Random Shenmue III Thoughts

[Ssoldier]

I'm approaching the end of my S2 playthrough and have been anticipating replaying Shenmue 3. I'm pondering that maybe my perspective of the game may change if I replay it right after Shenmue 2.

I'm also noticing the parts of S2 that are similar to S3 that I hated about S3 but often overlook in S2.

There is no doubt that the fanbase was over-harsh on S3. They've just been starving for a long, long time

 

[Ssoldier]

I played it like 110 hours with a max level Ryo. The Stamina goes down so slow you don't even notice anymore. I like the idea of having to regularly eat but yeah should decrease a lot slower when out in the world. I learned to really enjoy the combat, double tapping the stick to dodge and trigger the slow motion evade feels very natural after some practice. Throws and better hit feedback is a must for part IV though, and some tighter animations on the existing moves (tornado kick is too fast) would go a long way. Terrible tutorial though,I think if a lot of new players knew that pressing triangle 3 X then another button for a finisher would've had an easier time with it.

Beautiful Gameworld though. It's definitely one the most relaxing, enjoyable slices of virtual tourism going and the music is top shelf as always.

The combat system is of large significance to a lot of people, more than I thought. Its the element that I least look at.

I very much agree with your last sentence - tbh I thought it was the main reasons why people enjoyed Shenmue. The relaxing, slow-paced approach enriched with culture.

Heck, if I wanted to play a game for combat, I really wouldn't be playing Shenmue.

 

[Ssoldier]

Herb collecting is like the most Shenmue thing about 3. It is a mundane calming activity; the literal philosophy Shenmue was designed for.

This was/is my main way of making money in the game. I can afford all the things needed just from collecting herbs and its very relaxing haha

 

[Reprise]

Any parents of kids who like Hey Duggee here? Series 2, episode 33 has the music from the Prophecy trailer in it

I've forgotten what it's called now, but I know it's a piece of music they paid to license rather than being original Shenmue music.

 

[24Nathan]

Any parents of kids who like Hey Duggee here? Series 2, episode 33 has the music from the Prophecy trailer in it

I've forgotten what it's called now, but I know it's a piece of music they paid to license rather than being original Shenmue music.

Panda Heaven. Never heard of the show, but I'd like to hear it in a different context!

 

[chaikilla]

I know Yu was really desperate to include Ryo's meeting with Shenhua into Shenmue 2 but I really feel he should have saved it for this game. The dialogue options with Shenhua in 3 are quite boring but I think that's in part, due to Ryo telling her his entire life story from the walk in the forest to her house in the second game. It would have made a lot more sense, with the rapport system and all, for Ryo to reveal more about his family and friends as his bond with Shenhua grew.

Some people have also criticised the writing of Ryo and Shenhua's interactions. This also may have been an issue. A lot of the conversations between the pair is just simple chatter, conversations about carrots, for example. The more interesting conversation topics like Shenhua's powers are trivialised by the humorous dialogue options. Then there are missed opportunities for conversations such as the chiyoumen, which Shenhua's father had knowledge of. There also missed opportunities for foreshadowing future events, take Chai's return for example. A conversation where Ryo mentioned Gui Zhang and his creepy attacker would have been a nice way to set up his return, even if the conversations are optional.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

I have a different opinion about this. To me Shenmue II ended in a perfect place, the cave scene, it was a beautiful decision by Yu-san and his team in my opinion.

Sometimes i think i have the most unpopular and different opinion about Shenmue III ever. I love chopping wood, i love training in this game, i love fishing, i love herb gathering, it is so relaxing, herb gathering it is so Shenmue style for me, same thing about finding Chobu-Chan and much more, beautiful additions

The conversations of Ryo with Shenhua in Bailu Village are wonderful, with this conversations we can even see a lot of new details and informations about Ryo and Shenhua.

These conversations are part of the story as well and develop more the bond between Ryo and Shenhua, every night the conversations are different and with different options to choose, even a simple conversation about carrots helped developing their bond, both characters don't like carrots so was a nice moment of connection between the characters.

Even the face off game helped develop their bond, these things in the game are so calm and sweet, loved it.

After some conversations we can even see that Shenhua started to be more lovely and caring with Ryo, waking him up, Shenhua open the door of the house to say bye bye to him and much more, these a beautiful details about Shenmue III.

