Shenmue III Reviews
Finally Shenmue 3 is here. After 18 years Ryo's story continues. But the third chapter feels more like an enourmous sidemission than the continuation of the story. The game looks great and plays away like a modern game, while staying true to the first two parts. Sadly enough there are some big frustrations like the mandatory eating and making a lot of money to continue the story. For fans this is a must play, but others don't miss out if they skip this one.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
The mini-game portions of Shenmue III were by far the most enjoyable. Whether it's chopping wood for a paycheck, playing the arcade games, or training, these experiences were the most fun, and they do actually help you get lost in the world of Shenmue. That world and its quirky characters are delightful in their own way, but design and dialogue shortcomings are just too much for those elements to overcome. You'll enjoy the thought of Shenmue III more than actually playing it, and, unfortunately, the nostalgia won't be enough to keep you hooked.
Shenmue III often feels antiquated but its charming presentation and nostalgic feeling will keep fans engaged, but let’s hope it won’t take nearly two decades until Ryo’s journey continues.
Yu Suzuki might not have delivered a perfect continuation of Ryo Hazuki's journey but the work he has done in making Shenmue III is admirable. It is a good game once you dig underneath it, warts and all, especially considering the expectations of making this sequel after all these years.
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 It has errors, graphically it is out of date, fans will like it but I do not recommend it to new players.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
Shenmue III ends up feeling like a remake of the old games in the series although it is a completely new production.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Shenmue III is a highly expected game by gamers because it is the continuation of a cult franchise. However, time has passed, but it seems game's developers don't notice it. It's beautiful, the soundtrack is very good and the story endures, but the animations are unreal and the gameplay more than tedious, it becomes impossible. It looks like a PS2 game, instead of PS4.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
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.
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
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
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.
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
Similar to how Ryo is eternally stuck in 1987, Shenmue III is trapped in 2001, when having an open world with many NPCs was more important than filling that world with anything interesting. The game tells a high-stakes plot at a snail’s pace, with terrible writing and acting. The clever combat system of the previous games has devolved into a button-mashing mess. The title does have moments of brightness: the actual story beats are great, the setting is fascinating, and it features the best forklift simulation on the market. However, with such incredibly dated gameplay, only the most ardent fans will enjoy Shenmue III. Even then, it is easily the weakest link in the franchise.
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.
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.
Shenmue III ironically becomes a breath of fresh air by remaining rigidly focused on what it used to be.
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.
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
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.