For years I’ve wanted to create a Shenmue site called “Beyond the Memory”. I had plans and ideas to create a place with a wealth of information, aiming for stuff that wasn’t already out there (some things that I think are still not out there, like a full compendium of moves, complete with animated movies so people could “learn” Hazuki-style jiujitsu themselves).
Like many things, it never came to fruition beyond a few different website templates I put together over the course of about fifteen years.
Jumping forward to March, 2020, I was five or six days into Shenmue III, desperate to share all my thoughts with the venerable Shenmue Dojo or my old haunt GameFAQs. I posted a few times, but I hated to just dominate everywhere with spam, so instead I jotted down my thoughts each day. I was still dying to share them with the world, and realized a blog would do the trick.
My first thought was to title it “Shenmusings”, but as it turns out, there’s already a great blog out there of the Shenmusings. Well… why not call it “Beyond the Memory”, with a little tagline so we know it’s a Shenmue site?
My initial posts will primarily be a running commentary on my experience with Shenmue III, and the first few days are little more than random thoughts. Later days are more like actual journal entries. Shenmue I and II will probably get their own running commentaries at some point, and there are a lot of other Shenmue topics I’d like to talk about.
The series has enthralled me for more than twenty years, so I doubt I’ll run out of content anytime soon!
Anyway, whether you read any of this or not, I hope your adventures with Ryo come to mean as much to you as they do to me!
I mean, after a peculiar fetch quest for a random pawn shop owner. Talk about weird pacing! That Chai photo was pretty cringe worthy too, but not everything can be a home run. More important was everything that came after it.
We finally meet Niao Sun more than twenty years after first seeing glimpses of her in early artwork and video. She looks really darn cool, that fiery red a nice contrast to Lan Di’s cool green. It would have meant a more to the average player if they had done a better job of building her up (her disguise throughout the game was hardly necessary since Ryo wouldn’t have known who she was anyway), but it was still exciting.
I enjoyed the big martial arts fight lead up to the boss, heading up the giant stairs to the abandoned (but surprisingly well-maintained) castle. The pacing suffered a little when it hopped over to Mr. Hsu and Shiling (we didn’t need the mildly-comedic dispatching of a guard repeated three times!), but it was cool watching Ryo and Ren charge forward, and Grandmaster Lei doing his cool, calm thing against the thugs along the way.
The scenery was simply gorgeous, as per usual!
A half-dozen thugs with random faces showed up at one point–apparently backers, and making me slightly jealous I didn’t go that route (it was probably beyond my already-four-digit donation, admittedly).
The door-kicking was fun, but highlighted one of Shenmue III’s smaller issues: no branching QTEs, or QTEs that accommodate for mistakes instead of just restarting the scene. Apparently, the programming was there, just rarely utilized.
I liked the battle with the three bodyguards before Lan Di. I know some people would have preferred actual boss battles (and I can appreciate that from a gameplay perspective), I think the point was to highlight just how far along Ryo has come as a martial artist: Ryo, who once struggled with generic thugs, can now handle Lan Di’s personal bodyguards with relative ease.
Niao Sun revealing her big power play was interesting lacking context, but I’m sure IV will dig into that. I wasn’t sure what to expect of her as a character, but it dawns on me that helping Ryo throughout the game was her way of weakening Lan Di’s position.
The big finale, though, a showdown with Lan Di while the castle burns… way cool! Yeah, Ryo can’t handle him yet, but he did much, much better than Iwao did (and for six months of training, that’s pretty impressive!). Lan Di was smooth as silk, though, and remains incredibly imposing even with Ryo getting noticeably stronger.
So, as we head into IV, there’s a lot to be excited for. I’m hopeful that the Great Wall scene is one we get to experience. Niao Sun is now coming into her own–what does that mean for Lan Di and the Chi You Men? They clearly still want the mirrors: are we looking at a three-way dance with Ryo, Lan Di, and Niao Sun all vying for the mirrors? What exactly does Shenhua bring to the table? Thus far we’ve only seen hints of her power.
Let’s start with an epic screenshot! Ryo is the man!
Today was pretty tedious in the world of Shenmue. I spent lots of time running around looking for street fights, but that’s totally my fault: I’m a dip and totally forgot about the street fighting at the Rose Garden since I clobbered everyone in the tournament days ago). On the plus side, it reminded me of this classic meme from Shenmue II:
Searching martial arts shops and guessing at styles was a pain, and then grinding some cash… well, it’s not too bad, using the fortune teller/gambling method. I did cheat a little, having read about some book sales, and while that method was patched out, but a statue method scored me what bit of cash I still needed.