In one of the conversations Ryo explained for Shenhua how he got his jacket, in other conversation Shenhua talked about the dreams she have about a city that is probably Luoyang, that she feels like she lived a thousand birthdays, in other conversation Ryo talked about his mother, Ryo even talked about Ine-san, how Ine-san was the closest for him about having a mother.

In other converstation Ryo talked more about his relation with his father, as far as i remember in these conversations we got new informations about both characters, and the characters got to know each other more as well, it is beautiful to see Ryo and Shenhua developing their relation in Shenmue III, now Ryo is important for Shenhua and Shenhua is important for Ryo.

one of the beautiful things about the game to me is the conversations with Shenhua, especially the night conversations, these conversations are simple, sweet and beautiful.

Shenmue III have a sweet, calm and peaceful vibe in Bailu Village similar to the first game and i love that.

Shenmue III to me really is the calm before the storm, a game with a Shenmue one vibe especially in Bailu Village, Bailu Village is like a second home for Ryo and this is so sweet, this vibe of the game is wonderful.

To me Shenmue III is a charming, sweet, calm and peaceful game, i just played Shenmue III once from beginning to the end but this peaceful vibe is wonderful to me, it is something that i never forgot about the game.

I'm playing Shenmue II now, after that i will play Shenmue III again, i'm looking forward to play this special, sweet, calm and peaceful game again, i already feel nostalgic about the game.

Some things could have been better in the game? yeah, but to me Shenmue III is a sweet and special game, i love Shenmue III.

We just this image i can feel this sweet, calm and peaceful vibe of the game, it is something really beautiful and special.

 

[Obi_Frans]

I mostly agree with @Hiki , I think the Bailu segment is a near perfect continuation of SH2 Disc 4; which was the perfect ending to SH2.

I think Niaowu is where Shenhua almost becomes an afterthought, and I wish they did more with her. I love the balcony talks. And it's nice to run into her in the streets but she has nothing to say, I wish there were a few slice of life moments where we catch her getting a drink or picking up herbs or something. Even with the budget constraints I feel like they should've prioritized her more, rather than recreating the villain from the Bailu village again.

I also would've rather had more Shenhua than Ren...

 

[~ ひかり ~]

I mostly agree with @Hiki , I think the Bailu segment is a near perfect continuation of SH2 Disc 4; which was the perfect ending to SH2.

I think Niaowu is where Shenhua almost becomes an afterthought, and I wish they did more with her. I love the balcony talks. And it's nice to run into her in the streets but she has nothing to say, I wish there were a few slice of life moments where we catch her getting a drink or picking up herbs or something. Even with the budget constraints I feel like they should've prioritized her more, rather than recreating the villain from the Bailu village again.

I also would've rather had more Shenhua than Ren...

I agree, Bailu in Shenmue III is a near perfect continuation of Shenmue II Disc 4, with a calm and peaceful vibe and a lot of interaction with Shenhua, this way developing their bond in a beautiful way.

Bailu Village is like a second home for Ryo, the Bailu part of the game have similar things with Yokosuka in the first game like Shenhua taking care of the house similar to Ine-san, Ryo has a place to stay, a room for him and has to come back every night.

The path to her house reminds me of the path to Hazuki Residence because Shenhua's house is far from the rest of the village, similar to Hazuki Residence that is more distant from Dobuita and the Harbor, the kids in the village reminds me of the kids in Yokosuka, near Shenhua's house Ryo can train in the Bailu hall similar to the Dojo in the Hazuki Residence, these things and much more makes Bailu in Shenmue III a calm and peaceful game similar to the first game and i love that.

In Niaowu sadly Shenhua becomes distant, during the day nothing happens with her in relation to that, we just see her walking in the city searching for more clues/informations, we can talk with her but it is something limited.

I was hoping for more conversations and interaction with her in Niaowu as well, in Bailu this happen in a beautiful and sweet way.

At night in Niaowu we can see some conversations of Ryo with Shenhua at the hotel, as far as i remember in the first night she even sang.

These conversations are nice but don't have options to choose, i wished for more but at least we got some conversations with Shenhua in Niaowu as well.

​

One of the things about the story of Shenmue III is Ryo and Shenhua developing their bond and this is wonderful to me,
especially in Bailu Village.

Shenmue III story is not just the Fortified castle, it is much more than that. It is Ryo and Shenhua developing their bond while searching for Shenhua's father, it is about Ryo living with Shenhua in Bailu like a second home to him, it is about Ryo learning more informations about the origins of the Mirrors and a little bit more about Iwao, because of Shenmue III now we know the name of Ryo's mother, it is about Ryo learning 2 important Bajiquan moves, everytime Ryo learn Bajiquan moves is super important and progress the story.

