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The reviewer couldn't post it here because it's too long for the site, and he's a newbie:
Title: "My name is Ryo"
"Shenmue is not an RPG. Shenmue is not an action adventure game. Shenmue is something that everyone can experience, something quite fantastically original and yet tactful sane, but it pushes on the boundaries of gaming, stretching them for new games to push out on. When something is described as a revelation you know that it’s more than good, you know you’re going to have to see what all the fuss is about, and sooner or later you’ll understand why it was described in such a way. Shenmue is beyond a revelation; it’s the work of Yu Suzuki and his team’s genius in virtual reality and you’ll love it. Well, you might detest it and find it totally mind numbingly boring, but in my view, and that’s what this is all about, it’s amazing. I have never ‘played’ anything like this, ever.
You’ll get your average RPG, assume the role of some mini hero in a quest to find his kidnapped family, or something similar, and yes you’ll probably find it mildly entertaining, but wouldn’t it be great if you could diverse from the storyline – not complete a certain task, but instead explore the woods or forest and hunt bears or something (remember this is in a game, do not physically attempt to hunt bears, not a good plan), and see just how real this mini role playing game actually is? In my experience, most ‘role playing’ games bring back memories of bad acting, mediocre storylines and infuriatingly boring waiting, and then an ending that may have well been designed by suspicious looking hyenas. In Shenmue, something was different, very different indeed.
It’s not an RPG, right, but you do assume the roll of local revengeful hero Ryo who sets out to avenge the death of his father – you’ll learn what happens in the 10minute introduction sequence, (Ryo looks uncannily like Yu Suzuki would have done, which is err…nice), and you are Ryo, your mind will become Ryo’s mind, you will live out the game until you finish it – well, this is just the first chapter of an estimated 16 whopping saga! And it’s on 3 discs, complete with a special Shenmue passport disc telling you the character profiles, meanings of the game and the general idea – well worth watching. I think it took me around 40 hours to finish this spawn of possibly the greatest saga which I cannot wait to unfold. Brilliance, shear brilliance in a video game – nothing compares.
So, as Ryo, living his life, you can do whatever you like – as long as it’s in the world of Shenmue. Set in 1986 Japan in a really interestingly cultural Japanese series of villages, you have to ‘complete tasks’ but in the sense that you have to find out new information, new clues and keys to help you find what your looking for – I won’t spoil the surprises, but you will have the opportunity of talking to any of the 150+ virtually living inhabitants in the ‘game’, they lead their own lives too, some have answers, some are just drunk and want fights – which is another superb aspect of the masterpiece that has sold greater than any other Dreamcast game, bar Sonic Adventure. The mission is an ongoing one, it will get tiresome at times, but you’ll find it such an enchanting place – you can even get a job in the game – play on arcade machines in one of the areas. The game is so vast, it’s not overly difficult, but it’s a welcome challenge, and one that you should accept.
It’s real. It may not be real in terms of physically touchable, but within the walls of creation Yu Suzuki has reinvented the genre defying game, the game that is more than a game – a game that encapsulates one’s mind for the duration. I was stunned, and delighted at how real this all was, and is, and will continue to be. I hope Yu Suzuki’s insured his brain for a large sum of money. Trees look authentic, the weather changes from day to day with different sounding, appropriate, footstep noises – walking through the house sounds noticeably unlike walking over stones outside the Dojo. Yes there is a Dojo and yes you can spar in there – practice with your best friend, greatly improve and master the martial arts – the insight of Japanese culture he has inspired me to take up a course in learning Japanese, one day I hope to fly there and stay for a couple of weeks – in a bustling city like Tokyo, but also in a place like that in Shenmue.
Facial expressions, costuming, character movements – oh the fluidity! Shenmue is alive! It’s a living, breathing world, it’s so realistic and yet the game is 2 years old already, it just took around a year and a half for the English and American versions to be completed – over 10,000 pages of voice scripting had to be performed. So is the acting any good? Aside from some highly suspicious Colorado accents that Mrs Hanukiato-san (or similar) has, and the occasionally slow reactions that the characters have, the acting overall is generally acceptable. Ryo’s eyes move, his face a wash of bubbling polygons ready to stray from their positions as an unexpected twist in the plot sees Ryo grace a look of uncanny surprise, there’s a cat – a kitten I should say, but it’s so well done – graphically it’s beyond graphics, this is the first step towards VR and I think many of you know that. Some strange obsessions in the game – we’re constantly reminded of Yu’s passion for gaming – the arcades, yes there fantastic and you can actually play on ‘Hang On’ and partake in a game of pool with dodgy sailors, go on the slot machines – even play music! Oh yes, there’s a Sega Saturn under the television – even though the Saturn was released in 1994…Still, no one would care about that, so it remains highly realistic.
