Oh, Shenmue. What a game you are.
This is a bit of a different beast for me, so I'm trying something a bit different here.
This was honestly a surprise hit for me. Ever since I knew my family had a Dreamcast, Shenmue was one of the games we had. I would keep starting it up, and stupid dumb 9-year-old me would get bored. I would then move on to play Toy Story 2. This was a blessing, however, because I only had disc 1 for a long time. This was also a blessing because Toy Story 2 was a good game. I started the game up again, now older (though not any more mature), and actually got a bit invested.
Shenmue's about Ryo Hazuki and his quest to kill a man named Lan Di as vengeance for his father's death. Moreso, however, it's about Ryo and his interactions with his world to get there. You can talk to everyone in the town, and they all have unique voice lines for many parts of the game. This was quite novel for 1999. Ryo's world looks really great for a Dreamcast game, with moderately detailed textures, and a mostly consistent framerate. Where the game both falters and absolutely ironically succeeds is the voice acting. This game's cast is not great, but it kinda adds to the charm.
My biggest gripe with the game is that it overemphasizes relationships between Ryo and certain characters that aren't really shown in-gameplay or story. This is mainly an issue near the end of the game, but it tries to make you care about the characters when they barely do anything. It's not like Shenmue doesn't have characters this would work with. The game does a decent job developing Ryo's relationship with Ine, Fuku, and some others to a lesser extent, but others that I won't get into because spoilers definitely do not deserve the "dramatic" moments.
The game plays like an adventure game, who woulda thunk it? On Dreamcast, for some reason you control Ryo with the D-pad, not the analog stick. You get used to it, but the Dreamcast D-pad isn't great. There's a solid amount of just looking for stuff, but considering I don't remember getting too frustrated over it, it's not that bad. There's also the combat, and it feels kinda slow and clunky, but pretty satisfying once you do manage to get the hang of it. It's a tad unresponsive though. Later in the game, you're introduced to EXTREME FORKLIFT ACTION, and it's surprisingly fun. The game's pretty clever with how it gets you used to the forklift. It starts you out doing a race each day on it, and you get used to the harbor that way. It also makes you learn the best and fastest ways to drive around and make tight corners, making the actual forklifting much faster and more fun. Yeah, despite being a tedious job in real life, in Shenmue I somehow had fun???? I dunno, maybe I'm just a masochist, but it didn't feel like it overstayed its welcome.
Overall, this was a fun time. Not as long as I thought, though I may have also beaten the game faster than most. The story is entertaining and has good moments, I like most of the characters, though some appear to much or too little, and I really did get invested into the game's world. However, like I said before, some character moments don't land, and unlike what i just said, it can be tedious or vague at times. I never needed to resort to a guide, though. I'd give this game an 8.1/10. It's nothing groundbreaking nowadays, but if you give it a shot you may enjoy it.
As for what version, HD is probably the way to go. The game looks stunning in 480p on an actual Dreamcast, but HD controls better, looks better, and is just waaaayyy more accessible. If you happen to have a DreamPi Dreamcast, I'd actually say go for the DC version due to the exclusive online features, but if you are dedicated enough into the Dreamcast for that, you probably already have Shenmue there, so just play it there. There isn't a bad way to play this game.

Shenmue was the most comfortable game I've ever played in my life.

Playing a Japan simulator, waking up early in the morning irl and ingame, going outside and running around Sakuragaoka while it was rainy IRL and also rainy in the game, while it played the FREE 1 soundtrack, just going around talking to people... It's so soothing, it made my entire being relaxed, immersed. I felt true happiness, a true sense of belonging in that world Yu Suzuki created. I wish this game was infinite and we were allowed to just live there forever.

First off, holy shit this came out in 1999. Regardless of what you think about the game itself, you have to consider all this in a game from that era impressive. All 3D, NPCs having programmed routines, literally everything voiced, and so on.

If I had to use a word to describe this game, it'd be ambition. Sometimes ambition can cloud what makes a game good though. Every single line spoken by every character is voiced, but the voice acting is incredibly stilted as if everyone reads a script. (You get used to it and it's part of the charm, but that doesn't make it good). There's a day/night schedule the game operates on, but you spend a lot of time doing something else since there's so much waiting. The game is abound with smaller activities and a few sidequests, but you'd have to stumble on them otherwise you'd have no clue they exist. Combat's alright.

