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Shenmue III |OT| The Dream is Real

Kazza

Kazza

Member
I just realised that I have a spare copy of Shenmue 1&2 from the Humble Bundle (I already bought it on steam). Humble Bundle gives me two options:

AHU4ZeF.png


I can just click reveal steam key and then send the code to someone, right? (it seems like I can't use the "gift to a friend" option, as I already own a steam copy)

First person on here who asks for the game gets it! (assuming I can gift the code)
 
Crowza

Crowza

Member
I accidently started the game with the English dub turned on and this made me realize what the early complaints were all about. Changing it to Japanese voices and English subtitles fixes the issue.
 
TylersProphecy4.0

TylersProphecy4.0

Banned
Kazza said:
I just realised that I have a spare copy of Shenmue 1&2 from the Humble Bundle (I already bought it on steam). Humble Bundle gives me two options:

AHU4ZeF.png


I can just click reveal steam key and then send the code to someone, right? (it seems like I can't use the "gift to a friend" option, as I already own a steam copy)

First person on here who asks for the game gets it! (assuming I can gift the code)
Click to expand...
Can I have it?
 
Tiamat2san

Tiamat2san

Member
Finished!
Well it was cool but obviously it’s not enough, when is shenmue IV coming? ^^
Good news for those who like me wanted to see the end of the game before collecting everything.
There is a new game +
It keeps collectibles, money, tokens and your Kung fu level.
 
TheWanderingOgre

TheWanderingOgre

Member
Guys, how is the performance for you on Niaowu?

Namely on the more lively parts of the city.

Big fps hit? Very laggy turning around the camera?
 
TheWanderingOgre

TheWanderingOgre

Member
Elektro_Demon said:
I just reached the city, it runs almost flawlessly on my rig (r7 3700x and vega 64)
Click to expand...


Thanks for the answer.

Damn, mine runs painfully at times..

Its not unplayable or anything but..

This is my favorite series, I mean to play it over and over again, and it really stands in the way of fully enjoying the experience.

I have an i7-8750H and a 1050 Ti laptop.

Is it my setup?

Messing around with the game graphical configurations (the few that exist) and the ones from the Nvidia control panel, heck, even with the resolution seems to help only a little or not at all

I mean, the rest of the game is so smooth. The whole of Bailu. And everything else in Niaowu: the fights, the mini-games, the real time cutscenes..

But walking around can be a pain..
 
metareferential

metareferential

Member
Sorry to post this here, but if anyone is looking to buy an epic store key (together with some extras from kickstarter), hit me up. Price is a bit lower than the store.

I'm playing it on ps4, so...
 
Elektro Demon

Elektro Demon

Banned
Visiting a fortune teller and finding out your lucky color is awesome.
So much money to be made in Flower, Bird, Wind and Moon game.
 
Kazza

Kazza

Member
Mochilador said:
Man, I'm not a big fan of the hunger mechanic. What a pain.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't mind it so much if they had included lots of restaurants where you could eat. Eating out is a huge part of Chinese culture, and it seems like a big missed opportunity to me not to have any local eats. You don't even necessarily need to have lots of eating animations either. Muramasa managed to make eating a fun activity using just a few animations:




Just selecting 10 bulbs of garlic to eat from a menu whenever your health gets low is a bit dull.
 
Mochilador

Mochilador

Member
Kazza said:
I wouldn't mind it so much if they had included lots of restaurants where you could eat. Eating out is a huge part of Chinese culture, and it seems like a big missed opportunity to me not to have any local eats. You don't even necessarily need to have lots of eating animations either. Muramasa managed to make eating a fun activity using just a few animations:




Just selecting 10 bulbs of garlic to eat from a menu whenever your health gets low is a bit dull.
Click to expand...

It really limits you. So I'm chopping a lot of wood to buy a shit ton of garlic.
 