On the plus side, a lot of the side events were pretty enjoyable. I did a quest for Shiling, met Delin’s brother, got to drive a forklift for the first time in Shenmue III, did some Chawan signs, found some cool easter eggs…
I guess today was pretty fun after all! Here’s a pile of screenshots to confirm this:
In very Shenmue fashion, local characters appear on the various magazines and grocery items in the game.
Okay, so I first recognized the kitten’s meow back on Saturday, but I forgot to reference in. Running through Niaowu and hearing that familiar cry from Yamanose circa November 2000 just invites incredible nostalgia to those early days of Shenmue I. Pretty cool.
Of course, the biggest deal is the third and final (planned) Shenmue III DLC: Big Merry Cruise (if you couldn’t have guessed by my hilarious and witty title). The boat wasn’t in the harbor yet (apparently you need to sleep a night first), so it was on to the adventure!
To my surprise, that rich couple was willing to help me out (although they ignored me later, and the wife insulted Ryo up and down). Ryo then destroyed an expensive VIP lounge, because of course, got beat up by a big dude (this seems like familiar territory…), spoke with Ren about a new plan, checked out the cruise ship, got beat up again, and well, done for the day, with PSO 2 launching!
We’ll be back in Naiowu tomorrow, though!
So, the “Big Merry Cruise” DLC? Simply not for me. As memorable as the casino’s theme was in Shenmue I, gambling has never been particularly exciting. I’ve used the easiest-to-cheese games in II and III for some quick money, but that’s about it.
A little disappointing the third DLC is the least interesting for my tastes, but that’s all right! The boat does look cool out in the harbor, although it also ruins the view at night, hah!
QTE’s are definitely one of Shenmue III’s weaker points: the button press window seems a touch too short, and their don’t seem to be branching paths. I watched Ryo get smacked in the face repeatedly with a broom, and that would have been a great instance to have a branching cutscene. Just something simple of him stumbling around while the shrine maiden apologies profusely would have been preferable to repeating it until I got it right.
In that regard, it’s a little weird that you have branching dialogue with Shenhua and with the calls, but not branching QTEs, but I guess that’s a trade-off they decided to make.
Whaddya know? There I am yet again! Is that three shrines and a guestbook, or four? I’ll gather them all later.
Anyway, Lin Shiling has potential. One thing Shenmue III seems to be lacking so far is a wider cast. Shenmue I had Nozomi, Tom, Gui Zhang, Ine-san, Goro, and Fuku-san. II had Joy, Ren, Wong, Xiuying, Fangmei, and Shenhua. That’s just the “good guys” and factoring in minimum interaction, because there are numerous cutscenes and dialogues that can flesh the cast out further (such as Naoyuki and Ichiro in I, and Eileen and Izumi in II).
Thus far, III has Shenhua and Master Sun (and, presumably, Ren will start playing a bigger role). Now I’m certain I could have found a little more in Bailu: any of the three martial artists that I recall probably had more scenes than I managed to activate, so I’m hoping I’m simply missing some things.
Even so, III does seem to introduce characters and then drop them. The characters I mentioned in I and II are basically impossible to avoid, so I hope that the girl from the boat and Shiling show back up!
Speaking of characters from the previous games, I saved the best call for last: Nozomi. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best call, but it was decent, and nice to hear from Nozomi after her complete (albeit justified) absence in II.
Most of today, however, was spent training! I felt I was lagging a bit as the last fight or two in the Rose Garden was rough. With a few skill books to level in my inventory, I hit the dojo for sparring and working on endurance. Turns out they cap at a relatively low number: twenty-two levels each.
So, well, I’m maxed! I finished up the last few guys at both the dojo and the Rose Garden, and with that, there was nothing left but to continue the adventure!
The lady from the silly couple that keeps showing up had her bag stolen, and it was followed by a fairly cool QTE. I miss the longer chase-scene QTEs, so it’s nice to have had two in short order, even with the lack of branches and the short button-press window. The dude at the end was super cool, so I have to find him again since he’s almost certainly some secret martial arts master!
Ryo didn’t seem too thrilled seeing Ren. I thought they had buddied up over the course of II, but what do I know?
Still, I figured I might as well keep the Shenmue II vibe going and give Joy a call.
Spoilers: it went about as well as you can expect!
When Joy asked for repayment for all she had done for hime, I figured Ryo–now more mature and more open–would be smart enough to offer to buy her dinner instead of teaching her a technique. To hear him ask that and leave Joy stuttering was pretty cute, and then it became quintessential Ryo when he started recommending places to eat based on who he beat up at those restaurants! Oh, Ryo, we love you!
