Shenmue I & II remaster on PC, PS4, Xbox One

[Punch]

As soon as I learnt COUNTER ELBOW ASSAULT I used it in every battle.

Though no matter how well you did if you failed a QTE during a "boss battle" you would insta lose anyway.

brrrbeep beep beep *buzz*

The goofy QTE failure animations of Ryo getting owned in various ways (the ones which didn't force you back a checkpoint) were one of the best parts of the game.

 

[Zurat-Yarkuch]

I actually made Shenmue II harder for myself, because I thought during the gamepad freeze QTEs you had to press the buttons exactly (and I mean exactly) when the prompts happened. Didn't realize the game allowed a slight delay in button inputs. It made everything a million times harder then it actually was and I didn't discover it until after I passed the game.

Still, I actually got some emulation software for my Dreamcast so I could play the European version with the Japanese dub and English subtitles. Had to special order it too. This was before they announced the Xbox version and it looked like the game would never come to North America.

The Japanese dub really changes the whole tone of the game. With the cheesy English voice acting in the first one, it came across as a campy action movie. With the Japanese dub it really gave off a more serious and dramatic vibe, especially in Disc 3 where the game turns into the ultimate Hong Kong action movie. I actually straight up cheered when I beat the last boss of Disc 3, though again this was because I made it ridiculously difficult for myself by trying to press the prompts exactly when they appeared and had to do 4 gamepad freeze QTEs in a row. It actually makes me really pissed off now that my epic victory that I had to fight the boss over twenty times to achieve was due to a dumb misunderstanding of the games mechanics.

Anyway, since this was in the early internet days and hardly anyone played the game, the ending of the Shenmue II blew my fucking mind at the time. Today it wouldn't be that big a deal and would probably be spoiled before the game came out, but at the time my 12 year old self considered it the most epic cliffhanger of all time. I was pretty pissed off that Yu Suzuki said he would only conclude the story in another game and not do a manga or novel or something. After all, Shenmue III was about as likely as Dreamcast II, so he may as well have said I'm never going to tell the ending fuck you.

The fact we are going to get Shenmue III does blow my mind though. It not going to be anywhere near what Yu Suzuki envisioned though, since Shenmue I and II were made with ridiculously huge triple AAA budgets by today's standards. Heck I bet if you adjusted the amounts spent with inflation it would probably one of the most expensive games ever made. So the shoestring budget he is making this on means he will have to cut a huge (and I mean a huuuuuge) amount of what he originally wanted to do in story and scope. He had to do that with Shenmue II, since he originally wanted the series to be 12 games, one for each chapter. Shenmue was Chapter 1, and Shenmue II was Chapters 3 to 6 (chapter 2 on the boat became a prequel manga for Shenmue II.) So yeah it's going to suck but I'm still buying it anyway.

It will be fun playing Shenmue I with the Japanese dub and this time I can transfer over my save data and moves from I to II. However, allowing you to save anywhere is going to make the game waaaaaaaay too easy and take away a lot of the challenge.

I'm very interested to hear the opinions of people who never played the originals.

 

[Shackleton]

It's up on Steam. Release in a day, on 21st.

 

[Dreed]

It's out, I finished Yakuza 0 just in time

 

[Dreed]

Looking good, it's nice that Sega hired Prosper:

Spoiler

(The game used by default the integrated GPU instead of the real graphic card)

 

[Misco Jones]

Looking good, it's nice that Sega hired Prosper:

Headlander 2.

 

[Shackleton]

So considering this has been released two whole days, this thread is surprisingly quiet.

Does this mean it's a trash port, people discovered it's not that good after all, or are we all just too busy playing MHW/ Yakuza 0/ Bards Tale to really get stuck into this yet?

I must admit this has come at a time when for once, I've got too many good games to play already.

 

[J_C]

I always heard people raving about how this game is a classic, but I've never seen why. Granted, I haven't played them, but could someone tell me what was so great about them? And do they hold up in this day and age?

