Yeah, Shenmue 1 is the result of Yu Suzuki fulfilling his obsession to make a real life simulator, while in Shenmue 2 he realized that "extreme" real life simulation doesn't translate well into a videogame.
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Shenmue I & II Remaster (8/21/2018; PC/PS4/XB1 - $29.99)
- Thread starter Y2Kev
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Yeah, Shenmue 1 is the result of Yu Suzuki fulfilling his obsession to make a real life simulator, while in Shenmue 2 he realized that "extreme" real life simulation doesn't translate well into a videogame.
I don't really know anything about these games, but I'm pleased for everyone that wanted this.
Shenmue I and II were made concurrently, though. I feel more like Shenmue I was released because, by that point, the project had been going on for 7 years and not a single game had released. They basically had to get something out of the door. When Shenmue I was released, they were right smack dab in the middle of porting the stuff from Shenmue II to the dreamcast.
I very much feel that, from the beginning, Shenmue I and II were going to be one game. The pacing makes way more sense that way. Honestly, a lot of the systems in Shenmue I don't really make sense without Shenmue II. Like the Dojo and training -- it's essentially pointless in Shenmue I. It's only in Shenmue II, when you actually can take advantage of this arsenal that you've built up, that having a Dojo in shenmue I makes sense.
That's one way to do a remaster, but not the only way. This game for the record is including most of the things you just mentioned, it's already confirmed to have HD resolutions (and resolution options on PC), and various PC graphic option enhancements and improvements. It's also including new visual elements. control scheme, first version of Shenmue 1 to include both dub languages in one version, etc.
For the record, Shadow of the Colossus was a remake, not a remaster (ICO/Shadows of the Colossus game on the PS3 was a remaster, the recent SotC for PS4 was a remake though).
For the record, graphical fiddelity has nothing to actually do with either of these things. For example, this is a remake:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/200940/Sonic_CD/
It looks just like the original game (though better resolution options), but it was remade from the ground up, from the physics to the levels. SEGA didn't advertise it as such since the purpose of the remake was to capture the feel of the original, just with new features and fidelity. Likewise, some examples you said are indeed remasters.
Remake simply means remade from the ground-up, and a remaster simply means a remaster or touch-up of a previous work. They've been used as buzz words so a lot are confused of the exact meaning or what that means for the type of game, but the specifics of eithers can happen. Also look into what a remake and remaster in cinema history means for more examples, games are different as a medium but the terminology still holds the same meaning between the two.
Some Remasters will do big overhauls in their touch-ups, others will stick closer. But this is an HD Remaster, both as it now makes Shenmue support HD Remasters, but graphically it's sticking pretty close to the originals, just receiving some new gameplay ease of uses and features.
Plus frankly Shenmue is a game that's from the Dreamcast era, if they were to try to improve the visuals they'd need to do it for nearly the whole game to not clash with the visual look of Shenmue, which is a huge effort and probably more budget than they want to put into this.
some questions:
.- this isn't 1 + 2 blended into one or interconnected, it's two independent, separate games, right?
.- what kind of gameplay does this game has? I am completely new to this but I am mildly interested because of the hype and buzz. what other popular games are like Shenmue and what is Shenmue better at?
EDIT: Wanted to add, I never look up trailers, gameplay or other videos because that always has negative effects on my opinion (.." that looked ok but looking at this, I don't get the hype"... yadda yadda)
.- this isn't 1 + 2 blended into one or interconnected, it's two independent, separate games, right?
.- what kind of gameplay does this game has? I am completely new to this but I am mildly interested because of the hype and buzz. what other popular games are like Shenmue and what is Shenmue better at?
EDIT: Wanted to add, I never look up trailers, gameplay or other videos because that always has negative effects on my opinion (.." that looked ok but looking at this, I don't get the hype"... yadda yadda)
Holding hope for a Switch announcement down the line, if it stays like it is I'll grab it on Steam. Recently purchased the Xbox version of 2 because I figured Sega would never bother.
And now that they have, it's clear it's a low effort. But I'll take it regardless.
