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Shenmue I & II HD |OT| Like a polished mirror
- Thread starter IrishNinja
- Start date
- OT
What are the odds of another patch that fixes stuff like move training in Shenmue 1 and actually fixes the music in Shenmue 2? 10%?
Love that SEGA are actually really pushing this at TGS this year. The game even has it's own booth babe dressed up as Shenhua!
Pics?
I'm almost at the end of 1. I am determined to get 1st in the forklift dammit. I want my plat.
Looks like there's still hope for more bug fixes before the Japanese launch. It's almost exactly 2 months away but considering there are lead times on cert and manufacturing, I'd say the physical JP version will ship as the current 1.02 version, with the chance of a JP day 1 patch.
I finished 1 last night. No bugs at all post-patch except the motorcycle music sounding fucked up at points, but I'm not sure that's a bug and it's very minor so fuck it.
I played the first half of the game no patch, and the second half with patch. Here are the results:
First half: 2 cutscene visuals replaced by random assets (both rain coincidentally), 1 black cutscene with no visuals at all, 1 hard crash
Second half: Nothing
With how fucked up the development of this was, I'm kind of shocked they were able to fix it so quickly.
I played the first half of the game no patch, and the second half with patch. Here are the results:
First half: 2 cutscene visuals replaced by random assets (both rain coincidentally), 1 black cutscene with no visuals at all, 1 hard crash
Second half: Nothing
With how fucked up the development of this was, I'm kind of shocked they were able to fix it so quickly.
I agree, although they've probably got another week or two before they definitely need to be done.
Watching the Japanese TGS Stream, they went into the options menu around 1 hour 11 minutes. I see the Audio option to Switch voices to English, but it looks like there is no option to change the text language to English under display options. Just a heads up for anyone else importing. Of course, it's possible that the game just defaults to whatever language your console is set to..
Has anyone actually tried to go into every shop and place in Shenmue 2? I've done it in Shenmue 1, but it's so difficult to keep track there's so many damn stores in Hong Kong. It's crazy how much effort was put into Shenmue II, even by current gen standards.
Also the bloom in Shenmue 2 is exponentially better than the first. I've actually left the bloom on unlike in Shenmue 1. Shenmue 2 is easily the better game for me.
Also the bloom in Shenmue 2 is exponentially better than the first. I've actually left the bloom on unlike in Shenmue 1. Shenmue 2 is easily the better game for me.
I think you just need to start them. I got it when I started Hang-On for the first time.
I finally beat Shenmue 2 with plat yesterday. Felt good to do so. So strange not beating these games for 15+ years and then being able to do so in a couple of weeks. I really enjoyed the Guilin part of Shenmue 2 after never doing it before. Felt like a refresher after Kowloon hellscape.
PC beta patch v1.04 was released.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/758330/discussions/0/1734339901248924254/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/758330/discussions/0/1734339901248924254/
That's all weird and interesting. As someone who strongly prefers to own games physically, but only if the game on the disc isn't totally borked, I've been very interested in the Japanese release for this game due to it being based on the post patch version of the game. With the recent release of ZOE2 MARS, not including both English text and Japanese text into a Japanese release of a game still seems to be a common practice. This made sense 20 years ago when Japanese versions of games used to launch months to a year ahead of Western versions (in addition to technical reasons for this) but it just seems a little odd for this to still be a thing in 2018.
I feel like I've heard rumblings about this but nothing specific. Was this like a Silent Hill HD Collection situation where the developer was given unfinished source code to work with? Or was it the classic scenario where they were given a shoestring budget and an unreasonably short turn around time?
Sounds like the second scenario. They also had no one on the team who was fluent in Japanese so they relied on Google translate to interpret the old code. Apparently that's normal, though.
It's also kinda weird the Japanese team that's localizing is kinda admitting D3T didn't do a massive job. A little dispiriting, perhaps? Well, at least the weirder bugs should be fixed by November if we've got original Shenmue coders and Japanese fluent people working on a new patch. Good on Sega for doing something about this, even if they didn't nail it on their first try. I've seen much worse efforts this gen.
Thank you!
Perhaps Sega Japan shouldn't have been dicks about working with them, then. Sega Japan can go fuck themselves.
Yeah, pretty much. I think it's kind of lame to throw D3T under the bus when SoJ didn't exactly provide stellar support (based on what I've read).
When does SoJ ever provide stellar support? Their stubborness towards Sega of America in the 90's is part of the reason why we don't have Sega consoles today.
Here is a timestamp of Shenhua in their booth babe lineup.
Sorry for the late reply, not sure how I missed this!
