Shenmue
Reviewed by Clement Chan Zhi Li
When Shenmue is released, I know that we are going to get
something special from Yu Suzuki's hard-work of seven years
all together. And I did. It's possibly the best game ever
created, far superior than any other action / adventure game
that Yu Suzuki insists that a new genre should be called for
this game, FREE (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment).
Graphics - 10
The graphics are the best ones I've ever seen and they're
completely detailed! Every human and every character in the
game have their own resounding expressions and looks. Their
looks was well lined-up and their clothing look especially
real. The surrounding areas have been re-created and
designed into an almost realistic city, where motorcycles
are drawn up the road, people walking in the streets,
children laughing and playing in one corner and many other
features which look incredibly cool.
Watching this game is like watching a movie out of a
television screen and if you have a cinema-sized screen, it
would look much better (if you can ever buy that screen, of
course). The colour of the human skin matches like the
Japanese ones and the way their mouth moves interacted with
when the voices spoke. The sky will always change from time
to time, into when cloudy, or even at dawn and you're likely
not to noticed it because it's all automatic. The
background, on the other hand, are truly perfect as you walk
about into this fully 3D roaming world with the internal
engines drawing up into a realistic world.
Music - 10
The background music all happens automatically, after a
certain scene appears, might it be horrifying or normal,
steady talk, they will still be there to entertain you. The
music change and vary from time to time, some of them may be
either romantic, ghastly or musical themes that will enhance
the game even further, together with the tons of sound
effects that helped this game to be more realistic.
When you're walking through the snow, you'll hear your feet
shuffling about into the freezing white cotton and when you
knocked on a door, the exact sound from the real world can
also be heard. Every single thing, might it be the
thundering rain, birds flying about and gossiping women
chatting can all be heard.
The voices themselves are what helping dramatically through
all the game as they're one of the most important aspect of
the game. Lots of people will help you through, even from a
young girl to an elderly man so it's crucial for you to hear
the conversation of everyone in the game. The kitten, which
you can also rear will mew pathetically everytime you went
near there and it's sort of real, even to the ringing of the
telephone. The voice acting in the Japanese version was
really good, as it has emotions and feelings in it while in
the English versionÉ well, it's good and nice but it's not
as natural as the Japanese version so you might not get used
to it or even feel awkward about it.
Gameplay - 10
Yu Suzuki's seven years of hard work has even entered him to
the Guinness World Records 2001 and it was entered under the
section Computer Games with the title of Most Expensive
Computer Game Development: and here's the exact quote from
the reputable book: ÒThe Dreamcast FREE (Full Reactive Eyes
Entertainment) title Shenmue cost over $20 million (£12
million) to develop. The project took seven years, and was
the brainchild of Yu Suzuki, the head of Sega's game-development
AM2 division.Ó
And there's no denying that Shenmue is a really cool game
and as great as it sounds. It combines almost all of the
major genres into one: adventure, action, fighting and
semi-RPG. Some may say it will fit the adventure/action
genre but it's actually not, since other types of genre are
fit inside this game.
The adventure is a bit difficult but can be easy if you know
what to do. Listen to other people's conversation and they
often give you bits of clue to catch what you want. There
are exciting and thrilling missions very often and they'll
bring you to more new places to explore and lastly, solve
the whole game. You can collect items almost everywhere
which often are the key to your problems. Best of all, you
can have your daily allowance which allows you to spend all
you like in shops and arcades and even buses that will take
you to a new place!
What makes this game exciting and real? First, it's because
of Quick Timer Event (better known as QTE). When QTE is
about to start, you're treated with a short, automatic
sequence and then, a button is presented in the middle of
the screen (or directional buttons) where you have to press
it quickly. If you pressed either the wrong button or just
too late, then Ryo will fail a bit of his mission (maybe
knocked onto a person, get slashed by bad guys and etc.).
Well, second is Free Battle. It uses style from Virtua
Fighter instead of a one-on-one duel. Ryo may fight more
than two person at one time. You can train your moves to
enhance it even more, learn more new moves from other people
around you.
Third, it's Free Quest (also known as Adventure Mode) that
is used the most in this wonderful game. Free Quest is just
what it's said, you can roam simply anywhere! Talk to
people, open drawers and cabinet, play 'gotcha-gotcha (known
as capsule toys in the English version) machines', buy items
from shops, win luck draw, knock on doors, run and do other
hundreds of moves and actions in the game!
Alright, how about fourth? The most important concept in the
game that can effect the realism in the game and it's time.
Not that you have to use the real time (which will be
certainly slow and a waste of time), every second in reality
will be about one to two minutes in the game. All shops will
only open according to their own time which I find this
logical. Pubs will only open at night (ever heard they open
in the morning?) and shops will open around ten or later. If
you notice the sky properly, it will gradually go darker
when the time in the game reaches its specific time
(example: 3 p. m. it will be a bit dark). Also, there will be
weather conditions like snow, rain, cloudy, sunny that is
certainly cool to look and hear.