And now that they have, it's clear it's a low effort. But I'll take it regardless.
There is a small time gap between Shenmue I and II so they can't really flow together seamlessly. In terms of story, Shenmue all together is a 16 chapter long story, and Shenmue I is chapter 1, and Shenmue II is chapters 3, 4, and 5. Chapter 2 is a boat ride between Shenmue I and II that was cut, but eventually told in comic book form.
Regarding gameplay, Ill just requote myself over the last few pages:
Oh yes, definitely. Shenmue's combat is lifted from Virtua Fighter, Yakuza is more like streets of rage. You can unlock actual, real moves from characters in Virtua Fighter in Shenmue.
To give you some context:
As you train in the Dojo and find hidden scrolls or talk to martial artists in the games, you unlock new skills and moves. At first it all seems limited, until you realize that praticing and doing moves in the game levels them up, and they become more complex and turn into chains that can be comboed and stuff. Like this is one of the moves very leveled up:
That's one move, but yes, there are chains and grabs and throws. You should really play Virtua Fighter, man, it's the grandfather of 3D fighting games. It's really, really deep.
To give more context, Shenmue was original "Virtua Fighter RPG." The genesis for Shenmue and Virtua Fighter are the same, Yu Suzuki got the idea for both in 1993 while studying chinese martial arts. They were, at one point very early on, the same series.
Virtua Fighter and Shenmue are intrinsically linked. Many characters in Shenmue are very obviously characters from Virtua Fighter, too. Like the latest Shenmue III trailer has a character is looks exactly like Aoi from Virtua Fighter 3, and Ryo is very obviously Akira (down to the cut on his face).
EDIT: Just to stan for Virtua Fighter a bit, insane animations are Yu Suzuki's calling card:
Shenmue I meticulously recreates the town of Dobuita in japan. Like, to an insane level of accuracy. People have traveled to Dobuita in japan after playing Shenmue and know their way around.
https://venturebeat.com/community/2014/09/07/shenmue-a-gamers-pilgrimage/
Every single character is named with a routine. Shenmue II shifts the story to Hong Kong, and then the walled city of Kowloon. Again, both are meticulously recreated, but given the nature of the story and the setting, they are less personable. People in Hong Kong are procedurarlly generated, so they don't have the crazy routines of Shenmue I, but that's by choice. It's supposed to make you feel like a fish out of water, like a stranger in a strange land.
The walled city of kowloon is insane in its recreation:
For a bit of backstory ok Kowloon: http://www.businessinsider.com/kowloon-walled-city-photos-2015-2
Every room, every door, every nook and cranny recreated. The place where you meet Ren of Heavens, for example:
You actually go to this spot.
Then check out these trailers and get hyped, because they're still awesome. Seriously, check them out, cause now they're coming to you:
I remember watching the above Trailer at least a hundred times when I got it. It was soooooo far ahead of everything else. Remember: This was before Grand Theft Auto 3 by 2 years, this was before Majora's Mask by a a full year, this was before Metal Gear Solid 2 by 3 years. When this was released, Metal Gear Solid 1 on the PSX was still new. Zelda: OoT was still new. Shenmue was lightyears beyond what anyone had seen in gaming. If I can give only one comparison in how far ahead it was, I'd say only Ultima Online was ever "more ahead of its time."
and the trailer for the sequel was also fucking badass:
You can decide if it's for you or not, keep in mind these games are almost 20 years old so there's various things they did very uniquely back when they first released which are no longer unique for.
The easiest way to explain Shenmue to someone who has never played it... Essentially it's one of the earlier open world games to be made, and does some unique things for an open world game. Famously all of the civilians in the towns have personality and their own routines and dynamic AI elements, back when it was released it was one of the most 'life-like' worlds ever brought to gaming and they put in a lot of detail and things to do in the open world. Add to this it has a pretty fun combat system (like a fighter (specifically SEGA's own Virtua fighter) mixed with RPG elements), the game sorta' stars martial arts combat that was pretty in-depth and fun, all to a story that gripped a lot of people and was way above a lot that was available at the time, but a very Japanese kinda' tale of a man who's out to avenge his father and deal with an underground ring who may be dealing with something mystical among the very realistic landscape.