It is about Ryo training and improving more as a martial artist and as a character.

It is about Ryo seeing Ren again, Ren is an important character and now Ren is in the journey with Ryo.

This is one of the reasons why i say i think i have the most unpopular and different opinion about Shenmue III ever, a lot of people don't see Ryo training with Master Sun and Grandmaster Bei as a part of the story, a lot of people don't see Ryo learning Bajiquan moves as a part of the story, a lot of people don't see Ryo and Shenhua developing their bond as a part of the story and much more.

Sure some things could have been better in the game, even Baisha is not in the game, Yu Suzuki couldn't do Shenmue III exactly the way he wanted, but when i remember that Shenmue III is a Kickstarter game, a Kickstarter game with limited budget and much more i think that Shenmue III is a beautiful miracle, and i'm happy that Shenmue III is here, overall Shenmue III is a sweet, calm, peaceful and special game to me, i love Shenmue III.

​

 

[Ssoldier]

I mostly agree with @Hiki , I think the Bailu segment is a near perfect continuation of SH2 Disc 4; which was the perfect ending to SH2.

I think Niaowu is where Shenhua almost becomes an afterthought, and I wish they did more with her. I love the balcony talks. And it's nice to run into her in the streets but she has nothing to say, I wish there were a few slice of life moments where we catch her getting a drink or picking up herbs or something. Even with the budget constraints I feel like they should've prioritized her more, rather than recreating the villain from the Bailu village again.

I also would've rather had more Shenhua than Ren...

How dare you speak ill of the legendary Ren!! XD

 

[Obi_Frans]

How dare you speak ill of the legendary Ren!! XD

Love Ren for all the reasons @Hiki said....but a big ole butt, if I had to redo SH3 with the same budget I would've given pretty much all of his time to Shenhua in Niaowu, and saved Ren for a cameo at the end.

Or cut out the repeat of the muscle bro villain and give that to Shenhua.

 

[shenmuewill]

I just want to say how much I love Shenmue 3, and some of negativity around it really hurts me. Was I disappointed with some aspects of the game? Of course I was, but the fact that we have a third game at all is a miracle and I'm so grateful and that outweighs any of the negatives. Since I was 12 it was the sequel I longed for more than any other and knowing it was never going to happen was devastating. So now we have it and while it's not perfect, the more I play it the more I love it. Definitely my favourite PS4 game

 

[KiddMarine]

Yeah I fucking love Shenmue 3.

 

[Sergeynest]

Really enjoyed this Shenmue 3 Retrospective video from Sega Bits.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

I just want to say how much I love Shenmue 3, and some of negativity around it really hurts me. Was I disappointed with some aspects of the game? Of course I was, but the fact that we have a third game at all is a miracle and I'm so grateful and that outweighs any of the negatives. Since I was 12 it was the sequel I longed for more than any other and knowing it was never going to happen was devastating. So now we have it and while it's not perfect, the more I play it the more I love it. Definitely my favourite PS4 game

I feel in a similar way about this. It really hurts when people talk about Shenmue III as if Shenmue III is the worst game of all time, as if Shenmue III doesn't have anything good, but of course people can dislike Shenmue III.

Some things could have been better in the game? yeah, but just the fact that now we have Shenmue III is so amazing and beautiful, really is like a miracle.

Like i said in my other post, Shenmue III for me is a peaceful and calm game similar to the first game and i love that, i'm playing Shenmue II now and after that i will play Shenmue III again. I'm looking forward to play this sweet, peaceful and calm game again, i love Shenmue III.

 

[Thomasina]

I'm replaying Shenmue 3 now, slowly. In the past 2 years I've since replayed both S1 and S2. Unfortunately, despite my changed approach toward the game, I'm finding that all my original criticisms still hold true.

I find Bailu to be massively disconnected and not at all what one would expect from a small village. Many of the residents are rude. The rudeness makes sense in all the other places in the series, but Bailu is a small village with a small community. It feels like no one knows each other in Bailu. Bailu feels like it should flow more and that everyone should be helpful towards the main cause of solving the problems. Instead you find that no one knows anything! No one knows each other, no one has any information.

