The series of Shenmue it is considered by many to be a real legendary myth. Two chapters, the first of which came out in Japan in the now very distant 1999, able to make sense of a console perhaps too advanced in those years, the SEGA Dreamcast. 128-bit power wasn't enough to enable Ryo Hazuki to become a videogame icon in the years to come, but they were certainly enough to make it a "cult" for all lovers of Yu Suzuki. A good 18 years had to pass, several versions for home consoles and the prayers of fans, for Ryo's adventure to find shape in the ideal third chapter of the Shenmue saga. Now, finally, the showdown has come. Shenmue III is here among us, albeit out of time.
Father, where are you?
Shenmue III it is the result of a campaign Kickstarter studded with problems and difficulties, son of the commercial failure of Dreamcast that led SEGA to stay afloat as a simple video game producer and developer. In this case, the house that gave birth to the blue porcupine has very little to do with it. The game, available on PS4 and PC, picks up exactly where the second chapter released in 2001 left off, exactly in that cave: Ryo Hazuki and Ling Shenhua are looking for the killer of the father of the protagonist, they notice two huge symbols - one of a phoenix and the other of a dragon - outside a small village in the Chinese province, Bailu.
Ryo believes that the remote place may hide key clues about the research that started in Hong Kong. Even Shenhua's father seems to have vanished into thin air, which will push Ryo to give vent to all his investigative skills again, not even skimping on some nice fistfight with the bandits on duty from time to time. Shenmue III takes up, for better or for worse, everything that made the first two chapters "great": the narration is quite usual, including the dialogues with the non-player characters (which seem to come out of a game of the early 2000s), the plot it is slow (very slow) in providing details to the player as well as the subdued atmosphere and playful mechanics seem to come from a title born in the last two generations of consoles. There is the possibility to train, earn more money by doing small chores or side activities (such as chopping wood), entertain yourself with a series of typical mini-games (such as Guacamole) or dedicate yourself to a cabinet found in the attic.
On the other hand, the combat system has been completely modernized: putting aside the basic mechanics of Virtua Fighter, Ryo is able to slap his enemies thanks toreal-time combat hybridized with some more tactical elements. Instead of seeing our strokes delivered based on the keys pressed, these will instead be performed thanks to a specific sequence, with the technique that follows on the screen a few moments later. Even the then futuristic QTEs - or Quick Time Events - have now been drastically reduced, although the few you run into require a good deal of reflexes.
The showdown
What unfortunately lacks in Shenmue III is when you try to analyze it under the cold technical profile: the facial modeling and animations of the various characters have been sacrificed on the altar of a delightful aesthetic and in line with that of the previous chapters. However, these are "compromises" that we are willing to accept: creating a sequel to Shenmue in 2019 as if it were 2003 is certainly a mission impossible, but Yu Suzuki hasn't really given a damn about this.
Shenmue III is a game "for a few", it is an experience that is not obliged to please the generation born and raised with Grand Theft Auto. Sporting top-notch graphics or innovative and fresh gameplay was not in the Japanese game designer's ropes, as well as any poor sales success (which we certainly don't hope) will definitely not be a problem. Suzuki-san is certainly not the Kojima that people need, just as it would be just as correct to hope that the Ryo saga will end definitively with this third episode. Necessary, undoubtedly, but so out of time as to be a retrogaming experience in name and in fact.
