A heavily story-driven game with segments of action, Shenmue is an experience that requires some patience.
You are Ryo Hazuki, a Japanese teenager on a mission to avenge your father’s murder. The opening scene shows the death of Ryo's father, Iwao, and you play through the game seeking out this mysterious murderer. Shenmue plays out a lot differently from most other games you will have played. It's almost like a 3D Broken Sword game that has you going around town looking for clues about your father’s murder, mixed in with a deep combat system and action sequences known as quick timer events (QTEs).
The exploration side of the game is where a lot of people will get bored. There is a lot of dialog to sift through and although it can be skipped, gamers with a short attention span probably won't be playing Shenmue for long. As you engage in dialog with people around town and discover clues and important information, you record a journal with everything you find out along the way. In terms of the control, it's quite clunky. Turning and moving Ryo can sometimes prove a chore and it might take a while to simply get a feel for exploring.
For a non-fighting game, Shenmue sports an extremely advanced fighting system. Based on the Virtua Fighter system (Shenmue was originally planned to be a Virtua Fighter RPG, Ryo = Akira?), you can pull off all manner of hand, leg and throw moves. It took me a while to get comfortable with the system (and I hadn't played Virtua Fighter much before), but after the first few fights you should be fine. As you progress you can find and buy move scrolls, which grant you the ability to perform new moves. Training your moves is also an important part of the game, and some even change form when you master them.
Perhaps my favorite part of the game is the QTEs and the mini games. QTEs involve quickly pressing a string of buttons that appear on screen. You have a limited amount of time to get the press in, and failing to do so has its consequences. Some of the QTEs late in the game are particularly exciting, where you have long chases with obstructions left, right and centre. The other main attraction of Shenmue is the wealth of mini games on offer. As well as having arcade classics from SEGA like OutRun and Space Harrier, there are also Shenmue games like Darts7 and Neo Darts. Going to the arcade in-game is a great way to kill time.
As far as the visuals go, Shenmue is breathtaking... for its time. It hasn't aged brilliantly but it still looks mildly impressive. The environments are varied ranging from city streets, to a sea side harbor, and also quiet neighborhoods. The music in the game is very impressive. There are some full orchestrated scores not to mention the sheer volume of voice acting, though admittedly some of the voice acting is poor.
Shenmue is something not everyone will like. If you are a gamer who wants an adrenaline rush and thrives on FPS and action games, look elsewhere. If you are prepared to take in the story and play the game at a more leisurely pace, you may find something you like here. For gamers who have played Shenmue II and want to play the original, expect a lot less action and a lot more story.