Shenmue game review
Shenmue 3: A poetic adventure anchored in a too distant pastThe wait was long, interminable for some. We have been waiting 18 long years in the hope of knowing the rest of Ryo Hazuki's adventures. Shenmue 3’s announcement at Sony’s E3 2015 conference is like a bombshell and cheers up an entire gaming community. Then the excitement of the first moments gives way to concern. In question, the first visuals, the multiple reports and an eventful development. Even so, the third episode of the saga is finally available. But does Shenmue 3 live up to a saga that marked the video game in its time?
A VENGERESS MYTHOLOGY
Shenmue 3 picks up where our predecessor left us and followed the discovery of a cave with a mural depicting the mirrors of the Dragon and the Phoenix. Following a cutscene quickly summarizing the end of Shenmue 2, Ryo Hazuki and Shenhua go in search of the girl's father. Our two protagonists thus head to the remote village of Bailu located in mainland China to begin their investigations and lift the veil on the mysteries surrounding the disappearance of the paternal.Many players want to continue a scenario that has been paused for almost two decades and find a narration specific to the pen of Yu Suzuki. And on this point, the followers of the Japanese author will be in no way disoriented. The story with a capital H takes shape according to the details gleaned and scattered cinematics punctuating a story in reality poor in twists and revelations. Simplicity sometimes highlights the beauty of just whispered information, but absence cannot do the same. So to speak, the great moments are counted on the fingers of both hands.
Shenmue 2 made a lasting impression on the hearts and minds of gamers with a cliffhanger worthy of modern TV series, and this new iteration follows in the footsteps of its predecessor in a way. The end alone justifies the journey ... finally partially. Yu Suzuki said the first trilogy would cover only 40% of the whole story and is now confirmed. Worse still, the story advances only too little during an adventure stingy with notable events, yet demanding between 25 and 30 hours to be completed "in a straight line".
The Shenmue saga once stood out for its ability to surprise us and the narrative was not outdone. The years go by. The codes change, but Shenmue remains the same and is content to recycle dated know-how resulting in an uninspired staging which all too often boils down to simple formatted discussions on the “fields-reverse” model and a few impulses films ruined by untimely loading times. Note, however, the presence of French subtitles that will delight those refractory to the language of Shakespeare as well as dubbing in Japanese and English.
RYO HAZUKI OR THE RHYTHM OF LIFE
The Shenmue saga was already an O.V.N.I in its time and Shenmue 3 continues a tradition born in the twentieth century to the delight of fans of the franchise. Yu Suzuki is second to none for creating an extremely slow and contemplative rhythm. Sleeping, waiting, eating, wandering ... these are the key activities of a Ryo Hazuki stuck in the sands of time. In Shenmue 3, life takes its course, inexorably runs out. It is in this atypical approach that Shenmue 3 extricates itself from its simple condition of adventure game to become a singular work at the antipodes of the open worlds built on the concepts of hysterism and hyperactivity.The journey is consumed here at the rate of the passing days, the hours that tick. The young hero takes the time to discover the places, to immerse himself in them in the end to apprehend the areas visited and thus reassemble the series of clues obtained during exchanges with natives that Ryo Hazuki slowly gets to know. At first distant with the latter, the inhabitants end up accepting it and dropping the coldness of the first discussions. However, these changes in behavior quickly show their limits ... the NPC repeating tirelessly the same tirades while waiting for the story to advance. We still manage to get attached to certain characters, especially those who have received a panel of less archetypal replicas.
Yu Suzuki returns to his good old habits not without trying to innovate and it is there in this search for modernization of the formula that Shenmue 3 sinks. The search for realism has a lasting impact on the adventure to the point of transforming an initiatory quest into a real journey. The fault lies with a so-called “realistic” health system where life points are consumed at the least minute passed, the least activity carried out. This highlights another big problem ... that of money. “Show me the money” chanted by Tom Cruise in the film Jerry Maguire sums it up perfectly.