Things like the Pail Toss Guy is treated as a significant roadblock and a major event in the game. You come across him, he whoops your ass, you have to go train, which requires food for stamina, which requires money from jobs and gambling, these things throw you into the systems of the game and all for the sake of fighting him, and in the end, all you get from him is "they went that way". If something terrible was happening in your village, why would you need me to fight you just so you can say "they went that way"? Why does no one want to help?

I'm only 5 hours in to the game and the beginning of the game is horribly structured and has horrible pacing, and it's all for the sake of finding some ingsignificant, forgettable, nameless and faceless bad guys in a very small village, and I cannot grasp why everyone is so disconnected and unwilling to solve the problems of the village.

Also, the sunflower patch again is treated as some major event or destination and it's literally just past the town square. The game restricts you to the town square for the first several days but no one there is at all helpful in any capacity. And once you get to the sunflower patch, you need to talk to the kids but the kids are only available in the morning? But don't they live there? Aren't the houses right beside the patch where they live? Their own parents can't direct me to where the children might be? The grown ups in the sunflower patch are like... completely oblivious of the happenings in their own small village.

I think Shenmue 3 got Bailu village all wrong. It's wrong in every way. It doesn't feel homey, it doesn't feel like a community, it doesn't feel alive or connected in any way. It's just a bunch of random people who don't know each other and they don't know anything that is going on in their small part of the world. It's not like in the other areas where they are busy at work and disappear; they are all present and visible within this small space but they are so detached from one another and disconnected from their space. Bailu village should be organic and connected. Here the story should flow naturally and everyone should be helping one another. There should be interesting and friendly characters that have relationships. None of that is found in this version of Bailu.

I went to talk to the fat guy at the pond and he was rude for no reason, telling Ryo to "don't talk to me if you don't know...". Like, why is this guy so rude for no reason? He's not a drunk guy in Dobuita on his way to the bar after a long day. He's not a gang member hanging around being bothered by Ryo. In the other areas, there's reasons for people to be rude and standoff-ish. That's the big city. In Bailu, it just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[code l name]

I know I am not going to convince you as you have your own opinion but a couple of things I wanted to pick up on and address specifically-

I find Bailu to be massively disconnected and not at all what one would expect from a small village. Many of the residents are rude. The rudeness makes sense in all the other places in the series, but Bailu is a small village with a small community.

Have you ever been to a small town? Typically they are very suspicious of any outsiders and tight-knit communities by their nature are extremely insular. The fact the villagers are rude or dismissive of Ryo makes complete sense to me. What doesn't quite work is their sudden acceptance just because Shenhua vouched for Ryo. Clearly, this was a holdover from the affinity system in which Ryo "gets to know people" and "makes a name for [himself]" to become more closely acquainted with certain NPCs". It would have made a lot more sense for them to remain somewhat aloof or unresponsive until Ryo completed specific tasks or completed certain objectives around the village.

It feels like no one knows each other in Bailu. No one knows each other, no one has any information.

I disagree. There are a lot of familia and other links both obvious and not so obvious throughout Bailu. I actually felt it mirrored, although not as successfully the NPC's in the first game. Let's just take one example-

Wei Zhen: The young girl you can spar with in Sunflower Grove. We learn she is a student under the tutelage of Feng Chengxu. In addition to her sister and mother being NPC's we also learn through nighttime dialogue with Shenhua that they have a very close friendship.

I didn't notice this in my initial two playthroughs but there's a ton of hidden information and detail about character connections and links from the emas in Man Yuan Temple as highlighted in this wonderful article

Things like the Pail Toss Guy is treated as a significant roadblock and a major event in the game. You come across him, he whoops your ass, you have to go train, which requires food for stamina, which requires money from jobs and gambling, these things throw you into the systems of the game and all for the sake of fighting him, and in the end, all you get from him is "they went that way". If something terrible was happening in your village, why would you need me to fight you just so you can say "they went that way"? Why does no one want to help?

Honestly, that's just game design 101. Although narratively it doesn't quite make sense (I know he has a ranking of 2nd Duan at martial Hall) you have an inciting event so you can introduce gameplay systems and mechanics. It's just a way to introduce you to those systems, just like how Shenhua points out and they tutoralize you can collect herbs at the start of the game. I think it's valid you can discuss the execution of this but that's essentially what every game does.

