Review for Shenmue I & II HD. Game for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 21/08/2018
In recent years, remasters and remakes have become a practice that would be reductive to define common. The argument is also quite thorny, as it divides the population of fans into two different factions: the one in favor of high definition remakes of the titles and the one that instead thinks that these make no sense to exist. As often happens, the truth, at least for us, lies somewhere in between: well-made remasters and remakes are welcome: happy news was for example the remake of Spyro, with the Reignited Trilogy, or that of Crash. Another excellent news was that of the arrival of Shenmue I & II HD, that is the remastered of the first two chapters of one of the sagas that laid the foundations for most of the titles that still invade the market today, as well as the spiritual father of Yakuza series. D3T, under the watchful eye of Sega, took care of the work that had the aim of reviving the first two titles of the saga, in view of the arrival of the third, rejuvenating the graphics sector.
Ryo's long journey
What would you do if, upon returning home, you were faced with a luxurious when creepy black car parked near the entrance, with your housekeeper in shock? This is what you will come across in the shoes of Ryo Hazuki: the boy, just back home, finds himself in an absurd situation who sees the family dojo attacked by men dressed in black and a martial arts master who threatens his father with decidedly alarming tones. What moves him is the desire to find a mirror, whose purpose and function are unknown to Ryo, but not to his father. The latter reveals the position of the mirror to the fearsome opponent, when he sees that Ryo is in serious danger: in response, not only does he see the curious artifact stolen but he also loses his feathers. Lan Di ends the life of Iwao, Ryo's father, with a prodigious blow with open palms, before leaving the Hazuki dojo and disappearing into thin air. Only a few days later Ryo, recovered from mourning, decides to pursue his revenge, starting the search for the men in black and the mysterious Lan Di. Ryo's path will be very long and, between investigations and brawls, he will tour four districts of Yokosuka, collecting crumbs of clues that, slowly, will lead him to Honk Kong, a city that will not exactly give him the warmest welcome.
Behind the murder of his father lies something much bigger than expected. During his adventure Ryo will meet a myriad of people, making new bonds and deepening old ones. His growth path will lead him to improve more and more his fighting style, taught by his father. However, Iwao will not be the boy's only teacher: Ryo will discover that even the most unsuspected of his acquaintances is able to lead his hands, so as to teach him some new tricks of the trade.
For those who have already enjoyed the first two chapters of the Shenmue saga in their original incarnations, obviously we are not saying anything new, as it is logical that it is talking about a remaster. To those who are going to experience Ryo's adventure for the first time, we would like to give a warning: do not be fooled by the slow rhythms of the plot of the first chapter. In fact, in Shenmue the narration proceeds quite slowly, preferring a type of game that rests more on exploration, dialogue, and reflexivity. Not for this there will be no twists or excited moments, even if, to be honest, the narrative register will change gear once the second chapter is started.
Shenmue is a journey into the culture, environments and personalities of Japan in the second half of the 80s: Suzuki's mosaic vision of the Rising Sun in videogame form, of which the plot is just one of the many pieces.
Investigations, martial arts and… video games!
Since Shenmue represents a real journey through time, as Ryo we will be able to experience everything: despite the years that have passed since Shenmue's debut on CRT TVs, the gameplay has remained very current. Shenmue was one of the first titles to take steps forward in terms of realism: the changing weather, the alternation of day and night and the reactions of NPCs are just some of the elements this saga pioneered. helping to create what are now standards in all titles of the genre.
Armed with a watch and our fists we will venture through the districts of Yokosuka first and then Hong Kong, being able to explore them far and wide and interacting with practically every character present in the game world. All the events will be noted by Ryo on a small notebook, which will help us never lose the thread of events. The clock will also be fundamental: thanks to it we will be able to manage all our movements and assignments without hitching in unpleasant unexpected events. It will often happen that certain activities or characters will only be available at certain times of the day, thus forcing us to present ourselves at those certain times. To pass the time there will be many mini-games including darts, billiards and video games, some of which were produced by Suzuki himself before the release of Shenmue, such as Space Harrier.
As for the fights, these will alternate under two types: free fights and those led by QTE. The seconds will be limited to pressing the keys that will appear on the screen and, in the event that the combination is not able to enter, we will be forced to repeat the scene until we succeed in our intent. In free battles, on the other hand, we will be able to guide Ryo as we please, moving him to our liking and ringing the moves that we will learn during our travels. To use the new fighting techniques effectively we will have to train: it will not be enough to learn the new move from the parchment or from the teacher on duty, because only practice will make us perfect.
Japan True Colors 1986
One of the purposes of this remastered is obviously to make the title usable especially for newcomers, by rejuvenating the graphic and audio sectors. Since these are titles from Dreamcast and Xbox, D3T certainly could not perform miracles, especially from the graphic point of view. However, the improvement is there and it is visible: the character models appear more vivid, more defined and less blurred than the original version, not to mention that the colors are much brighter. We tested the game on PlayStation 4 and the step forward is clear, although (of course) the best version from this point of view is undoubtedly the PC one, where the improvement is even more marked and visible than the console counterpart. Clearly it is nothing comparable with today's standards, but it remains a noteworthy result, considering the starting point. However, the cutscenes will turn your nose upside down: these, in fact, have not been adapted to today's screens and we will be forced to watch them in 4: 3 format with the black bands on the sides, definitely not very elegant.
As for the audio component, however, no progress seems to have been made, nor does it seem that the developer has put his hand to it: the audio is often muffled and suffers significant drops in quality at certain points of the adventure, resulting in sometimes even metallic. More than once, for example, we happened to make Ryo drink from a can and despite the fact that he had practically drained the entire drink, the noise of the sip remained in the background, disappearing only when the setting was changed. Nothing pleasant, in short: audio test failed.
Almost 20 years after his debut on small screens, Ryo is once again making a name for himself. Shenmue I & II HD arrives on the shelves to relive the adventures of the young Hazuki to the old lovers of the saga and to prepare the new followers for the release of the third chapter: (re) diving into the streets of Yokosuka and Hong Kong is an emotion which must be lived, experienced with patience and reflexivity, as Suzuki himself taught us. The graphic sector of the title is reborn under a new guise which, although modernized compared to the original, is not comparable to today's standards: not that they could be achieved, of course, but some elements (such as the cutscenes) in our opinion could be adapted in a way best. The sound of this remaster, on the other hand, made us turn up our noses: the audio in fact is absolutely not up to the title which, despite this, still manages to entertain and thrill as in the past.
► Shenmue I & II HD is a JRPG type game developed by D3T Sega and published by Sega for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the video game was released on 21/08/2018
