Shenmue III

A seamless continuation of the series that makes up for its limitations with pure heart. It's like Ryo never left us.

Shenmue III is a love letter to its fans, showing an uncompromising commitment to Yu Suzuki’s original vision and giving Ryo new life 18 years on. Though its old-school gameplay may prove off-putting to new players, Ys Net has brought us a fun adventure with an engaging story that’ll hold your attention. Whilst there are some rough edges in need of polishing, Shenmue III is a great experience overall and comes recommended.

Shenmue III had to noticeably cut some corners, but is a true sequel with some new tricks up its sleeve. Newcomers will likely not really get what the fuss is about, but this is a very enjoyable game that I think will be appreciated more as time goes by.

Quotation forthcoming.

Shenmue III is a good game, but feels quite dated.

Shenmue III is a fan-based classic JRPG that you may love deeply or alternatively makes you feel frustrated. Although most of its game mechanics are out-dated in 2019, I do find some joy in terms of getting along with those vivid characters and living in the vivid world. At least I hope Suzuki could finish the whole story of the franchise one day.

As a Kickstarter project, backed by players who knew exactly what they wanted, Shenmue III delivers in such a specifically correct way exactly what long-time fans of the series had been asking for that it's hard to know whether some more advancements made in the last 20 years, besides the elimination of loading screens around every corner, were considered but ultimately scrapped in the name of keeping the series pure.

I’m disappointed with this game, it has perfectly kept the spirit of the original Shenmue but in doing so has not brought any of the new innovations of the industry.

Rejoining Ryo Hazuki’s quest to avenge his father is exciting, but Shenmue 3 feels like a game that has ignored the innovation and progress of the last 20 years of video game development.

Shenmue III is full of heart, but it's geared towards a very limited audience that doesn't mind playing a 2019 game with outdated and tiresome game mechanisms. Newcomers, however, will find very few things to keep them interested.

Even connoisseurs of the first two parts will be a bit sober after taking off their pink glasses. The story is by far not as good as it seemed back then and the gameplay is completely outdated. The fact that Shenmue 3 doesn't come to a conclusion is unforgivable after the long waiting time and the (financial) support of the fans. Players who approach the title without a nostalgia bonus will be annoyed anyway. The grind is pretty hard, the wandering around and the bad dialogues are even harder, but the fact that the game keeps stopping you on purpose is just incredibly frustrating. Hardcore fans can add something to the rating, everyone else can even pull something off.

Unfortunately, Shenmue 3 is a disappointing new chapter even if we take into account the much lower budget in its development compared to its predecessors. It’s not a good sign that almost 20 years after Shenmue 2 the new entry is inferior in several of its aspects. The worst of all its flaws is the especially lacking development of Ryo’s saga, adding extremely scarce information to his revenge story.