Now Playing: Shenmue 3

I have very mixed feelings about Shenmue 3. It’s a game I’ve been waiting nearly 20 years to play but I didn’t go into it with any real expectations. I was just glad it existed, I guess, and that Yu Suzuki would finally have the chance to finish what he started all those years ago.

If you’ve read my first impressions, you’ll know I was actually pretty happy with how Shenmue 3 captured the spirit of the original games – both the good and the bad. In many ways, Shenmue 3 is dated, clunky, slow and irritating. It’s not a game I would recommend to new players, but Shenmue 3 feels like a game designed for the old fans, not one intended to win over new ones.

And I can’t say I didn’t enjoy what I played. It was nice returning to this world, to continue this story. The game panders hard on the nostalgia factor – from capsule toys, to forklift driving, to ‘I see’ – and I’m okay with that. It’s been nearly 20 years and a little nostalgia doesn’t hurt.

Shenmue 3 features two main locations – Bailu and Naiowu. Bailu is very reminiscent of Dobuita from Shenmue 1. Naiowu, on the other hand, is more reminiscent of Hong Kong from Shenmue 2. Both locations feature a similar structure of slow paced investigation, followed by an encounter with a ‘boss’ type thug you’ll need to learn a specific martial arts technique to defeat.

It is, as I said in my FI post, a little silly how Ryo’s power level has essentially been reset between games. Ryo fought and overcame far more challenging and skilled opponents in Shenmue 2 than the common, inept thugs he has trouble dealing with in Shenmue 3.

As you explore each location you’ll gain access to new areas, new people to speak with and new mini-games to waste time on. There’s nothing here that’s particularly new compared to the original games, aside from some rather underwhelming arcade games and a pretty annoying fishing activity.

The combat in Shenmue 3 isn’t as engaging or fun to learn as it was in the original games. You’ll really just assign a couple of simple combo moves to a single key and spam those – let your enemy commit to a strike, dodge to create an opening, press button to win. It’s basic and not very satisfying.

The original games had a nice sense of progression, of learning alongside Ryo – learning the correct timing, distance and the best situation in which to utilise particular moves – especially throws in Shenmue 2. It put you up against opponents with different move sets, requiring different tactics to defeat. Shenmue 3, on the other hand, is pretty much just a one button system that you’ll ‘master’ after only one fight.

As far as gameplay goes, Shenmue 3 treads a lot of the same ground the originals did, only with worse combat. It has more defined ‘side quests’ you can find and complete, but nothing very memorable or interesting. And this treading of old ground doesn’t just apply to the gameplay but sadly, to the story. 

I knew going into Shenmue 3 that the game wasn’t a conclusion. That felt like a risk – there was no guarantee this game would be successful enough to enable a Shenmue 4, 5 or however many more Yu Suzuki feels he needs to complete this tale. And the last thing any Shenmue fan wants is another 20 year wait to see what happens next.

But the fact that Shenmue 3 isn’t a conclusion isn’t really what bothers me – it’s more that for 90% or so of the game, nothing really f**king happens. The game spends most of its ‘plot’ confirming things we already knew or suspected from the ending of Shenmue 2. The overall Shenmue story remains pretty static, at least until the last fifteen minutes or so, when we finally get some plot development.

And then the game ends. Well f**k. Thirty hours of dicking around, 15 minutes of plot followed by another cliffhanger ending. Why do you do this to us, Yu Suzuki? Shenmue 3 was an opportunity to, if not complete the tale, at least move the story forwards significantly. But it doesn’t. It takes no more than a step or two.

The entire plot of Shenmue 3 feels like a first act. It doesn’t feel complete. Shenmue 1& 2 ended on a cliffhanger, but they felt like the natural conclusions to the plots within those games. In Shenmue 3, the game ends when it feels like the plot is just beginning.

And as much as I did like the nostalgia of Shenmue 3, I don’t see how they can get away with relying upon it for another game – if we even get one. Shenmue 3, that it exists at all, is kind of incredible. It may have represented the one – and only one – opportunity to finish the Shenmue saga.

I wouldn’t say I’m massively disappointed that they chose not to do that, but I am massively disappointed that they chose to push forward the plot as little as they did. And the problem now is, if they do get the opportunity to work on Shenmue 4, they can’t rely upon the same dated systems and nostalgia pandering like they did in Shenmue 3. Even old fans, like me, will be sick of that sh*t.

I’m glad Shenmue 3 happened and I’m glad I enjoyed it as much as I did. It feels like Shenmue, and I really did like returning to this world, story and characters. But I can’t say Shenmue 3 is a particularly good game, either. It is dated. It is irritatingly slow. The combat does kind of suck. And the story, sadly, kind of goes nowhere.

If Yu Suzuki does get the opportunity to make a Shenmue 4 I hope he realises it will likely be the last chance he has to finish this tale – and takes it. I won’t even mind if they re-use the Shenmue 3 engine and the bad combat if we can at least see the conclusion to the story. I’ve waited a long time for this. If Shenmue 3 really is the end, I guess I can live with it. But it didn’t have to be this way. I think that’s what bothers me the most.

6/10