There was an interview with a technical director at d3t, probably cited earlier in this thread, saying they started working on the ports back in 2015. But they used a small team. The interview mentions that they didn't have source code for some libraries and had to reverse engineer and/or rewrite them. They said the XBOX version of Shenmue II was better preserved, and they were able to use some of the stuff ported there to do Shenmue I, but not everything.
Yeah, the Sega/Sammy merger certainly didn't help things in that regard.
Wow, I missed that. That's absolutely insane. What is it with Japanese companies in particular basically just retaining absolutely nothing from the games they make?
Some vital fixes in there like the end-game save screen bug and showing shop names without having to zoom in. d3t have been delivering great post-launch support, despite the rough state the games released in.
Did you report it? seems like something they'd fix considering it's replicable
There was a report option both times and I reported it there. Did you mean that or directly to Sega/D3T?
Well, I meant to Sega but I assume that report option would do just that, no? I don't know how these things work on PS4 but it'd be weird if it didn't.
If it does go directly to Sega, it does seem to be the best option as it sends them a screenshot and video too.
I suppose I can tweet them as well.
Got 100% trophies with Shenmue II yesterday on Xbox One X, it was kind of funny I beat up the big boss in what seems to be the climax and thought "cool, almost done" ... and then the game continues for another 3 hours. Reminded me a bit of the way Red Dead Redemption ended.
First time ever playing either game, was sorta interesting and refreshing and I prefer S2 over S1 due to the variety and more open nature and the ending, but damn did I really, really hate all the QTE/CQTE's. I sorta wish I had just watched a let's play or something instead, some of the combat or QTE sequences were really frustrating for me.
So many things untied to trophies too, its pretty cool. Like I didn't even know about the duck races stuff, thought meeting some of those NPCs who seem important but you don't really interact much with was weird.
First time ever playing either game, was sorta interesting and refreshing and I prefer S2 over S1 due to the variety and more open nature and the ending, but damn did I really, really hate all the QTE/CQTE's. I sorta wish I had just watched a let's play or something instead, some of the combat or QTE sequences were really frustrating for me.
So many things untied to trophies too, its pretty cool. Like I didn't even know about the duck races stuff, thought meeting some of those NPCs who seem important but you don't really interact much with was weird.
Just finished my first day on the forklift, about how many hours left?
I seem to remember the ending happeneing pretty abruptly.
I seem to remember the ending happeneing pretty abruptly.
Maybe it's referring to the clipping people noticed in some cut-scenes, like Ryo's hands going through the chopsticks in the kitchen flashback. Not 100% sure though.
Oh don't worry, you've got a solid 5 days on that thing lol
It's a form of region-locking, it's as simple as that. Also, there's a genuine fear of reverse importing since... ever, that partially explains why it's not as simple as it seems to include Japanese audio and text in western releases.
Ha, I know I've got to put some work in, I was just wondering in terms of hours. No biggie, probably gonna try to wrap it up by the end of the weekend.
I'd say around 4-6 hours. Driving the forklift is fun but it feels like the sort of thing that should come in the middle of a game, not towards the end, which is probably why you remember the ending coming out of nowhere. It escalates rather quickly.
I think some of the strange pacing comes from the fact that a lot of Shenmue I & II were developed in tandem, almost like one big game.
Whoa 4-6 is way more than expected. That's definitely more than a weekend for me.
https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/0...oper-complains-about-re-release-bugs-tgs-2018
"Shenmue developer complains about re-release bugs."
This does reassure me it'll eventually all be ok, but it's a shame they released it in such a sorry state.
"Shenmue developer complains about re-release bugs."
This does reassure me it'll eventually all be ok, but it's a shame they released it in such a sorry state.
Maybe Kasahara should have been involved to begin with, instead of now trying to clean up the Japanese version, but that's Sega for you.
Yeap, in this case no party is blame free. Sega Japan could've provided better support since the beginning, while Sega Europe should've delayed the release.
So, I think I'm near the end of the game (I reached the Guiling village), and damn, as with Shenmue 1, I've a lot of issues with Shenmue 2. But then, I also loved a lot of stuff:
First of all, I gotta hand it to the game. Despide it's age and being a game for the dreamcast, the cities feel like cities. Big, sprawling, with lots of turns and alleys to feel yourself a bit lost and sometimes even confusing. Reaching Kowloon, and seeing those huge buildings and being in awe by how tall they are, was something I didn't expect from this game.
