Indeed, the only thing that is genuinely modern about Shenmue 3 is the visuals, which are looking rather lovely thanks to Unreal Engine 4. There's absolutely nothing in this first hour that panders to modernity, which is absolutely the right way to do this sequel. That may be a slight exaggeration, but you get the point. Probably 25% of the dialogue is Ryo saying "I see". The way the dialogue is so stilted and how Ryo repeats back everything he's just been told, out loud, so that it's obvious he Just Learned Something. They'll notice the slight hint of angular geometry in the bridge as you enter the village. Newcomers will undoubtedly wonder what all the fuss is about. At least it is definitely fully 3D as before, as you free-roam around the combat area before landing your hurricane kicks. But this being a game from the Virtua Fighter creator himself, it's very likely there's more depth to the fighting that will be revealed with time. The fighting doesn't really feel like Virtua Fighter at all at this point, the game even going so far as to suggest you just 'push the buttons' and see what happens. Successful completions fill up a mastery bar at the bottom of the screen, so it looks like Ryo can grow as a martial artist, just as before. This repeatedly flashes up a sequence of button presses, which teaches you how to perform a new move. There is a dojo in the village which plays host to a couple of friendly fights with people who want to test your abilities, the first of which features the only QTE I saw in the demo. This is undoubtedly a game made for players that have been waiting for 18 years to continue the adventures of Ryo Hazuki, rather than an opportunity to bring new fans into the series.Įdge Magazine interviews Yu Suzuki (opens in new tab) to see if, after two decades and a $7m kickstarter campaign, the long-awaited sequel can deliver on its promise. Given how dated everything – from the quest design, to the writing, and the world – feels, these improvements are small in the grand scheme of things. It's a welcomed feature, but it isn't revolutionary. Even Shenmue 2's 'wait' feature has been improved, allowing you to jump not only time but also space if you need to be somewhere at a set point in the future. Ryo now walks wherever you push the left stick, the zoom feature on the left trigger can be used while moving and now has different levels set on a click rather than based on analogue depression. If that had ever happened, it would very likely have looked like this.Įven the 'quality-of-life' enhancements feel dated. Corey Marshall who voices main man Ryo Hazuki sounds eerily similar to his self of 20 years ago, again lending to the feeling that somehow this is a game from 2002, just dressed up in Dreamcast 2 graphics. The next hour is spent there, talking to people with gloriously deep-wrinkled faces who spout utter nonsense, all fully voiced for every single line of dialogue. The game begins where Shenmue 2 left off, you are handed control as you begin to walk into Bailu Village. In the first hour of Shenmue 3 that I was able to play, precisely nothing of note actually happens. There is just a lovely time to be had in The Last Worker, if you interpret lovely as taking down a mega-corporation from the inside out.From a newcomer's point of view, however, the game undoubtedly sucks. The characters are extremely well written and acted out, and the surrounding art and music complement things perfectly. With an engaging if slightly predictable story but more game elements than you can shake a stick at, it is a game that will take you through a range of emotions: laughter, sympathy, rage, compassion, disappointment, and everything in between. There is a lot packaged into the six-hour runtime for The Last Worker. Not disappointing to play, but a disappointing outcome given what has happened. There are multiple endings too, ranging from the heavily emotional to the disappointing. But, whilst it does border on the unoriginal side, it is never not engaging. There are a few twists and turns to keep things interesting, but these aren’t anything you’ve not seen hundreds of times already. The rest of the story doesn’t quite match up though it feels very by the numbers as much as a story about a mega-corporation destroying the world can do. There is a real camaraderie between Kurt and SKEW – as well as a boat load of swearing – and you can feel the friendship between human and robot. Initially, it was the story that piqued my interest when it came to The Last Worker.
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