Shenmue I & II (re-release)

marcbrophy · 16-08-2018 2:03pm #1

I didn't want to use the Shenmue III thread to discuss these.

Releasing in 5 short days on the 21st of August. Ps4 and Xbox One versions only.

The game collection .net selling this for £22.95 +£2 ROI shipping.
Amazon UK selling for £29.99 with free shipping.
Smyths selling for €34.99
Gamestop, who the hell cares?

I'm not sure how fondly I remember these games. In fact I never played the 2nd one, but I'm willing to give them another go.

Also looking forward to Shenmue III in 2025 :P

super_furry · 16-08-2018 3:17pm

I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed with how poorly the two games have aged. They were ground-breaking for the time on a machine that deserved a lot better than the fate it got but really today, Shenmue is mostly just a historic footnote.

The big draw of the games at launch was the graphics, which were stunning at the time. I mean they’re still fine now, but gameplay wise it’s not great. The combat feels slow and clunky in comparison to modern titles, it’s the game that coined the term ‘quick time event’, most of the actual gameplay is just a series of mini-game and the voice acting and story telling is just awful.

The clamour for another Shenmue always confused me, especially when you consider that the Yakuza series took everything Shenmue that did and moved it forward, making it a much more interesting and entertaining series.

As a retro curio and/or B-movie type game, it’s interesting, but I’d have zero desire to actually play it again.

Mr Crispy · 16-08-2018 3:22pm

They're also available on PC (Steam, also 21st August). Fanatical currently has them for €27.99, but may be cheaper elsewhere.

marcbrophy · 16-08-2018 3:27pm

I tend to agree with all you said furry!
I'm just hopeful that nostalgia might get me through at least one of them

Darch Nemesis wrote: »

They're also available on PC (Steam, also 21st August). Fanatical currently has them for €27.99, but may be cheaper elsewhere.

Yeah, I worded that awfully, sorry.
Meant to say that the sites I was calling out were only stocking the console version.

PC version available from Steam, and all good grey market retailers :pac:

Kiith · 16-08-2018 3:29pm

super_furry wrote: »

I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed with how poorly the two games have aged.

I suspect you will be right. I'll get them, and play through them both, but mainly from a nostalgia point of view, and to see the games that were so groundbreaking at the time.

megaten · 17-08-2018 11:20am

I don't plan on getting them at launch but I'm planning to play them for the first time at some stage this year and I think I'll enjoy them. I love games with a strong sense of place and the Shenmue games seem exactly that.

wexdevil · 17-08-2018 11:56am

Loved them back when they first came out on the dreamcast (even bought the it on the original xbox) Looking forward to replaying them again

(though I'm aware they haven't aged well)

SomeSayKos · 17-08-2018 12:45pm

Absolutely love these games and I replayed them a couple of years ago on my Dreamcast. I think people playing them for the first time now might be a bit bemused. But for me it's a pure nostalgia buzz and a reason to reaffirm my hatred of Lan Di

marcbrophy · 17-08-2018 1:27pm

The game collections just shipped mine there, shortly after midday.
I should definitely have this on Monday

Azza · 17-08-2018 1:47pm

super_furry wrote: »

I think a lot of people are going to be disappointed with how poorly the two games have aged. They were ground-breaking for the time on a machine that deserved a lot better than the fate it got but really today, Shenmue is mostly just a historic footnote.

The big draw of the games at launch was the graphics, which were stunning at the time. I mean they’re still fine now, but gameplay wise it’s not great. The combat feels slow and clunky in comparison to modern titles, it’s the game that coined the term ‘quick time event’, most of the actual gameplay is just a series of mini-game and the voice acting and story telling is just awful.

The clamour for another Shenmue always confused me, especially when you consider that the Yakuza series took everything Shenmue that did and moved it forward, making it a much more interesting and entertaining series.

As a retro curio and/or B-movie type game, it’s interesting, but I’d have zero desire to actually play it again.

