I just beat(?) this game and even though I got it for free, I feel like I got ripped off. I wrote a much large review but it won't let me post this. The good - Premise, atomosphere The ok - Voice acting The bad - Pretty much everything else The Terrible - The puzzles, the don't exist or they are just to pad the game and waste time. Google Point and click games. You'll find a better one. Watch Phantom, you'll enjoy it more.
This game is great if you're a fan on the old style laura bow games. The music, writing and style are all top notch. The only downside to this game is that the text parser is a little too clunky, nothing game breaking just a few moments of trying to figure out exactly what the parser would like to to write. This acutally lead to me missing a minor clue to a side plot because I didn't know what to write. I might just be an idiot though.
This game is an interesting one, it has a lot of good stuff going for it. Setting, music, voice work and the base gameplay are all good. The major problem is just how punishing the game is, I've personally found that you'll either crush your enemies or get absolute destroyed by them. Stong recommendation, focus on the combat stat until you can use all the attacks for your current weapon, you'll be much stronger that way. This game also expects you to do lots of dark dungeon crawling and basically doesn't give you a light, sure you can use the firefly spell but damn is it bad, I just fumble around until I find what I need. The last straw was wandering around in the dark just to find an enemy that 4 shot me and took about 20 hits to kill. The story is also very light by the point I'm up to and I'm just not interested in pulling hairs just to get a couple of steps in front.
I've now played all three Shenmue games and this is the worst by a good amount. Lets start with some good stuff. Music, good. Graphics, not great but matches Shenmue overall feel. More ways to get money. I'm also going to give a tip to the new players, gather herbs and toys to make easy money, make sure to do some save scumming on the toys and you'll never have to gamble. If you're going to gamble, frog and turtle races are the easiest to work around. Lets get to the nitty gritty now. Story, its ok at best and a waste of time at worst, it does actually add stuff to the overall lore just no where near as much as you'd want. Combat is by far the worst change and might be one of the worst combat systems ever. You hit the face buttons to do moves and a combo of that to do more complicated moves (you can also hit the right should buttons to quickly do a selection of 5 more complex moves). The problem is that there is a delay to everything you do, timing attacks can be a complete crap shoot and a lot of the time, the AI can just block or walk past those moves. Also no throws, at all, Ryo's main martial art is Jujitsu. You know, a martial that is based around locks and throws. This also leads into another combat system problem, AI can just block forever while you can't, you can't overcome the block in anyway. you just have to back up and hope they'll whiff an attack or won't block. The real question is, is this game worth your time? The anwser is only if you really want more Shenmue, it still feels like Shenmue except for the combat. If this is the first time you're hearing of the series, this game sure as hell isn't going to win you over. If you need the story for closure purposes, watch a lets play or something.