Oddest thing; young kids obsession with Ryo, if you try talking to them all they’ll say is “Hey Mr, want a wrestle?” or “Hey, let’s play baseball” to which Ryo replies, “Maybe some other time, ok?” (Oh, I’ve gone and given it away now), which is really quite worrying – along with Ryo’s fluttering habits and his partialness to small round capsules which contain strange, useless, but interesting toys…
There are many characters, each with their own life – and you will become friends and enemies with many. Quite possibly the greatest inclusion is the new feature “Q.T.E”, standing for quick time event – you are in a movie in a way, well Shenmue was made into a film, somehow (only in Japan), whereby you have something to accomplish, often in a time limit – be it running after someone down the shopping street, having to press the highlighted button on the screen, or having a full on bar brawl with 15 drunken sailors, - or maybe performing a trick shot in one of the many bars and, would you believe it, jazz clubs. Independence becomes greater as you progress, you’ll have to take risks, use that special thousand-year old martial arts move – every experience in Shenmue is different, although the goal will ultimately remain the same.
This is just the beginning, if you found it boring, then maybe it’s just not your cup of tea, coffee, or alcoholic beverage, but for many gamers out there, this is a heaven-sent
‘Suzuki-san sent’ gift, and one that I will probably go back to and experience again. You will have adrenaline rushes, you may be so enthralled that you play thru non-stop until it’s all over and you can start remembering that you do in fact have your own life to attend to.
Throw in the most atmospheric and original in game music, ever, and you've got a pretty darn essential Dreamcast title.
My advice? Give it a try, most will love it, just allow your mind to drift into a new dimension and become one with the game.
Thanks for reading
Ryo."
Cheers for reading, courtesy of Dan.
The reviewer couldn't post it here because it's too long for the site, and he's a newbie:
Title: "My name is Ryo"
"Shenmue is not an RPG. Shenmue is not an action adventure game. Shenmue is something that everyone can experience, something quite fantastically original and yet tactful sane, but it pushes on the boundaries of gaming, stretching them for new games to push out on. When something is described as a revelation you know that it’s more than good, you know you’re going to have to see what all the fuss is about, and sooner or later you’ll understand why it was described in such a way. Shenmue is beyond a revelation; it’s the work of Yu Suzuki and his team’s genius in virtual reality and you’ll love it. Well, you might detest it and find it totally mind numbingly boring, but in my view, and that’s what this is all about, it’s amazing. I have never ‘played’ anything like this, ever.
You’ll get your average RPG, assume the role of some mini hero in a quest to find his kidnapped family, or something similar, and yes you’ll probably find it mildly entertaining, but wouldn’t it be great if you could diverse from the storyline – not complete a certain task, but instead explore the woods or forest and hunt bears or something (remember this is in a game, do not physically attempt to hunt bears, not a good plan), and see just how real this mini role playing game actually is? In my experience, most ‘role playing’ games bring back memories of bad acting, mediocre storylines and infuriatingly boring waiting, and then an ending that may have well been designed by suspicious looking hyenas. In Shenmue, something was different, very different indeed.
It’s not an RPG, right, but you do assume the roll of local revengeful hero Ryo who sets out to avenge the death of his father – you’ll learn what happens in the 10minute introduction sequence, (Ryo looks uncannily like Yu Suzuki would have done, which is err…nice), and you are Ryo, your mind will become Ryo’s mind, you will live out the game until you finish it – well, this is just the first chapter of an estimated 16 whopping saga! And it’s on 3 discs, complete with a special Shenmue passport disc telling you the character profiles, meanings of the game and the general idea – well worth watching. I think it took me around 40 hours to finish this spawn of possibly the greatest saga which I cannot wait to unfold. Brilliance, shear brilliance in a video game – nothing compares.
So, as Ryo, living his life, you can do whatever you like – as long as it’s in the world of Shenmue. Set in 1986 Japan in a really interestingly cultural Japanese series of villages, you have to ‘complete tasks’ but in the sense that you have to find out new information, new clues and keys to help you find what your looking for – I won’t spoil the surprises, but you will have the opportunity of talking to any of the 150+ virtually living inhabitants in the ‘game’, they lead their own lives too, some have answers, some are just drunk and want fights – which is another superb aspect of the masterpiece that has sold greater than any other Dreamcast game, bar Sonic Adventure. The mission is an ongoing one, it will get tiresome at times, but you’ll find it such an enchanting place – you can even get a job in the game – play on arcade machines in one of the areas. The game is so vast, it’s not overly difficult, but it’s a welcome challenge, and one that you should accept.
