I missed the Dreamcast first time around, so for me Shenmue existed only as a vague imagined experience, scant details stolen from flicking through magazines in shops, an unknowable Valhalla. A few years ago I borrowed a Dreamcast and a bag of games, played with it for a month or so, and returned it with a note saying simply "Shenmue is rubbish".
Having just finished 1 & 2, I feel like I've been on a huge roundabout journey where I am now able to both stand by this statement AND vehemently argue against it.
I'm not sure any game has ever made me think so much about what games are, what they could be, whether I'm understanding or assuming the creator's intentions, the limitations of the concept of "less is more"...I almost don't want to write any of it down though, as my thoughts (much like the game) are an absolute jumble, and I feel like it's already been dissected to hell and back. I think I want to just read and learn as much about it as possible, because honestly I cannot currently fathom the mind that made so many of the decisions shaping the entirety of what it is I think about when I hear the word "Shenmue".
I keep writing things and deleting them. Shenmue has broken my brain, wide open, and shit is falling out everywhere. I can't possibly score this game. It's been something I have come to consider as an essential experience, but also one I'm not sure I could ever bring myself to repeat, because without the epiphanies about games and myself, what's left is more often than not a frustrating mess. I loved it and I'm done with it.
installs Shenmue 3
Having just finished 1 & 2, I feel like I've been on a huge roundabout journey where I am now able to both stand by this statement AND vehemently argue against it.
I'm not sure any game has ever made me think so much about what games are, what they could be, whether I'm understanding or assuming the creator's intentions, the limitations of the concept of "less is more"...I almost don't want to write any of it down though, as my thoughts (much like the game) are an absolute jumble, and I feel like it's already been dissected to hell and back. I think I want to just read and learn as much about it as possible, because honestly I cannot currently fathom the mind that made so many of the decisions shaping the entirety of what it is I think about when I hear the word "Shenmue".
I keep writing things and deleting them. Shenmue has broken my brain, wide open, and shit is falling out everywhere. I can't possibly score this game. It's been something I have come to consider as an essential experience, but also one I'm not sure I could ever bring myself to repeat, because without the epiphanies about games and myself, what's left is more often than not a frustrating mess. I loved it and I'm done with it.
installs Shenmue 3