It's Thursday, you I guess we all know what we gotta do. That's right,
head on over to Epic Games and dutifully collect another free game.
Work, work, work.

This week on Epic:

Shenmue III
https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/shenmue-3

I have such mixed feelings about Shenmue. From a technical and
artistic angle, I adore it. Its detailed recreation of a tiny Japanese
town was so incredible when the game was first released way back in
'99; there really wasn't anything like it at the time (and, even
today, it's quite impressive). There were just so many details
lovingly added to the game that you couldn't help but be impressed,
and its sequels carried on that tradition. The worlds of the "Shenmue"
games feel amazingly real, and wandering about exploring those worlds
is a joy.

But the gameplay... that I could do without. At best it's an unfocused
mix of combat and exploration (and forklifts); at worst, it's a
tedious grind with atrocious controls. To some degree, I understand
the grind; it's a continuation of the rest of the game's
verisimilitude, recreating the more unexciting parts of life. But I
play games to escape that sort of thing. "Shenmue III" follows the
tradition of its predecessors closely, for better or worse ignoring
the two decades of developments in the industry that separate it from
"Shenmue II". Who needs quality-of-life considerations like being able
to skip dialogue or quests that pointlessly make you jog across the
entire map or even a satisfying ending? That's not the Shenmue way.

Still, "Shenmue 3" does recapture the artistry and style of the first
games, and while the combat system isn't as fluid as you'd find in a
'proper' brawler, it isn't exactly unsatisfying. You can have fun with
it; it's just that it could be better. But then, would it really be a
"Shenmue" game?

Anyway, it's free on Epic. It's just the standard edition, which lacks
the various DLC expansions (which I've never played, so whether they
greatly improve the game or not I can't say), but that's okay; you
still get a good chunk of gameplay with just the base game. I don't
know if I'd recommend "Shenmue III" to people who haven't played the
first two games but on the other hand, it's probably the sort of game
that deserves a place in your library just for its historical
relevance. Get it definitely, play it maybe.

Thanks. I have never even heard of this series.

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:
> It's Thursday, you I guess we all know what we gotta do. That's right,
> head on over to Epic Games and dutifully collect another free game.
> Work, work, work.

> This week on Epic:

> Shenmue III
> https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/shenmue-3

> I have such mixed feelings about Shenmue. From a technical and
> artistic angle, I adore it. Its detailed recreation of a tiny Japanese
> town was so incredible when the game was first released way back in
> '99; there really wasn't anything like it at the time (and, even
> today, it's quite impressive). There were just so many details
> lovingly added to the game that you couldn't help but be impressed,
> and its sequels carried on that tradition. The worlds of the "Shenmue"
> games feel amazingly real, and wandering about exploring those worlds
> is a joy.

> But the gameplay... that I could do without. At best it's an unfocused
> mix of combat and exploration (and forklifts); at worst, it's a
> tedious grind with atrocious controls. To some degree, I understand
> the grind; it's a continuation of the rest of the game's
> verisimilitude, recreating the more unexciting parts of life. But I
> play games to escape that sort of thing. "Shenmue III" follows the
> tradition of its predecessors closely, for better or worse ignoring
> the two decades of developments in the industry that separate it from
> "Shenmue II". Who needs quality-of-life considerations like being able
> to skip dialogue or quests that pointlessly make you jog across the
> entire map or even a satisfying ending? That's not the Shenmue way.

> Still, "Shenmue 3" does recapture the artistry and style of the first
> games, and while the combat system isn't as fluid as you'd find in a
> 'proper' brawler, it isn't exactly unsatisfying. You can have fun with
> it; it's just that it could be better. But then, would it really be a
> "Shenmue" game?

> Anyway, it's free on Epic. It's just the standard edition, which lacks
> the various DLC expansions (which I've never played, so whether they
> greatly improve the game or not I can't say), but that's okay; you
> still get a good chunk of gameplay with just the base game. I don't
> know if I'd recommend "Shenmue III" to people who haven't played the
> first two games but on the other hand, it's probably the sort of game
> that deserves a place in your library just for its historical
> relevance. Get it definitely, play it maybe.

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