Fifth, it's facial movements. Every character is created
with their own facial designs. They don't just open and shut
their mouths for no abrupt reasons, they will move the
facial muscles (which us humans certainly have) and they can
frown, smile, laugh, grin and other feelings that will
change the face, just like all of us do in the real world.
Lastly, there are games to play inside Shenmue. Arcade games
like Hang On and Space Harrier are inside the game (which
you have to pay for it in the game, of course), darts and
many others. You can even take care of a little kitten who
was 'dumped' by cruel people and take care of it until it
grows into a mature cat. Feed him with food provided from
your nearest, convenience store! The camera is also good and
almost follows you wherever you go.
There is also the fourth disc (called the Passport disc and
by the way, there are three discs all together excluding the
Passport disc) that allows you to upload your high scores to
the Internet, tells you how far you have gone through based
on your save file, characters' profiles, movies and lots
more things to do and see! The short movies will be
available more and more based on certain people you talk to
and how far you have progressed. You can even download a
special file while connecting to the network (I don't have
one, sadly as I don't have a modem in my Dreamcast) which
you can use to trade your capsule toys from your own.
Undeniably, you can do simply lots of things in the game,
for the sake of fun. You can buy those capsule toys and get
Virtua Fighter characters and Sonic-related characters or
even other old Genesis games! The jackpot is a nice addition
to the game as you can earn lots of coins that will enable
you to be a winner while the lucky-draw, well, it's the best
addition of the lot. You can get lots of things from
different shops and you can get special and unique games
that will enthrall you further and excite you even more. You
can also buy music cassettes from the convenience stores
that could be heard by using a radio! Neat!
You can also practice your moves that you have learned, or
gain them from various people in the game or through scrolls
that you have found. There is also a shop where you can buy
your scrolls from but they're pretty expensive, ranging from
different prices and different attack moves. Practicing the
moves can be practiced from various places like the car
park, or parks, where there are no people around that can be
hurt by your attacks. You can even choose to master all of
them to the maximum where your moves will be enhanced.
Controls - 10
The controls are purely easy to remember but needs a bit of
handling in the beginning for you to get used in this huge
game so you won't get lost. Shenmue used every single
buttons that are available in the standard Dreamcast
controller, A, B, X, Y, L, R, D-pad and even the analog
stick. They vary from different modes, Free Quest and Free
Battle so it's best to remember all of them first.
Story - 10
The story gets Ryo Hazuki, the main character in this game
mixed up in several situations (some even terrible). Ryo's
father is mysteriously killed by Shoryu (Lan Di in the
English version), the evil villain in the game who wants two
special mirrors, Phoenix and Dragon mirrors. There's a
mystery connection between him, Iwao (Ryo's father) and the
mirrors, added with another mysterious and innocent country
girl, Shenhua Rei (Ling Sha Hua in the English version) who
appears does not knows the feelings of being to hate others.
Another mysterious girl which never ever appear in the game
(except in the Passport Disc), Shuei Kou. The story is
interesting as it centers on an obedient child and how he
even risks his life to find the meaning of his father's
death and to get revenge. The story evolved bigger and
bigger into serious missions that sometimes risk Ryo's life.
The story starts in the year of 1986 which means that you
have to expect 1980's kind of stuffs, old telephones instead
of the 'dial-and-phone' kinds, a bit old Japanese houses
instead of modern ones and the list goes on. That's why
Space Harrier that is created in 1985 appears in the game!
That also explains is why there are no Sonic the Hedgehog or
even Sonic Jam in the game. They appear in 1991, six years
later after Space Harrier is created.
Replay Value - 10
If you simply play through the game without enjoying every
single bits of the game, you'll have to play through the
game, enjoying the jackpot machines, in the arcade center
Game You or buy lots of capsule toys which will surprise you
even more with their unique looks. While playing through the
adventure, enjoy Ryo's daily talks and earnest finds to
unravel more of the mystery or you'll be sorry. I've played
through the game over and over for a few times (now's my
fourth) as this possibly the best and most enjoyable game
ever.
Overall - 10 out of 10
Those who gives a score lower than 10 (even 9!) must have
their head to be examined and those who gives an even poor
score deserves to be executed, for he or she did not have
the sense of enjoying this game, after literally thousands
of people all over the world are commenting the good things
about this game. Gather all of the information above that I
had gave, and consider yourself carefully though this is
simply a must-have game that is not to be missed. The story
has only just begunÉ
Shen
-----
+ Real-life and realistic graphics that will simply get you
real through the game.
+ Unbelievable cool music soundtrack and real-time sound
effects.
+ Simply lots of things to doÉ
Moo
-----
- and you'll get addicted
- and you'll lose sleep
- and you'll have red eyes
OR
Debt Help - Free Credit Report - Mortgages - Loans - Cheap Flights 