Spanning Time, the Wait is Over, for “Shenmue III” Video Game Review by Alex Moore

Some time, in the later months of 1999 (or the early months of 2000), I was quickly convinced to purchase a Sega Dreamcast. Not long after I had the system in my possession, I was made aware of an upcoming title, known as “Shenmue.” As it turned out, the title was a reference to a specific type of tree, which apparently grows in China. However, what awaited inside the thick box, complete with three game discs and a supplemental disc, of sorts, was nothing short of a novel, coming to life. Yu Suzuki, the author and creator of this game, had a 16-chapter story all planned out and ready to be released by Sega. Unfortunately, the financial cost was too great, in conjunction with its poor sales, and the future of the franchise was, then, in jeopardy.

Sega managed to release a sequel to the original game, simply titled “Shenmue II,” and it wound up becoming one of the last available games for the Dreamcast, though it was only readily sold in Japan and Europe. At the time, Sega had sold its rights for upcoming titles, exclusively, to Microsoft, and the fans of the ‘Shenmue’ franchise promptly awaited the next sequel on the Xbox. We waited in vain. All that came was a re-release of “Shenmue II,” which included a DVD copy of the original game, (unplayable but watchable), as a strange animated film, of sorts.

Rumors, all across the internet, abounded, in relation to the release of the next entry for the franchise, but nothing ever came of it. We were teased with a failed attempt to make the franchise go worldwide as an online multi-player game, but that only served to set back the future of the franchise even further. Finally, in 2015, the annual E3 revealed a brand new Kickstarter campaign to revive “Shenmue III.” It was a rousing success! Records were set and the development saw genuine progress for the first time in over a decade.

Now, in 2019, the dream (for the restless, long-suffering fans) became a reality. I carefully cut open a specially-marked box and uncovered a rather unimpressive smaller box, which contained the all-important game disc. It was like staring into the face of a relic, only it had been buffed out and polished and packaged as though it were brand new, which it IS! I must say, however, that over the years, my excitement and enthusiasm for the release of this game had diminished quite a bit. That was a fairly sad reality to recognize, but it is what it is, is it NOT?

As I loaded up the game into my PS4, I wondered how a game like this would translate into a more modern era of gaming. I took a look at the short, digest videos, designed to familiarize certain gamers with the events leading up to the newest chapters of the story. As I recall, Chapter 1 encompassed all of the original “Shenmue,” Chapter 2 was passed over for the start of “Shenmue II,” and each disc of the original copy of “Shenmue II” was worth a single chapter, each. This would mean that “Shenmue III” begins with Chapter 7. Depending on how long the story goes with this installment, we could expect to see two, additional entries, assuming that everything goes as planned for Mr. Suzuki.

The first thing that I noticed in “Shenmue III” is that Ryo Hazuki, the main character of the series of games, is just as dry and broken in his delivery of lines as ever before. I have little doubt that the original reason for this was to match up the timing of the English-spoken dub with the original, Japanese mouth movements. However, all these years later, it feels even more awkward than before and has lost a bit of its charm, in my view.

The visuals and music are about as great as one would expect, but, again, with the passage of time, nothing is as stunning as it was during the original run on the Sega Dreamcast. Still, I was pleased with what I saw and heard and nothing looks or sounds outdated. So, it was nice to see a successful transition, from the technical department, in this highly-anticipated sequel.

The story seemed to be moving along at a much slower pace, compared to before. There are a couple of possibilities with that: one, the pace of the game was deliberately slowed down to drag the game out for modern standards, which have certainly grown a great deal; two, without expectations of where the game would go, the lack of predictability has made the game feel longer than it did before, when replay after replay was the only option, on previous games. I can only add that if, indeed, the first supposition is true, the game designers made a mistake. I say this because, especially on the PS4, there are plenty of games designed to be shorter for gamers (predominantly from my age group), which are often labeled as the “Story” mode in the options menu. Actually, I chose THIS mode before beginning “Shenmue III,” yet I cannot tell, based on just the pace of the game. Might I suggest testing out “Story” mode AND “Normal” mode to determine which flows better for YOUR gameplay experience.

One of the great features, that has prevailed throughout the series of games, is its wide selection of mini games. If you are at all familiar with the original games, you will see some of the same mini games as before, such as ‘Lucky Hit’ and a turtle racing exhibition, but one game I hope to see resurface is the good, old-fashioned darts game. Beyond that, there are some new games, as well, but nothing, at least up to the point of which I have played, is outstanding. Coupled with the tradition of mini games, is the aspect of jobs. Give wood-chopping a try, please! It is an extremely odd-looking sequence, but is fun and satisfactory and fits perfectly into the style of gaming we have come to love and expect in ‘Shenmue.’ I might as well make mention of the moves-training exercises. Before, it was an arduous task, which only served to kill time, but, now, it is unique, depending on what move you are training with and keeps the player motivated to continue progressing upwards in skill level and what not. While I am on the subject, I would like to address my disappointment in the alterations of combat fighting. Maybe I just need more practice, but there seems to be a new layout in the buttons scheme and I find it more-challenging, in a needless way, which is a mild detractor, for me.

Overall, I am not displeased with “Shenmue III” and I am thankful that the franchise has returned. However, I am not certain, whether or not, a newer, wider audience will be found in this modern age of gaming. When the original games were first released, the style was on the cutting edge of technology, but today, there is little to distinguish it amongst the rest of the gaming world/community. Still, I believe that the truly dedicated members of its fanbase will continue to support the work of Yu Suzuki and we will continue to do anything AND everything we can to see this saga all the way to its completion. Hopefully, that day will come a lot sooner than when the day of “Shenmue III” finally arrived, but in the meantime, let us (the fans) continue to relive the joy and excitement of the entire franchise, as a whole, and anticipate more, solid entries for the future of the franchise.