Just to get this out of the way at the beginning, I love Shenmue. Though lots of people don't.
Shenmue is the magnum opus of Yu Suziki, famed designer who birthed such classics as Outrun and Hang-On, and one of the most respected designers in the Sega stables. It tells the story of Ryo Hazuki, a young man in eighties Japan who comes home to witness his father, the highly respected martial-artist Iwao Hazuki, being killed at the hands of Lan Di, a Chinese man who uses a deadly unknown style. It seems Lan Di wants two things, firstly to claim the Dragon mirror (a disc of polished jade decorated with the emblem of a dragon and twinned to the Phoenix mirror, which Ryo finds later) and vengance for the death of Zhao Sun Ming, a man supposedly killed by Iwao in Meng Cun during his travels in the Orient. Having accomplished both goals, Lan Di departs, leaving Ryo with a whole lot of questions and a serious chip on his shoulder. With only one lead, the man in question, Ryo has to work his way out from the suburbs on a trip that will take him out of Japan and following the trail into China that his father made years ago.
The game uses a system known as F.R.E.E. (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment). What this means esentially is that the world Ryo inhabits is fanatically detailed. The environments Ryo visits are based on actual places and are constructed from extensive research and reference. The streets are populated with people who have their own daily routines, the shops all have opening and shutting times. The world moves around Ryo and he is free to wander and look wherever he wants.
Interaction with the enviroment is limited, however. There is a lot that Ryo can pick up and look at, there is a lot of eye-catching detail but outwith the actual narrative thrust of the storyline, the cinematic QTE's or killing time on Yu Suzuki classics at the local arcades, Shenmue is very much an experience in observation, which is where it catches most of its criticism. More on this later.
But..... it's not all wandering and watching, as a very robust fighting system beats at the heart of Shenmue as well. Based on the Virtua Fighter engine (also progeny of Suzuki's), it's an integral part of the game as Ryo immerses himself deeeper and deeper into the amoral gang culture that ripples out from the centre with Lan Di. Ryo is a formidable martial artist and this gets called into play a lot, with Ryo having to face off against multiple opponents at a time. Scrolls can be bought or found during the game to enhance his repetoire. Aquaintences will teach moves too, gradually building you up throughout the course of the story as Ryo becomes a force to be reckoned with.
Shenmue has without doubt, one of the most involved, involving and mature narratives in the videogame medium. It takes both Chinese mythology and history and weaves them together into an epic tale that unfolds bit-by-bit as Ryo continues his journey and discovers more about his father and the destiny that has been laid before him. The fanatical level of detail the game displays in its environments is extended just as much into the plot. It becomes obvious the more you play that everything said and done has a purpose, that there is a much grander tapestry behind it all, built up from years of thought, research and love of the subject matter. It's only at the end of Shenmue 2, that things found in the Hazuki home at the start of Shenmue 1 begin to reveal their true meanings.
Whereas, in many other games, this story would be used as window-dressing to the game, in Shenmue it is the game. And this is part of the problem most people have with it. People have said that it's not really a game, that behind the graphics it is quite a shallow experience. To an extent I both agree and disagree. I think it uses videogames in a different way than most people expect them to be used. In a lot of ways it's more like a really engrossing book than it is like most other games. It's the narrative that sweeps you along, that defines the experience. It'll let your mind wander, stop the story to see the sights, but it's the authors voice that takes your hand and leads you through it.
It's as much of an education as it is a game. To me, Shenmue is two things above all else; A detective story and a rollicking back-packing adventure story. Ryo's path through the game is forged through detective work. Using the framing of his father's death, Ryo's investigations take him from his safe Japanese suburbs, to the local gang-infested docklands, over to Hong Kong where he lodges at a Kung-fu temple, on to the towering, dilapidated slums of Kowloon and (as yet) finally to the heart of the Guillin in the Chinese countryside. All of which are rendered in the same amazing level of detail.
It excels at creating a sense of atmosphere for all these places. Wandering the streets of Kowloon for the first time, staring up at the sky, wedged between tower blocks gives you a real sense of discovery and wonder. Getting into life-or-death streetfights in the basements of crumbling, gang-run buildings are given context by the story that a simple beat-em-up could never hope for. One of my favourite moments in videogames comes right at the end of Shenmue 2, when all that's happening is that you're wandering the countryside talking to a girl you saved from a flood (and have been having premonitions about since the start of the first game). It's laid-back, sedate, beautiful and all about characterisation.
I love Shenmue because it is unique. Because there are so many beautiful little touches. Like practicing Tai Chi in the park, or catching falling leaves of cherry blossom between your fingers, or even racing ducks through the streets of Hong Kong. It doesn't try to be anything other than itself and, whatever its faults, gives me an experience no other game ever has. Whenever I've played through it, my head buzzes with it for the next few weeks.........which is what makes me sad.
Shenmue 2 ended on a cliff-hanger and it looks as if the series might never move on from there. Apart from the fact it was originally released on the dreamcast (a console that criminally underperformed), Shenmue did not do good enough buisness to justify the development costs. There was much umming and awwwing over production of the third installment and right now it's stuck in development limbo. Shenmue Online is the next hope, but it won't continue the story of the original games. At best it may ignite interest in the series and make it profitable to continue it.
Who else loves or loathes these games? |