The best stories are the ones you can create yourself. When I saw the 18 year old coping with the loss of his father alone outside snowy nights in front of a department store constantly spending money on gachapon machines to get his favorite Sega toys, I felt that.

The gameplay itself just isn't that interesting. Combat is rare so you won't get to enjoy it much until the end. The first half is DO YOU KNOW ABOUT CHINESE PEOPLE and DO YOU KNOW WHERE SAILORS HANG OUT? While the second half is operating a forklift which you can get into the groove of and is alright as a timekiller. For a story that's standard martial arts fair, it really asks you do do lots of maniacal tasks for more of it.

There's a lot to love, and a lot to hate. But you cannot deny that a ton of hard work and effort went into this vision. That is Shenmue. Is it a good game? Nah. Does it have heart? Absolutely.

The perfect game (for me)

What can I really say? It's slice of life game disguised as an action game about a boy abounding everything to be a video game hero, the story is less about the big players in the criminal underworld and more about Ryo and how the murder of his father has affected him and the people around him.

The Nozomi motorbike scene is perfect, one of the best scens in video game history! With how much Yu Suzuki loves china this def feels like a node to fallen angels.

I went to this game totally blind and what a suprise to see that this so cold classic is a life sim games.
At first I hated it, everything was so slow and archaic, I was only seeing it an unfun game.
But when I accepted that shenmue wasn't the typical mainstream game I did get its unique aura.
The story is so average but shenmue make it captivating with its amazing storytelling and gorgeous cinematic. I just love to see how your envirronnement and people around you are evolving. Characters are simple but so real I'm fine with tropes but it's a breeze of fresh air.
I can sum up this game by "an immersive everyday life to japan". As the game it's not that great there's annoying moment but as a whole experience it's something worth experiencing, like real life.

Warts and all, Shenmue's a game unlike any other. The "real world" approach of various NPCs having set schedules, and the overall pace of the game may not click with everyone, and the so bad it's good voice acting is easy to scoff at, but there's something to be said about a game like it that beats to its own tune. Its world's sense of homeliness, simple but engaging story led by an endearing cast of characters, and a scope completely unheard of at time of release, make for a game that, even if not to everyone's taste, is one I think should definitely be appreciated for all it does. A great swansong to Sega's time as a first party developer.

While I didn't find myself thinking Shenmue was the masterpiece I was told it was, I did enjoy my time with it mostly. I found the game to be far more enjoyable when I was "stopping to sniff the roses" so to speak and doing what others would consider to be the tedious and mundane parts of the games. Just walking around and interacting with the environment and talking to all the characters was far more interesting to me than chasing the story beats or getting forced into a fight with clunky controls. Shenmue 2 kinda loses the bit of its character that I adored for me, but I can still appreciate Shenmue 1 for those little bit and pieces outside of the main adventure.

Having played this game 20 years after its original launch, I can see why people say this is a really dated experience, yet I can't bring myself to actually dislike what I went through.

We have Ryo Hazuki as the MC trying to avenge his father, and that's pretty much the motivations behind the actual game plot going the way it does.
However, I feel the way it's pulled off feels really well-done, seeing that you can at times feel the actual resolution and determination in Ryo to go after Lan Di, the guy who killed his father, while still feeling the struggle and melancholy of leaving everything behind (including Nozomi, which actually hurts) in the actual game.

Gameplay-wise, it's just a walking simulator with some fights (gameplay being ripped out of Virtua Fighter) here and there.
However, it has to be one of the most immersive and charming experiences I've played in a good while: everything contributes to the atmosphere, from little side quests like the cat, to the soundtrack, and the actual game system, which feels closer to a real-life simulation than an actual game at times. They even took real weather data in the time frame the game takes place in and added it into the game, if that isn't dedication I don't really know what else could be it.

It's a masterpiece in its own merit, but a flawed one at that, seeing as you could actually end up waiting with no real stuff to do except wandering around or even using your phone in real life.
However, truth is, there is something so unique about this game that there is no way I could be even close to hate it.

Definitely NOT a game for everyone, but for some of you, it's worth your time.

Shenmue is a wild adventure, and I’m not just talking about what happens in-game. This classic is the quintessential showcase of ambition in the game sphere, as well as how those ambitions eventually ran up against insurmountable limitations.

