melancholy wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2023 7:46 am
That’s some solid advice ian. I was thinking of trying 2 again to see if I could get through it this time, but I forgot there was an anime.
I also forgot there was an anime, I need to check it out sometime.
How far did you make it in Shenmue II? I'd recommend playing through it at least once. However I do agree with Ian that 2 isn't as good as 1. I'm not even sure why but thinking back I just seem to remember the first being much better. As for Shenmue III I honestly thought it was fine. Many people seem to hate it but I think it is decent. What sucks about it isn't the gameplay but the ending. We waited 20 years for Shenmue III and it barely even continues the story let alone concludes it. It is INSANE that Yu Suzuki still wants it to be a 6 or 7 part game. It was very luck that III even ended up being made. I really don't see 4,5,6 and 7 happening. There is no reason the story couldn't have been wrapped up in 3 since it will probably be the last Shenmue made. Shenmue III is loaded with filler. So much of that could have been cut to focus on the main story. Having Shenmue III only bring the total story to about 40 percent complete is just batshit crazy.
If you don't want to watch the anime, rather than playing 2 I'd suggest watching someone do a let's play. If you have a favourite person who plays games, see if they've played it. (I'm afraid I can't suggest anyone in particular as there's literally only 1 person in the entire world I watch play games and they haven't touched it)
That way you get the story, and the brilliant awful dialogue and to see all the beautiful world and environment, and get to skip the frustration of the horrible gameplay. Maybe horrible is too harsh but it's nowhere near as good as 1.
I recently downloaded the anime and watched a couple of episodes and it was ok. I don't think I need to watch anymore of the episodes covering the first game (I'd rather Play it again) but I will watch the second game anime episodes before I play 3 with all the DLC's on PC.
The other day I fixed a friends Dreamcast with a new battery and to charge the battery I started playing shenmue.
I did all the usual exploring in the house, like picking it clean of move scrolls, candles, cassette tapes and photos, and of course unpacked the Saturn and put it on the TV.
Then I hightailed it to the tomato convenience store and started buying potato chips with a mission.
I was going to win a god damn Saturn game! In my now 6 playthroughs of Shenmue I'd never won a Saturn game and used my Saturn. I'd even won the boombox on the second last day of my last playthrough on PS4 remake.
But never second prize, which is a choice of space harrier or Hang on.
Some 8,500 yen later, I won second prize and raced home with my brand new Saturn game!
Turning the Saturn on and putting the disc in was as satisfying as the first time I ever played a Saturn in real life.
(Toys r Us 1995, Destruction Derby)
And sure, you could always go to the arcade in Shenmue to play hangon, but finally being able to play it at home is simply amazing!