So essentially blend a detailed open world for the day set in 80s Japan with fun martial arts combat and a pretty good dramatic and very Japanese story with good and memorable side characters, with some good tinges of humor and drama, with a lot of pretty good 'story missions'', side-quest, and just things to mess around and do in town, and that'd probably be the easiest way to explain Shenmue.
Also the music is pretty good:
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I wonder if 2 will be based on the Xbox version?? It was exclusively dubbed just for the Xbox. It also had many enhancements over the DC version.
I still have my copy!
Bruh, i played Shenmue 2 ON dreamcast WITH english dub.
some dudes ripped the audio from the xbox version and pasted it on the european dreamcast version.
If some random fans can do it, the teams in charge of this remasters can easily accomplish it.
better not touch it if you don't know what you are going to do.
I don't wan't a remaster by good devs but missing the point of the original(Shadow of the colossus "re-imagining"), or shoddy work to the assets. Just a Hig-Res port that works on a potato, and if there are switches with a lot of teaks to the "player choice to use them" like Good/Bad AA, SSAO, POMBlur, then its pretty good by me.
It's basically an adventure game with rpg elements and the virtua fighter fighting system, with an emphasis on story, qtes, lots of minigames, exploring and talking to people. It also has lots of random events that you may or may not see during your playthrough.
A few days ago I saw a streamer run into an event in Shenmue 2 that I had never seen before, and I've played Shenmue 2 to death.
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thanks for the responses guys.
are these big, huge open worlds?? I gotta say, open world games really put me off, I don't mind an open world per se but I'd really prefer linear stories and goals.
Many people like to just jump in a game and do random stuff (popular games that are good for that are BotW, GTA) but I am definitely not one of those.
are these big, huge open worlds?? I gotta say, open world games really put me off, I don't mind an open world per se but I'd really prefer linear stories and goals.
Many people like to just jump in a game and do random stuff (popular games that are good for that are BotW, GTA) but I am definitely not one of those.
By today's standards? No, they're not that big at all. For back then? Yeah. Essentially you spend the whole game in a small Japanese village and what surrounds the village. The first game is actually a very faithful recreation of a real world Japanese village for example. But they have a lot of things to do in them if you're worried about big open spaces with not much in there.
This said, it definitely does have some open design.
This is essentially the entire map of Shenmue 1:
And this is the entire map of Shenmue 2:
Someone went to the effort to breakdown the maps of each if you want to see here: http://www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=50668
They have some smaller scale area maps too:
Intimate open vs. big open. This is an intimate open series. Open every drawer in your house, get to know a few streets so well you feel like you really live there. Feel the reality of the life of the small world you live in.
It's completely linear, it is built around the progression of time and how that effects a place and a quest.
Your activities are not random and unfocused, though you can kill some time in ways that feel realistic to the character. This is about inhabiting this guy's life.
There are very special games. Don't miss them.
Dobuita is actually pretty small, just intricately detailed. Think like the Clock Tower in Majora's mask, but way, way more detail.
Hong Kong and the Walled City of Kowloon are much more sprawling and huge, but they're also a bit more linear. You don't get lost really, and there is a map system (actually, the map system in just about every open world game, with way points and shit, originated in Shenmue II), and even neater, if you get lost, you can ask a random stranger on the street for directions and they'll usually say "just follow me, I'll take you there directly."
The Open World of Shenmue is really different from stuff like GTA and BotW.
I'm still not over this.
It's been such a long road, but this year has delivered and been GLORIOUS for longtime, dedicated fans!
First off it was after 21 years Casca finally comes back in Berserk, then after 20 years the Spyro trilogy gets remastered, and now after 18 long, hard years, we get this!
My...my heart is full guys. We...we actually made it Shenmue fans...the hype train, after all these years, has FINALLY made it to the station! Choo. **sniff** Choo!
