Shenmue III

With Shenmue III, we are offered a glimpse into a gifted mind, constantly turning the everyday into play.

It’s hard to believe I’m actually reviewing Shenmue III here at the tail end of 2019. Shenmue and its first sequel were hugely influential games, establishing the framework countless other open worlds have been built upon, but unfortunately, they were also ahead of their time. The first two Shenmue games just didn’t connect with early-2000s audiences, at least not to the degree needed to cover the...

Some players may want to mainline Shenmue III in order to see all the story has it has to offer as quickly as possible. This is not advised. For one, there’s actually not very much new story information to glean during a playthrough. Secondly, doing so would make the more annoying aspects of the game all the more glaring. It’s much better to savor Shenmue III at a leisurely pace. There's tons of e...

The fact that Shenmue III feels like a direct continuation of the cult SEGA Dreamcast classics is testament to veteran director Yu Suzuki’s unflinching ambition. There may have been almost two decades between this long-anticipated PlayStation 4 instalment and its predecessor, but developer Ys Net isn’t afraid to pick up the plot immediately where it left off. With stern-faced star Ryo Hazuki and h...

I was torn writing this review as I went back and forth multiple times on whether or not Shenmue III‘s adherence to the past was worth the squeeze. In spurts, it’s not. But as I walked back to Shenhua’s cottage to turn in for the night after a hard day’s work, earning back the money I had gambled away, it hit me: people just aren’t making many games like this anymore. We may never even get somethi...

After an eighteen-year hiatus, Shenmue III has finally arrived, and Ryo Hazuki once again continues his journey through China in search of Lan Di. Will the long-awaited sequel live up to the hype and expectations?

Oh how I screamed, how I shouted, how I celebrated. I remember that Sony conference at E3 2015 like if it had happened yesterday. From out of nowhere, Yu Suzuki and that classic Shenmue theme song appeared onstage, confirming the existence of Shenmue III…. as a Kickstarter campaign. I didn’t care. Nobody cared. Everyone who had played those games back in the day quickly threw money onto their comp...

As a fan of the previous games, I enjoyed some of my time with Shenmue III. However, as a modern game that was aiming to encourage new players to get into the franchise, I cannot urge caution more strongly. For hardcore fans of Shenmue, this is an easy choice. It's the continuation of a story nearly 20 years in the making, with the beloved characters, mechanics, and design that made the original g...