And Thus, The Saga...Begins.
21 December 2007
Every year around this time I get the urge to play a certain game. That game is probably the most famous RPG released for the Sega Dreamcast. If you've never heard of Shenmue then shame on you! It was the most creative game of it's kind when it was released (on my birthday no less, the sequel too) and brought forth a plethora of new and exciting ideas. But it didn't forget to include a compelling plot that had you hooked from start to finish. The only regrettable thing is that they never actually finished the story. Suzuki Yu (producer) had planned to make it into a multi-chapter story spanning several games. Unfortunately, due to the poor sales of both the sequel and the Dreamcast, they never released any other parts. This travesty is on the same scale as the Shining Force III series in the UK. I'm still praying for Sega to come to their senses and let Suzuki make one last game to finish the story off. It's not looking very likely at the moment, but there's always hope. After all, they brought back NiGHTs after a decade so it's not an impossibility. Hope was raised when the released the games on the XBOX a few years ago but alas, more poor sales meant Shenmue III was a no go. There were even plans for an online game but I'm not sure what's happened to that. Only time will tell if we'll ever see the final chapter of Ryo's adventures...
In spite of all this, I'm still having a lot of fun playing through the games again. Yes, the controls do feel very clunky and yes, the English dubbing is horrible (seriously, who wrote the translation and hired the actors?!) but it's still one hell of an experience. The sheer amount of freedom you have is amazing. You don't even have to progress the main story at all if you don't feel like it. You could visit the arcades and play Hang On all day, and spend all your allowance on toys if you really wanted. But to do so would deny the joy of tracking down the villain, Lan Di, and avenging your father. The best thing to do is take your time and play some of the mini-games available. Then, when you've grown slightly bored of playing Darts for the 1,289th time, go talk to some town folk (though they tend to be a bit gormless) and continue the plot. It's brilliant. I couldn't recommend it more, if only for the amazing quotes like this one:
"Huh!? Shut the hell up! Who in the hell are you, eh? If you don't shut the hell up, I'll make you wish you had".
Shakespeare eat your heart out.
Posted byHocchan at 3:25 am