It's been such a long road, but this year has delivered and been GLORIOUS for longtime, dedicated fans!
First off it was after 21 years Casca finally comes back in Berserk, then after 20 years the Spyro trilogy gets remastered, and now after 18 long, hard years, we get this!
My...my heart is full guys. We...we actually made it Shenmue fans...the hype train, after all these years, has FINALLY made it to the station! Choo. **sniff** Choo!
I'm happy for the fans!
I didn't enjoy what little time I spent playing Shenmue 2 and giantbomb's Shenmue endurance run made that game look horrifyingly bad but hey, I know they're important games regardless of how well they hold up. And being the Sega nutcase that I am, I'm sure I'll still pick up this collection eventually.
I didn't enjoy what little time I spent playing Shenmue 2 and giantbomb's Shenmue endurance run made that game look horrifyingly bad but hey, I know they're important games regardless of how well they hold up. And being the Sega nutcase that I am, I'm sure I'll still pick up this collection eventually.
First off it was after 21 years Casca finally comes back in Berserk, then after 20 years the Spyro trilogy gets remastered, and now after 18 long, hard years, we get this!
My...my heart is full guys. We...we actually made it Shenmue fans...the hype train, after all these years, has FINALLY made it to the station! Choo. **sniff** Choo!
jesus christ, yeah the berserk wait was forever...i need to get caught back up! and damn that image brings me back, i was in a later revision i wanna say
but look at us now in 2k18 man, 1&2 HD with 3 on the way. bless up!
Half of reason i bought it was to support a local business (even if it's technically a national chain), so i don't regret it. I'll be playing it on the original by hardware.
I want to play these,as I have never heard of the series before 3's announcement. I wonder if new audience like myself will still be impressed by what they were able to achieve with the first two.
One of my favorite side... missions? Activities? Dunno what to call it, but anyways, is the part where ryo nurses the kitten back to health. Shenmue has a good way of making small things feel larger than life. Like, once i learned that lan do orphaned that kitten when he left the dojo by running over his mother, i was all about saving that kitty. Ryo has a burning kinship with the kitten bc they both were orphaned by the same man.
I actually quit Shenmue II cause of some shitty QTE I couldn't deliver. It was a ball ache and killed the game. I don't think I was that far through and certainly never beat the game unlike the original. I'm not sure I'll buy this one day1, it'll depend on how cheap I can get it for tbh. It's nice they are returning but I'm not overly bothered.
I'm of the complete opposite view, Shenmue is the better game, the atmosphere, the music, the environments, the interactivity, are beyond of what was accomplished with 2.
Don't get me wrong, 2 is great, but 1 is much more focused, and smaller in scale, whereas 2 is sprawling, and understandably lacks the polish.
thanks again for the responses!
this is definitely a good thing. This game is officially on my radar now.
this is definitely a good thing. This game is officially on my radar now.
If you got proper respect for when they came out and what it came before, i think its impossible not to feel impressed. These games were sooooo ahead of their time.
I think people are being quite unfair when labelling this port low effort. They're bringing these games to multiple platforms with better resolution and control tweaks. If it was low effort they just release a clearly emulated version that still plays in 4:3.
Not sure what you people expect out of an old 3D dreamcadt game.
Different strokes. I have a friend who likes shenmue 1 more too, but then agaim his favorite games are stuff like harvest moon, so ymmv.
I still recommend both shenmue 1 and 2, tho. Special special games.
All of this takes me back to when I visited Japan in 2015, I went to Yokosuka and walked up to Dobuita street, of course didn't look nothing like 30 years earlier when the games are set, still I was tempted to knock at every door, asking randoms for sailors and practicing some moves in a paking lot.
Common sense stopped me from doing all of that, BUT a least I bought a soft drink at a vending machine and drank it all in one gulp
Common sense stopped me from doing all of that, BUT a least I bought a soft drink at a vending machine and drank it all in one gulp
One question I had, one of the detailed new features for this release is "Time travel". Any details what this means? Like can speed-up time or pass to a certain period of time?
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