Elektro Demon

Elektro Demon

Banned
Mochilador said:
It really limits you. So I'm chopping a lot of wood to buy a shit ton of garlic.
Click to expand...
You don't have to chop wood, I myself learned that recently. Gambling is much more lucrative, especially if you manipulate things in your favour by visiting a fortune teller.
Also collecting herbs, there's shit ton of money to be made that way also.
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
Kazza said:
I wouldn't mind it so much if they had included lots of restaurants where you could eat. Eating out is a huge part of Chinese culture, and it seems like a big missed opportunity to me not to have any local eats. You don't even necessarily need to have lots of eating animations either. Muramasa managed to make eating a fun activity using just a few animations:




Just selecting 10 bulbs of garlic to eat from a menu whenever your health gets low is a bit dull.
Click to expand...



Yeah, I'm happy to finally have an eating mechanic but the implementation really is underwhelming. Losing Ryo's drinking animations, pick up animations, and not getting eating animations really takes the fun out of it. Hopefully, if Shenmue 4 happens they can improve on it.
 
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Vampire On Titus

Vampire On Titus

Member
Mochilador said:
It really limits you. So I'm chopping a lot of wood to buy a shit ton of garlic.
Click to expand...

There's a lot better ways to make money than chopping wood. That's basically the bare minimum. Collect sets, try gambling & fishing. You can make like 200 ~ 300 Yuan off of a single fishing session vs 45~50 for chopping wood.
 
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DisguiseArrsick

DisguiseArrsick

Member
demigod said:
This game any fun guys? Never played 1 or 2. Thinking about getting it from Best Buy with the steelbook.
Click to expand...
You really have play the first two. You would be missing a lot of story and character details. Get Shenmue 1 and 2 HD and if you can enjoy them you'll enjoy this.
 
lachesis

lachesis

Member
I got my first try on real one - demo ver, I just completed the task w/o really doing anything else to savor this moment.

I definitely see the rough edges around - especially the character interactions / sudden choppy cuts and all. I don't remember it being this choppy in conversations in originals - as if characters just jumped to another place within a second of black transition.

As per the graphics on PS4 Pro - I wish it would have higher framerates like on my PC (even though my pc is pretty old with 4.2ghz 3930k with GTX 970, it ran smoother). I have no qualm about the gfx though - it's good enough for me.

But what really got me though - is the feeling of the whole game. I am really charmed, all over again. I was going to go with Japanese VO, but since my Japanese is nowhere as good as my english hearing - I decided to stick with english voice acting - which I think is a right choice for me. Immersion is different, and I have something else to laugh about too!

At this point (very first day - asking around Yuan's whereabout) - it doesn't include any action - but reminds me a good old point-click old school adventure game. How I have missed this feeling.

Blew my 100$ on gambling though - but for the first time in my Shenmue history, I won a prize at the lucky hit! LOL. I think I'll try to complete for all prizes when I get hang of the money situation. (with a bit of help of save/load trick) - wish the saving wasn't so hidden behind layers of menus, and wish the loading after would be rather quick - but it's all much faster than good old DC and Xbox - so I have no qualm.

Very much looking forward to continue on my 2nd day of journey with Shenhua into the village - I'm sure those 2 faced bastards would be much friendlier to Ryo if Shenhua is around.... :)

All in all... it just feels so surreal. I mean, playing this game after 18 years of waiting, and it feels really good. Clunky and weird - but good and satisfying at the same time!
 
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Elektro Demon

Elektro Demon

Banned
Just finished it today. I'm pleased overall. If I had to give a score, I'd give it 7,1 outta 10.
I just finished with my review of the game. Here's a link if anybody is interested about what I think of the game.
 
Keihart

Keihart

Member
ghairat said:
About the running or "hunger mechanic", they should have gone with Yakuza style....
Click to expand...
I think the idea of this design was to connect as much systems as possible, there is a clear ambition in the systemic gameplay design of Shenmue 3 that was absent in the previous games.
My only complaint it's the combat, maybe it was budget, but it still feels like a big step down.
 
Mista

Mista

Banned
How’s the game so far? I still haven’t started it. I wanna do that after I’m done with Death Stranding which is taking more time than I thought
 
Kazza

Kazza

Member
Mista said:
How’s the game so far? I still haven’t started it. I wanna do that after I’m done with Death Stranding which is taking more time than I thought
Click to expand...

