I have finally completed Shenmue, spending almost whole days becoming a part of Ryo's world, even feeling that I was Ryo. I've got to say, that without a shadow of a doubt this is the best video game I've ever played. This game tops Final Fantasy VII and Ocarina of Time in my view as the best video game of all time thus far. I'm totally serious when I say this. The game really captured my attention and maintained it thoughout from the first time I pressed start to the final scene. I can only say that it was phenomenal, beautiful, unparalleled, and revolutionary. This game goes down in the annals of gaming history as being the benchmark for all other games to follow. It's just beyond compare. I mean, words alone can not describe the level of satisfaction I received while playing this game. There's just no comparison point here.
Shenmue's graphics are by far the best and most realistic of any 3-D game to date. This game is a poorman's holodeck (a new phrase I've coined in relation to games like Shenmue) in terms of realism and total immersiveness. Everything is rendered, from socks and underwear in his dresser drawers, to dirty bricks on the side of buildings, to soda cans, to grass, to rips in seat covers, to cracks in the sidewalk, to power lines, to wine bottles, to trees and plants, to dogs and cats roaming freely in the streets, to motorcycles, to people's faces, to wood texture of furnature, to cockroaches in Ryo's kitchen cupboard, to fenses, to that wheelbarrow that is always laying a little ways down Yamanose street by his house, to the toy capsule machines, to the snow that drifts down, to the stars that twinkle at night, to the wisps of his girlfriend Nozomi's hair, to the metal panelling of the werehouses, to the the bus schedule near the bus stop, to the exact reflection of mirrors, to the scuffed dirt on the floor, to the ketchup bottle and the menu's on the tables in Ajiichi Chinese Restaurant, to the flow of the water in the harbor, and to the entirety of this world Ryo occupies. Vitrually EVERYTHING that you might find in reality has been made manifest in this game. The level of detail in the graphics alone is astounding. Ryo himself is a very difinative character, more than an actor in a movie he become you as you play this game. I can tell that a great deal of work went into this game. The utter attention to detail in the graphics is beyond compare. If it were the graphics alone this game is great, but couple with this everything else that makes up this complete experience, and it becomes legendary. I just can't describe the beauty of this game visually with words alone. It is a sight to behold. Perhaps Playstation 2 pushes more polygons than this and probably would have been a little bit smoother but for what I saw there's nothing on any other system besides maybe Metal Gear Solid 2 (not released yet) that comes close. This proves that the Sega Dreamcast has what it takes to keep up with the rest of the pack in terms of quality. There were times while playing this game where I just stared in amazement at the visual banquet displayed before me. Hell, this even beats The Matrix at times in terms of out and out finesse. Simply a work of pure genius.
To immerse the gamer even further into this virtual world the ambiance of Ryo's surroundings are in direct relation to the sheer beauty of the graphics. The music doesn't get in the way of gameplay, but when a dramatic event transpires in the game it ebbs into the foreground of the events happening, maintaining a very movielike and dramatic feel. Music can even be bought in the form of tapes at convienience stores and shops to play in Ryo's tape recorder. You can even walk up to Juke Boxes and play music from Shenmue. At Christmas time Christmas Music plays in the shopping district, Dobuita. The dialogue in this game goes beyond the scope of the word comprehensive. Every single person you see in Shenmue speaks verbally, and there are many many people to talk to, more than hundreds, and Ryo himself speaks and initiates coversation (something missing from RPG's). Remeniscent of Metal Gear Solid the dialogue carries the storyline along, but there is just such a vast array of different characters not even related to Ryo's quest that you can become acquanted with and learn their distinctive personalities. The sound effects run the gamut from birds chirping, to rain drops falling on cement, to the sounds of distant cars, to the sounds of music bleeding from the interior of buildings to the outside, to the murmur of people talking in the distance, to the sounds of Ryo's shoes on pavment and grass. Sounds are when and where you expect them to be if you were really there. This just beats about everything I've ever seen in terms of auditory replication. Unbeliveable.