Does using the Japanese voiceover make the game sound better or is the dialogue still rubbish in the subtitles?

blaa85 · 17-08-2018 2:29pm

I'm a massive Shenmue fan so I'll be picking up a copy once I find out which platform runs it best. I still regularly play the dreamcast versions and I'm looking forward to seeing any improvements.

I've been harping on about how it was the greatest thing for nearly 20 years, I'm kinda worried when my friends pick up a copy. The control system is quite clunky and outdated and I hated the English VO. I always set it to the original VO since the sequel only had that on the DC anyway.

SomeSayKos · 17-08-2018 2:38pm

Azza wrote: »

Does using the Japanese voiceover make the game sound better or is the dialogue still rubbish in the subtitles?

The japanese audio is definitely better as the voice actors are more convincing

Potential-Monke · 17-08-2018 5:47pm

If there is the original Japanese audio for anything, you're better going with that. I refuse to watch my anime in anything but the original tongue, so Japanese mainly. It's just better. Listen to a comparison of One Piece Japanese voices vs US voices. They don't even remotely sound similar, and the voice acting in general sounds like it was done by a bunch of 5 year olds. A lot of the charm is missing as a result.

I'll pick these up, but i'm not expecting the next best thing in gaming. More to relive the nostalgia, so I'll probably pick this up with Shenmue III when it releases.

Sephiroth_dude · 18-08-2018 12:59am

SomeSayKos wrote: »

The japanese audio is definitely better as the voice actors are more convincing

Any game from Japan i play these days it's with japanese audio and English subs, soooo much better !

Never played these games , might pick them up eventually.

Tipsy McSwagger · 18-08-2018 8:24am

From a nostalgia point of view Shenmue has to be played over Christmas.

Julez · 20-08-2018 5:41pm

SomeSayKos wrote: »

The japanese audio is definitely better as the voice actors are more convincing

I get this... but the bad English voice acting is part of the charm and nostalgia for me, ha!

marcbrophy · 20-08-2018 5:42pm

marcbrophy wrote: »

The game collections just shipped mine there, shortly after midday.
I should definitely have this on Monday

It never did arrive today!
Fingers crossed for tomorrow, or I'll be fairly annoyed

marcbrophy · 21-08-2018 3:37pm

marcbrophy wrote: »

It never did arrive today!
Fingers crossed for tomorrow, or I'll be fairly annoyed

Nothing today either!
Guess I'm fairly annoyed :mad:

21-08-2018 4:25pm

Installing now, never played the original games so I'm looking forward to it.

21-08-2018 10:51pm

I was not expecting this to look and run as well as it does. Some reviews mentioned many technical issues in their pre release copies but I see none of them.

Normally with stuff like this I know I'm playing an old game but it's not really the case here for me, this would have been right up my street had I played it 20 years ago and so far I'm happy I picked this up today.

Retr0gamer · 22-08-2018 12:52am

21:9 mode is screwed up on PC but I can live without it. Supposed to be fixed in an update.

SomeSayKos · 22-08-2018 10:14am

Picking this up on Friday ( payday ). Can't wait to hate Lan Di all over again!

marcbrophy · 22-08-2018 10:19am

Got mine finally in the post today!

Now to finish work later and give it a lash

KevW24601 · 22-08-2018 6:22pm

I downloaded it yesterday.

I was always a big fan of the games on the Dreamcast so revisiting that has been fantastic.

I've read on other websites about the litany of glitches though. Haven't experienced much of them though apart from the multi-blinking buttons on the Excite QTE mini-game - where two buttons flash at the same time. Anybody else get this?

But apart from that, it's been great!

Benzino · 22-08-2018 7:20pm

What are the controls like? I recall replaying it on the Xbox a few years back and found it very difficult to play, the controls aged terribly.

22-08-2018 7:49pm

I've not changed from what ever default is in it and haven't played the originals but so far they are fine. Bit clunky turning in close quarters at times but nothing that has bothered me so far.