Shenmue I and II HD thread

[Himu]

Latest trailer is perfection. If you are interested in this title I will buy it for you. I will hold a contest.

[HardcoreRetro]

If you are interested in this title I will buy it for you. I will hold a contest.

Well, which is it?

[Himu]

Both. I will gift as well as hold a contest.

[Kara]

Suck it Yakuza, the king is back for his crown.

[Himu]

We can talk Shenmue without mentioning Yakuza.

[Positive Touch]

TEN MORE DAYYYYYYYSSSSSS

[daycru]

Please buy Shenmue for me

[Himu]

Please buy Shenmue for me

Are you a fan

[Coax]

How long does it take to complete the main story in each title?

[Himu]

Idk 20 for 1 and 30 for 2? The games don’t have an in game clock so I really don’t know.

[demi]

I will take it. Xbox One

[Marine Todd]

there was a guy in my high school who looked like chai everyone called him sloth

never played the 2nd one is sloth in it?

[Himu]

Chai isn’t in II. Chai sucks and I hate him.

[paprikastaude]

I can't imagine this having a high print, so I guess I'll get it. At the very least I can already say that I like the Dreamcast feel.

[Svejk]

Gonna wait till there's a narrowed down release window for 3.  Gonna binge the trilogy and it will be glorious.

[Marine Todd]

Chai isn’t in II. Chai sucks and I hate him.

[Kara]

Picking it up later down the line. I feel like I should be excited as I used to love the shit out of these games but those feelings dissipated a long time ago and there's probably a reason for that.

I know it's going to be hard to go back to playing the series (when 3 comes out) because I'm not at a place in my life where I can just chill and let the gameplay come to me.

[Tasty]

Switch when

[Himu]

Picking it up later down the line. I feel like I should be excited as I used to love the shit out of these games but those feelings dissipated a long time ago and there's probably a reason for that.

I know it's going to be hard to go back to playing the series (when 3 comes out) because I'm not at a place in my life where I can just chill and let the gameplay come to me.

Shenmue is very gameplay oriented. Think of it as animal crossing with martial artists crossed with an adventure game. It’s a game series you relax to. It’s not something you force. Definitely not for everyone but the games are pretty gameplay focused and barely have cutscene. What you see is what you get.

[Tasty]

Switch when

Probs never.

[Himu]

It’s a shame too because I think Nintendo fans are the best equipped to appreciate Shenmue’s brand of relaxing gameplay.

[Kara]

Shenmue is very gameplay oriented. Think of it as animal crossing with martial artists crossed with an adventure game. It’s a game series you relax to. It’s not something you force. Definitely not for everyone but the games are pretty gameplay focused and barely have cutscene. What you see is what you get.

I wasn't saying they weren't gameplay focused.

[daycru]

Please buy Shenmue for me

Are you a fan

I loved the original but never had a system to play the sequel

[kingv]

Ive gotten really into yakuza, so I want to try out the competition. I think I played maybe 30 minutes of it on Dreamcast when it came out.

[Himu]

Ive gotten really into yakuza, so I want to try out the competition.

Ugh. It’s not its competition. As a fan of both you are already setting yourself up for failure.

[seagrams hotsauce]

i haven't found any decent presale discounts so i think i'm gonna hold off til after it comes out. Sega has been alright about this kinda thing but i'm still wary of ports, so i'll grab it if it's solid and hold off til it's on sale/modders fix it if it's superjank. probably won't wait too long cuz honestly i am kinda excited to play it again

[Himu]

It costs 30 dollars.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Shenmue 1 was a revelation back in the day. I tried out 2 a while back and just got fed up with QTEs and the slowness. Wan Chai, Wan Chai, Wan Chai.

Don't know if I should try again and either fix or ruin my memories of it or leave it as is and try to remember it fondly.

I'm finding some remasters just don't hold up without Nostalgia. Like I tried Dark Souls Remaster recently and I couldn't play it compared to Bloodbourne and Dark Souls 3. Maybe I'll go back, but why spend time playing a lesser game?

[Himu]

You didn’t get to Lishao Tao or Wan Chai?

I mean, the pacing is far better in 2. And while the beginning is slow it doesn’t take long to get to Wan Chai.

