I will immediately make a reservation that I was wrong in the sense that I decided to indicate the genre “Beating them all” for such a multifaceted and multi -fed -up game as Shenmue (I could not pass by this game, although it is not 100% fiting or bit an em). I have unusual game elements, unusual features associated with freedom of action and small optional for studying the part. SEGA was split and allocated for the development of the first part and continuing about 40-70 million dollars (the amount is different everywhere). It was hoped that the hit would shoot at the brand new Dreamcast and would give the SEGA company, besides glory, also a sky -high income (in the style of what the GTA series now brings Rockstar), but it did not work out. Critics and players praised the game for everything that was possible, but they didn’t buy to buy. In any case, in order to pay off, each owner of the DreamCast system should buy the game at least twice. The developers thus somehow scrape 1.2 million profits and received from Sega to scold for the work done. The third part ultimately had to be canceled. Until 2015 Shenmue remained an unfinished game, the end of which the fans no longer dared to dream. But the official announcement of Shenmue III took place at the conference of Sony, as part of the exhibition E3 2015. The series was given a second chance. Does Shenmue deserve glory and honors? What is so special about it? Maybe the project was not bought by the owners of the prefix DreamCast? I will answer all these questions after I am fighting with a schoolboy who spends all the money earned at work in the port of SEGA toys.

I am VS Shenmue

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How the legend was created: The main person standing behind the creation of Shenmue is Yu Suzuki, leader, producer and screenwriter in one person. This man created for the company Sega Hits all his life. He made an incredibly beautiful series of Outrun races and a Virtua Fighter Fighter Fighter series known for his bias towards realism and complete 3D. Several times in an interview with Yu Suzuki, he stated that at the early stages of development in the game, a traditional RPG-style was used, based on the storyline and characters of the Virtua Fighter Games series. At first the game was called GUPPY. Then she became called Virtua Fighter RPG: Akira’s Story. The main character instead of Ryo Hazuki should initially be Akira from Virtua Fighter. Ryo differs from Akira, but a very clear visual similarity between them is present. As the game is developed, the characters became original, and the storyline moved away from Virtua Fighter. Shenmue was originally created for the Sega Saturn console. Although the console was very powerful for its time, it was not easy to work with it, and the development of the game went very slowly. Yu Suzuki noted how difficult it was to get the maximum return from the console, but he was very proud of the quality of the image on a 32-bit system. Initially, the game was supposed to reach the Sega Saturn console as a mixture of the Virtua Fighter playing series and RPG Games, but after the console failure, the project was stopped. Nevertheless, Sega has already begun work on creating a new console called “Katana” (what an interesting name), later renamed “Dreamcast”, and Shenmue work quickly resumed with renewed vigor. In the game you can see the brand of the cigarette "Katana" – this name means a tribute to the former name.

Here is a frame from a completely early version of the game on Sega Saturn.

AM2 developers planned to make https://spinsheavencasino.uk/ a game of cinematographic, with complete voice acting and realistic scenes of battles. After a trip to China, to search for locations suitable for the game and simply in a search for inspiration, Yu Suzuki made the main four topics for the game: “Sadness”, “Boy”, “Leaving from the Homeland” and “Start Living from the Clean Leaf”. In this version of the story, Akira had to overcome his grief after his father’s death, go to China, defeat the antagonist, and start traveling with a new friend. Already during the development of a game with a new character on the DreamCast system, the developers announced that the game will have its own unique Free genre “Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment” (you can translate as “full reactive entertainment for the eyes”. I think the developers wanted to say that you can interact with everything that the main character sees. Exceptions, in fact, are very few. It’s not for nothing that the game came up with their genre, because it is unique and you can’t confuse it with anything (even the games of the Yakuza and Way of the Samurai series, which were largely inspired by Sheenmue, only took as the basis some interesting game elements and developed them as the developers wanted to. Shenmue substitute did not work out). In 1998, the Sega showed the public a demo version of the game, named Project Berkeley. The audience was delighted with the unprecedented interactive entertainment with incredible graphics and music from the composer Yuzo Kosiro (he made music for Streets of Rage, Sonic the Hedgehog, Batman Returns and T.D.). AM2 focused on the development of the world of the game, creating a large open environment with mini-players and additional quests. The developers worked with internal decorators to design more than 1200 (!) premises and locations. Created 300 NPCs with their own names, characters and even voices (all are voiced!). And creating an algorithm for changing the time of day, as well as weather phenomena, developers were checked with metrological indicators for 1986 in that area of ​​Japan where the game takes place. Needless to say, all the scenes were created in real time without the use of FMV, but using the seizure of the movements of real experts in Japanese martial arts? A colossal job was done. And nothing went as smoothly as we would like, for example, in the game by 1999 there were 10,000 unresolved bugs. One NPC could get stuck in the store going there because of the script of his behavior (they decided this business by increasing the doorway). Every day already finished elements were decided and remade. The use of Coca-Cola and Timex brands also created problems, since AM2 had to implement them in the game in accordance with the specifications of the companies. Yu Suzuki called the biggest development problem – this is the management of more than 300 employees who had not yet been engaged in the creation of such a large video game project.

