Shenmue III still has glaring pacing issues. Plus, the traditional route is there for those who want it, and the QTE sequences that the original game pioneered add some excellent flourishes to big fights.The changes to combat came as a surprise, especially when everything else is anchored to the roots of Shenmue. That’s unfortunate for a game where combat is one of the core tenets, but when it comes to dispatching enemies quickly it can be a huge help. And whilst there is some strategy to combat, a well timed button press is not exactly a system. To be fair, it’s not like that doesn’t work. “Just press cross, circle, square and triangle… Try pressing R2”, it reads. The term laughable isn’t one I like to use lightly, but the tutorial screen for Shenmue III’s combat system is exactly that. Whether they’re for the better is up for debate, but the Virtua Fighter-esque systems from the first two games have been simplified down to short face-button combos, but even that is a gift and a curse. Talking to other characters - whether a key story beat or a chat to a shopkeeper - takes forever, with barely a hint at being able to skip dialogue (something that’s possible provided you have been through it once before - I found out all too late), the map is a pointless extra detail cluttering up the HUD in an inelegant mess of on-screen prompts.Ĭombat is where the only changes appear to have been made. Shenmue III has linked health and stamina systems, so if you want to do anything quickly you best make sure you’re stocked up on food.Īs if making sure you don’t die of exhaustion from running down a short path wasn’t baffling enough, the rest of the game’s systems are similarly time-honoured. Anything more than a leisurely pace will put a serious drain on your health. It’s not like you can pick up the pace too much either. This makes simply exploring the village of Bailu and, later, the port city of Niaowu, a chore. Ryo is stiff and stilted, his movements laboured and limited. Simply navigating the world feels more akin to driving a forklift truck - irony very much intended - than walking the streets as a living, breathing, human. Well, that and it’s overall moth-eaten feeling. In fact, the only thing consistent about Shenmue III is how inconsistent it is. It’s clear that the developer wanted to have some fun with these characters, but everything about them is so maddeningly inconsistent. The English voice acting is completely confused, with voices often not even close to matching faces most of the time only serving heighten the game’s unintentionally farcical nature. A collection of flirts, drunks and assorted weirdos that sound just as odd as they look.
The world is populated by rubbery, anime sea-front caricatures of people. The rest of the characters don’t fare too well either. His deadpan delivery causing some accidental laughs is one of our hero’s few redeeming features. Dead behind the eyes and with all the expressiveness of a plank of wood, he lacks the kind of charisma and charm expected from the protagonist of the kind of martial arts epic that Shenmue III looks to emulate. Still, the transition to modern consoles seems to have stripped the character of his remaining personality. He’s an OK-looking, less polygonal version of his original incarnation (something that can be said for everyone else in the game too). Faring serviceably in cutscenes, the transition to gameplay is harsh, with blurred, muddy, and generation (or two) old textures plaguing every flat surface - something that is especially highlighted in indoor areas, or when scouring areas for clues.Įven Ryo himself looks out of place. Looking into the horizon will occasionally offer up a picture postcard view of China, but in motion it leaves a lot to be desired. The visuals offer up something resembling a modern Dreamcast game, smoothed out with a thick Vaseline-like sheen and a basic lighting engine. Graphically and gameplay-wise, it pales in comparison to anything else released this year, and perhaps anything released in the last decade.
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