Chris Pople

I have been playing Shenmue 3 for about ten hours now. I love it. I also want to punch it in the face repeatedly. I'm a huge fan of Shenmue 1 and 2 and completed both multiple times. These games paved the way for so many of the games we play today. Shenmue 3 is incredibly faithful to it's predecessors. Ryo wakes up, I take him to the local shop to earn some money by chopping wood and buy his lunch for the day. I take him to train at the local dojo before walking down to the village square of Bailu and continuing this slow burner of a story. It's everything I wanted from Shenmue 3. Games have moved on in the eighteen years since Shenmue 2 but playing as Ryo again, in this world, with the feel of nostalgia pulling me in, I am in love. Then the padding starts......as do some mild spoilers. Relatively early in what is apparently a 25 hour story you have to rescue a man named Yanxin. He has been taken prisoner in his own home by a group of thugs. They have beaten nearby townspeople. Try as hard as he likes, Ryo cannot defeat the main thug due to his knockout punch. Ryo seeks help from a martial arts expert named Sun. Sun will only answer your questions if you bring him a bread roll and a bottle of plonk. After a conversation, he shows you a move that could defeat the main thug. Ryo realises he must learn this move. Day one, has Ryo bring Sun another bread roll but now Sun wants a bottle of wine that is at least fifty years old. Ryo finds this bottle but it costs 2000 yuan. Lots of wood chopping and gambling later Ryo takes this to Sun. He says thank you now go and catch ten chickens. Honest. Ryo catches ten chickens. Ryo is then sent away and told to come back after a sleep. The next day he wants Ryo to train a bit and catch some more chickens (seriously). After this, Sun tells you to come back tomorrow. A MAN'S LIFE IS AT STAKE. Ryo goes back the next day. Sun asks Ryo to train some more and then, catch some more chickens. Finally he teaches you the move. Ryo defeats the thugs and thankfully, after days of kidnap, Yanxin is ok. By the way, whilst this situation was going on the fifty or so population of Bailu did not spare a single thought for poor Yanxin and his traumatic ordeal. Not even the martial arts experts that make up around ten of Bailu's populus. No one else helped but Ryo. Yanxin must've done some terrible things to this village to be disregarded so much. Padding similar to this has continued so far and it feels like it's padding to stretch the length of the story rather than padding to add to the slow burn experience that made Shenmue 1 and 2 so good. This makes me feel very frustrated and I find it very hard to suspend disbelief at times. Despite the issue of unnecessary padding and B movie plot holes the rest of the game is everything Shenmue fans will love. I can't stop going back to it and I want to see the story through. If you love Shenmue then play it. It looks great despite it's small budget, the mini games and the fighting is fun, it's quirky in a way only Shenmue can be. I love the things that only true Shenmue fans will appreciate. I can understand the mixed reviews from critics. I, however, am one of the many Shenmue fans who feel positive about the overall experience of Ryo's continued journey towards avenging his Father's death.