My questing was seriously derailed when my mom, visiting from out of town, stepped away from the movie she was watching with my wife and saw me playing Shenmue. It was right around the time I was searching for my name yet again a temple:
She’s never played Shenmue, but over the last twenty years she’s heard me talk about it enough that she was pretty tickled to see III in motion. I showed her the various places my name appeared, she marveled at how cool both the Kickstarter jacket and Ryo’s traditional jacket are, and Bailu’s scenery just blew her away.
Mom asked me to send her some screenshots she could use for desktop wallpapers, so promised to send her some screenshots without the HUD. You got it, Mom!
It’s a little weird that I (as in, the real me, not Ryo!) signed the guestbook in the room but didn’t sign in at the counter in the inn. Must have been two different Kickstarter rewards, but still a little silly! I’ve spotted a few Dojo members between the two of them.
Perhaps even cooler, one of my old Army buddies actually recognized me and send me a screenshot! Yeah, that’s some G.K. Chesterton there by my name. I thought it a fitting quote!
I could talk about my conversation with Goro (it does hurt not hearing his original voice, although the new one does a good job!), the girl from the boat who keeps reappearing, or inadvertantly starting the DLC with Yuanda Zhu, but instead I’ll post some random lady photo-bombing Ryo:
It was cool to be back in a Tomato Mart, though.
Ryo’s conversation with Joy was fairly hilarious. When she asked for repayment, I figured Ryo–now more mature and more open–would be smart enough to offer to buy her dinner instead of teaching her a technique. To hear him ask that and leave Joy stuttering was pretty cute, and then it became quintessential Ryo when he started recommending places to eat based on who he beat up at those restaurants! Oh, Ryo, we love you!
Initially, I thought being able to call old friends was a little lame, just a tease, but to my surprise, I found myself genuinely excited when I saw that telephone in the Niaowu hotel! I’m playing the game sans mods, with the exception of the Eric Kelso voice replacers for Gui Zhang and Fuku-san.
It was genuinely great to hear both of them!
While I don’t understand why more of the original VAs couldn’t be brought in, there was clearly care put into the calls I had with Tom and Fangmei. Yet again, Ryo shows more warmth and personality than in the previous two, and it was good to be able to connect with the characters again—even if they sounded different.
It was also nice to finally be able to really compliment Fangmei, especially after that “a cat” gaff! She’s pretty underrated as far as the Shenmue cast goes.
I’m saving the rest of the calls for later, that’s how much I enjoyed them! I don’t want all the reminiscing with old friends to end yet.
Unlike the temple in Bailu, my name was buried very, very deep into the inn’s guestbook, but that’s okay! I like how some of the entries are “in character”. It’s a bit jarring to see some being utterly goofy, and others saying, “Yay, we Kickstarter Shenmue III!”, but there’s a lot of goofiness to Shenmue, so why not?
Thinking about it, it’s actually pretty awesome to see everyone celebrating, and to have it immortalized in the very game we saved!
After that, I helpfully searched for Shenhua’s father by… beating the first four guys at the nearby dojo, then taking a break to beat the first eight guys of the tournament in the Rose Garden before number nine knocked me off.
Eh heh heh, sorry, Shenhua! If it helps, Ryo spent a lot of time searching for Iwao’s killer by playing Space Harrier and buying capsule toys.
With Bailu in the bag, I have thoughts, which I suppose is fitting for a blog! I’ll probably do a full review when all is said and done (particularly after the third DLC drops next week), but for now, some impressions on the game so far.
As of right now, I’m quite enjoying Shenmue III. It’s very much in the vein of its predecessors to the point where it feels like a game that could have been made for the Dreamcast, and this is simply a port with upgraded graphics. Given the time, effort, and money, III could be demade into something that runs on the Dreamcast without sacrificing anything in terms of storyline or gameplay.
Bailu itself harkens back to the more intimate type of setting that Shenmue I had, and, as a guy who slightly favors SI, I’m quite happy to be back in a small town where everyone knows your name. Without really trying, I’ve gotten to know a few of the locals, and I imagine I’m missing quite a bit more. I’ve only found a single sub quest, and I have to imagine there are obscure cutscenes to find like in both of III’s ancestors.
The scenery is utterly beautiful, and I need to find a way to turn off the UI so I can create some wallpapers of Bailu for myself. While a few of the NPCs are almost grotesque looking (primarily the ones that are supposed to be hugely muscular or overweight), with gigantic mouths and faces like lumpy clay, most of them look just fine and entirely within the aesthetic of previous titles. The main cast looks as good as they ever have!
I know that the story’s slower pace, particularly after the speedier pace of II, is a regular source of criticism, I don’t mind it all that much. Again, as a devotee of Shenmue I, part of the appeal is a world that moves along more akin to time in the real world, and III fits with that. When it came down to it, Shenmue I really didn’t do all that much to advance the story either, and what I’ve learned so far from III and Iwao, Zhao Sunming, and the mirrors has been enough to keep me interested and curious.
