Game

Shenmue

1999 · PlayStation 4 · PC (Microsoft Windows) · Xbox One · Dreamcast · Role-playing (RPG) · Simulator · Hack and slash/Beat 'em up

88IGDB player score
149 ratings

Previously Take

An 88 score from 149 devoted raters — the math of a game with a real following. An RPG, from Sega that understands the assignment: fantasy, historical, meaningful choices, and combat with actual teeth. A single-player game with no interest in being anything else. Respect.

About this game

"He shall appear from a far Eastern land across the sea. A young man who has yet to know his potential. This potential is a power that can either destroy him, or realize his will. His courage shall determine his fate. The path he must traverse, fraught with adversity, I await whilst praying. For this destiny predetermined since ancient times... A pitch, black night unfolds with the morning star as its only light. And thus the saga, begins..." This first chapter of Shenmue kicks off Yu Suzuki's cinematic Dreamcast tour-de-force, an exploration-heavy adventure that has players immerse themselves in Yokosuka, Japan. Players slip into the role of a young martial artist named Ryo Hazuki, who is on the trail of his father's killer. On the way, players must talk with hundreds of characters, engage in martial arts battles, and marvel at the realistic depiction of the Japanese coastal town.