 

[Big Wrangle]

I always heard people raving about how this game is a classic, but I've never seen why. Granted, I haven't played them, but could someone tell me what was so great about them? And do they hold up in this day and age?

Shenmue was one of the first console games to strive for immersion and a level of detail that wasn't done before. A lot of resources went into making the world believable. Characters had daily schedules, there was a day/night cycle, and different weathers. This also played into quests as you explored to find clues.
Unfortunately however, the games ended up costing too much money and resources, meaning a commerical success was impossible on the Dreamcast.
Does it hold up? The combat and dialogue don't, but one can find some fun in it. If anything else, Shenmue inspired the Yakuza games.

 

[aweigh]

i never played shenmue, but if i do should i go with english dub or japanese moon voices?

 

[Great Deceiver]

Japanese dub is much better. Plus the audio quality for the English dub is also worse for some reason, like it was sampled at a lower rate.

 

[Mañjuśrī]

Overview by SGF.

 

[mogwaimon]

I always heard people raving about how this game is a classic, but I've never seen why. Granted, I haven't played them, but could someone tell me what was so great about them? And do they hold up in this day and age?

This is one of the few games I would say people truly have nostalgia goggles. Yes, the level of detail put into the world was insane and it blew my ten year old mind that you could go into someone's house and pick up some random bauble to examine it and that this worked pretty much everywhere in the game, but there really wasn't that much to actually do from what I remember besides drive a forklift and occasionally get into fights. Yes, I did beat both games a long time ago but they didn't excite me enough to still be wanting more a decade or two later.

The Yakuza series is a much better execution of the concept with much more stuff to do in each game, more emphasis on combat (though Shenmue has a better combat system overall, it being based on Virtua Fighter) and a more interesting story. Though to be fair, Shenmue 1 and 2 are basically a prologue since, you know, it was originally envisioned as 16+ games while to my knowledge each Yakuza game basically tells its own story without requiring too much knowledge of prior stories to enjoy the games.

 

[ZoddGuts]

You'd enjoy the game if you're looking for something that's more of a immersion sim/adventure game. The Yakuza games lean towards more on the action adventure side of things. As for the port, Digital Foundry stated it's a good port, it doesn't run 60fps because it might break the game with the way it was made. Seen GPU peformance test on the game, even if you have a 750ti, you can run this at 4K with all the settings on high. Game is low end PC build friendly.

https://youtu.be/yIlSg74ojgY?t=962

 

[mfkndggrfll]

I just tried the game myself and its pretty damn good. Those saying that you need nostalgia to enjoy this are wrong.

The story and writing are engaging enough, its cliche but well told.

If you love early polygon 3D art this game is still very impressive, the character faces are hand drawn and still look good.

Overall it plays just like a point n click adventure game but with tank controls instead.

The soundtrack by itself is a masterpiece.

If you like detective/mystery adventure games this game is a must.

 

[Dreed]

Update released:

Patch v2 is live! 06 September 2018
6 septembre - SEGA Dev
Hi Shenmue fans,

Patch v2 is now live! Thank you for the support and feedback from the community while the patch was in beta.

Patch notes (v2):

UI
• Fixed various instances of incorrect help screen text displayed around the game.
• Fixed various instances of incorrect button prompts being shown in the HUD.
• Fixed duplicated button prompts in QTE Title 2.
• Fixed an occasional issue when transitioning into the menu when in Shenmue 1.
• Fixed an issue with 2560 x 1080 UI resolutions.
• Fixed issues with resolutions wider than 2560.
• Fixed an issue with QTE prompts not flashing.

Controls
• Fixed inconsistencies when sparring in the dojo.

Graphical Issues
• Fixed various character skinning issues.
• Fixed an issue that caused bloom to re-enable itself when opening the notebook.
• Fixed an issue that would cause crushed blacks on some hardware setups.
• Fixed various instances of missing geometry and textures.
• Fixed various issues with cameras being incorrect in cut scenes.
• Fixed issues with hair sometimes rendering slightly transparent.
• Fixed some instances of missing facial animation.
• Fixed occasional issues with cloth rendering.

