After a successful Kickstarter campaign, backed by nearly 70,000 fans who longed to continue Ryo Hazuki’s journey, developers Ys Net and Neilo developed a new Shenmue game – one that would make Dreamcast feel at home. Shenmue III is a source of nostalgia for fans returning to the series, but it also feels outdated and needs to advance in key areas. It’s a game that has forgotten time, a new experience that stubbornly sticks to its retro roots and ignores most innovations that have shaped the interactive entertainment of the past 18 years.
Right where the last chapter left off, we see young Ryo and new friend Shenhua Ling emerge from a cave to pursue Lan Di, the man who killed Ryo’s father. In this opening moment fool’s gold shines in front of the players, and a picturesque walk with breathtaking pictures is offered. You’ll see highly detailed textures, lavishly populated storefronts and flashes that make Bailu Village one of the quietest places in the world. The world looks good, but it’s the only part of the game that’s really modern. The gameplay that follows the cries of the early ’00s and can be downright horrible – not just how old it feels, but how badly designed it is.
While I enjoyed ignoring Ryo’s vengeance to practice a nice selection of side activities (such as catching ducks or collecting capsule toys), the critical path suffers from monotony. This is mainly due to the excess of civil society talks to uncover the way forward. Shenmue III struggles with the way conversations are implemented, and you do that most of the time. The dialogue is stilted, the lines are repeated and some answers do not match the question at all. Ryo’s question makes him sound like the worst detective in the world. Did you see her? “” Do you know where I can learn Kung Fu? “Get used to hearing him asking for these things for hours.
When Ryo does not engage in this crazy exchange, he trains to improve his abilities – not just to take on Lan Di, but also those annoying thugs and many other threats. He gathers experience and levels by dealing with other opponents and practicing on training dolls. Although the exercises are unbelievably boring – like squatting for a minute – the skills you collect provide a good pursuit of strength. If you take the time to exercise extensively, you can basically destroy the balance of the game and become the monster of a fighter, which I found worthy of my time given the suspicious fighting system.
Battles are smoother than in Shenmue 1 and 2, so you can trigger special attacks at the touch of a button, but do not expect any hit to end up – even if you hit a square in someone’s face. Too often I knocked down an opponent, turned around to come behind him, and then gave him another devastating blow, which, though I hit the target point, did no damage or even staggered it. It’s like I did not deliver it. The goal lock also has its own mind and loses track of your opponent when it falls. These inconsistencies can be annoying, especially as you may not have to keep fighting to buy more food to restore your health. This can also mean that you have to accept a job or are forced to play in order to have the necessary resources.
Some of the mission designs clearly serve to stop the player’s progress, for example, to earn enough money to buy a bottle of wine or a book. Earning this money sometimes comes down to stupid luck in the casino or fulfilling everyday tasks over and over again. Inconsistency is everywhere. You can sometimes travel fast to speed up the clock to achieve a story moment, but not always.
Shenmue III is often frustrating, but I still enjoyed my time in Bailu and the other places that Ryo eventually visited. The freedom to explore and do what you want is still a lot of fun, and the world is charming; It has its own mood, its own flair and its own speed. I just did not like it when Ryo talked or fought, which is exactly what Shenmue III’s critical path is all about. It also has many QTE moments, which are strangely the most sophisticated and fairest part of this experience. In these moments, Ryo ducks skillfully out of punches and obstacles and if you miss a push of a button, you will immediately get another shot. It’s fun to watch you and not to punish you.
I also enjoyed the journey Ryo and Shenhua made, although little progress has been made throughout history. The fans knew, however, that it’s time for director Yu Suzuki to realize that Shenmue III only brings us about 40 percent of Ryo’s story. We are not even in the middle of this epic idea. Despite many problems with Shenmue III, I am glad to have returned to this world. It scratched an itch that I did not know, and showed me periodically why it was an important game back then. But it especially reminded me why a third entry has not been published for nearly two decades.
