Hello.
I’ve been lurking around the dojo for a while and figured I’d finally chime in.
My name is Jordan and while I’ve known about Shenmue for almost ten years I never really got in to it until just recently. Please forgive me; this is going to be a very long and unusual post, however I am willing to do whatever it takes to prove the claims I’m about to make here.
Those of you who frequent gaming magazines and sites might know me on YouTube as genuinescorruption. Despite having been completely blind since birth, I’ve been a gamer at heart for almost my entire life. My childhood dream was to complete Ocarina of Time and in 2008, a group of diehard fans helped make that a reality by writing me step by step directions to navigate the game’s complex world. That combined with the game’s very well done sound work (which allowed me to know exactly where enemies were in relation to me and defeat them) made it possible for me to actually beet the game. I recently listened to a YouTube let’s play of Shenmue one and found myself completely immersed in the story. Researching the mechanics, I came to wonder if this game might actually be mostly playable (limitations of past technological eras often end up being accidental accessibility features).
I was wondering if someone would be able to elaborate on the navigation. The fact that you move Ryo with the d-pad instead of the analogue stick sounds really promising. If the analogue stick just controls the camera, can’t you just keep the camera behind you at all times so that if you push up on the d-pad, Ryo will always move north? Is this navigation structure anything like it is in either Pokémon or Final Fantasy X?
Do you think you can hypothesize on how much help would actually be necessary in order for me to complete this game? From what I can tell, the motor cycle race would be extremely hard, as would the forklift sequences (but they’re mostly optional)? There seem to be some pretty good auditory landmarks in some places to help verify your whereabouts (like Tom with his music, something that sounds like a marry-go-round in one place, etc.) which is more than can be said about many of the games I’ve played. Oh, and then there’s the stealth sequence…the footsteps on those guards are not only loud, but directional!
I’m planning on downloading this game and trying it out this weekend to see if I can make any progress on my own. Are there any other pitfalls you think I should know about?
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. Speaking of which, in case you’re wondering how I’m able to read your responses or otherwise operate a computer (a common question I get asked on the internet), I use a program called Jaws which translates written text on screen to speech and allows me to navigate GUIs. It’s developed by a company called Freedom Scientific (http://www.freedomscientific.com).
Kind regards,
Jordan.