And then the game was released on December 29, 1999 exclusively on the DreamCast console. What do you think she is so badly sold? Undoubtedly, the fat budget played an angry joke with the developers and hopes of the large company Sega, but the matter is not only this. The DreamCast system itself was sold incredibly bad. Think about the phrase "Shenmue – this is the fourth of the best -selling game on the system". And here most likely is considered both the first and the second part. Three other “best -selling” games also did not extend the console from the mud to the tinches. Is it worth it to be surprised that after that the Sega threw the idea to create her own console and fight Nintendo? You can, however, recall another great game that the same fate befell. I’m talking about okami on ps2. It was poorly sold not only because it came out at the time of sunset of the console’s life, but also because of the disregard from Capcom. No advertising and promotion by magazines. Shenmue was still promoted, but the game killed the system before she was born. Too much product for such a small console, I think.

Plot: The main character of the game, Ryo Hazuki, upon returning home becomes a witness to his father’s death. Necko Lan Dee committed an insidious murder, before this force, taking the ry mirror of a dragon from his father. Ryo decides to take revenge on Lan di for the death of his father and goes into an epic adventure in the wake of the killer. Trying to find Lan Dee, Ryo falls into many unpleasant situations that arise in the majority due to the fact that Lan di is a rather authoritative person in the rows of mafiosi. But out of most situations, Ryo hardly comes out with the help of friends, good luck, or with the help of a fight. The plot of its simplicity is similar to classic Chinese militants, but it is still impossible to break away from what is happening. The hero follows the path of justice, fights with a cut and tries to be a good friend for all the inhabitants of the village.

Game features: I would divide the gameplay of the game into three pieces. The first piece is a calm and measured part, where we walk, look, communicate and engage in trifles of life. The little things are sometimes so small that it doesn’t fit in the head, how and why did you decide to do it. In the house of the protagonist, you can inspect every inconspicuous corner, turn all the objects in your hands that they catch his eye, turn off and turn off all the switches, call a friend, even practice in the father’s dojo. We start a conversation with a person for one digging, and on the other we open a personal notebook that helps the hero with the search for evidence. There is an opportunity to run. There is an inventory where you can put everything that is useful and even is useless during adventure. Sometimes you can even do nothing, but just stand, study the wristwatch on the hand that goes in real (game) time and look at the surrounding world that lives its own life. Susing time on Shenmue is also the main game feature and it should be noted that sometimes the developers use it not too successful. This is a trifle, of course, but in its own way spoiling the impression. We walk around the village and get information, but to continue the plot, the player will need to wait for the next day and then approach a certain place at a certain hour. The game is a leisurely adventure where the player, for the most part, must entertain itself. The first Shenmue is scolding for this, but I believe that this is a minus only partly, because the leisurely pace of the game helps the player get used to the role and take the world for his native. When you press a button that shifts the view from the third to the first person, you can inspect the faces of the characters, the names of streets, trees, animals, etc. in all details.D. Searching the city for the presence of the killer of his father, the hero will fall into many difficult situations where it will be necessary to reveal complex riddles and ask the inhabitants trying to catch the grain of the necessary information from their words. One will say the name, the other address, and someone will even send to hell, but everyone will have their own reaction to the player. I have never seen this anywhere else, except in l.A. Noire (the game was clearly inspired by the Shenmue series in terms of interactivity). The village in which the main character is small, but filled to capacity with interesting places and people. You can go to the bar at night and ordering milk to play billiards. There is a slot machine with real games that SEGA once released (for example, Space Harrier). Do not go to Bowling with a cousin, but you can spend money in a store on music cassettes (the game takes place in 1986, if that), batteries for flashlights, chips and toys for the collection. You can even go to work at the warehouse as a loader and feed (stroke!) a kitten living next to your house. Do everything you like, because the game is rich in opportunities.

