This game is breathtaking. Thats it.......breathtaking.....
And that was the voice acting, which was pretty bad. There were times when it ruined the moment. The phrase "I see" was used so many times that i lost count. And some parts were so bad that they were funny. Like near the start of the game when he was asking about the day his father was murdered. Why couldn't he have just said to the people "Did you see anything unusual last Thursday" or whatever day it was. Rather than saying that, he said "do you remember the day when the snow changed to rain..." I mean WTF? Anyway, enough with the bad point and on to the good points.
The games graphics hit you so fast that you choke taking them in. The amount of detail put into each characters face is unbelievable, and really brings them to life. The environments are very pretty, the whole game having a very nice look. The amount of interactivity in the game was great, like searching through every drawer in the Hazuki residence looking for stuff. For the dreamcasts time, this was the best looking game out there. It was just spectacular.
The story of the game was probably the best part. The graphics really helped tell the story. The cut-scenes looked close to real. The story is incredible; legendary. Its very immense, and is told very well, allowing you to also feel Ryo's pain. Its what makes all us Shemnue fans long for Shenmue III, so that the story can finally be finished.
The mixture of different gameplays in the game was stunning. The 'free roam' mode, where you walked around the environments, interacting with objects and people is very simple and easy to control. It isn't boring because there is so much to do. The 'fighting' part of the gameplay is where you fight other people obviously. There are many moves and combo's to keep it exciting. Overall, the fighting system feels very clean. The 'QTE' (Quick Timer Events) is where you are hitting buttons as they display on the screen to get your character, Ryo, to carry out certain actions, for example, jumping over a fallen barrel, or punching an oncoming enemy. These little sequences are neat, and easy to get used to, and help the action sequences look real cool.
While the voice acting in the game is pretty bad, the music is magnificent. One of the best musical scores for a game ever. It really fits in with the story, environment and the theme of the game.
Overall, this is one of my all time favourite games, and i can only describe it as Legendary.