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This thread has been linked to the game 'Shenmue 2'.
Oh Hurray
Shenmue
*jumps up and down on the first one some more*
Shenmue
*jumps up and down on the first one some more*
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I can apreciate why people like Shenmue. It does have a great, epic feel to it, and the variety of VF-style combat, QTEs and miniquests all add a lot to the game.
However, the problem I have with it is it's linearity. Sure, all such games lead you from A to B, but there is so much more to this in games like Zelda. In a game like that every new area has it's own set of subquests and people. The whole point of the quest is to work out HOW to complete the next task on the way...
Let's implify games like this by splitting them into two segments - the part of the game you need to complete to do the game, and the "extra" like subquests.
Thinking about the main aim of the game, the way Shenmue approaches the point is in a way I personally hate. (NB, I have only played Shenmue 1 through). In Shenmue you have to run arround literally talking to one person, then another, then another. Finally these conversations will give you a cut-scene, fight or QTE, and then the whole process will continue.
In a game like Zelda, you spend the main quest working out HOW to get to the next area. You may need to discover a new tool, talk to the right person or defeat a baddy. It's a lot more complex than running from person to person and pressing the "talk" button hoping you have the right bloke!
It's this process of exploration that I find very lacking in Shenmue. After spending the first few hours playing I was already losing interest. I can see why people love the game, but to me it was plain boring - there wasn't enough diversity in the way in which you need to get to the next section of the game.
Next, what about the "extras" in the game.
Well, Shenmue does have some great ideas in it. The whole 70-man brawl is great fun if you like Vitua Fighter style fighting. Likewise, the arcade games offer great fun. What I would like to see more of is some epic miniquests. How about being able to leave your quest in order to go somewhere completely different and help someone else. So, for example, beating up some thugs who are intimidating a family who have nothing to do with your quest. Such miniquests could then affect your game - maybe people in the town are a lot kinder towards you, helping you more, while the gangsters start more fights at night with you?
When you compare such things in Zelda, the difference is stark. The amount of extras that you can do in Zelda is immense. You have the usual set of one-time games (fishing, horseback shooting, bowling etc), as well as some thoroughly useful miniquests. A simple example is someone who needs you to round up their chickens. For doing this you get an extra jar to hold magic energy that helps you a fair bit.
So, what would I like to see in Shenmue? Firstly, less linearity. At the moment the order in which you meet people is set in stone, and you cannot go about the quest any other way. You have to complete QTEs.
How about being able to fail QTEs, and thus having your quest severely hampered. One great example I have seen is that you only get 3 goes at each QTE after which you fail. Then you have to get the information needed in a different way. Perhaps you may even have to change your attitude to the game - threatening gangsters to get information from them. This could then lead to a whole new skew in the game every time you play.
The main problem I find in the game is that it is trying to be a film. And there's never been a great film-style game before.
Sonic
However, the problem I have with it is it's linearity. Sure, all such games lead you from A to B, but there is so much more to this in games like Zelda. In a game like that every new area has it's own set of subquests and people. The whole point of the quest is to work out HOW to complete the next task on the way...
Let's implify games like this by splitting them into two segments - the part of the game you need to complete to do the game, and the "extra" like subquests.
Thinking about the main aim of the game, the way Shenmue approaches the point is in a way I personally hate. (NB, I have only played Shenmue 1 through). In Shenmue you have to run arround literally talking to one person, then another, then another. Finally these conversations will give you a cut-scene, fight or QTE, and then the whole process will continue.
In a game like Zelda, you spend the main quest working out HOW to get to the next area. You may need to discover a new tool, talk to the right person or defeat a baddy. It's a lot more complex than running from person to person and pressing the "talk" button hoping you have the right bloke!
It's this process of exploration that I find very lacking in Shenmue. After spending the first few hours playing I was already losing interest. I can see why people love the game, but to me it was plain boring - there wasn't enough diversity in the way in which you need to get to the next section of the game.
