Plays like a game, feels like a movie...
Shenmue is a mix of different gaming styles. You have some life simulation, some fighting, some light puzzle solving as well as hidden object finding and some Quick-time-events (QTA). When you mix it all you get an interesting combination that isn't that great at first but grows on you because of different reasons...
You play as a 17 year old Japanese dude named Ryo Hazuki (pffft, yeah right, the guy is at least 24) who just witnessed his father's murder. Unable to do anything to prevent his fathers death, you set out on a quest to avenge your father with little to no knowledge of who killed him and why. If I say anything else, I may spoil something, so I'll just stop right here.
You control Ryo from a third person perspective. You basically move around a huge simulated Japanese town interacting with people and objects, fighting against a lot of Japanese jerks and watching how your (Ryo's) story progresses.
Anyway on your quest you will firstly be faced with information gathering. Imagine yourself arriving in an unfamiliar town looking for your friends house. What do you do? Ask around obviously! The same thing applies for this game. During the game you will often find yourself going from person to person asking them if they have seen a black car, do they know of a person named Charlie or where to get a job and similar stuff.
This is basically the main thing that keeps the story going. Every now and then you will find a new trace and will need to get more info. You will talk to a guy, who will direct you to another guy, who will direct you to girl, who will direct you to another guy that you have to beat up in order to make him talk.
While digging for dirt on your (Ryo Hazuki's) father's murder you will encounter a lot of unfriendly people who won't be so willing to spill their beans unless you feed them some knuckle sandwiches. Luckily your father was also a martial arts teacher and has taught you everything he knew. So once you ask a little too many questions some people will engage you in a fight. This is, in my opinion, where the game gets a bit unnecessarily complicated. Seeing how Ryo is a martial artist he will know a lot more then a simple punch and a simple kick...
Ryo can perform elbow punches, flying kick barrages, combo punches, super ultra mega rock and roll kick-ass flying punch kick more powerful then the incredible hulk punch and many more... You can do all of those as much as you want, but the question is will you want to? Well, no. Because you can beat most of the Japanese low-lives with simple punches and kicks. The first time I saw the move list, I was surprised and excited. I wanted to go and try out those awesome moves on someone, but when I found someone I got my ass kicked because it was too hard to pull any of the moves. Instead I just massed buttons and dodged a few blows here and there and have beaten most of the enemies in the game. Ok maybe I'm being a little too hard on the game, it's not like it expects you to learn all the moves instantly. You can train all the moves you know (and the new ones you learn) in your own dojo, or in a wide open space. This adds some RPG elements to the game because you can improve all of your attacks and moves by practicing just like in real life. But the only problem AGAIN is, even if you learn all the advanced moves like a pro, you will STILL just pull simple punches and kicks simply because it's easier and because it takes a lot less then pulling advanced moves. I once tried to impress my friend by pulling some advanced moves while he was watching me play, and what he saw was me getting my but kicked for trying to look cool. So as you can tell, combat tries to be advanced and cool, but only manages to be cool because of how realistic it looks, and, let's face it, did anyone ever say that simple punches and kicks weren't cool?.
Moving on to quick-time-events, and let me tell you I love and hate them at the same time. I love them because they are fun to look at but hate them because they are sometimes impossible to pull off.
Every now and then Ryo will have to chase and catch someone who constantly runs through crowds, throws things in his way or jumps over fences. In order for Ryo to be able to keep up with the running man, he has to react fast, and that''s where quick time events come in.
A A A A.... awww you failed. You are probably wondering what the heck did I just write. Well, that's the same thing I thought when I first started watching a QTE chase scene in this game. When an obstacle occurs during such a scene you have less then 2,5 seconds to press the button shown on the screen in order to avoid it, otherwise you will fail. The upside is that once you learn how to do them, they are extremely entertaining to watch, but there is nothing like beating a really tough fight only to get screwed by a QTE. Sure, if you fail you can almost instantly restart but you already saw your character die or your suspect escape so it kinda leaves a bad feeling... In video games, when you die, it means that you have to try harder or that you need to practice more, but when you die in a QTE, you die because you didn't react fast enough and you get a feeling that you lost to something really stupid (which isn't far from the truth) To be fair to the game they don't last for long and don't occur that often, so I guess it's a love it or hate it thing, depending on your reflexes, but if you ask me, QTE belong in Dragon's Lair, and shouldn't spread out to other games :) .
Well I covered most of the gameplay and if you have actually managed to read this far, you may be wondering why did this game receive so much praise and popularity? The answer to that question is... because of it's story and graphics.
When this game came out, the graphics it used were considered the best graphics ever, and even today they are pleasing to look at. The attention to detail is amazing. Everything looks life-like. The same thing goes for the sound (well, mostly for the voice work). The Voice acting is top-notch. Characters have realistic voices and actually seem to give a damn of what is going on. My only complaint is the main character Ryo, because he seems like an empty shell sometimes. I often expect him to laugh get angry but he just says: 'Is that so?' or something heartless. At least during crucial scenes he acts as a normal human being but other then that, he is a Japanese Terminator. The lip-synching isn't that good, but you won't even notice it. The background music on the other hand is, well, ok. It's nothing special, it's traditional Japanese music that goes ok with the surrounding. That kind of music would have been great for a movie but for a game it is just ok.
Speaking of movies... The story on the other hand is something else indeed. The story is surprisingly involving and well thought of. The game will often show a cut-scene which are simply pleasant to watch. You will really care about Ryo and his friends and want to know weather or not he finds his fathers killer. It progresses really slow but the atmosphere stays fresh and the action keeps bursting from every corner. Though you are able to change the way things will go ( weather Ryo will go left or right) the story will more or less follow one path which is indeed a well carved.
So well carved, that people have made a movie version of the game, which is simply a 90 minute long playthrough without showing any buttons or commands on the screen. When replaying this game, you feel as if you are watching a movie you already saw. Luckily it's one of those good movies you don't mind seeing again.
Another thing that is interesting to mention is that this game HAD online features. It doesn't have any anymore since Sega.net has been down since the fall of Sega Dreamcast. I don't know much about it, but apparently you were able to trade capsule toys (which are optional and don't really have a point) and fight against other people online. Such things don't really benefit the story that much so I think it is safe to say that you won't be missing much without it.
So that's Shenmue, one of the most original and revolutionary games ever. Does it hold up? When you look at this as a game, it pretty much stands as a mixed bag of different game styles well put together which doesn't necessarily make it great, but when you add some beautiful graphics and a well thought of story you are left with an experience you shan't soon forget. In my opinion, it is worth to play this game at least once! So if you haven't already, dig up or buy an old Dreamcast, find this game and play it. You won't regret a minute of it.