To eat, to sleep, to learn techniques, to buy a bauble ... in short to live. Ryo spends without counting, becomes a pierced basket, and the objectives only worsen a badly embarked situation. As previously explained, Shenmue 3 requires hundreds and then thousands of Yuan to advance the plot. It is certainly a nod to the first two episodes, but as it stands this choice of game design is similar to an artificial increase in lifespan. And the worst is yet to come. The Ys Net studio only recycled the course of the objectives in the two geographical areas (namely Bailu and Niaowu) which make up the adventure. Ryo Hazuki therefore experiences similar events twice by repeating similar activities for the sole purpose of filling the call for gain made by the title.
There is a gradual imbalance between the pure pleasure of discovery and the feeling of repetition that ruins the game experience in the long run. Shenmue 1 and 2 knew perfectly how to keep this precarious balance between frustration and reward unlike this suite which is cheerfully caught in the carpet and finally turns into a pecuniary way of the cross.
THE MASTER OF WEAPONS
Yu Suzuki formerly officiated on the Virtua Fighter license, so he could not leave fallow the clashes of Shenmue 3. Better yet, the Japanese designer proposes a total overhaul of the combat system, abandoning the previous engine, in favor of an approach “Realistic” and tactical. Kung-Fu, central to the plot, takes on a new dimension in this episode wishing to pay homage to the Chinese martial arts with more or less success. Despite good intentions and a strategic approach, the battles are cruelly nervous and the blows of impact. Shenmue 3 has a real combat system, but never manages to breathe the epic necessary to ignite them.These fights in closed arenas require a careful learning of techniques and daily training. Becoming an accomplished martial artist translates into play a level of Kung-Fu, sum of the power of his attacks and his endurance. Perfection then requires repetition and the young martial artist will learn it the hard way. To improve his statistics, the player must repeat the same exercise for tens of minutes and buy manuscripts in order to unlock new techniques and thus overcome the multiple opponents placed in his path. Seductive during the first hours, this progression system ends up slowing down the story. However, the various fighters of the dojos and arenas remain pleasant to challenge and to dominate during high martial exchanges (especially in maximum difficulties).
A MELANCOLIC JOURNEY
Shenmue 3 is not the visual catastrophe announced and very often manages to release a "poetic" aesthetic supported by musical compositions which will vibrate the nostalgic rope of the fans. Its artistic direction and its unique atmosphere perfectly match the rhythm imposed by the adventure and highlight the ups and downs without imposing itself. It is not uncommon, at the turn of a path or an alley, to stop for even a few seconds to admire environments then come to life under the impulse of a sun bathing the area of its ray roses (the village of Bailu and the port city of Niaowu). The night also borders these decorations in its own way, struggling to stand out in broad daylight, by skillful touches of light and pleasant atmospheric effects if not sensational.Unfortunately, the technique too often sabotages the work carried out by the artists of the Ys Net studio. The appearance of onlookers a few meters from Ryo, the buffer zones for loading the rest of the map, the empty environments, the multiple loading times and the “generic” aspect of many graphic assets harm these visuals which at times come out of the lot. The rigid animations and the lack of expression of the characters complete the picture to the point of greatly reducing the impact of the sketches and storytelling because they are unable to effectively convey an emotion. And what about interfaces and other menus? They never follow the same rules, rarely use the same mappings and sometimes defy all logic ... to resemble those of the late Shenmue 1 and 2 on Dreamcast. This nonsense, without being prohibitive, anchors this third episode in the distant past.
The notes
+ Positive points
The expected continuation of the adventures of Ryo Hazuki…
A “realistic” and tactical combat system ...
Several poetic panoramas ...
The rediscovered and so particular rhythm of the saga
A real feeling of freedom
Negative points
… Poor in twists and revelations
... sorely lacking in impact
… For hopelessly empty and static environments
An uninspired staging
A redundant structure and objectives
A growth padlocked by the economy
A technically outdated game (visuals, animations…)
Shenmue III seemed to be aimed primarily at fans. In reality, Shenmue 3 is intended exclusively for fans and the curious diehard. Yu Suzuki manages to rediscover what made his saga a work apart and to offer a contemplative approach to the adventure game. A gentle, poetic breeze imbued with freedom flows through a story that is too uninspired. The few attempts to modernize a formula that blows out its twenty candles end in failure. The combat system, however tactical it may be, only partially convinces without forgetting the imbalance created by this constant need for money, which is the source of a tenacious feeling of frustration. Shenmue 3 is an anachronistic work unable to extricate itself from the grip of a distant past.
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