Next, what about the "extras" in the game.
Well, Shenmue does have some great ideas in it. The whole 70-man brawl is great fun if you like Vitua Fighter style fighting. Likewise, the arcade games offer great fun. What I would like to see more of is some epic miniquests. How about being able to leave your quest in order to go somewhere completely different and help someone else. So, for example, beating up some thugs who are intimidating a family who have nothing to do with your quest. Such miniquests could then affect your game - maybe people in the town are a lot kinder towards you, helping you more, while the gangsters start more fights at night with you?
When you compare such things in Zelda, the difference is stark. The amount of extras that you can do in Zelda is immense. You have the usual set of one-time games (fishing, horseback shooting, bowling etc), as well as some thoroughly useful miniquests. A simple example is someone who needs you to round up their chickens. For doing this you get an extra jar to hold magic energy that helps you a fair bit.
So, what would I like to see in Shenmue? Firstly, less linearity. At the moment the order in which you meet people is set in stone, and you cannot go about the quest any other way. You have to complete QTEs.
How about being able to fail QTEs, and thus having your quest severely hampered. One great example I have seen is that you only get 3 goes at each QTE after which you fail. Then you have to get the information needed in a different way. Perhaps you may even have to change your attitude to the game - threatening gangsters to get information from them. This could then lead to a whole new skew in the game every time you play.
The main problem I find in the game is that it is trying to be a film. And there's never been a great film-style game before.
Sonic
A man who speaks a lot of truth I feel! GTA is good for a 10 minute blast every now and again but I could sit and play the Shenmue games for 7-8 hours at a time and I have enjoyed every minute of them. Its all about different tastes but to be honest I don't think you have really understood the Shenmue games if you think they are rubbish! The Shenmue games are gaming at its highest point.
All these people who dis Shenmue 2 as being this or that are probably the very same people who run around on Grand Theft Auto just shooting people in the head with the snipers rifle and thinking its great. Grow up people! Shenmue isnt a wam, bam, thank you ma'am type of game and it never will be. Its more subtle, less in ya face but no less impressive for it. You only have to look at the fan base that the Shenmue series has around the world to appreciate how many people enjoyed the 2 games (me included!)
Shame he didn't include gameplay.
Yes, Shenmue is set in the 80s, but Suzuki-san has used his poetic licence to include such things as a Sega Saturn in Ryo's home.
WS wrote:
> uhh..I maybe wrong but I seem to remember it being set in..1986/7?
>
> Did they have digital cameras then?
That's true. I wonder how that's justified. Maybe it's just a normal camera. A polaroid perhaps....
> uhh..I maybe wrong but I seem to remember it being set in..1986/7?
>
> Did they have digital cameras then?
That's true. I wonder how that's justified. Maybe it's just a normal camera. A polaroid perhaps....
Nomad X wrote:
> But Ryo has a digital camera in the Xbox version, so we can take loads
> of picturesque snaps of the Shenmue world.... it's not enough to
> warrant a purchase is it really - especially if you've played the DC
> version to death.
uhh..I maybe wrong but I seem to remember it being set in..1986/7?
Did they have digital cameras then?
> But Ryo has a digital camera in the Xbox version, so we can take loads
> of picturesque snaps of the Shenmue world.... it's not enough to
> warrant a purchase is it really - especially if you've played the DC
> version to death.
uhh..I maybe wrong but I seem to remember it being set in..1986/7?
Did they have digital cameras then?
I am getting it for 5.1 surround sound and to support the bid for Shenmue 3!
But Ryo has a digital camera in the Xbox version, so we can take loads of picturesque snaps of the Shenmue world.... it's not enough to warrant a purchase is it really - especially if you've played the DC version to death.
Shenmue makes it onto my "Worst games ever" list. Under the technically ingeneous skin, the game is completely linear, incohesive and pathetic. Words cannot describe how much I hate this game.
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