[benjipwns]

i haven't found any decent presale discounts

No idea if you consider this decent, but also for anyone else, it's $24 to preorder at:
https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/shenmue-i-ii
https://www.indiegala.com/store/product/758330

[Himu]

No offense to Puppy as this reflects on a lot of gamers including me.

But I think a lot of gamers have a predisposition or blaming the game more than themselves if they don’t like it. Like, I think Sonic sucks balls now. When Sonic 1 was the first game I ever owned and the franchise was a massive part of my gaming diet growing up. Yet I can’t stand playing it now because it’s not the type of platformer I want to play. So I blame the game for not being up to par with my own set of expectations.

Puppy said Dark Souls 1 doesn’t hold up simply because he thinks 3 is better. Which makes no sense. But to be fair,  Puppy is also a husband with kids (one of which is a teenager). So if he plays something, he probably would rather play something he enjoys more rather than waiting for the game to get better. Which makes sense, but it’s no fault of the game.

I think a lot of gamers especially old ones fall victim to their ideas of what the game should combined with their own lack of patience. So you blame the game even if it’s literally the same game you played and loved 18 or even 5 years ago. I think this says more about the players than the game probably and it’s hard to judge older games fairly because of it.

[I'm a Puppy!]

You're absolutely right. I don't have much gaming time. So whatever I give time to I want to make sure it's the best use. Like Dark Souls 1 is a perfect example. I played Bloodborne first and it was bloody brilliant. My kid is a huge Dark Souls fan and has all the games, and I wanted to play the Souls series. I tried DS1 and was like "Man, this is slow....and painful" I kept on trying though, but my kid was like "You should just play 3 it's the best." Now I'm playing it and I'm loving it. I doubt I'll go back and play DS 1 or 2 because they're just not as polished. If I had more time, perhaps I'd give it more thought, but I don't have much time so it's not likely to happen.

Like, look dude, if I'm going to spend an hour looking for sailors, I'd rather it be actual sailors at this point. Back when Shenmue 1 was released I was all about that and thought it was great. But in 2018, I'd rather have a pleasant memory of what it was then, than the slog it might seem now.

[Himu]

It makes sense.

Shenmue I takes quite a bit of patience. II is far more streamlined and the better game.

The problem is that Shenmue is overall an epic saga and the experience of going from big fish in a small pond to small fish in a big pond is a big part of the experience. So I don’t suggest skipping I but...if you want to, you can just watch the digest recap of 1. Then play II.

When I let Positive Touch borrow my copy of IIxbox he did just that. He couldn’t get through I anymore despite loving it when it came out and decided to say fuck it and skipped to II. He watched the digest film for a recap of events that comes with II. He thought II was one of the best games he’s ever played. I don’t know if he thinks he missed out on part of the experience of beating I then playing II but that’s something you’ll have to ask him. There’s a point in II where you reminiscence on the characters in I and it’s a big part of the experience of making the game feel like a massive epic adventure that makes the events in I feel so long ago. I’m not sure if Positive felt that way playing it. But it’s a part of the emotional impact of that section of the game. Again, ask Positive.

It might be an option for you.

[Kara]

Like, look dude, if I'm going to spend an hour looking for sailors, I'd rather it be actual sailors at this point.

RIP Silent Hunter

[Joe Molotov]

Like, look dude, if I'm going to spend an hour looking for sailors, I'd rather it be actual sailors at this point.

RIP Silent Hunter

Good riddance, Jane's is my waifu

[seagrams hotsauce]

It costs 30 dollars.

pc privilege has made it impossible for me to pay retail for games anymore 

[Himu]

I can't believe it's almost here.

Also a good article written about 'mue.

http://www.consolemonster.com/features/the-importance-of-shenmue-19-years-later/

[Himu]

Rewatching the Shenmue DF retro vids. The one for II still gets me excited. God, my absolute favorite game! Been holding off a run of II for this hd set!!

[Kurt Russell]

Just got my dispatch notice. It arrives tomorrow!

I thought this wasn't out for another week?

[Positive Touch]

less than three days now fuck i need Sega goodness in my life

edit: ffffffffff

[Himu]

Just got my dispatch notice. It arrives tomorrow!

I thought this wasn't out for another week?

From who? Amazon?

[Kurt Russell]

From who? Amazon?

