Shenmue 3 review - a faithful continuation of a classic of all time

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Golden harvest.

A charming time capsule that kidnaps us to the China of the late 80s and in video games of the turn of the century.

Despite all the adversities, it is here. 18 years after the last episode and after most of the hope had abandoned that Ryo Hazuki would ever find his way out of the Guilin Cave, where Shenmue 2 ended abruptly, the most notable on Shenmue 3 is that it is even exists. Even more remarkable is that the director Yu Suzuki, who has no longer at the top of the game development for almost two decades, provides a worthy successor to what many for an all-time-great. Shenmue 3 accesses the submission of these ancient dreamcast games and refines them in a variety of ways - and delivers a game that is both faithful and refined.

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Shenmue 3 rating

• Developer: ys net
• Editor: Deep silver
• Platform: Revised to PS4
• Availability: Available now on PC and PS4

What this is not is a new idea. This is not the game to convince a Shenmue follower of doubts, and the strange circumstances that stuck behind the development of Shenmue 3 have led to a strange game. They are unaware of modern trends in Open World Gaming or the trends of the last 20 years at all. It is as if it had been developed in a sealed bubble that appears as relic of the past. It is archaic and Arkan, as his predecessors often did, though it is no longer the appeal to stand at the top of the video games. Shenmue 3 is one of the most expensive productions of the medium. It is a direct continuation of an old blockbuster on DVD.

Nevertheless, it has this cinematic momentum and manages to remain faithful to the aesthetics and the ambience of the originals. Shenmue was one of the original open worlds, and they can certainly refer to other games of the open world, which were created in the consequence and have since developed almost unnecessary. Grand Theft Car, which had his first 3D appearance a month after the start of Shenmue 2, or even Yakuza, the series, which was created from Shenmues ash. But Shenmue exists in its own bubble. It was always and will always be; A softer, handsome thing that moves with the urgency of a Wuxia film of the 70s and does not take care of more modern action, blooms.

Shenmue 3 is completely loyal. There are easily updated controls and a small selection of new systems, but it seems as if this was done shortly after the publication of Shenmue 2 in 2001 and then put in a safe. There are the same intermediate titles (although the appearance is limited because the world and its interiors are now seamless), the same menu writings, the same QTES and so many of the same peculiarities that Shenmue have made a bad thing, what it was. This has, like the originals, a slowness that, if you can not smash in your rhythm, can act almost boldly.

Whether you love or hate these sluggish nature is a matter of taste, though you know Shenmue 3 slows down the pace. Partly this is a mirror image where it is in Ryos bow; On the trail of the murderer of his father, Shenmues Protagonist is slowly finding his way from his hometown on the outskirts of Tokyo to Hong Kong's heart and then here to Guilin. As Shenmue sold us on the everyday characteristics of the life in Yokosuka and Shenmue 2 on the bustle of the street markets of a city, Shenmue 3 brought us to rural China at the end of the 80s. It is so intoxicating as well as so annoying, as I imagine.

Ryo reaches a stranger in Bailu, a village in the shadow of the Guilin hills, and in his search for information he flip from village to village. A typical quest series is an old lady who has swallowed the flight routine. Talk to every villager to put together the information, and find the martial arts experts who only answer questions that they need to buy against alcohol and bun and who will then hold back the most important information until they bought him the most expensive schnapps, which she sends her in a busy day to procure the funds. And then he only brings him so that he first says that you have to defeat a particular fighter in the local dojo. All done? Start ten chickens and then you can talk. At least you can do it the next day, because our friend wants to rest first, so you can find a way to deal with you to the sunset. Craziness? Maybe it still feels great if you hold with Shenmues's leisurely tempo.

Shenmue 3 is the training mount without the jump cuts. It's long and slow and sometimes you wonder exactly where it works. 18 years later and Suzuki does not hurry himself to finish this story - as he said, Shenmue 3 does not close the series. It certainly brings his own taste, the melancholy of the series is brought to the forefront, while Ryo is closer to his father's footsteps than ever before, even if there is no giant steps in Ryos Rachschichte. I will avoid spoilers, but in the widest trains there are returning stars and something approaching a satisfactory climax, even if history returns to Stasis.

None of this is of central importance for Shenmues charm. Yu Suzuki's talent is not so much telling stories, but it transports it very elsewhere. In his heyday, it went over imposing Taisan cabinets, which led them into the cockpit of Afterburner's nozzle hunters or behind the wheel of Out Runs Ferrari. Shenmues ambitions are more modestly - when Suzuki became older, he matured from his own fantasies to tourist trips, which were preferred by Middle-aged people - but the craft and the details can be just as impressive, which is so true in Shenmue 3 despite the lower resources How never before at hand.

The open worlds of Shenmue are not assessed according to their size (though the world of Shenmue 3, which has been developed over time and slowly opens in this regard compared to previous games positive), but according to their details and pastoral Dunst of Bailu, the density of Niawou and beyond, with breathtaking playstell told. Some of this detail is pleasingly pointless - the interiors of several rural Chinese houses are browse for browsing while they leaves through drawers - and they are conspiring for a world that feels very alive. The villagers carry through their own routines, while the time turns, each with their own stories, their own faces and their own name (in a new function, the names also appear when they approach the villagers, which significantly approaching them relieved). . It's a game where you run in the circle, but also rewards the repetition if you check in people and learn more about their history and their character and may even make errors for them. A hyperreal Animal Crossing, more than a GTA, with a soothing rhythm.

Shenmue 3 brings you quickly into your own routine. It starts with a touch of domestic as you raise yourself in the house you share with Shenhua before you walk a walk to the sunrise in the city, through rice fields and thick sunflower fruits that slide along a muddy path that yesterday Rain was decorated, and herbs pick so they develop a medicine they can sell later. They do their daily tasks, might chop wood to make some money, play their way to profit or simply collect capsules to complete a set that may be resold for profits. There is a tense economy that binds Shenmue 3 and making it the need to get involved in busy work.

The work is well done, the mini-games show the flair that is hoped by a master of the arcade. The arcade mini-games also return - minus the SEGA-licensed, unfortunately but understandably - with a handful of new entries. There are wonderful electromechanical things gently relating to arcade games that have even higher priority than out run, such as Segas's own periscope or Grand Prix - and if they are a nerd for such things, it's a thrill when Yu is a thrill Suzuki pays his fees the games that paved his own way.

In the fight that underscores her adventure, there are the obvious flashes of Virtua Fighter, although this is far not so refined. However, it works and is completely satisfactory when you learn and unlock new movesets. In fact, Shenmue 3 is a deeper-going RPG than the first two games and has a suitable level system with which you can fight while you work up in the local dojo and collect new moves - while you are gaining a HP Lock tend to keep Ryo with different foods. It brings Shenmue a step closer to the Virtua Fighter-RPG, which was designed first of all the years.

And all these years later, there is an entry that, as unlikely he is, is more sophisticated and more extensive than the first two entries. An ingenious critic could point out that the achievements are inconsistent, the character models sometimes look unpredictable, they are limited in terms of their possibilities and nothing special really happens. I'm afraid that's not me. Yes, Shenmue 3 can look like a Dreamcast game and played. But it looks like a dreamcast game, which is as crazy, magical and majestic as the original Shenmue games, both classics of all time. I think there is a good reason to be happy about it.