I haven't finished the game, but this seems like a fair review (no spoilers, unless outlining the basic structure of the game counts as a spoiler):




The general consensus among kickstarter backers seems to be:
- decent length (20-30 hlours)
- the eating system (where you constantly lose health) is a little annoying at first, but quickly becomes a trivial issue once you begin to level up
- mixed views on the fighting system, some like it more than 1&2, more prefer the old system. No one seems to absolutely hate or love it.
- scale of the game bigger than 1 but slightly smaller than 2
- ending a little disappointing, and the story doesn't progress enough
- too much re-use of music from previous games

Overall impressions seem very positive.
 
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Miles708

Miles708

Member
I love the dialog system of this game.
You can approach every person from every angle, either if they're standing or sit down, and they follow you with their heads and sometimes point to your destination in a dynamic way. Also, all dialogues have their dynamic cameras.

Even the most basic or awkward dialogs are entertaining to watch.

Then, make a parallel with Skyrim or The Witcher 3: you either have totally still people, or a complete fade-to-black, to load the scene and take your character and the NPCs in the perfect, precise, pre-fixed "dialog-approved" spot in the enviroment.

Don't get me wrong, Skyrim and The Witcher 3 are masterpieces and i love them. But for some things, games haven't moved forward that much since 2001.
 
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Kazza

Kazza

Member
Miles708 said:
I love the dialog system of this game.
You can approach every person from every angle, either if they're standing or sit down, and they follow you with their heads and sometimes point to your destination in a dynamic way. Also, all dialogues have their dynamic cameras.

Even the most basic or awkward dialogs are entertaining to watch.

Then, make a parallel with Skyrim or The Witcher 3: you either have totally still people, or a complete fade-to-black, to load the scene and take your character and the NPCs in the perfect, precise, pre-fixed "dialog-approved" spot in the enviroment.

Don't get me wrong, Skyrim and The Witcher 3 are masterpieces and i love them. But for some things, games haven't moved forward that much since 2001.
Click to expand...

Well said! I can't believe so few (any?) mainstream reviewers ever mentioned this. Also the amount of dialogue (and how it changes with the changing game situation) is also impressive. It makes those AAA games seem a little, what's the word, "dated" :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
S

scalman

Member
is this game purely for serie fans, because its looks like just new graphic wrapped in very poor camera movements and animations, and gameplay in all is stayed old. whats point in this then ? make it modern in all things. i saw little gameplay on pc maxed and i dont like how he moves how camera moves at all.
 
Keihart

Keihart

Member
scalman said:
is this game purely for serie fans, because its looks like just new graphic wrapped in very poor camera movements and animations, and gameplay in all is stayed old. whats point in this then ? make it modern in all things. i saw little gameplay on pc maxed and i dont like how he moves how camera moves at all.
Click to expand...
The game it's an extension of the older ones, it tries very hard to retain the same feel within the new smaller budget.
They basically tried to recreated most of the old mechanics and improve them where possible, i think they succeeded in almost everything but the combat.
 
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C

Cliff Underside

Member
It sucks that they couldn't get a bigger budget, it really shows in the combat: bad animations, terrible camera, no throw moves. I mean, just compare the tornade kick from 3 with the one from the first game (well, neither of those are actual tornado kicks, but the difference in quality is telling). If only the team had access to the assets from the older games, they could've just polished and reused those instead of having to make everything from scratch, but I guess SEGA owns them, as well as Virtua Fighter. Man, it must suck for Yu Suzuki.
 
Miles708

Miles708

Member
Cliff Underside said:
It sucks that they couldn't get a bigger budget, it really shows in the combat: bad animations, terrible camera, no throw moves. I mean, just compare the tornade kick from 3 with the one from the first game (well, neither of those are actual tornado kicks, but the difference in quality is telling). If only the team had access to the assets from the older games, they could've just polished and reused those instead of having to make everything from scratch, but I guess SEGA owns them, as well as Virtua Fighter. Man, it must suck for Yu Suzuki.
Click to expand...

I mean, one doesn't really think about it, but Shenmue 1 and 2 had an incredible amount of animations for combat.
In Shenmue 1, when you spar with Fuku-san, some moves have a softer impact you won't see anywhere else. As moves are upgraded, many have 2 variants that drastically change with your expertise.
When opponents parry attacks, the fists and kicks are deflected and the character is off-balance based on the arm/leg he was attacking with.
Every single throw move, yours or your enemy's, has a specific secondary animation for escaping it.

