Shenmue HD in magazines

(Shenmue I & II Re-Release Discussion)

Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby Spaghetti » Tue May 08, 2018 3:23 pm

I'm not really sure I get what the writer of that article is trying to say with that example.

Is he suggesting doing away with the detective game elements and open-ended quests? I'm not sure it'd actually be Shenmue without it, and it'd be a fucking travesty if it was replaced with mini-map "run to marker, then run to other marker, then maybe have a fight" quest design. You'd miss out on so much world building through the incidental dialogue that comes with investigating, not to mention never really learning or paying attention to the game world layout.

Take asking in one of the Lucky Charm quarter electronic shops about the Heavens in II. The owner will get the wrong end of the stick and think Ryo is a gang member looking for protection money, and threatens to get Xiuying. Suddenly the reason why the Heavens stick to Aberdeen becomes obvious; they want to steer clear of the martial artists in Wan Chai. It's easy to miss, but the fact it's there is incredible. Shenmue rewards the player for being curious with these little bits and pieces about the world, the story, and the characters.

The way it ends makes me think they're asking for Yakuza with a Shenmue skin, and with no disrespect intended to that series which is great for its own reasons, but I cannot think of anything worse for Shenmue III.

It's a really reductive argument, and ignores a lot of what else builds up Shenmue as a whole, and that (surprise) people can still enjoy Shenmue as-is in 2018.

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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby James Brown » Tue May 08, 2018 7:47 pm

Yeah, I don't understand some people either dude...apparently dropping a "three figure" amount for Shenmue 3, yet does that horrible Yakuza comparision that most of the clickbait media people seem to rely on whenever they're uneducated about Shenmue. Whilst I can see similarities with Shenmue and Yakuza, mainly it being published by SEGA lol...that's virtually where the similarities stop, and they really are few and far between. I guess any open world game set in Japan will ultimately be compared to Shenmue. It wasn't the trashiest of articles...it's just the naivety of certain individuals who think that they have the Shenmue series sussed by comparing it to Yakuza, and mentioning looking for sailors. #-o

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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby Rikitatsu » Wed May 09, 2018 12:47 am

James Brown wrote: Whilst having a more thorough look through the Official Playstation UK magazine, I noticed a second article, mainly more about Shenmue 3 though.

[img]

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Image

The hell? How does Yakuza offer greater freedom of exploring it's world? Yakuza is many times more restricting than Shenmue in terms of exploration and interactions.

Pretty much all the Yakuza comparison I've seen are trash-tier, but this one takes the cake.

And that PCGamer quote, smh...
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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby Let's Get Sweaty » Wed May 09, 2018 12:54 am

"HOT TAKE: Yakuza is Shenmue but good!"

Wow, where can I subscribe to this guy's newsletter?

Oh, my local newsagent for £5.99 a pop? Bargain!
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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby GYO6161 » Wed May 09, 2018 1:28 am

It's pretty tiresome to keep hearing comparisons to yakuza and Shenmue. Before it was Shenmue vs GTA.
Both series can coexist and have their audience just like fortnite and playerunknown's do. Why this obsession of its gotta be either one or the other, Not both? JFC.

But whatever. Can't let these spectics ruin our fun. We got rereleases of Shenmue I & II and III against so many odds and there ain't nothing ''Mr. Alan Wen'' can do about it.
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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby Amir » Wed May 09, 2018 1:33 am

In terms of innovation, I'm most excited for Rapport System, Character Perspective System, and the Three Kingdoms wargames of Baisha.

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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby MJMW » Wed May 09, 2018 5:20 am

Winding people up. I've said before that people who don't like Shenmue just don't understand it and while Yakuza is one of my favourite games, it's just not as immersive.
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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby Spaghetti » Wed May 09, 2018 7:33 am

Amir wrote: In terms of innovation, I'm most excited for Rapport System, Character Perspective System, and the Three Kingdoms wargames of Baisha.

Exactly. A casual look at the Kickstarter stretch goals would reveal new features are coming.

I mean some fans are unsure it'll be similar enough to the old games ffs.
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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby mjq jazz bar » Wed May 09, 2018 10:12 am

Spaghetti wrote: I'm not really sure I get what the writer of that article is trying to say with that example.

Is he suggesting doing away with the detective game elements and open-ended quests? I'm not sure it'd actually be Shenmue without it, and it'd be a fucking travesty if it was replaced with mini-map "run to marker, then run to other marker, then maybe have a fight" quest design. You'd miss out on so much world building through the incidental dialogue that comes with investigating, not to mention never really learning or paying attention to the game world layout.

Take asking in one of the Lucky Charm quarter electronic shops about the Heavens in II. The owner will get the wrong end of the stick and think Ryo is a gang member looking for protection money, and threatens to get Xiuying. Suddenly the reason why the Heavens stick to Aberdeen becomes obvious; they want to steer clear of the martial artists in Wan Chai. It's easy to miss, but the fact it's there is incredible. Shenmue rewards the player for being curious with these little bits and pieces about the world, the story, and the characters.

The way it ends makes me think they're asking for Yakuza with a Shenmue skin, and with no disrespect intended to that series which is great for its own reasons, but I cannot think of anything worse for Shenmue III.

It's a really reductive argument, and ignores a lot of what else builds up Shenmue as a whole, and that (surprise) people can still enjoy Shenmue as-is in 2018.

That's why I'm glad Yu Suzuki is the director and not whoever wrote that article. I don't think he'll do anything that isn't true to his original vision.

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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby darksniper » Wed May 09, 2018 12:39 pm

The similarities between Shenmue and Yakuza are there, but it's very meta and not the obvious ones that journalists like to bring up.

To me the most striking similarity that no one seems to talk about is the character models. I truly believe that whatever tech Sega was using to craft their character models in Shenmue were used to develop the Yakuza games. I remember when Yakuza was first announced on PS2, people immediately thought it was a new Shenmue game. Back when Shenmue III was just a thought, I always imagined the character models to look similar to what you'd see in Yakuza 3,4,5 etc.

Another similarity is when Yakuza forces you to advance the game on it's terms and not yours. It's not quite as fleshed out as Shenmue but it's there. There's been moments in Yakuza where I was like "I could see that happening in Shenmue, or yeah they took this from Shenmue". The beginning of Yakuza 3 and the whole baby mission in 6 stand out to me.

What's really funny is how people are praising Yakuza 6 for having all NPC's having full voice acting like it's some new innovation. As if there wasn't a game in 1999 that did this almost 20 years earlier

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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby spud1897 » Wed May 09, 2018 2:12 pm

If anyone has any extra scans/shots of Shenmue HD in magazines let me know/ drop me a PM. I will be putting them up on the dojo Facebook page for all to see!
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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby James Brown » Sat May 12, 2018 9:41 am

Nothing in GamesTM i'm afraid, apart from a tiny entry in their "200 Greatest Games of All Time" free magazine -

Image

Almost an insult though actually [-(
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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby Centrale » Sat May 12, 2018 11:48 am

James Brown wrote: Almost an insult though actually [-(


You've gotta be kidding me. That's really a glowing write-up!
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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby James Brown » Sat May 12, 2018 2:53 pm

Centrale wrote:
James Brown wrote: Almost an insult though actually [-(


You've gotta be kidding me. That's really a glowing write-up!


I meant the position...190th, obviously biased tho #-o
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Re: Shenmue HD in magazines

Postby James Brown » Wed May 16, 2018 9:56 am

Another article for you guys. This time in Retro Gamer -

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