It’s real. It may not be real in terms of physically touchable, but within the walls of creation Yu Suzuki has reinvented the genre defying game, the game that is more than a game – a game that encapsulates one’s mind for the duration. I was stunned, and delighted at how real this all was, and is, and will continue to be. I hope Yu Suzuki’s insured his brain for a large sum of money. Trees look authentic, the weather changes from day to day with different sounding, appropriate, footstep noises – walking through the house sounds noticeably unlike walking over stones outside the Dojo. Yes there is a Dojo and yes you can spar in there – practice with your best friend, greatly improve and master the martial arts – the insight of Japanese culture he has inspired me to take up a course in learning Japanese, one day I hope to fly there and stay for a couple of weeks – in a bustling city like Tokyo, but also in a place like that in Shenmue.
Facial expressions, costuming, character movements – oh the fluidity! Shenmue is alive! It’s a living, breathing world, it’s so realistic and yet the game is 2 years old already, it just took around a year and a half for the English and American versions to be completed – over 10,000 pages of voice scripting had to be performed. So is the acting any good? Aside from some highly suspicious Colorado accents that Mrs Hanukiato-san (or similar) has, and the occasionally slow reactions that the characters have, the acting overall is generally acceptable. Ryo’s eyes move, his face a wash of bubbling polygons ready to stray from their positions as an unexpected twist in the plot sees Ryo grace a look of uncanny surprise, there’s a cat – a kitten I should say, but it’s so well done – graphically it’s beyond graphics, this is the first step towards VR and I think many of you know that. Some strange obsessions in the game – we’re constantly reminded of Yu’s passion for gaming – the arcades, yes there fantastic and you can actually play on ‘Hang On’ and partake in a game of pool with dodgy sailors, go on the slot machines – even play music! Oh yes, there’s a Sega Saturn under the television – even though the Saturn was released in 1994…Still, no one would care about that, so it remains highly realistic.
Oddest thing; young kids obsession with Ryo, if you try talking to them all they’ll say is “Hey Mr, want a wrestle?” or “Hey, let’s play baseball” to which Ryo replies, “Maybe some other time, ok?” (Oh, I’ve gone and given it away now), which is really quite worrying – along with Ryo’s fluttering habits and his partialness to small round capsules which contain strange, useless, but interesting toys…
There are many characters, each with their own life – and you will become friends and enemies with many. Quite possibly the greatest inclusion is the new feature “Q.T.E”, standing for quick time event – you are in a movie in a way, well Shenmue was made into a film, somehow (only in Japan), whereby you have something to accomplish, often in a time limit – be it running after someone down the shopping street, having to press the highlighted button on the screen, or having a full on bar brawl with 15 drunken sailors, - or maybe performing a trick shot in one of the many bars and, would you believe it, jazz clubs. Independence becomes greater as you progress, you’ll have to take risks, use that special thousand-year old martial arts move – every experience in Shenmue is different, although the goal will ultimately remain the same.
This is just the beginning, if you found it boring, then maybe it’s just not your cup of tea, coffee, or alcoholic beverage, but for many gamers out there, this is a heaven-sent
‘Suzuki-san sent’ gift, and one that I will probably go back to and experience again. You will have adrenaline rushes, you may be so enthralled that you play thru non-stop until it’s all over and you can start remembering that you do in fact have your own life to attend to.
Throw in the most atmospheric and original in game music, ever, and you've got a pretty darn essential Dreamcast title.
My advice? Give it a try, most will love it, just allow your mind to drift into a new dimension and become one with the game.
Thanks for reading
Ryo."
Cheers for reading, courtesy of Dan.
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Couldn't be bothered to read it :-D
I usually steer well clear of Dans topics until I have supplies for at least a week ;-D
I usually steer well clear of Dans topics until I have supplies for at least a week ;-D
Yeah cheers for that Dan, but think - you could have just opened the topic up so I could post it here! And, really, you should tell me when you're going to be posting my reviews. Yep, it doesn't fit in the review section, and yes I want people to read it, but it's not getting read a lot with a title like that, is it!!
That is Ryu, Res.
isn't there a ryo in the street fighter games?
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