Shenmue 1 - 10/10.
The best of the 3 for me. 2 used to be my favourite, but after playing through them again when we got the Shenmue 1 and 2 rerelease, Shenmue 1 took the number 1 spot. It's the most immersive game I have ever played and I would love to get another Shenmue game like it again. Shenmue 2 is a lot bigger, but I don't feel that same level of immersiveness that I get from Shenmue 1. The game perfects that feeling that this is Ryo's home and as the game goes on, you can feel that distance building between Ryo and his home and he will soon be leaving it. It's the only game I have ever played that I don't like completing.
Shenmue 2 - 10/10.
It's a 10/10 for different reasons from Shenmue 1. The story and characters in Shenmue 2 are what make it so great for me. The story and characters were already great in Shenmue 1, but Shenmue 2 takes it to a whole new level and indroduces some of my favourite characters and moments in the story so far. Ren, Xiuying, Fangmei and a ton of great side characters. The 4 Wude and Chawan Sign are also my favourite parts of the story so far. It also has one of my favourite moments in the series so far with the cassette tapes and that conversation between Guizhang and Joy. I'm also still blown away by the amount of detail in this game for it's time.
Shenmue 3 - 7/10.
The miracle game. Still very much a Shenmue game, but the first time the series added things I really hated. The stamina system is awful, it's so bad that the next time I play the game, I will be using a mod that stops it going down. Fishing.......I hate fishing mini games, I don't know why so many games have them. Picking herbs, a boring chore. No throw moves, I don't care if they had budget problems, this is one thing you can't cut in a Shenmue game. This is such a massive part of Shenmue's combat and breaks a ton of immersion for me. This game also gave me the feeling that Ryo had learned very little from Shenmue 2. If felt like his character development was weakened and he felt physically weaker as well. There are positives though, it still very much feels like a Shenmue game with the character interactions, the slow pace and just getting lost in the world, it's all still there and probably what brings the score up to a 7/10 for me. This may sound weird to some, but I actually miss the loading screens when entering a different area.