Shenmue and the new generation of gamers
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 3:40 am
I came across this comment about Shenmue on Twitter and I would like to hear your opinion about it and generally speaking, hear your opinion about where should the limit stand when it comes to remake a game and change some core characteristics of it.
I've always had the feeling that Shenmue, the first episode maybe even more compared to the second one is a game that gives you back only as much as you are willing to give from yourself. What I mean is that Shenmue is in my opinion, one of the few if not the only game that requires from the player to fully soak in its universe to really feel a rewarding gaming experience.
If you accept to become Ryo instead of just controlling Ryo, Shenmue takes a different dimension.
I hear in the quoted comments above that the interaction with NPC isn't deep enough, that you don't get to know them enough. How come I had the exact opposite feeling from the first time I played the game? Is it a matter of mind set?
I remember using the phone a lot, talking to everybody just to hear what they have to say day after day, taking care of the cat because I genuinely cared for the cat. Spare in the Dojo or the parking lot because I wanted to improve my techniques and beat eventually Lan Di. Search for scrolls and new moves was essential and having a job at the docks was never boring because I needed that money to go to Hong Kong.
I can understand people complaining about having to wait in a few occasions for a triggered event, and I could go as far as being okay with the idea of a "time skipping" option in Shenmue HD (if it ever comes out) but fundamentally, I would not be okay with a remake that changes the core of what Shenmue is.
Hang out with Nozomi, like you could do in Yakuza or GTA? No thank you. Ryo doesn't want to hang out with Nozomi. He doesn't have time for romance. He must have his revenge. It's part of what the story is, it's part of Ryo's arc starting in Yokosuka.
Not to mention that there are indeed moments with Nozomi. But you can miss them if you rush through the game, if you don't soak into the story.
Anyway, should Shenmue be considered something apart from "conventional" gaming? An experience?
Should it stay that way even if a remake eventually comes?
What should the marketing be about a product that was not only ahead of times when released but definitely and still today, a different approach to what gaming was and still is?
Sorry for the long messy post.
(Let's call the author "Player One")
After beating Shenmue a while ago, I gotta say its worth remastering but not in its current state. It needs a full remake with more to do and an easier time accessing random events.
Current generation of gamers wont have the patience to wait and see if they might trigger something since all that side content is the real meat of the game. The main story stuff is mostly just back n forth running n asking shit.
it can feel tedious and pretty annoying after a while and I honestly felt underwhelmed after realising this. We need to be able to interact with the characters more, have real conversations, hang out with em, do shopping for Ine-San etc etc
Maybe I didnt find everything I could do out of those specifically timed events and the arcade mini games, heard you can do fishing but could never figure out how.
I should be able to feel like I live there, like in the Yakuza games, I should have access to the bakery, buy food from Tom or other places, change Ryo's clothes, stay out past curfew n see what happens, sit down with Fuku-San n Ine-san for dinner n hear them.
Hear them talk about things n ask each other stuff, I sjould be able to fkn spend time with Nozomi god damnit!! Like hang out n shit n get to know the characters. REALLY expand on what Shenmue was trying to do man.
All of it should be optional of course but Im sure others would love it, really learn from the Yakuza games n learn from recent rpg's to improve it.
@Sega please remake Shenmue 1 n 2 n make em the proper life simulators like you were originally going for! Shenmue is amazing god damnit! #SaveShenmueHD
I've always had the feeling that Shenmue, the first episode maybe even more compared to the second one is a game that gives you back only as much as you are willing to give from yourself. What I mean is that Shenmue is in my opinion, one of the few if not the only game that requires from the player to fully soak in its universe to really feel a rewarding gaming experience.
If you accept to become Ryo instead of just controlling Ryo, Shenmue takes a different dimension.
I hear in the quoted comments above that the interaction with NPC isn't deep enough, that you don't get to know them enough. How come I had the exact opposite feeling from the first time I played the game? Is it a matter of mind set?
I remember using the phone a lot, talking to everybody just to hear what they have to say day after day, taking care of the cat because I genuinely cared for the cat. Spare in the Dojo or the parking lot because I wanted to improve my techniques and beat eventually Lan Di. Search for scrolls and new moves was essential and having a job at the docks was never boring because I needed that money to go to Hong Kong.
I can understand people complaining about having to wait in a few occasions for a triggered event, and I could go as far as being okay with the idea of a "time skipping" option in Shenmue HD (if it ever comes out) but fundamentally, I would not be okay with a remake that changes the core of what Shenmue is.
Hang out with Nozomi, like you could do in Yakuza or GTA? No thank you. Ryo doesn't want to hang out with Nozomi. He doesn't have time for romance. He must have his revenge. It's part of what the story is, it's part of Ryo's arc starting in Yokosuka.
Not to mention that there are indeed moments with Nozomi. But you can miss them if you rush through the game, if you don't soak into the story.
Anyway, should Shenmue be considered something apart from "conventional" gaming? An experience?
Should it stay that way even if a remake eventually comes?
What should the marketing be about a product that was not only ahead of times when released but definitely and still today, a different approach to what gaming was and still is?
Sorry for the long messy post.