Miscellaneous
• Fixed an issue that caused increased CPU load on some hardware.
• Various stability improvements.
• Fixed a soft-lock when playing Shenmue 1 arcade games past Ryo’s bed time.
• Fixed an issue that could cause stuttering on monitors that support 75Hz refresh rates.
• The gong in Bunkado Antiques can now be interacted with.
• Fixing various instances of localisation issues.
• Fixed an issue in Shenmue 1 where sleeping would sometimes not update move experience.
• Various performance improvements.

Audio
• Fixed various instances of crackling background music.
• Fixed crackling while listening to cassettes.
• Fixed various issues with arcade game audio.
• Fixed issues with rain.
• Fixed issues with some sound effects not looping correctly.
• Fixed issues with some sound effects crackling.


We will continue to support Shenmue and will update you with further news in the Discussions section.

Thanks,
SEGA Dev

 

[TheHeroOfTime]

I've playing this recently on PS4. I played the first one back in the days as a kid, unfortunately I never had the chance of going too far on it since it was on a borrowed Dreamcast from my cousin. Overall I enjoying the remaster, I experienced no bugs for now. I really love how the game immerses you into it's world. No handholding, just a diary and then explore the neighborhoods in search of answers. The story is nothing really noticeable for now. But the rest is great. My only gripes with this remaster is thath they should have improved the textures and models a bit, along with the sound of the english voices. The sound in very low quality.

tl;dr

Is a walking simulator. But a great one.

 

[mfkndggrfll]

I just finished Shenmue 1 and hopped into the 2nd and its much better, its like S1 is one big tutorial to prepare you for the real adventure.

 

[aweigh]

KPOP IS CULTURAL APPROPRIATION

 

[LESS T_T]

Apparently there were remakes in the works but cancelled due to "budget constraints and development delays", and instead we got these remasters. Eurogamer got some footage: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2018-segas-cancelled-shenmue-remake

Revealed: Sega's cancelled Shenmue HD remake - with fully updated graphics
The path not taken.


Shenmue - a game of discovery and adventure. It's a timeless classic and one with a deep and fascinating history - which becomes even more compelling today. As we know, Sega tasked UK developer d3t with remastering Shenmue and its sequel for the current generation consoles and PC. What we received was a good game that brought classic Shenmue to today's machines, albeit with visuals based almost exclusively on the original AM2 assets. But what we now know is that prior to completing this work, plans were afoot for something considerably more ambitious - a comprehensive remake with completely revamped artwork more in step with the capabilities of the host platforms. We've seen it and today, you will too.

So, what's the story here? Well, the details are murky but as we understand it, this more in-depth remaster/remake was in development for quite some time before the plug was pulled due to budget constraints and development delays - and perhaps owing to concerns with the nature of some of the changes being made. We only have a rough idea of what happened and we can't presume to understand all of the business reasons behind Sega's change in direction, but the bottom line is that in common with other unfinished and cancelled projects, the work-in-progress video we received adds a further dimension to the history of one of gaming's most celebrated franchises.

Based on the video, there are a number of things we can tell about the ambitions behind the cancelled work. For starters, there's the suggestion of significant improvements to the rendering. Proper shadow maps are implemented, textures and foliage are of a much higher resolution while the complexity in geometry is increased: flat textured roof tiles and fence post become full 3D objects - it's the same game, the same environment, but substantially reworked. Foliage, trees and stone work benefits from all of the same improvements, light shafts are added in one location showcased in the video, while ambient occlusion - not a feature of the original game - is also added to the mix. NPCs are also upgraded, with increased geometry and new normal maps designed to increase the perception of detail. Compared to the original, there is a boost in detail but it feels less significant in this area. We'd say that there was still work to be done here.

