I posted this in the thread about Shenmue's disappointing sales, but since that thread seems to be dead I figured I would share it here. I'm still pretty early in the game (I think) so I don't pretend to know everything, but after maybe 10 hours of playing I think I've seen enough to form an opinion about Shenmue's continued struggles. Seeing how the conversation in this thread has gone, I think my post from the other thread is relevant- and hell, I put some time into it so I'm going to double dip.
I want to preface this all by saying that I'm a backer, and that I'm enjoying S3 a lot right now. But that leads me to the question that we've been asking for 20 years and that I don't think we've ever had a good elevator pitch for:
What is Shenmue?
This, to my mind, is the fundamental problem that is holding Shenmue back.
When my copy came in the mail and I was geeking out over it, my wife asked me "What is Shenmue?" and I failed miserably to give her a cohesive elevator pitch. I fumbled around about the story, about the play mechanics, about its place in history, and she was just perplexed as to why this game was so important to me.
As much as I'm enjoying Shenmue 3, I think there are some legit criticisms to level at Suzuki in terms of his managerial skills. Shenmue 1 and 2 I can kind of write off, way ahead of its time; no playbook on how these kind of games are supposed to go; released onto a failing system; etc. But Shenmue 3 doesn't have those kind of qualifiers. After a 20 year hiatus I don't think Suzuki did a satisfactory job of answering the question: what is shenmue?
It does not feel like Suzuki has leaned anything in the 20 year hiatus that the series took, he's still making some of the same mistakes. Yu is the man with the plan, he has the vision for the story he wants to tell, but putting that vision into motion in a way that is effective seems to be something he is struggling with. No one seems to know how to market the game, how to show the game off, how not to shoot themselves in the foot with their kickstarter decisions, and that's not even touching the game itself. How can we be in 2019 and Suzuki is still holding tight to his original vision of 16 chapters? How do you market a game where one of the core mini-games is throwing a rock into a pail?
Seriously....I'm throwing a rock into a pail to win a digital clock. This passes as enjoyable in Shenmue.
How the fuck do you market this game?
How do you explain this game?
I'm mashing buttons to make sure that my turtle wins the race. This is one of the game's more adrenaline pumping moments so far.
But don't forget, you're on a mission to avenge your father's murder while discovering the mysteries around his life and death.
But before you do that, be sure to go fishing, you're going to need some money so that you can buy new moves.
And buy some capsule toys with the earnings from fishing, you can pawn those off for more money eventually.
But hurry up, because the town is being overrun by thugs. A town that is full of martial artists.
The thugs who work for an antagonist who's motives are still unknown after two whole games.
The game is schizophrenic in what it wants to be, and this is 100% on Suzuki. And while I, and many people here, "get it" and love Shenmue for it, I think it's a very strange creative decision. I keep coming back to the author and editor analogy, Yu is an author of an expansive story, but he needs an editor who can help him focus his creative decisions. How do we blend this slice of life simulator, with a melodramatic soap opera, and the mystical & Kung Fu elements into a game that is open, but not totally open world? It can be done I'm sure, but it doesn't feel like Yu has an editor that helps him do it.
What we're left with is a game and franchise that doesn't know what it is. It isn't gamey-enough to be a blast to play in the traditional sense, is full of odd ball side quests and mini-games that are extremely contextual but not a great selling point, and isn't laser focused on telling a compelling story. In the 20 years he had, Suzuki really needed to focus his efforts better because he couldn't afford to miss on this one. Instead, it feels like he doubled down, made a game for the fans, and hasn't done anything to address his limitations. Somewhere within the framework of Shenmue there is a smash hit of a game, but it feels buried under an unfocused vision.
All of this sounds like I'm taking a giant shit on Suzuki, and I'm really not trying to. I LOVE Shenmue 3 so far, but it is also a very flawed game. I feel like I'm in some sort of no-mans land with the game. The 16-year old me committed himself to this franchise a long time ago, so I'm along for the ride no matter what; but the 34-year old me has definitely been left shaking his head that in 20 years little seems to have been learned. I still can't answer what Shenmue wants to be.