The pace of the game is also better, helped by a faster rythm in general. Tho, at the very beginning, it can be a bit boring having to do part-time jobs just to pay the rent, and the "money" gate the game have it's a little bit bullshit. Even so, one you start the overall arc (finding the masters and about the Wude) everything kicks in and I felt super compelled to complete the ending. This is helped by what I feel is a more compelling cast. Joy, Ren, Xiuying and all the masters are far more likeable that everyone in the first game.
As for the bad things:
Jesus, I hate the QTE in this game. I can understand they were new at the time, but I hate them with passion (I'll have nightmares about crossing planks thanks to this game). Most of the time, the time the game gives you to react is barely enough, and I specially loathe the ones in which your require to input direction and buttons. 50% of the time, I fail those, even when I input the correct combination. The game also includes one of the most long and tedius escort/stalk missions I've ever played.
The controls are still shit, and this is more noticeable now due the game being more combat heavy than the previous one. While no battle is specially hard, I was about to lose my mind in one section that requires you to avoid 3 fighters for 30secs each. Avoding the last one really trying my patience by the end.
Overall, I still like the game very much, and I think the good overcome the bad points of the game. But sometimes, the flaws are very, very noticeable. At least this time you can fast forward to some events and you don't need to wait for hours.
Edit. Forgot to mention. Even when Ryo still has the personality of a rock, he has really improved here. He even smiles once!
First of all, I gotta hand it to the game. Despide it's age and being a game for the dreamcast, the cities feel like cities. Big, sprawling, with lots of turns and alleys to feel yourself a bit lost and sometimes even confusing. Reaching Kowloon, and seeing those huge buildings and being in awe by how tall they are, was something I didn't expect from this game.
The pace of the game is also better, helped by a faster rythm in general. Tho, at the very beginning, it can be a bit boring having to do part-time jobs just to pay the rent, and the "money" gate the game have it's a little bit bullshit. Even so, one you start the overall arc (finding the masters and about the Wude) everything kicks in and I felt super compelled to complete the ending. This is helped by what I feel is a more compelling cast. Joy, Ren, Xiuying and all the masters are far more likeable that everyone in the first game.
As for the bad things:
Jesus, I hate the QTE in this game. I can understand they were new at the time, but I hate them with passion (I'll have nightmares about crossing planks thanks to this game). Most of the time, the time the game gives you to react is barely enough, and I specially loathe the ones in which your require to input direction and buttons. 50% of the time, I fail those, even when I input the correct combination. The game also includes one of the most long and tedius escort/stalk missions I've ever played.
The controls are still shit, and this is more noticeable now due the game being more combat heavy than the previous one. While no battle is specially hard, I was about to lose my mind in one section that requires you to avoid 3 fighters for 30secs each. Avoding the last one really trying my patience by the end.
Overall, I still like the game very much, and I think the good overcome the bad points of the game. But sometimes, the flaws are very, very noticeable. At least this time you can fast forward to some events and you don't need to wait for hours.
Edit. Forgot to mention. Even when Ryo still has the personality of a rock, he has really improved here. He even smiles once!
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Lol you don't need to pay the rent.
I just beat 2 today. This would be my third time going through the games, I believe. They really haven't aged well at all. I just hope they are able to evolve the gameplay for 3 so it isn't stuck in the early 2000s. These games really could have used full-blown mechanical remakes, not just remasters. And, even then.... the fundamentals of the story are nothing special.
I'm sure he would've loved to be more involved with the project but SEGA Japan didn't afford him that opportunity, clearly. They were happy to hand over the archives and wish SEGA Europe good luck, or at least that's how it seems based on the PC Gamer article.
Kasahara-san's either naive in thinking his comments won't make it out of Japan, or it's a bit of a dirty tactic, using the media to put pressure on SEGA Europe and d3t. Who knows how much impact it will ultimately have as I'm sure d3t were working hard on fixes anyway, but I'm sure he's pissed off a few people by doing that.
I still love the mystery and mysticism in the story that slowly builds throughout both games. It feels grand in scale and lives up to its "martial arts epic" inspirations. I think it's worth keeping in mind that the end of Shenmue II isn't even halfway through the entirety of the (planned) story.
4Gamer spoke with Eigo Kasahara and Hiroji Noguchi during TGS and they asked them about a Switch port of Shenmue I & II. It looks like they are open to the idea but won't commit to it right now. I wrote about it (in French) here (with a French translation of their quotes): http://www.gameblog.fr/news/78610-shenmue-1-2-possible-sur-nintendo-switch-sega-japon-repond
Yeah.
Yes, it's Sega of Japan's fault he wasn't involved at the start. I'm not blaming him for him not being involved until now.
It's a little too slow for me. :) 3 will probably ramp it up.