Yes, this is Sonic!

The second piece of the game is Quick Time of the Event. It’s a little wrong to call Shenmue the pioneer in QTE, because before that this has already been, for example, in Dragon’s Lair. But the local QTE have their own price and importance. They add to the game of excitement and kinemotagrophy. Sometimes if the player failed in execution, then he is not even given a second chance and has to look for an alternative path of passage (but in the first part is a rare occurrence, to be honest). But the QTE is very responsive and logical (you press the buttons that are responsible for certain movements, and not just a random combination of keys). The third piece of the game is a bit um ap. Fights. Sometimes you have to fight bandits, mafiosi or drunkards. The combat system is very similar to the one that is present in Virtua Fighter with four main action buttons (capture, hand, kick and leaving to the side). In some stores, you can buy scrolls with techniques, ask the unfulfilled experts about whether they know interesting movements, and also just practice before going to bed. The fighting does not seem superfluous and perfectly complements the game. In addition, it contrasts well with a calm and sometimes monotonous part where the hero just walks around the village and does nothing. In this game there is no fact that the casual player or player with experience would not like. There is everything for everyone.

Graphics: Incomparable. For your time, just something incredible. For the DreamCast system something unimaginable (although there were games with excellent graphics, against which PC did not always look good). Various weather phenomena, change of day and night, high -quality details of characters in which the main character and all NPCs look equally good. Even animation at heights. With the game at that time, no one could compare on the quality of the graphics. It can only be Soul Calibur, Metal Gear Solid, No One Lives Forever and Resident Evil: Code Veronica can compete with this video game giant, but they will have to try hard.
Sound and music: I already wrote above who had a hand in creating musical accompaniment of the game (Yuzo Kosiro, and with him Takenobu Mitsuyi). It is just beautiful. There are tracks for all occasions from drama and ending with comedy. Most of the music can even be skipped by the ears because it is on the shelves of the stores and it must be bought and listened separately in her personal player. Yes, the main character of the game listens to her with the player. What else is needed for complete immersion? All NPCs are voiced in the game and each has more than one line of dialogs, but a few different from what the weather is on the street, how much time is now and what the main character wants from this character. Moreover, the voice acting is both Japanese and English (the latter, however, is not an option for those who want to plunge into the game with their heads).

The final assessment

1-terrible (something at the superman level 64)
2 – bad (big problems, most likely in mechanics and gameplay)
3 – average (balances on the verge. Cons help pluses and vice versa)
4-Okay (graphics, music or something still does not let the game take off to heaven)
5 – Divine
K.O.: The disadvantages of the game are insignificant and almost invisible elements that do not spoil the overall impression at all. In some places it seems that the game is more than a demo of a much larger product (and partly so, taking into account the fact that the second part is even more and better than the original), but even in this form a huge amount of time can be spent in the game. Sometimes even nothing gives a tremendous pleasure. Freedom of choice is amazing, Quick Time is delighted, and the fighting adds excitement. Such a quality of execution and other developers still cannot achieve in their projects. Moreover, sometimes they simply forget to add the most important thing – soul and love. Funny, but the developers of Shenmue clearly loved their brainchild and this can be seen by all kinds of small details of which the game is filled to failure. I recommend Shenmue to all those who love good adventure games, projects with complete freedom of action and interactive films.

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