#shenmue

[chiyoumen]

⚠️ RECENTLY DISCOVERED SHENMUE CONCEPT RELICS!

it would appear that Ren has more in connection to the Mongolia Horse Tribe than we previously thought. Who is the mysterious woman here? It looks like she could've been a key player in Ren's plotline. 🤔

(this was brought to my attention by @Shenmue-Village987 on Instagram!)

[sonichedgeblog]

Obtaining Knuckles 'Shenmue' Dreamcast Support us on Patreon

[marcythatdamnraccoon]

Also forgot to mention that my Ryo Hazuki jacket came in. Not sure if I'll wear it out much, but I'm glad I own it now. Shenmue 1 & 2 are two of my favorite games

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"Ah, good!"

[vgadvisor]

[ranchstoryblog]

Beyond the Farm: A Dramatic Martial Arts Detective Life Sim?

Long, long ago; in the year 1999, the term "life sim" wasn't used as often or understood as well as it is today. Boku no Natsuyasumi wouldn't release for another year, Animal Crossing was two years away, and reviewers were struggling to determine what a game like Harvest Moon 64 was. Often, instead of putting it alongside simulation games, choosing to place it among RPGs instead.

At this time, one of the biggest game developers in the industry had everything to prove for their next generation console. One of their most legendary creators was putting together something that could influence the entire gaming landscape, building systems modern games would take for granted from scratch. A game that sought to simulate real life as closely as possible.

Positing itself as an epic kung fu saga, most of Shenmue's promotional material focuses on action and adventure that happened to have an impressive world to explore. Upon release, players would quickly find it was almost the exact opposite. A world to live in, one day at a time, with a kung fu adventure somewhere in the backdrop. So, 25 years later, let's look at it through the lens of a life sim.

Living in Shenmue

Though the game opens with a dramatic set-up, your father murdered before your eyes by a mysterious man belonging to a foreign crime organization for reasons unknown, the first gameplay element introduced to you isn't how to throw a punch or a kick. Instead, upon exiting your home for the first time, you encounter a little girl taking care of an orphan kitten, and being pretty ill-prepared for it.

If the player chooses to visit this kitten every single day, using their small 500 yen daily allowance on cat food instead of toys, video games, or candy, they can watch the kitten recover over the next few weeks. Starting from barely being able to stand or eat, shivering in a cardboard box, to eventually exploring freely and climbing to the top of the nearby shrine, triumphant over its adversity.

This entirely optional side-quest is more or less an introduction to one of the main ways to play the game. While following your trail of clues to find your father's killer is one thing, establishing a daily routine that helps work towards tangible goals or experience new things is just as important. Some of these activities improve the protagonist's skills, like practicing martial arts in an empty lot to level-up and evolve moves, while others will challenge the player's skill, like getting good at motorcycle racing game "Hang On" so that a later challenge where you're driving a real motorcycle is a bit easier.

Contemporary games in the simulation genre tended to saddle you with a routine-focused task from the outset, such as a business to run or a field to plow, so it was certainly novel to simply be a jobless teenager trying to find a way to fill your days as seemingly every new step in your main goal required you to wait for someone else before moving forward.

Shenmue's Inhabitants

Of course, it's not just the player involving themselves with a daily routine. Hundreds of NPCs populate the world, each one with distinct personalities, backstories, and full voice-over. If you want, you can follow someone leaving their home in the morning, watch them open their store, walk in, examine every little thing on their shelves, and then pester them all day with questions about if any local gangsters with tattoos have stopped by their antique china shop lately.

On the rare occasions where you don't have any leads to follow, you can actually get to hear more about what they're thinking about. Some of them are familiar with the protagonist and ask how he's doing, or even visit him at home if they're worried, and others will just let you in on their personal life, like relationship troubles. Maybe try to teach you some Italian. If you forget to say hi while exploring town, maybe pick up the phone and call them in the evening.

Unfortunately, it's somewhat rare to get much insight in-game. Perhaps due to the technological hurdles of having everyone voiced and simply not having enough room for that many unique sound files, but the initial release of the game did also come with an online enabled companion disc called "Shenmue Passport." In it, every character in the game, including the dogs and cats, has a bio that includes a paragraph or two about their lives and various stats like birth dates and blood type. Though the feature has gone offline since then, fans have recreated it with a mobile app called "Suka Pass."