365games

[Himu]

We almost here. Duck races here I come hnnnnng

[Himu]

I’m not big on the new QTE icons and the new menu looks a bit wanting but those are nitpicks.

I see they haven’t fixed slowdown during 70 man battle?

[Kurt Russell]

I’m not big on the new QTE icons and the new menu looks a bit wanting but those are nitpicks.

I see they haven’t fixed slowdown during 70 man battle?

I read that it's locked to 30fps as a result of the game engine making assumptions that broke at any other frame rate. Not sure if this would cause that slowdown though...

[Kurt Russell]

I'm starting to wonder if I ever should have gone back....

I believe there is a day 1 patch due to drop, so many of these issues may have been fixed, but currently

- (speech) audio is super bad. It's heavily compressed and full of digital artifacts. The characters all sound like they're talking over walkie talkies
- lots of graphic jank. There doesn't seem to be much difference between the remastered and og graphics. The woman in the udon shop looks like she has fucking claws rather than hands. Lots of tearing during cutscenes
- every quicktime event so far has only used two buttons - X and O
- there is way more casual racism in the game than I remember
- there are visual prompts missing from the game. This makes the fighting challenging as there's no way of knowing the input for moves unless you've memorized them all in advance.

The game is honestly starting to feel less polished than it does when run in dolphin. However, the day 1 patch may change a lot, the Shenmue Facebook page certainly seems to think so.

However - beneath all of this, there's still a great game, and I'm really enjoying revisiting Doubita. I just wonder how much of that is nostalgia and how much appeal this janky thing will have to first time players. Also, it goes without saying, it's twice the game that Yakuza will ever be.

[Himu]

Remember that Shenmue QTE’s are based on battle movement.

Square - punch
X - kick
Triangle - evade
Circle - grab

So if Ryo has to jump over something it will be an X in the qte. If he punches something it’ll square. If he grabs someone it’ll be circle. If he needs to dodge someone and then jump it’ll left or right plus X. Shenmue’s qte’s aren’t random button prompts as in other games.

As for the issues, I’d wait for the day 1 patch before making a judgement.

Mind recording 10 minutes of gameplay in 1 with Japanese voices on?

[Kurt Russell]

Mind recording 10 minutes of gameplay in 1 with Japanese voices on?

Yeah I'll do that and chuck it up on youtube for you this evening. I didn't opt for Japanese voices (yeah I know, the English voices are crap, but it's the way I played on the Dreamcast so....) - the Japanese audio may be better. Who knows.

[Himu]

A couple of tips to get you or anyone new to Shenmue started:

- Shenmue 1 is an old game. It will not hold your hand. You must find information using your own common sense. The game at its heart is an adventure game. You investigate you, you puzzle solve. In this game the “puzzles” are mostly related to information on people and places. Consider talking to people your “show this item to an npc and see what they say” button like in a point and click adventure game. You don’t need to show every npc the item to solve the puzzle. The game wants you to use your mind to solve it. The npcs might offer hints but that’s it. Shenmue works this way. Npcs can point you to the right direction, but often after that it’s best to just use your head. Otherwise you’ll often get a lot of repeating information. I noticed a lot from new players like giant bomb that they ask every npc where to go rather than using their own sense after one or two leads. They want the game to hold their hand and they enjoy it less because of it. So you’re looking for sailors right? Where do sailors like to hang out at night? They generally go to bars at night, right? So you need to find a bar at night. But where are bars? That’s the puzzle. This is why comparing Shenmue to Yakuza is dumb. They are literally two different genres.

- memorize the map as soon as possible for this reason.

- turn on location skip in the menu. This allows you to skip to any location in the general local area that isn’t the Yokohama harbor when Ryo steps outside his front door. If you want to go to the front yard just press down. Great time saver.

- I suggest memorize the phone numbers. So when you want to call you don’t have to open your journal. The area code is 0468 and you don’t have to dial it in. So Nozomi’s number is 0468-22-5508. You only need to dial in the 22-5508. But if you do need to use the journal you can pick up the phone and simply hit the journal button while using it for a quick glance making it easier. You don’t have to do them in two separate actions. Remember to call your friends!

- have patience with the game up until Charlie. The pacing is very slow up until that point but picks up once you’re involved with Charlie.

