Shenmue is one of those rare games that come along every now and then that shows people how much further games could go than where it is now. Everything about this game is totally revolutionary, except for the fact that no one else wants to use the ideas in the game, making it that much more original. Shenmue is one of the greatest Dreamcast games, and one of the greatest games of all time. The gameplay is what really stands out in Shenmue. Sure, the control is... odd... but once you put that aside and start playing Darts, Hang-on, petting a kitty, feeding a kitty, winning random toys, learning moves from scrolls and such, and mastering each and every move Ryu gets, you understand exactly what the "FREE" system in Shenmue really means. Every person has their own life that they go through, you can do many more things than just go down one path through the story, and the down right realism is all part of the "FREE" system Yu Suzuki created for Shenmue. If that just doesn't sound exciting enough for a game, you're probably right. To add more excitment to the game, QTE's and Free Battles were put into Shenmue. QTE is an abbreviation for "Quick Time Event," where the game goes into a cinematic view, with a flashing button on the screen that you have to press quickly to see Ryu automatically kick someone's butt, or to avoid obstacles, or whatever is going on on the screen. It may not be much while when reading, but QTE's really add a huge fun factor and excitement to the gameplay. The Free Battles are what you think they are. They're battles where you go ahead and beat up everything that tries to beat you up. Yu Suzuki added a nice flavor in the battles by giving Ryu some Virtua Fighter moves, making the battles have that much more depth, and some realism. The fighting engine is good enough to be in it's own fighting game, and it works perfectly here. The fighting engine does get a bit floaty though, but it doesn't really affect the gameplay much at all. The story is incredibly well written, and expands 3 Shenmue games. Only the beginning is shown here, leaving much to be desired, but it still is good enough to keep you going on your search to avenge your father's death. I mean RYU'S father's death. This is only the tip of the iceberg with gameplay in Shenmue. To tell all about the gameplay, this would need to be about 5-10 pages long of my endless ramblings. The best way is to find out yourself. The graphics, at the time, were beyond anything ever seen in video games. From the environments, to the character models, to... well, just about anything, the graphics were unsurpassed in the history of gaming. It has been long surpassed now of course, but it still looks incredibly good, even for a 2000 Dreamcast game. (Urgh, I thought I'd never say that. Sorry Dreamcast.) The game looks incredibly realistic, with each and every area looking close to a real place. (which it is, but I don't have prove of what it Yokosuka looks like.) The only real issue I have is that the dubbing is off, not quite as off as it's sequel, but other than that, this game looks great. The score is brilliant. Beyond Final Fantasy brilliant. Everything works so perfectly with the background, you start questioning how much of that $70 billion budget went into the music alone. It is surpassed almost anything ever heard. Something that only hearing would be believing. Now to the area where Shenmue isn't even close to perfect, or good for that matter: Voice Acting. Yes, you'll notice right away that each and every person in the game has a distinct voice. Another thing you'll notice soon after is that this has got to be one of the worst voice acting ever heard in a video game. Where did Sega hire these English actors?! Ryu Hazuki sounds bored with his own mission, nearly all the other people in the world are about the same, and no actors seem to have put any effort into their acting at all. URGH! WHY didn't they put the option to switch to Japanese actors in there is beyond me. I'd rather listen to a language I don't understand than play through people who sound like their lives suck. BUT, because of the fantastic score, and the other various good sound effects, this still gets a 9. I think that should get the message through on how good the music is. There is too many things to do in only a 6 month game span. Wait, that's plenty of time. Either way, even when you pass it, you'll be coming back every now and then to play through this experience again, because you like Ryu Hazuki's life better than your own's. Shenmue, is in a word, Brilliant. Everything in Shenmue is executed in the most perfect way, (besides the voice acting of course) and proves to be among the ranks of greatest games of all time. Why Gamespot gave it a 7.8 is beyond me.
Other Helpful Reviews for Shenmue: Isshou Yokosuka
there's no doubt of that shenmue is a great game and the game itself is a reason to buy the sega dreamcast . the story is very simple you are ryo hazuki ,a japanese young man that saw his life destroyed when his fa... Read Full Review
This game made me buy a DC When i first saw it i was AMAZING by the graphics, and the music and story drug me in This game is a real masterpiece, simple enough The only game you will ever find like this is Shenmue 2 ... Read Full Review
