A storytelling wonder of the ages.
Shenmue starts out with a death. A very close death. You play as Ryo Hazuki. Ryo finds his father fighting a strange men in black coats in the family dojo room. He rushes in the room to fight the mysterious man by the name of Lan Di, whom of which is beating Ryo's father, Iwao Hazuki, to death. Lan Di quickly overpowers Ryo, and claims to Iwao that he will kill his son with a final blow if he does not tell him where the "mirror" is. Lwao responds by saying the mirror is under the cherry tree outside the building. The strange men in black leave, leaving Iwao to die in Ryo's arms. Ryo is the sort of character that is really nice, but if you interrupt his goals, a world of pain will be brought. After all, he is only after to seek his revenge on the Lan Di.
This is the very beginning of the game. When you start playing, you will have to gather as much information as possible about these men in black. Shenmue has a rather interesting plot. It slowly unravels as you progress through the three-disk-long adventure. Shenmue takes place Yokosuka, Japan, where you will travel to actual locations in search of information. When I say "slowly progress," I mean it. This game has an unbelievably slow pace; it's not for the impatient. When you reach the second disc of Shenmue, if only feels like you've just finished the tutorial, and you're only starting to learn a little bit of the plot. This will lead some people away from this game.
If you decide to stick with it, you will find what all there is to do and see in Shenmue. You can play games at the arcade, help people out, win prizes, etc. There is always something for you to do in this game. Visually, Shenmue doesn't stand up to today's standards, but in 2000, this game looked amazing. Much detail in everything, great-looking character models, and just an overall world of art. An issue here is that of which characters disappear and reappear out of nowhere quite a bit. It is most likely because of the Deamcast's hardware limits, but it can become troublesome during certain events when you're in a hurry. Characters are mostly stiff and move like robots, but that's really not a big deal.
Voice acting is a hit-and-miss. Some characters have great voice acting, while others have nearly unbearable voice work. Ryo is sometimes in-between. Shenmue's soundtrack is wonderful. With great melodies that go great with this story about love and revenge. It's also funny to hear vehicles zooming by, fresh punches to baddies, a bicyclist, and even to hear a match light. Shenmue does just about anything to make you a part of it.
A nice feature available in Shenmue is its Quick Time Events, or QTE. This requires you to press buttons during certain sequences throughout the game. Some of these will take you more than one try to do, but they are fun to pull off. Its fighting elements are very similar to the Virtua Fighter series. You are able to earn new moves throughout the game to help you fight better. Some of these battles can be difficult, but if you are willing to learn the moves, they are a breeze. You are able to do a lot of things in Shenmue like use a phone, buy items, or even play a Sega Saturn (this game is set in 1986-87, even though the Saturn came out in 1994-95). Most of the people you talk to will blow you off and don't really seem to know anything about their own town. So, you have to talk to the right people about certain things. These events require you to be at a certain place at a certain time too. You will be going through the seasons of Winter and into Spring. If you want to, you can finish the game as anytime you want to. It is worth exploring because there are many items and Easter Eggs to find throughout.
This is only the beginning of the series. Only the surface has been scratched with this first installment of the Shenmue series. Shenmue will not appeal to just anyone, only those who are willing to explore will find greatness in this adventure.