The video also includes footage of Shenmue 2, suggesting that full remakes for both titles in progress. The enhancements here seem a little thinner on the ground - perhaps because it was earlier in development but again, texture detail is boosted significantly and the addition of shadow-maps adds depth to the environment. The same philosophy behind the upgrades seen in the first game extends to the second, though getting to see more content reveals more upgrades - like improved reflections in glass windows, for example.

Overall, the video of this discontinued version of Shenmue HD represents a fascinating, more ambitious and certainly more risky path for the project - which may explain why Sega decided to play it safe with a more conventional remaster based on existing art. Now, it's worth keeping in mind that this kind of situation is not uncommon - developers prototype ideas and projects all of the time and many never get made. That doesn't change the fact that - in my opinion at least - the quality of the remade assets really holds up here, and it's a shame that Sega pulled the plug on it.

What I would say is that some of the changes to lighting do have a significant impact on atmosphere, though - changing the ambience of the experience. Perhaps a cool feature here would have been a toggle between new and old graphics, similar to Halo: the Master Chief Collection? It would have been an ambitious component to include, but also well worth doing: one game with two intepretations of the artwork.

What I'm curious about is how the rendering changed on the backend between this build and the final release. The version of Shenmue HD that we received looks very much like the originals, without bringing any significant visual changes to the table. The extra bloom lighting we received is nice, of course, but would it have been possible to push further? Components like shadow maps and light shafts, for instance, would have been a great addition to the original assets, in the same way that the bloom effect integrated well with AM2's original work.

One takeaway I have from this video is that while we may not have received this version of Shenmue in the end, you can tell that a lot of love and care went into this project. As we understand it, this remake was developed by the same team that delivered the final remasters, and after this, there's the sense that the team were even more invested in the project than we thought.

That said, we do wonder if the late cancellation of the full remake did adversely affect the quality of the remastered version that eventually launched in August. I had a good experience playing that, but it's clear now that there were plenty of bugs present in certain areas of the game. The good news is that a lot of the major issues have been corrected with the current patch - but it's not clear if the remaining flaws will ever be touched upon. It's certainly clear that this was a challenging project and knowing what we know now, I think it's perhaps more understandable why the final release has these issues.

As for the status of the remake shown here today? We asked Sega for comment and will update with any response, but our understanding is that this video represents the tip of the iceberg and that a significant amount of more advanced work was completed. Whether we'll ever see it remains to be seen, but what we know is that a PC build does exist somewhere out there - and in the same way that foota of the early prototype Saturn version of the original Shenmue emerged some years on, maybe we'll see more of the this remake in the years to come.

 

[Jenkem]

Bought this at launch because I'm a Shenmue fanboy (even went to Yokosuka for a day when I was in Japan--it was neat.) Decided to wait for patches and then decided to wait to play it in-synch with the dates in the game and play one in-game day a day to live the life of RYO! Game starts on November 29, so I started it up and forgot about the time skip after the intro so now I can't play it until December 3.

 

[Shackleton]

Bought this at launch because I'm a Shenmue fanboy (even went to Yokosuka for a day when I was in Japan--it was neat.) Decided to wait for patches and then decided to wait to play it in-synch with the dates in the game and play one in-game day a day to live the life of RYO! Game starts on November 29, so I started it up and forgot about the time skip after the intro so now I can't play it until December 3.

Rated

because there is no rating for 'I am concerned for your mental health' .

To really go the whole hog, you should get a job moving crates.

 

[A horse of course]

I was in Japan

lmao

 

[Jenkem]

Yes I was somewhere in this world where the game takes place and decided to check it out when I had a free day, sorry I'm not sitting 24/7 in my basement in some shithole in eastern europe peeling potatoes 10 hours a day because it's my only source of food and entertainment.

 

[aweigh]

I used to listen to my metal CD collection in alphabetical order back when I was a teenager because of fear of growing tired of my favorite ones.

Congratulations, this is nothing compared to your autism!