Shenmue III Reviews

Shenmue III is ranked in the 34th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
3 / 10.0
May 16, 2020

What a horrible experience this was. Whatever minuscule redeeming qualities this game might have are drowned out by just how infuriating it is. And I can’t think of anybody who is a fan of this franchise that can honestly call this game good with a straight face.

Read full review

Cubed3
Top Critic
5 / 10
Apr 13, 2020

Shenmue 3 is a tough recommendation for general audiences.

Read full review

Mar 10, 2020

It’s clear that Shenmue III is a game that wants to please the fans and it’s clear a lot of effort was put in ensuring this experience is the one we would have had on the Dreamcast back then. They even bothered to get Corey Marshall to reprise his role as Ryo for the English audio track. However, the game trips over itself in its execution. Shenmue III is so stuck in the past and in its own bad habits that it forgot it needs to move on. Shenmue III is very much “more Shenmue” in that it’s certainly a continuation of the story, but its also not taking many significant steps in moving it or the gameplay forward. Yu Suzuki had a rather grand vision for the future of the series but for fans to have waited this long only to get a small glimpse of that vision and continue to be teased about it is incredibly disappointing. It feels like him and his team are constantly building hype for things we can expect in the future games without ever actually delivering on it. And while it’s true that in the past, he wasn’t entirely at fault due to the fate of the Dreamcast, I have a very hard time excusing it here.

Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Feb 6, 2020

Shenmue III is full of personality with an enticing world that might just have you full head-over-heels as I did, 18 long years ago

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Jan 24, 2020

Shenmue III is exactly what I would have expected to see fifteen years ago, only with much prettier graphics. Newcomers to the series may find the controls, mechanics, and dreadful QTE segments a little frustrating and not at all what you’d expect from this type of game in 2019, but those who have played and loved the originals will feel right at home. I feel the developers have delivered everything they promised within the Kickstarter campaign, offering a new and exciting chapter into the life of Ryo in the search for the man who killed his father. If you go into the game knowing that it’s much slower than titles such as Yakuza, then you’re going to enjoy it a lot more – I honestly had fun despite the abundance of QTE and fund-raising moments.

Read full review

7.3 / 10.0
Jan 20, 2020

Is the game that all fans expected, and at the same time it is not. It has errors, graphically it is out of date, fans will like it but I do not recommend it to new players.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

6.7 / 10.0
Jan 14, 2020

Fans of the series are going to find everything they love here – a game that refuses to be anything else apart from itself, even if that is rooted in the past.

Read full review

65 / 100
Jan 8, 2020

Shenmue 3 is a game created for fans that have been expecting a new title for almost 20 years. Although certain elements were modernized, such as smoother controls and graphics, the progression of the story and the overall structure returned to being as slow as it was in Shenmue I. In fact, the two parts that exist in the game are very similar in structure - it seems that you play it twice. The combat system, which now has RPG elements, doesn't look very good either. It is not a horrible game - far from it, but after waiting all this time we would like to see a natural evolution in its mechanics or story, and not the same thing again.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review

Caution
Jan 7, 2020

Shenmue 3 is a very special and complex game. It could easily be someone's favorite game as well as a completely indifferent mediocrity to someone else.

Review in Greek | Read full review

7 / 10
Jan 6, 2020

Shenmue III ironically becomes a breath of fresh air by remaining rigidly focused on what it used to be.

Read full review

80%
Dec 31, 2019

Shenmue III isn't at all the perfect video game that everyone would love. On the contrary, Yu Suzuki's dream project is focused purely on pleasing the old fans of the series that aged along with the first two games and offers exactly what the third part of the saga would, if it came out 15 years ago. If viewed through that lens, Shenmue III is nothing but a success.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

Dec 30, 2019

Shenmue III is a real treat for fans and the best entry in the series so far. Improvements push the series in the right direction but it's not very friendly for newcomers. However, the overall game is an engaging experience from start to finish. It delivers what was promised by YS NET as the next chapter of the series.

Read full review

80 / 100
Dec 25, 2019

Do not look at the score, if you wonder if you will enjoy Shenmue III, ask yourself if you liked the previous two, ask yourself if you would have enjoyed the third installment if it had been on Dreamcast in its day or today but as a neoretro game running on the latest SEGA console with all the style, freedom and limitations of the two previous installments. Along the way, a somewhat irregular technical wash and some cutbacks as a result of the budget, but which do not tarnish the final result, although it leaves us with the thorn of not having had a totally round result.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

5 / 10
Dec 24, 2019

Shenmue III is a faithful recreation of a Shenmue game. However, it's not necessarily something I think anybody should play unless you're desperate to uncover the next chapter in the saga of Ryo Hazuki.

Read full review

3.5 / 5.0
Dec 23, 2019

Fans of the previous games will love the third instalment, and those who disliked the previous two games will not find anything here to change their minds.

Read full review

7 / 10.0
Dec 20, 2019

Shenmue III is a lifelong dream come true for fans of the franchise, but anyone else may get turned off by its authentic late-90's game design.

Read full review

7 / 10
Dec 18, 2019

Shenmue 3 might not be a right choice for modern day gamers, but for die hard Shenmue fans who have waited for it for almost two decades, it's a must have.

Review in Persian | Read full review

6.5 / 10.0
Dec 18, 2019

New Shenmue is almost same as previous games. But nostalgic reminiscing has some flaws.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

7 / 10
Dec 16, 2019

Shenmue III is a game lost in time, but that's probably the greatest compliment you can pay this long-awaited sequel. Newcomers will be utterly bemused by its slice of life-style idiosyncrasies, but for franchise fans this is the faithful follow-up that they've been waiting almost two decades for.

Read full review

Ken McKown
Top Critic
5.5 / 10.0
Dec 10, 2019

A game that feels like it time travelled to 2019 from the Dreamcast era and I think that is just fine with the fans. They got what they wanted and I am thrilled for them, but anyone coming in to see what all the noise is about is likely going to come away confused as to why it took 18 years to create the game in front of them.

Read full review