I've played my lot of games in life and few games manage to take gameplay to this level of greatness. Metal Gear Solid came close, Zelda: The Ocarina of Time was exceptional in this regard, and Final Fantasy VII added much for gamers to experience that made it legendary. Shenmue takes what made those games unique and memorable and exemplifies it to the utmost degree. Shenmue itself doesn't fall into any Genre I can decern. It's not an Adventure game, it's not an RPG (although it leans a little on this), it's not a Platformer, it's not a Sim, It's not a Fighter, or a Racer, yet it manages to merge all these genres into a total gaming experience like none other. It's been dubbed with the title of a new genre of gaming called F.R.E.E, or Fully Reactive Eyes Entertainment. In Shenmue, you explore your surroundings can open every drawer, flip every light switch, and lift up many objects. There events that happen in quicktime that you must be able to react to quickly to progress. There are other times where you must use your reflexes to fight it out Final Fight style or Virtua Fighter and battle foes as you would in a fighting game. Ryo has well around several dozen various moves he can accomplish to defeat his opponents. Like any fighting game these moves are initiated by a set of controller instructions. Shenmue has not only the game as it is itself, it has with it, in Ryo's environment an arcade where you can actually play two Sega classics, HangOn, and Space Harrier, then their's a virtual darts game in the arcade, and a scored punching game where you use your reflexes to press the controller and you can achieve a higher score. The gameplay itself impliments quicktime events as well as Final Fight style street brawling, exploration, puzzle solving. There are even Forklift races, and Ryo has to work at a job, and while playing the game moving those crates from one werehouse to another, it even feels like a job, you will find yourself going to the lounge just to play a game of darts after moving those crates. Although the game is very comprehensive, it is kind of easy to beat Shenmue, I've never once seen a "Game Over" screen except at the arcade. Usually if you screw up you can go back to the beginning of the event where you failed.
The storyline is captivating from beginning to end. I found myself just totally engrossed into the plot and events of this game. The plot isn't necessarily on a confining rail where you have to follow the events all the time, but rather you can venture off and form your own plot at times and mingle into things. Sometimes there are little side plots and events that happen where you have the choice to do things or not. The ultimate goal of the game is to locate Lan Di, the Chinese Cartel Boss who killed his father. In searching for this man Ryo must uncover the secrets that lurk behind closed doors. Along with his main purpose for action, we see how Nozomi, Ryo's girlfriend grows closer to him and they struggle to express their emotions with each other. Events in Shenmue occur in realtime, meaning that if it's 11:30, then people usually go back to their houses and go to bed. The bars all open at night and the usual drunks come around and haunt the local pubs and taverns. Furthermore, the character dialogue is legendary with each person exemplifying a different personality trait. Some girls tell Ryo to "get lost you bastard. You stupid twit, I should kick your ass!" While other's may say, "If you are trying to pick me up, find someone else" or Miki, who likes Ryo will say, "Hey Ryo you want to go to a club or something? You can't blame me for trying?" Interestingly enough Ryo seems real shy around the girls at times and usually says that he has something else to do or he's real busy. I do have a feeling he cares most about Nozomi though. Plotwise this game is top notch.
Is Shenmue worth playing a second time or more? I would adamantly say yes. As I was playing the game Ryo would make notes in his Journal when specific important events happened or he got information vital to his quest, and by game's end I noticed that there were many empty sections in his journal. I would assume that there was something that was suppose to go there and I as of yet haven't uncovered. Another thing that I noticed was that there were many things that were date related events, like Christmas time when all the shops put up Christmas lights, and Santa Claus is walking in the streets. Nozomi mentioned that she wanted me to be with her on Christmas but as it turned out I was working on Christmas day, so perhaps the plot would have been different had I not been working on Christmas. I do see potential for many things to be uncovered and done in this game.
I have to say that Shenmue as a whole was a very satisfying experience, this game is better than anything I've played before. There's something to be said about quality games and when there are designers who are willing to put out the effort it makes the cost of the game worth every penny. If you own a Dreamcast, you must get this game, even if you don't own a Dreamcast, get it to play this game.
That's a clean sweep, a rare Video Gamer X complete 10 lineup. This is one of those titles that if you miss playing it, you are missing everything great about gaming. This kind of game goes beyond any genre to form it's own genre. Go get it before it disappears into history.