The Nature of Shenmue

While most of Shenmue's gameplay occurs in urban environments, plenty of attention was given to the nature the player experiences as well. When it rains, mud and puddles form; when it snows, you can hear it crunching beneath your feet, and tire tracks line the streets. Though you can easily complete the game before the end of December, ignoring the story until as far as April lets you experience the world turning greener, cherry blossoms blooming, and dandelions sprouting up. For some extra verisimilitude, you can even use the real life weather data from 1986/1987 Yokosuka to have the in-game weather match. Pretty impressive stuff for 1999.

However, one of the most memorable moments in the series comes from the end of Shenmue 2. On the fourth disc of the game, where one might normally expect there to be grand spectacle, action, or conquest, there's something else entirely: A chance encounter where you meet someone who's going the same way you're going, followed by a two-day walk and talk where you get to know one another. There are no wolves chasing you, dangerous decisions to make, or villains with chainsaws. There are, however, some colza blossoms that just bloomed. You have to take a detour to see them, but doesn't it sound nice? Why not, since we're here.

More than any action scene, sprawling city street, or technological advancement for the medium, this is the moment that defines what Shenmue is. A mundane world that exists all around you, and feels like it could go on forever if you suspend your disbelief for just a moment. If there's one thing I think any life sim should try to replicate from Shenmue, it's this. The grandeur of this slow walk through the woods where you get to ask a stranger dozens of questions, and answer dozens in return. The more common "two minute event where you can pick the good choice or the bad choice" can't compare.

Only 3.6% of you asked for more posts about life sims that aren't Story of Seasons, but I didn't want to leave those of you who wanted it out to dry. I might still do another one at some point, something more "typical" like Fields of Mistria, but I hope this was interesting for you. While it wasn't one of the more popular requests, and it requires a lot more work than a meme, or just more of the same, it's worth doing so long as someone enjoys it.

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'Shenmue II'

[DC] [JAPAN] [MAGAZINE] [2001]

"As the Shenmue story was originally envisioned as one video game, development of Shenmue II ties directly with that of Shenmue I. The concept of a second part of Shenmue only came into fruition in early 1999, when the game was split in two, with the first chapter set to appear in August 1999 and the second in December. For the US release, both halves would be distributed as the same package, but as time went on, the first part was expanded, the second part delayed (into 2001), and further parts were planned. Prior to the split, most of the development work which had occurred had focused on Ryo's adventures in Hong Kong, so when the game was unveiled at the Shenmue Seisaku Happyoukai in December 1998, almost all of the footage was that of locations that would be featured in Shenmue II rather than the first Shenmue. Characters such as Ren, Xiuying and Wong, neither of which appear in the first game (and Shenhua, whos appearances were fleeting), were shown in trailers and openly discussed, as were scenes of Wan Chai, Kowloon and Guiling. Several quick time events from these areas were also discussed and demonstrated, as were mechanics such as part-time jobs and gambling, neither of which appear in the first game. By the middle of 1999, development on would become Shenmue II was paused in order to concentrate on releasing the first game, with Network Jungle II: Digitaliland (in May 1999) being one of the last trade events to discuss the wider Shenmue saga. Work on Shenmue II is expected to have picked up again after the eventual release of the first game in December 1999, though new details did not become public until late 2000, after the first game's localisation (and the release of US Shenmue in Japan)." ~Sega Retro

Source: Dorimaga JP, 8/10/2001 (#6) || RetroCDN; Akane

[robdogdraws]

🌀 9.9.99 🌀

[abgcomics]

Nozomi's free time.

[posthumanwanderings]

What’s Shenmue? (AM2 / Sega - Dreamcast - 1999)

[teathattast]

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Dreamcast Magazine (JP) #23, May '99 - 'Shenmue' cover. Support us on Patreon

[sonichedgeblog]

Obtaining Super Sonic 'Shenmue' Dreamcast

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[owomon]

[videogamerzero1]

Tarosuke written as a perverted child to adult women in Project X Zone 2 is perhaps what made the game be bait to the worst kind of gooner audiences. It's ridiculous how this scene got past the localized censors unnoticed in the other western countries.

I think what's crazier is that Tarosuke alongside Kite, Haseo & Ryo get hit on by Urashima & Saya which is gross why is there p*dophilia!? In a game that so many people I've met that is like "it's supposed to be dumb fun!" I get dumb fun but this is moronic & why I'll always actively trash on this garbage series