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Shenmue (video game)

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Shenmue
Developer(s)Sega-AM2
Publisher(s)Sega
Designer(s)Yu Suzuki
Platform(s)Sega Dreamcast
ReleaseNovember 8 2000
Genre(s)Modern Action Adventure, RPG, FREE
Mode(s)Single player with Online Features

Shenmue (莎木 or シェンムー) (2000) is a story-based Modern Action Adventure/RPG/FREE for the Sega Dreamcast, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki of Sega-AM2. Suzuki coined a new genre title, FREE (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment), for the game, based on its unparalleled interactivity and freedom, as well as the innovative real-time and weather systems.

Story

Template:Spoiler

Chapter One - Yokosuka

The story centers around a young man named Ryo Hazuki (芭月 涼 Hazuki Ryō), who returns home one day to find a man called Lan Di demanding his father, Iwao Hazuki, to turn over a mirror. Iwao refuses until Lan Di threatens Ryo's life. After finding out where the mirror is, he asks if Iwao remembers a man named Zhao Sun Ming, and then accuses Iwao of killing him.

Lan Di and Iwao then begin to fight, although Iwao is greatly outmatched by Lan Di, who subsequently kills Iwao in what seems to be revenge for Zhao Sun Ming. Afterwards, Ryo decides he must avenge his father's death, and despite the efforts of the Hazuki family housekeeper (who acts as a surrogate grandparent to Ryo), Ine-San, to stop him, he ventures into the local area to ask people nearby if they recall anything which may give him a clue to the location of Lan Di and his subordinates.

Eventually, after much questioning, Ryo finds out about the car in which Lan Di is travelling in and attempts to follow the trail, which leads him to uncover an incident involving the vehicle speeding through the nearby area streets and injuring people (amongst other things) in the process. After going through bars, back alleys and all around Yokosuka to find out Ryo is left without any useful information. Ryo gets a lead, however, when he recieves a letter addressed to his father from a man named Yuanda Zhu. Zhu says that if Iwao needs help he should seek the aid of Master Chen.

Master Chen tells Ryo that there is a second mirror most likely hidden in his house. Ryo finds it and returns to see Chen who reccomends that Ryo look into the Mad Angels, a harbor gang with ties to the Chiyoumen (Lan Di's crime organization). Ryo gets a job at the harbor driving a forklift in order to get the gang's attention. He succeeds and after causing them enough trouble their leader Terry kidnaps Ryo's love intrest (Nozomi Hirasaki). Ryo rescues Nozomi and makes a deal with Terry where he will beat up Chen's son Guizhang and in return Terry will lead Ryo to Lan Di. Terry falls back on his word though and sends his gang after ryo and Guizhang. The two manage to defeat the entire gang and force Terry to tell them of Lan Di's whereabouts.

Terry tells Ryo that Lan Di has made his way toward Hong Kong, by way of boat travel and with the aid of the Chen family as well as his family and friends, Ryo boards a boat to Hing Kong. Before the close of the first chapter (and subsequent end of the game itself), he is instructed by Master Yobun Chen to seek out the help of a master of the Chinese martial arts located in Wan Chai named Lishao Tao (a character who would be prominently featured throughout the next installment of the game).

The game ends revealing the boat Lan Di and his associates are traveling on as well as showing the boat Ryo boards making their way toward Hong Kong.

Gameplay

Gameplay is diverse; while most of the game is spent walking around the atmospheric, lifelike Japanese locations in a third-person 'chase cam' mode (talking to people, searching for things, solving puzzles, and so forth), it is interspersed with dozens of 'mini-games', including forklift and motorcycle races, bar fights, chases down crowded alleys, full versions of Sega arcade games Space Harrier and Hang-On (both originally programmed by Shenmue creator and director, Yu Suzuki), dart games and 'free fighting' sequences.

The free fights pits Ryo against one or more enemies in a cross between Virtua Fighter and Final Fight; Ryo has a large list of martial art techniques, almost worthy of a full one-on-one fighter, but he fights many enemies at once instead of just one. The culmination of the game involves a gigantic brawl between Ryo, his ally Guizhang, and exactly seventy enemies.

Fights can also take place in QTE (Quick Time Event) sequences, in which a button can flash on screen briefly and the player must press the relevant button to trigger Ryo's moves. The player's success or failure in these scenes can affect the flow of gameplay as well as the current cutscene, and they were reminiscent of Laserdisc games such as Dragon's Lair.

In the West, Shenmue (and its sequel) came to be known as a game that was loved and hated in equal measures. While many players were enthralled by the lifelike gameworld, powerful narrative and amazing visuals, others were less impressed. Some critics argued that the game was too slow-paced (sometimes the player is forced to 'kill time' until a meeting or appointment can take place at a designated game time), the storyline and characters cliched (a standard revenge quest with the usual array of backstreet toughs, old and seemingly senile men with amazing fighting abilities, and a number of lazy racial and national stereotypes) and the action sequences simplistic. However, those players that could overlook these undoubted limitations found that the game has an emotional impact and a sense of place and history rarely encountered in traditional role playing games.

Significance of the title

Template:Spoiler The game's title is derived from a specific tree that makes a cameo near the ending of the second installment in the series. The tree is located, both literally and figuratively, at the center of the prophecy that is a constant thread throughout the saga (and which is featured in the cinematic intros to both games). The Shenmue tree resides in the same small village (Bailu, which is located in Guilin) that spawned both Shenhua and the game's notorious stone mirrors.

Notes

Shenmue was called Virtua Fighter RPG while in early (pre-Dreamcast) development, and this is reflected not only in the VF-like fights and RPG elements, but in the variety of toys and posters relating to that game which Ryo finds. The game also follows the same time-scale as Virtua Fighter. Upon completion of Shenmue II, a clip of Shenmue for the Sega Saturn is unlocked, allowing fans to see how the game would have looked had it been released on that system, with most of what became Shenmue II present even at that stage (e.g. Ren).

When the Dreamcast was first shown to the press, complete with various tech demos, Shenmue was known as Project Berkley. As a tech demo - named as being a Yu Suzuki project - it showed a camera sweeping over a detailed island of an Italian appearance. The tech demo also demonstrated a variety of real time lighting effects, such as the sun setting over the sea and the island. A video of this tech demo is not known to have been shown since the press launch, and isn't even on bonus disc that came with the Japanese version of Virtua Fighter 3 tb. Which is a shame as the disc does include a long interview with Yu Suzuki, as well as a clearly pre-rendered sequence introducing people to the universe and the characters that were to feature in Shenmue.

It is notable for entering the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive video game ever developed at the time. The actual cost has been debated, with people claiming numbers between $20,000,000 USD and $70,000,000 USD. The price listed online at the official site for Guinness World Records puts the cost at $20,000,000 USD.[1]

In 2003, music from Shenmue (composed by Streets of Rage composer Yuzo Koshiro) was performed live at the first Symphonic Game Music Concert, taking place in Leipzig, Germany.

In November of 2005, it was announced that music from Shenmue will be perfomed in concert on the PLAY! A Video Game Symphony tour. The PLAY! Symphony starts in the spring of 2006 and is the first symphony world tour featuring music from blockbuster video games.

Box art

See also

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