Shenmue Dojo

Answers to the questions we have had for a while now are answered as in depth as Adam can explain, including why the cutscenes are in 4:3, what type of audio is being used, which builds of the game are being used and more. Check it out in the video below, and keep the negativity to a minimum please. Bear in mind these games, along with Shenmue 3 were regarded as a sheer miracle a few years ago.

He did a nice job explaining that the assets just weren't there for the cutscene ratio. I don't think it'll be that jarring to be honest.

I had no idea the original game was so intensive and complicated in coding. It sounds like it was a miracle to port it at all...

It still astounds me that after years upon years of pleading, nearly $7 million invested in a sequel they have no involvement with that SEGA would be so afraid a re-release would not yield them a return from passionate fans.

I really, really hope this wakes them up and a proper in-house Shenmue IV comes alive for PS5(let's face it, that's where it'll end up if it comes).

save anywhere in the game sounds good.

using s2 xbox version.. not so good.

If anyone is unhappy with the audio, look at it this way. You have traded upgraded audio for a full Japanese dub to play through. Id take it any day.

So happy to be able to play in Japanese with English subtitles.

I knew compressed audio was what we were getting. While it's known Sega still has Ryo's English lines uncompressed i highly doubt they also have every single uncompressed line from the close to one a thousand NPCs throughout both games in both languages so its understandable.

So happy to be able to play in Japanese with English subtitles.

^ Would you by any chance be happy to be able to play in Japanese with English subtitles?

No negativity from me. I would have been happy with a straight port of the Dreamcast versions. Instead, we're getting both games with cross save compatibility (something I've never experienced living in America). We get gameplay in widescreen format. We get full 1080p HD resolutions. We get both English and Japanese voice overs (if you're into that). We're getting a new UI and a secondary modern control scheme.

WE GET SHENMUE 1 & 2 ON MODERN SYSTEMS!

How awesome is it to be a Shenmue fan!? Pretty f**king awesome!

I can't wait.

From the sounds of it, we're lucky to be getting these on newer systems at all considering the coding nightmare. Hats off to the guys that had to deal with that mess.

Curious as to why the file size is so big for the 2 games (30GB). Even with some of the assets being available in HD and dual audio, I'd still only expect it to be max. 15GB?

Amir wrote: Curious as to why the file size is so big for the 2 games (30GB). Even with some of the assets being available in HD and dual audio, I'd still only expect it to be max. 15GB?

Where did you get the file size?

Telekill wrote: Where did you get the file size?

That's the current figure on Steam. A Sega rep has said that it's possibly subject to change.

Telekill wrote:

Amir wrote: Curious as to why the file size is so big for the 2 games (30GB). Even with some of the assets being available in HD and dual audio, I'd still only expect it to be max. 15GB?

Where did you get the file size?

It's the minimum requirement on Steam. That said, the minimum requirement is often a little greater than the file size (free space required for paging etc.).

He forgot to mention Achievements and Trophies! Thats most important right? (Being Satirical)

This is a fantastic and explanatory video. Gotta love Adam. Although I will very slightly (and respectfully lol) split hairs and disagree dialectically and semantically with him in saying it's "not even really a remaster." In my nomenclature, coming from the audio world, a remaster means taking original premaster source material, without changing them at all, and taking them through higher resolution audio converters, digitizing them if you're working with older media (which is a bit like porting I suppose lol,) maybe alter the mix slightly (change the arrangement via pan, maybe duplicate some tracks if need be, basically just making things clearer and sweeter, bring things up in the mix or down etc. etc.) possibly use new compression if you can get away with it without destroying dynamic range, etc. You might add new effects, like new reverb since effects technology tends to improve (which to me is akin to them adding new post processing effects to the game,) and all of this is done sparingly and carefully so as not to change the original audio at all, but just make things as good as they can be using newer technology.

Imo, this is precisely what they've done with Shenmue here. So, for ME, that's a remaster. Anything beyond would be a remake, and anything less would just be a straight port. I know not everyone agrees with that nomenclature, and I totally respect that. But for me, these are absolutely remasters. And not only that, but true remasters, rather than the quasi-remakes which keep getting called remasters (looks at Spyro lol.) Ironically though, it's the audio in this release which hasn't been remastered lol.

But ALL of that having been said, great video from Adam I will share around online to try and inform people with questions about these things!