- have patience in general tbh. It’s an old game where things are meant to be explored and savored. Explore the world and do mini games when you’re waiting. Make it fun. Try to collect every damn capsule toy or play darts. Btw you can transfer toys to II. So it becomes some massive collection hunt and it’s really, really fun. Think of it as a gacha. There are some toys that are much easier to get in I than II. Like Kids silver Dural which might only be in I.

- follow the games detaisl. Try following an npc their entire day and see how complicated their routine is. Start with Ine. She cooks, cleans, all sorts of stuff.

- if you get stuck go to Lapis fortune telling.

[Himu]

Listening to these as I clean this weekend. I'm ready.

[Positive Touch]

i found my shenmue orchestra cd in my car and it was covered in lotion wtf. hope it still works after i clean it.

also got dammit i thought it was Sunday the other day but it's only Saturday now. this wait is forever.

[Himu]

Wash it with dish soap and run water over it. Then dry it off with a microfiber cloth.

[paprikastaude]

lol just noticed the PS360 bloom they've added to the remaster

[Himu]

It doesn’t look too bad. Compared to the bloom in ShenmueIIx it looks like it enhances the game in some way.

[Kurt Russell]

First 20 minutes or so:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bo1mly27twu5p6h/Shenmue_20180819195434.mp4?dl=0

[Himu]

My heart is bursting from excitement after watching that. It looks fantastic. There’s no slow down when Ryo grabs Ine in the intro like in the Dreamcast version. Loading is near instant. Hnnnnnnnnnnng!!!!!!!!!! I can’t bslieve it. And the bloom doesn’t look bad! We made it.

[Joe Molotov]

A couple of tips to get you or anyone new to Shenmue started:

- Shenmue 1 is an old game. It will not hold your hand. You must find information using your own common sense. The game at its heart is an adventure game. You investigate you, you puzzle solve. In this game the “puzzles” are mostly related to information on people and places. Consider talking to people your “show this item to an npc and see what they say” button like in a point and click adventure game. You don’t need to show every npc the item to solve the puzzle. The game wants you to use your mind to solve it. The npcs might offer hints but that’s it. Shenmue works this way. Npcs can point you to the right direction, but often after that it’s best to just use your head. Otherwise you’ll often get a lot of repeating information. I noticed a lot from new players like giant bomb that they ask every npc where to go rather than using their own sense after one or two leads. They want the game to hold their hand and they enjoy it less because of it. So you’re looking for sailors right? Where do sailors like to hang out at night? They generally go to bars at night, right? So you need to find a bar at night. But where are bars? That’s the puzzle. This is why comparing Shenmue to Yakuza is dumb. They are literally two different genres.

- memorize the map as soon as possible for this reason.

- turn on location skip in the menu. This allows you to skip to any location in the general local area that isn’t the Yokohama harbor when Ryo steps outside his front door. If you want to go to the front yard just press down. Great time saver.

- I suggest memorize the phone numbers. So when you want to call you don’t have to open your journal. The area code is 0468 and you don’t have to dial it in. So Nozomi’s number is 0468-22-5508. You only need to dial in the 22-5508. But if you do need to use the journal you can pick up the phone and simply hit the journal button while using it for a quick glance making it easier. You don’t have to do them in two separate actions. Remember to call your friends!

- have patience with the game up until Charlie. The pacing is very slow up until that point but picks up once you’re involved with Charlie.

- have patience in general tbh. It’s an old game where things are meant to be explored and savored. Explore the world and do mini games when you’re waiting. Make it fun. Try to collect every damn capsule toy or play darts. Btw you can transfer toys to II. So it becomes some massive collection hunt and it’s really, really fun. Think of it as a gacha. There are some toys that are much easier to get in I than II. Like Kids silver Dural which might only be in I.

- follow the games detaisl. Try following an npc their entire day and see how complicated their routine is. Start with Ine. She cooks, cleans, all sorts of stuff.

- if you get stuck go to Lapis fortune telling.

- pet the cat

[Himu]

It looks so beautiful.

[demi]

What are your thoughts on the trophy/achievements

https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/8046-shenmue
https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/8045-shenmue-ii

[Himu]

The achievements are pathetic. The hardest one is winning the race in I. The rest are done in the story or easy.