So as some of yous may or may not know, I've never finished Shenmue 1, so finally after years of procrastinating I've bought it again, along with Shenmue 2. And as I hope to play these games through for the first time in like 15 years I also hope to document my feelings in this thread. If anyone else wants to play with me please do so, but I'm aware it's the holiday season and people are busy. I'll try and document my feelings if and when I can but no guarantees on me seeing this thread through.



Anyway, first day of playing:


Bloody hell the Dreamcast is cute little console! When did consoles stop being cute?
Bloody hell the menu presentation is attractive!
Bloody hell this game is attractive! I hear a lot about 2D or heavily stylized games like Wind Waker being considered timeless, but really Shenmue is right up there with them in my opinion. It's simply gorgeous! A perfect marriage of wonderful art and masterful interpretation into technology. To be honest I can't think of many other fully 3D, non cel shaded games that have aged as well. It's more like the character have been carved out of wood than rendered in computer graphics. A HD re release would probably make this better looking than 90% of current gen games.


Lan Di is an amazing villian. Right up there with Darth Vadar. And the choreography of the opening is brilliant.


After a decade of reading about the game, but not playing it, I'm finally seeing so many of the things I missed when I was 13. Pouring though the  draws of the Hazuki household. Seeing the draws full of white tee shirts and jeans in Ryo's room did make me laugh. It's also my first time to trigger the cut scene of young Ryo learning how to eat carrots and pulling the console out of cupboard, or seeing the fish in the pond. Wonderful. I was forcefully made aware of the routine of the characters when I happened to be standing next to the Buddhist shirine in the house when Ine san happened to go for a prayer session, and I was stuck in a corner until she finished. Fuku san staring in what I presume is a mournful fashion at the bare tree outside also really brought home the tragedy.


The Mise en scene through out the game so far is also wonderful. The Hazuki household feels suitably austere yet homely. In fact, everything in this game feels thoroughly lived in and real, and the location's are wonderful, from the homely neighborhoods near the dojo to bustling Doubita. . But most of all the community. Nobody is a nobody, nearly everyone knows one another here, and have probably grown up together. Ryo knows nearly everyone on a name basis from the shop keepers to the little kids playing in the street. Everyone is someone, everyone has their own life, and it really makes you care about them all. When Ine, who tirelessly tends to the house while Ryo is off on his tunnel vision quest for revenge, tells me for a second time to please not come home later than 11 o'clock because she worries ( more than understandable when your dad was just murdered few days prior) I genuiely felt bad for coming home so late.


The other major revelation to me, is how good Corey Marshall's performance is! People have complained for so long that it's "emotionless" and robotic that I came to accept it as fact, that his performance was not a good one. But NO, he is absolutely stellar!  And I mean genuinely, not just in a so bad it's good way (though Tom is certainly in that category). A mere four days after witnessing the murder of his father, Ryo's mourning period appears to well and truly be over, he's quelled the burning pain of his agony with an icey cold mission of revenge. Even when praying at the shrine in his house he dedicates his prayers to "getting" the guys who killed his dad. As far as I've played, Ryo has no emotionally expressive dialogue or introversion at all, one can only presume he's distracting himself from his sorrow with his quest.  Even in his interaction with other characters he's written to be short, interested almost exclusively in furthering his mission, and more than up for a fight. Of course this could be interpreted to simply be lazy writing, but nonetheless Corey makes the most of it, portraying a polite but icey cold youth who has gone numb inside. Even when some characters ask him rather ridiculously if he's "alright after his rough time" or to "cheer up" Corey's replies seem to almost contain an element of sarcasm in their responses of "yeah yeah I'm fine". 

Anyway I've just got up to discovering the tattoo parlor. Look forward to playing more.

What is your favorite little touch in the Shenmue games? You know, like the small specific detail that blowed your mind the most.

I think I mentioned this in the other thread, for me it's how in Shenmue 2 when that airplane passes overhead the game will insist you pause your inexorable quest for revenge and enter a cut scene where Ryo will just gaze up at it. Mind blowing.