I think Shenmue 3 got Bailu village all wrong. It's wrong in every way. It doesn't feel homey, it doesn't feel like a community, it doesn't feel alive or connected in any way. It's just a bunch of random people who don't know each other and they don't know anything that is going on in their small part of the world. It's not like in the other areas where they are busy at work and disappear; they are all present and visible within this small space but they are so detached from one another and disconnected from their space. Bailu village should be organic and connected. Here the story should flow naturally and everyone should be helping one another. There should be interesting and friendly characters that have relationships. None of that is found in this version of Bailu.

I really enjoyed Bailu village but the two major issues I have, are I wish they leaned more into the rural aspects. Not having an arcade, and perhaps more physical tasks that embraced the nature and other elements one would expect. The other is for a village full of martial artists, it made no narrative or logical sense grandmasters and their students would just stand by as the village was not only ransacked but Blue Spiders were occupying a part of the village. There had to be a better way to write that situation or scenario.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

Have you ever been to a small town? Typically they are very suspicious of any outsiders and tight-knit communities by their nature are extremely insular. The fact the villagers are rude or dismissive of Ryo makes complete sense to me.

I feel the same way about this, Ryo is a new person in the village so it makes sense that it is this way, in Bailu Village some NPCs are rude but others treat Ryo well like Master Feng, the nun in the Man Yuan temple and many others NPCs treat Ryo well in Bailu. I even remember an NPC who said Ryo is handsome and became interested in him.

Some NPCs treat Ryo in a good way and others treat in a bad way, just like in real life we have all kinds of different people. Even in Yokosuka some NPCs are rude to Ryo, and Yokosuka is Ryo's hometown.

Not having an arcade, and perhaps more physical tasks that embraced the nature and other elements one would expect.

We had some things about the nature like chopping wood, fishing and herb gathering, sure it would be nice to have more, but we had these things in Bailu and it is nice in my opinion.

he other is for a village full of martial artists, it made no narrative or logical sense grandmasters and their students would just stand by as the village was not only ransacked but Blue Spiders were occupying a part of the village. There had to be a better way to write that situation or scenario.

In my opinion it happened this way because this way we got character development for Ryo. Ryo lost against Yanlang, Yanlang was stronger. Ryo trained with Master Sun, learned the Body check, became stronger and after that won against Yanlang, so character development for Ryo.

Many stories do this things so the main character can shine and have character development, the main character saving the day, saving everyone. Sure there are probably better ways to write this but this did not bother me at all.

 

[bcdcdude]

I must admit I was quite baffled that nobody would help save the guy from the bandits, but I think that's just game design for you. The first two games were brilliant in that for the most part there was a logic to everything. In this case, you would think that some martial artists would be brave enough to take on the bandits?

I do think this is something that would be fixed for Shenmue IV. We have to remember some corners were cut. I need to resume my 2nd playthrough. Whilst I can apprecaite what is said here, what I will defend is that if you take your time, you naturally get to learn about people and hidden Shenmue lore. The exploration yields multiple rewards.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

I must admit I was quite baffled that nobody would help save the guy from the bandits, but I think that's just game design for you. The first two games were brilliant in that for the most part there was a logic to everything. In this case, you would think that some martial artists would be brave enough to take on the bandits?

With your post now i'm reflecting here, what martial artist in Bailu would be brave enough to take on Yanlang? and what martial artist in Bailu that really have a chance against Yanlang in that situation? i'm talking about 1 vs 1 fight. In my opinion Yanlang is not a random thug.

Yanlang to me is really strong, so what martial artist in Bailu would be brave enough to do that? Master Sun is the type of character that don't care about this, as far as i remember Master Sun just wanted to stay in the Abandoned Temple drinking and things like that, Master Sun wanted to stay more alone, that's just how Master Sun is in my opinion.

Master Feng probably cares more than Master Sun but Master Feng really wanted to fight? maybe not, i remember that Master Feng's house is distant from the other houses, maybe Master Feng is the type of character that prefer to stay quiet.

In my opinion the other martial artists in the village don't stand a chance against Yanlang in a 1 VS 1 fight. Maybe a better way to do this would be these characters that don't have a chance trying to defeat Yanlang but failing, then Ryo comes to save them.

I think that the only characters in Bailu aside of Ryo that have a chance to win against Yanlang is Master Sun and maybe Master Feng.

I understand the surprise that other martial artists didn't try to help, why it happened this way? that's a good question to ask Yu Suzuki, maybe is just design like bcdcdude said, all i know is that this way we got character development for Ryo, to me it happened because of this, probably have better ways to write this, but i love that Ryo improved even more so this really don't bother me at all.