Shenmue Dojo

It will be 19 years since Shenmue 1 first made it's debut to the world and revolutionized gaming as a whole despite the naysayers that argue against that. Reception of the game was mainly positive and ranked amongst the best games that year with IGN giving it a remarkable 9.6. As the years have gone by it's insane to think gamers have changed and that Shenmue starts to become technically less impressive with older technology that is the Dreamcast but till this day I hold it as still being unique, visually stunning and completely playable in it's original form.

With the critical outcry on Shenmue's so called "boring and mundane requirements such as waiting for events which may indeed be removed from the game entirely based upon recent claims this may hugely benefit Shenmue HD's reception from reviewers and people that play them for the very first time. I really want this collection to be reviewed highly and properly, my guess is that the game will inevitably from mid 7s to possibly an 8 if people are generous. Metacritic I would say in the 70s range.

I'm going with 7/10.

I think there will be some 6s, mostly 7s and some 8s.

There's no "don't care" option, but that's where I'd fall.

Absolutely beyond giving a fuck about critical reception to Shenmue games in any capacity. It should be clear, especially to fans, that some people will just not "get it". It'll be divisive for exactly the same reasons it was on release.

Shenmue II has a 88 on Metacritic which is pretty solid for a game that is so polarizing on reviewers. I have a feeling this new collection is gonna have a much lower score due to standards changing for people.

Modern critical receptions of a 19 year old game are moot.

I actually think that a lot of reviewers will get into the hype bandwagon.

I think it'll be in the high 70s if it's a competent port/remaster, and the price is great for a +40 hour bundle.

Also, the waiting around in SI will be gone, that's something that might put players in a bad mood.

shredingskin wrote: I actually think that a lot of reviewers will get into the hype bandwagon.

I think it'll be in the high 70s if it's a competent port/remaster, and the price is great for a +40 hour bundle.

Also, the waiting around in SI will be gone, that's something that might put players in a bad mood.

Waiting around what part are you talking about?

khmlight3 wrote:

shredingskin wrote: I actually think that a lot of reviewers will get into the hype bandwagon.

I think it'll be in the high 70s if it's a competent port/remaster, and the price is great for a +40 hour bundle.

Also, the waiting around in SI will be gone, that's something that might put players in a bad mood.

Waiting around what part are you talking about?

He is talking about parts like the tattoo parlor, supposed time skip future will eliminate that requirement to do other stuff whilst waiting until the parlor opens

I think it's naive to think critical reception doesn't matter, as a Shenmue fan, you should care about it.

Terrible scores = Less sales = Less people who are interested In Shenmue 3 = No Shenmue 4 after Shenmue 3 bombs.

The future of the franchise may very well ride on the HD Remasterd's success.


I personally hope for 8+ ratings, but I know some of these 'critics' like Jeff from giant bomb are already salivating at the chance to rip the game apart. I expect somewhere in the range of 65-79 on Metacritic, provided that it doesn't have glaring technical issues.

It's not going to be for the Call Of Duty, Minecraft, Fifa and Fortnight gamers.
Let's face it, 90% of the people buying this have already played the game.
The other 10% are people who have always wanted to try it but didn't own the console, or people interested in Shenmue 3 and wanting to experience the story from the start.

Critics are just going to say that it's really starting to show it's age and ignore the fact that this game helped set a new standard in open world games and story-driven gameplay.

Rikitatsu wrote: I think it's naive to think critical reception doesn't matter, as a Shenmue fan, you should care about it.

Terrible scores = Less sales = Less people who are interested In Shenmue 3 = No Shenmue 4 after Shenmue 3 bombs.

The future of the franchise may very well ride on the HD Remasterd's success.


I personally hope for 8+ ratings, but I know some of these 'critics' like Jeff from giant bomb are already salivating at the chance to rip the game apart. I expect somewhere in the range of 65-79 on Metacritic, provided that it doesn't have glaring technical issues.

Exactly. I do hope for our sake it's a very good remaster and critical response is as decent as we can expect it to be.

returnedfate wrote:

khmlight3 wrote:

shredingskin wrote: I actually think that a lot of reviewers will get into the hype bandwagon.

I think it'll be in the high 70s if it's a competent port/remaster, and the price is great for a +40 hour bundle.

Also, the waiting around in SI will be gone, that's something that might put players in a bad mood.

Waiting around what part are you talking about?

He is talking about parts like the tattoo parlor, supposed time skip future will eliminate that requirement to do other stuff whilst waiting until the parlor opens

I'm fine with that feature as long as it's not required it should be fine.

Obviously, we can be honest if it's a bad port, but I would hope that everyone here would help be biased and slightly fluctuate the score towards the higher end ...I will personally be making sure to drop strong reviews on places like metacritic, steam, amazon etc! Anything we can do to help the future success of the series!

I went with 6 to 8 out of 10, although I'm thinking more 8 to 9. There will always be people who don't "get" Shenmue (which is fine!) or find it didn't age well (I would disagree!), and the port quality could certainly be an issue, but I think 80-90% is a safe bet.

7's and 8's with a 'positive reception' or 'favourable reviews'. I can't see it getting a critical reception but as long as it gets good sales and reviews then I don't mind.