Am I the only Shenmue fan who has...

[KiBa]

Am I the only Shenmue fan who has only played the game(s) once?

Yes.

[zach]

This is my second playthrough of Shenmue I and I'm really loving it. I like it even more than 7/8 years ago.
It is a great game play again. For me this is the perfect summer game, maybe because I played it in the summer 7/8 years ago. I almost finished Shenmue I and soon I start with Shenmue II for its second playthrough. I'm looking forward to it. Shenmue II is one of my all-time favourite games.

[PILMAN]

I have lost count how many times I have played both shenmue and shenmue 2, several times over the years though. However, I have never beaten shenmue 2 on the dreamcast, im actually towards the end. I have beaten it on the Xbox.

[amiga1200]

^^ i'm due a 'babylon5 run' as it were.
just gradually getting through it bit at a time. (roughly half way through 1 again.)
...
but i'll hold off with the shenmue marathons til i have harddisks plugged into the dreamcast, somehow. (just a waiting game.)
shenmue is ROUGH on the gdi assembly (in the long run) so ODE's/modem socket replacements are the order of the day for console longevity. (and the babylon5 runs.)

[streetwaves]

I think I've played through twice, years apart. I'll likely play them again in the lead-up to III, but yeah, I tend to not like to overplay things I enjoy so as to not burn myself out on them. I'd rather be able to go back to it at some point and be legitimately surprised and have it feel like a fresh experience.

[Senpai Gamer]

...only played the game(s) once?

Reading about other people's experiences with Shenmue, I see quite a lot of "I'm currently on my 11th playthrough", or "I bring out Shenmue for a spin every christmas".

Shenmue is by far my most powerful gaming experience - a real milestone for me - but in 14 years I have only played it once from start to fi... erm... cave. I loved it so much it actually scared me away from playing it again. Sounds weird as f*ck, I know... but welcome to my world.

Shenmue changed pretty much everything for me when it comes to gaming, and (as cheesy as it may sound) had a pretty big impact on my everyday life as well. As soon as I finished the second game I knew that I didn't want to "trivialize" the experience by repeating it. I knew the magic would never be the same. Most likely still awesome, of course, but never the same.

As the years went by, and the gaming industry moved on with bigger worlds and shinier graphics, I actually became more and more afraid of returning to Shenmue because I knew I would never forgive myself if all those wonderful memories from my time with the game would be tainted by slight disappointment. What if that "magic vibe" just wouldn't be there like the first time? I just couldn't take that risk.

I also knew that when - or if - Shenmue III was released, I had to return to 1 and 2 in preparation for the third, and the longer I could stay away, the more plot details I would forget and hopefully get a few nice surprises the second time around.

Now, with all that said, I did actually play the first game a second time in 2003 to break in my brand new tv, but I didn't touch the second one. "I'm sorry, Ryo... you'll have to stay on this boat for about 14 years now".

I know I'm rambling here, but I guess a potent mix of fear and extreme forward thinking has kept me away all these years. Now, finally, I can sort of see the benefits and I plan to return to 1 and 2 when the planned release date of Shenmue III draws near. Hopefully it won't mess too much with all the fantastic memories I've been guarding for all these years.

I guess I am the only one, right..?

I just beat shenmue 1 for the first time ever last week. Im currently playing shenmue 2. So your not alone bud.

[ShinChuck]

I know I'm rambling here, but I guess a potent mix of fear and extreme forward thinking has kept me away all these years. Now, finally, I can sort of see the benefits and I plan to return to 1 and 2 when the planned release date of Shenmue III draws near. Hopefully it won't mess too much with all the fantastic memories I've been guarding for all these years.

I guess I am the only one, right..?

We all have our own little ways of handling the magic of Shenmue, and that's sort of a testament to the series' specialness.

I've played I and II many, many times, but I've NEVER beaten Shenmue II (I stop at the end of Kowloon). I decided I never would beat it, until III was actually likely to happen. It was grueling, but now I don't have to wait for 2017 for new Shenmue, because I have new Shenmue waiting for me right now!

I adore the games, and have each play through. Part of the beauty has been finding all the little bits of nuance: it probably took me a decade to find every little nook and secret I could (and there are still probably bits out there I haven't seen!). And, perhaps because I've played it so often, I never go back and feel like, "Wow, this feels archaic."

Maybe we arrive at the same destination via different paths? You decided to not tarnish it by replaying it and feeling disappointed. I kept replaying it to never feel disappointed. For both of us, the games remain untarnished, and we're ready for Shenmue III!

Sort of rambly myself, but there ya go.