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I just finished Shenmue, and I think this game was about as over-hyped as Final Fantasy VIII. Here's why:

When starting the game, I read "you are expected to reach the climax of the game...by the time the cherry trees blossom in early spring". You start the game in October, and the game moves on virtually. To start off, the game is too easy. I completed the game in less than 1 virtual month and I had up till spring to go.

I started the game under the assumption this would be a virtual romp through the woods (So to speak), and could be much like a fully interactive Sims-type game if I so wanted to go that way. At least that's how it's painted.

All the reviews gloss over how every character has something to say, and it's a virtual environment bursting with life. What they don't tell you is that there are about 20 different non-main characters that roam the city, then 20 different non-main characters that roam the harbor. And they all say the same things. About 20 different responses to blow you off in each area. There is no point in talking to them. When talking to main charaters, they only talk about pertinent objectives Ryo has, nothing more. This is where I'm a bit pissy. There's nothing to do in this game beside completing the objective. All you can do is...talk to people and wander the city. Wandering the city wouldn't be too bad if you could do something besides walk and talk. Plus the city is so freakin ghetto, every other building is boarded up.

There's also the job they toot their horn about. "Such freedom, you can get a job". THe problem with the job you can get is that you can only get it when the story says you can, and you only hold it for 4 or 5 Virtual days before you get fired by part of the story.

Since the interactive nature of the game is shot down by intense linearity, there might be something besides the freedom part of the game. Unfortunately, we get a weak story, with a main character that just doesn't get it. Ryo (the main character) has to practically be hit over the head with clues before he allows you to explore where you know you need to go. Which is another restricting part of the game. Unless the story allows you, you can visit many areas of the game. You have to get to disc 2 before you can even leave your little town. Plus he just makes bonehead moves. He pays for a Ticket for Hong Kong. The receptionist says that you need to put something like 68,000 Yen down, and leave. Comeback 4 hours later. Ryo in his usual stupid self is like "alright" and leaves. When you come back, some thugs obviously feign ignorance, and threaten violence. When you beat them up, they tell you to come back the next day and they'll have a ticket...However they say visit us in the arcade. Guess what...you get jumped again...Ryo is frustrating to command.

Also we have Nozomi...who likes Ryo...yet Ryo is so rock-headed (or maybe it's stupid or ignorant or etc) he doesn't seem to realize it. Anyways, I'm supposed to cultivate some sort of romance with her. The problem is whenever you call her, the conversation doesn't last more than 5 lines, and it's always Ryo going "oh no reason...Bye".

Next is voice acting. It's so freakin bad and yuo can't turn it off. You have Tom who has the fakest Jamaican accent. Mark the uninspired black man with no VA talent. Not to mention Ryo's uninspired diologue. It's awful, If I hadn't been able to select subtitles and fast forward through the diologue, I would have gone mad.

Next is the fighting mode. The fighting mode seemed to be thrown together with a modified (read:weak) version of the Virtua Fighter Engine. In this engine, the controls are more finnicky, the cameras are awful and Ryo must have ADD since he won't focus on anything...or easily lose focus, so you start comboing someone, only for the camera to change and Ryo to just start punching air since he won't keep his focus on the enemy.

I just didn't like the game. For all the hype, it failed miserably.

Shenmue left me feeling so empty inside once I had finished the whole game...actually I couldn't wait to beat the game after a while cause I was getting so tired of it. It was probably the most boring game I have sat through. Some of the conversations in that game were incredibly funny to watch...and the ending leaves much to be desired. I wish Lan Di was in it more. The fighting engine seemed very complicated and frustrating in both games...Shenmue 2 actually has more fighting. I remember Shenmue was incredibly hyped like you said...the gaming magazines gave it either a mediocre rating or an excellent rating.

That 50-man(or was it more?) brawl at the end was kinda fun though.

On the whole I agree. It was hyped up as the next step in videogaming, which it clearly wasn't, but I did think it was a brave move nevertheless.

Shemue II is a bit better - Japanese dialogue is a definite plus - because the story flows more easily (and faster). The Hong Kong setting is also a lot more absorbing than the sparse and drab setting of the original game.

However, Ryo is still a self-obsessed pr*ck who doesn't know how to interact with other people, particularly women; you still have to perform get jobs (no forklift this time); the QTEs are more complex and fighting still revolves around button-mashing (at least it does for me, particulary since I wiped my VMU with my Shenmue I save and lost all my fighting knowledge).

I'll admit that greed had something to do with me picking up Shenmue II because as a Dreamcast game it is valued and highly sought after.

Another thing I was really annoyed by. Mark pronounces Ryo as Dee-Oh. THe 50 man brawl was annoying to me since the Camera decides to be dramatic rather than helpful. So we get a blind side from where people are coming from, and a full view of a wall, or that alley way no one comes from.

Well we can really point out the bad points of a game that is now 3 years old... BUt look at what they tried to do... THey gave you a world and left you a single objective & clue find who killed your father. You can roam the city and (just to fill you in they painted it exactly they way Japan looks) just from being here I see so many of the real signs and streets that are in the game. You can buy a guy a soda, buy a kid a toy, help out a kitten, and none of those have anything to do with the true mission. OH and and the hours I wasted on the dart game alone...

But what I really liked were some of the events that took place because you came to the right place at the right time... Meeting the old man in the park who teaches you a new fighting tech... or running into the gang...

YEa you could blow thru the game in a month but if you took the time to enjoy all it had to offer it gives more than a sims game could ever hope to achive...

I think I may play it again. The only real problem I had with the game was the fact that there was absoulutely no japanese dialogue. weatdrop:

I loved the game when it first came out for Dreamcast, due to the fact that it was the first game to acheive such realism and detail. It was innovative for its time, how each person would do their own separate thing in the town[+ all those extras didn't hurt]. Also, I wasn't going into this game looking for a romance or an action game, just looking for something different. When I beat the game, I can honestly say that I was eagerly awaiting the sequel [but it went to the Xbox....]. It was a great game for its time.

megajo53, look here and relive the wonder that it is and was...
http://www.ncsxshop.com/cgi-bin/shop/HDR-0164M.html

Yeah, I know, but sadly, I sold my dreamcast......., its too bad the 3 volume will only be brought to the xbox too, really hope they think about multiple platforms for this game.