole thing much more accessible for newcomers, but I just want to be given the opportunity - just once - to punch the living shit out of Lan Di.
Well it did legit fry my brain!. Besides the jobs, I hope/don't think I missed out on much, completed the Rose Garden Fights, did some Fishing, beat the Dojo fights. Did all the Telephone calls (which are REALLY nice imo).
Yes, that storyline thing was a problem for me too, that and the bits that required the most money seemed really forced to me. It was like, why does this cost so much money? Just because shrug. There are so many scrolls as well, which is cool, but even getting them via Herb hand ins or Capsule Exchanges I can see taking a very long time, and as much as I like this series I would have just skipped out on grinding out for most of them if I couldn't trade for them.
Money wise I was just happy to have so much food the Stamina wasn't an issue, if you do the Dojo or Rose Garden fights you can be left with little health which just means you can run even less if you have no food. So just to effectively remove that and have me play as if it wasn't there was basically a big QoL for me.
One day I'll replay them all, and get over my mental block of absolutely not wanting to drive another Forkilift Truck in Shenmue 1 ever again, then I'll see which is best for realsies.
Finished this - still thought it was great, and mechanically easily the most satisfying of the games to play. I maintain it's a remarkable game given the budget and the circumstances, and the fact it's still 100% a Shenmue game is miraculous.
Story-wise it's very much a middle chapter, focusing on Ryo's training and his relationship with Shenhua, which means it feels a bit inconsequential right now but in the context of the wider story it'll make sense, assuming they ever get the chance to finish this.
Sadly the budget cuts and tough decisions become more apparent as the game continues:
Spoiler - click to showBailu Village is superb, it feels complete. There's not a huge amount of story there but what you do learn about Ryo's father and the mirrors is interesting and seems to be building up to something. But then the story sadly falls off a cliff when you reach Nioawu. It's a fantastic environment but literally nothing of interest happens there. Worse, the story beats, such as they are, are completely recycled from the first area: look for thugs, find thugs, lose to boss, find grandmaster to learn super move, complete tasks until he teaches you the super move. It's exactly the same. And while I liked the fan service of the telephone calls to older characters, there's not even much in the way of interaction between Ryo and Shenhua here, not compared to their cosy teatime chats in Bailu.
Spoiler - click to showThen everything happens in a mad rush at the Old Castle, and you can see that this was intended to be a longer sequence: the new villain is introduced properly for the first time, but does nothing; your companions don't achieve anything (I think originally you were supposed to play as Hsu, the Shrine Maiden, Ren and Grandmaster Bei for portions of this section) and while it was fantastic to see Ryo finally face off against Lan Di, the whole section had none of the build-up of Shenmue II's Yellow Head building, and the final fight was anti-climactic in comparison. Then of course there's another cliffhanger ending. No surprises there but it felt like it needed more exposition at the end, maybe like S2's disc 4, to really tie up this part of the story and lead into whatever comes next.
Talks with Shenhua in her house were some of the best parts imo. But then again I've always thought the last 3rd of Shenmue 2 is underrated.
