Needs salt.
Shenmue doesn't help itself by being a little too "real". Sure you can root through drawers and pet a cat, but you can do all of that crap in real life... where's the excitement? For a game with a plotline that involves the hero's father being beaten to death, Shenmue is a little bland. The worst thing is just when the plot get's moving the game ends... obviously this was set up to be a series of games from the get go, problem is that here in the States the game and system sold so poorly that the only way to get Shenmue II was to import it (and probably learn Japanese, I don't know... I didn't bother with the sequel).
What Shenmue is good at is being different. It's not an action game. It's not a detective game. It's not even a fighting game. It's a detecto-fight-action game, uh I think. Who the hell knows what Shenmue thinks it is - the important thing here is that despite all of it's quirks there is an interesting experience to be had. Piecing together the plot as you explore the detailed environment is the core of Shenmue's gameplay. Sometimes you have to complete certain tasks to move the plot along, but you're basically able to do things at your on pace. The visuals here are great and the sound is good considering it's mostly the ambient noise of whatever environment you're in. It's easy to lose yourself in Shenmue. Basically, Shenmue is a good game. It's not a thrill-a-minute, but is immersive and fun in it's own way.