There has been really nothing like it ever since. The only way to replicate it today would be to have Red Dead Redemption 2's level of budget AND an enormous and experienced team at your disposal.
 
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C

Cliff Underside

Member
Miles708 said:
I mean, one doesn't really think about it, but Shenmue 1 and 2 had an incredible amount of animations for combat.
In Shenmue 1, when you spar with Fuku-san, some moves have a softer impact you won't see anywhere else. As moves are upgraded, many have 2 variants that drastically change with your expertise.
When opponents parry attacks, the fists and kicks are deflected and the character is off-balance based on the arm/leg he was attacking with.
Every single throw move, yours or your enemy's, has a specific secondary animation for escaping it.

There has been really nothing like it ever since. The only way to replicate it today would be to have Red Dead Redemption 2's level of budget AND an enormous and experienced team at your disposal.
Click to expand...
Exactly, just look at the budget for the first game, around the 70 million mark, and that was 1998. Shenmue 3 made like 6 million in the kickstarter, plus whatever Deep Silver threw into the pot, which couldn't have been nearly enough. Then there's the money from the epic store deal, but that would've gone into the publisher's pockets, rather than the studio budget, and anyway by that time the game was near finished anyway. The project was doomed to be mechanically worse than part 1 and 2, you could tell that from the very first gameplay demos.

The frustrating part is that compared to things like models and textures, animations tend to age pretty well. Sure, they'd need to be tweaked to work with the new skeletons, but if the team had been allowed to work with the old assets they'd have had a pretty strong foundation from which to build the combat system for part 3. But that's intellectual property law for you, no one wants to share so for every step forward the industry takes two steps back.
 
Miles708

Miles708

Member
Cliff Underside said:
Exactly, just look at the budget for the first game, around the 70 million mark, and that was 1998. Shenmue 3 made like 6 million in the kickstarter, plus whatever Deep Silver threw into the pot, which couldn't have been nearly enough. Then there's the money from the epic store deal, but that would've gone into the publisher's pockets, rather than the studio budget, and anyway by that time the game was near finished anyway. The project was doomed to be mechanically worse than part 1 and 2, you could tell that from the very first gameplay demos.

The frustrating part is that compared to things like models and textures, animations tend to age pretty well. Sure, they'd need to be tweaked to work with the new skeletons, but if the team had been allowed to work with the old assets they'd have had a pretty strong foundation from which to build the combat system for part 3. But that's intellectual property law for you, no one wants to share so for every step forward the industry takes two steps back.
Click to expand...

Shenmue 1 and 2's combat is based on Virtua Fighter 2 engine, and Virtua Fighter is Sega property so... yeah, not gonna reuse that, sorry everyone.

I'm playing Shenmue 3 right now (i'm currently getting my ass handed to me by 2 thugs) and I think the combat system is... pretty deep?
I mean, from what I gathered until now:
  • button mashing is a no-go. Works only if you spend a big abount of time at the dojo (to over-level any opponent), which is a valid strategy anyway
  • Choosing the wrong move, or the right move at the wrong moment, opens you to a devastating counter
  • Dodge is preferable to parry, as you can avoid all damage
  • Like with attack, defending requires great timing. Dodge at the wrong moment, and all your chakras will be opened with a crowbar. Do it right, and you'll hear an audio-hint (like a loud "swoosh!" sound), suggesting you can go all-out
  • Maybe even parrying with the right timing does something? I have to try that more
  • Enemies telegraph many of their attacks, so you know when to prepare
  • Learn which different combos can knock down opponents (useful with many enemies)
  • Always wait for an opening
This is actually great I think.
BUT...
...it's partially ruined by a single mistake: the lack of feedback, especially when enemies hit you.

If enemies parry, your attacks are ineffective but it's not easy to notice. When they hit you, they deplete your life bar but it's not easy to notice.
Everything is a little too floaty. That's the only sin of the combat system I've found for now. It's a single mistake, but a big one.
Still, it gets many things right, and I want to get deeper with it.
 
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