Nothing is without flaws, and Shenmue III, so far, is suffering from two major issues: the lack of a Sega license and a wide gap between the release of II and III.
The missing Sega license manifests itself in three major areas: the lack of the Virtua Fighter-based fighting engine, the lack of actual arcade games to indulge in, and the (thus far) incredibly lame capsule toy selection.
The biggest issue is the missing VF engine, as we’ve left with a lesser fighting system that lacks things like throw moves. Even so, the loss is tempered a bit with a fine, enjoyable system that replaces it, even if it falls notably short of VF’s heights. I’m quite enjoying the battle system now that I’m comfortable with it and hoping for more opportunities to fight in Niaowu!
Unfortunately, I’ve seen no real replacement for the arcade games or the capsule toys, but it’s early, and I’m hopeful. While they are distractions rather than the primary focus of Shenmue (and much more necessary in Shenmue I due to the lack of a time-jump feature), it’s still a bummer that they’re absent.
Regarding the release gap, I think the problem is twofold. First, people forgot just how the original Shenmue felt or, perhaps more likely, wanted a Shenmue III from 2020 and not 2003. While not a problem for me, I can see where some people might have wanted otherwise: part of Shenmue I’s initial appeal was its reliance on cutting-edge technology. Second, it feels a bit like they were trying to cram too much nostalgia and too many gameplay features into Bailu. Chai’s appearance may have been planned since the beginning, but it’s hard to feel like the the overabundance of gambling in a tiny village was planned back in 1999.
Even so, Shenmue III feels very much like a Shenmue game, and I’m utterly thrilled to be continuing this journey!
I had forgotten Chai already made an appearance, and he made one again today after the fight with the thugs using Master Sun’s technique. I’m not sure how I feel about it, and I wonder if his return was always intended as a repeat antagonist (multiple battles in Shenmue I, then again on the boat in the Shenmue comic covering Chapter 2) or if he was brought back because he was a notable face in I. I never cared for him much anyway, which doesn’t help!
Yikes!
Anyway, the story picked up a bit as Shenhua’s powers (possibly) came into play for the first time that I can recall as she turned a towering thug into a whimpering mess. I highly enjoyed the bell tower segment, as it reminded me of the scene beneath the dojo in Shenmue I. Really cool!
I did like that the game indicated a Point of No Return in Bailu, but I do think it could have maybe been done a bit more smoothly: after the last Bailu cutscene, have Shenhua tell Ryo to say his goodbyes or finish things up.
Oh, and the final scenes of Bailu, with Shenhua speaking that classic narration from before Shenmue I while Ryo practices martial arts against a sublime starry backdrop above the village and Shenhua stands beneath the shenmue tree… whew!
The QTEs with the thugs caught me off guard, and they do seem a bit less forgiving than previous games. I followed up by cutscene-losing to the guy I had clearly beaten in actual combat.
The three-day-long excursion for the old master was amusing, and a good mesh between Shenmue I and Shenmue II: it required a fair bit of waiting in between tasks, a la I, but had the Jump feature like in II. I killed the time manually by working on my skills and making money, but it’s nice the Jump option is there. The initial money requirement was fairly pricey, but I had been using Fortune Teller buffs and gambling (thanks, Shenmue I!) along the way.
I did chuckle a bit at Master Sun’s surprise when Ryo noted he had already beat White Tiger (I had actually beaten *Gold Tiger* by that point!), but alas, missed the screenshot.
Oh, and the chicken chasing is yet another of what have to be Rocky references I’ve noticed in the series. Pretty cool!
Less cool: the capsule toys. Man, are they lame! I suppose getting the rights to the Sega characters would have been a challenge, and the Shenmue characters are neat, but tennis racket and fire extinguisher sets? Crazy dull. I hope they get better later in the game!
I found my first “sub event” along the way, a fairly easy fetch quest, but was nice to have a bit more interaction with the townsfolk.
The highlights again were the conversations with Shenhua at the end of the day. Ryo seems to have a bit more personality in this game, and it’s particularly present during his interactions with Shenhua (I still occasionally find myself calling her “Sha Hua”–oops!). His awareness of coming off “cold and distant”, his nervousness when Shenhua teases him about Nozomi, and his warm chuckle when she notes that Iwao could indeed scare him are great examples of that.
One unintentionally amusing movement involved Ryo talking about how much he loved his brown bomber jacket and would always keep wearing it—when I had just changed his clothes earlier to a black leather jacket that I believe came from the Kickstarter. Hah!
Beyond the Memory 