One thing I will say about Shenmue is that it has aged fairly well. It has many flaws, to be sure, but most of its weaker aspects were already weaknesses on the day the game shipped. The racing segments suffer from underdeveloped physics and lame opponent AI. The pacing of the storyline is all over the place, and there are many times when you have nothing to do (How did people survive before smart phones!?) and no way to skip forward in time. And the ability to examine everyday household objects is a neat feature but ultimately just a gimmick. All of these criticisms would’ve been as true in 1999 as they are today.

Yet for all its flaws, Shenmue still easily holds up as a game worth experiencing. Yu Suzuki [鈴木裕] and crew had the audacity to try recreating an entire town – not just the physical space, but the citizens and their relationships as well – and pack it onto three GD-ROMs. And in some ways, they got closer than anyone has before or since. Every character has a personality, a voice, an independent schedule. Seasons change. Hot dog stands come and go. Santa Claus shows up for Christmas. Although the developers didn’t come anywhere near realizing the full extent of their ambitions, in taking their best stab at it they crafted a game that has a unique charm that has only been replicated once, in this game’s sequel.

Perhaps the game that comes closest to recreating the Shenmue vibe is Yakuza, a series known for its crowded streets and colorful characters. But in Yakuza most NPCs are just window dressing – you can’t talk to everyone like you can in Shenmue. On the other side of the Pacific, certain Bethesda titles perhaps come closer to the “complete life simulation” that Shenmue was aiming to provide, but they are much larger in scope and lack Shenmue’s hand-crafted charm. Every inch of Dobuita is unique; you can’t say the same of Cyrodiil or Skyrim.

But enough about world-building. How does Shenmue actually play? One of my biggest frustrations is that there’s a relatively deep combat system but very few opportunities to use it. I spent more time training in the park and at the dojo than I did in actual combat. Then again, if we consider that this is a life simulation, it makes sense that Ryo would spend more time training than fighting, especially in this opening chapter.

In lieu of fighting, you’ll spend heaps of time completing fetch quests. The characters and the missions they send you on are a blend of strange, racist, funny, and charming. I still can’t get over the fact that the first half of the game basically boils down to “my father was murdered by a man from China, so let’s interrogate every Chinese person in town!” To be fair, Ryo does conduct his investigation in a respectful manner. But as a person living in a country where I’m part of small minority, not unlike these Chinese people in Japan, I find this kind of trope grates on my nerves. And that’s to say nothing of Tom and all the other weirdo foreign characters. I suppose this is what happens when you try to reduce entire nationalities and races to a few lines of dialogue. (I can’t lie, though. In the end Tom won me over. He’s an incredibly charming dude, and boy can he dance.)

In its final third, the game shifts from being a series of fetch quests that can be completed at the player’s leisure to a linear, time-limited push to the finish line. I’d call it a race, but it’s more of a slog, because Ryo gets a part-time job that feels like real work. It’s tedious, but at least it doesn’t last too long, and thanks to the booming Japanese economy of time you get massive pay raises every single day, as long as you hit your quota.

The day-to-day grind of part-time work eventually gave way to one final showdown, and the epic battle that ensued was a major highlight of the game. As the first part of Ryo’s story concluded, I found that, despite all the ups and downs, my journey through Shenmue had ultimately been a fulfilling one. Though it dragged on too long and left many questions unanswered, the story rang true in my heart, and I hope Shenmue II, when I get around to playing it, will delight me in the same way.

Another comfort game. I love when a game is fully committed to making you engage in really mundane tasks. Walking down the hill from your home, passing all the other houses on your way into town, maybe trying your luck with the gacha along the way, making sure to grab some cat food on the way back home, slowly crossing things off your checklist. This shit is exciting to me. Shenmue nails all of that perfectly. Over the course of the game, I became intimately familiar with Yokosuka and its denizens. It almost felt like a second home. It’s one of my favourites. I love it.

dame dane lole!!! sorry wrong game. shenmue is actually a pretty swag game on paper but it ends up sucking because the sega gemesis can't really capture the art film aesthetic the game is trying to capture very well, as well as the story just being really generic. i think i'd relate more to the protagonist if he wasn't a bumbling thumbsucker with really awkward dialogue and body language (which describes every character). really dig the aesthetic though! as famous GOOD PERSON Steve Jobs put it "For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through."