Five years ago if you told me we were going to get Shenmue 3 I would have laughed in your face. To be honest even when the game was first announced on Sony’s E3 stage in 2015 I thought there was a decent chance it would never see the light of day. But here we are, four and a half years after the announcement; eighteen years after Shenmue 2 and the time has finally come to continue Ryo Hazuki’s story.
Shenmue 3 could have went one of two ways. Developer Ys Net could have tried to modernise the gameplay, which would risk the outrage of the hardcore fans, most of whom had pledged to the development via Kickstarter. The alternative was to make a sequel true to the original two games. One that Shenmue fans would adore, but the general public would likely be left scratching their heads over. They went with the latter.
Other than some graphical tweaks and an improved camera this feels like a game that was made directly after Shenmue 2 released in 2001 and was only able to be recovered off an old hard drive in 2019. That’s not to say it is bad; I actually really enjoyed the game. It’s more pointing out the uniqueness of a game like this, especially at this stage of the PS4 life cycle.
Graphically it can actually look quite impressive at times. Some of the backdrops look great and the world has lots of detail. The characters though, look and act like a cleaned up version of those in the previous games. Strangely the level of polish from one character to the next can vary noticeably. Almost like they couldn’t nail down an exact art style and a few different ideas made it in to the final game.
The animation is even more dated. A friend of mine who is also reviewing the game referred to the character animation as that of an action figure and I couldn’t agree more. The word that came to mind for me was janky. And yet, in a strange way that is exactly what I wanted. Voice acting is wooden and lacks any real conviction, which honestly feels at home alongside the animation.
Back in 2000, playing Shenmue felt futuristic to me. It was the closest I had seen to a living breathing world with NPC’s just roaming around living out their daily routines. Obviously now, with the advancement in AI and having enjoyed rich open worlds like Red Dead Redemption 2 the world of Shenmue seems archaic, but like it’s janky animation, it still has a certain unmistakeable charm.
For those unfamiliar with the series, the basic premise is this; You play as Ryo, a young chap on a mission to find Lan Di, the one responsible for taking out his old man. Shenmue 3 picks up right where the second game left off and takes us to the mountains of Guilin, China. From here you spend the majority of your time walking around, talking to NPC’s and performing menial tasks for money which can be used to buy food to keep your stamina up. It is essentially a life simulator.
The trophy list is a bit of a grind. You have the normal story trophies and sub quests, but those looking to obtain the platinum will have to endure the likes of catching 1,000 fish. It all seems a little excessive and unnecessary, especially given the positive reception of the trophy lists for the remasters that came out only a year ago.
Overall, Shenmue 3 is much slower than even the original two games. Sure there is still combat here and there but the game moves at an incredibly slow pace. In the end I think it all comes down to how you feel about the series. If you have been a long time fan and wanted more of Ryo’s journey (like myself) you will likely be thrilled that this is finally seeing the light of day. On the other hand I don’t think think the game is going to attract any new fans, because gaming has moved on a lot in the last eighteen years.
Scoring Shenmue 3 is a difficult task and much like Death Stranding is one that will vary wildly from person to person. If you loved the two original games I absolutely recommend picking this up. It is exactly what I wanted from the long awaited sequel. If however you aren’t familiar with the series it is likely to go down like a wet balloon. Choose based on what side of the fence you fall on.
-Terry
A review code was provided by the publisher. Reviewed on a base PS4.
