Shenmue Hands-On

AM2 and Yu Suzuki's Shenmue has entertained and impressed Japanese Dreamcast gamers for nearly a year, and now the game is rapidly nearing its North American release. We played through the latest build of the English version of Shenmue - with the entire game already translated and practically ready for its November 14 ship date - to bring you complete details on the game's localization. If you have played the Japanese version, with its nearly flawless voice characterization, and are worried about the English voice acting, worry no more. For the most part, the American voice actors did an amazing job of not only retaining the emotion that the game's story demands but of synchronizing the speech to the facial nuances, mouth movements, and body gestures of the game's characters.

However, the Japanese-to-English script translation is perhaps too literal at times. Several phrases that may have been appropriate in Japanese seem odd and ill timed in spoken English. Additionally, the game's lead character, Ryo Hazuki, can be overly articulate, and he sounds at times as if he's reading the script rather than conversing naturally. Most of the game's other characters sound authentic enough, as the tones and voice mannerisms match the in-game characters closely. Like the Japanese version, this game has an option of displaying subtitles along with the voice characterization.

The soundtrack has survived the localization with no noticeable changes. The memorable Shenmue tracks continue to carry the emotional stages of the game's story. In fact, even the part-Japanese vocalized theme from the latter stages of disc three has made it onto the English version. Additionally, the ambient music unique to stores, restaurants, and the Game You arcade remains the same in this build.

The game's environments and story are also virtually unchanged from the Japanese Shenmue. All of the storefront and road signs remain in Japanese, and as you approach these locations the English name is shown in subtitles. In this way the game's surroundings continue to portray a feeling of living in an authentic Japanese town. The only noticeable differences are some of the missing sponsors. For example, in the North American Shenmue, the Fanta and Coca-Cola vending machines are replaced by a fictitious soda called Jet Cola. The storyline in the North American version is also identical to its Japanese counterpart down to every last plot movement - the characters, their actions, and the game's story remain the same. That story is an evocative and memorable one, which circles down through layers of mystery until many of the puzzles in the story have been solved.

The Shenmue saga opens with Ryo who returns to his family dojo to find his father being maliciously confronted by a mysterious man only known as Lun Di (Souryuu in the Japanese version). The opening scene hints at a deep connection between Ryo's father and Lun Di and the importance of a jade mirror. As these events convene Ryo's father is killed, and the rest of the story becomes one of revenge and sacrifice. In this first chapter of Shenmue, portions of the remaining back story are pieced together deliberately as Ryo sets out to find his father's assailants. During his quest, elements such as beat-'em-up-style fights and the so-called Quick Timer events - reminiscent of the interactive cutscenes in Die Hard arcade - only serve as entertaining interludes. In a grander sense, Shenmue is essentially about exploring the towns and indoor environments, probing the locals for information, and putting together those scattered pieces of information to advance the game's story.

Carrying the weight of a massive budget, Yu Suzuki's visionary attempt at reinventing the proverbial wheel of gaming convention is admirable, but at its essence Shenmue remains a role-playing experience. Suzuki gives the players what they expect from such games: a heightened level of character interaction, a relatively linear storyline, exploration and information gathering, and characters they can easily identify with. The game's creativity and uniqueness come from its unprecedented level of realism, with lead characters and NPCs who virtually live complex, authentic lives.

Every one of the few hundred characters in Shenmue has history and depth. Some characters live and work in the commercial district of Dobuita, and you will encounter them frequently in that region. Others travel to the Harbor district for work or to their residence in the Sakuragaoka district in the evening. Those characters can only be found for information-gathering purposes during the day, while others are readily available at night. You'll instantly recognize characters, and you'll know where they live and work. It is the characters' actions and reactions that solidify these heightened levels of gaming realism in Shenmue.

In addition to the massive three-GD-ROM game itself, Shenmue comes with a fourth disc complete with many extra options. Sega of America has most of the features of this extra disc up and running in anticipation of the game's upcoming release. Here you can look at bios for every single character in the game (even the ones Ryo meets only in passing), download character data to your VMU, learn about every store, residence, restaurant, and building, and you can also look up other details about the game. This extra disc also has a cool statistics-tracking system that keeps track of information relevant to this game such as total game time. It also provides relatively insignificant data like high scores in Space Harrier and Hang On - games that can be played in Shenmue by visiting the Game You arcade. All of this gameplay data can be posted online and compared against other Shenmue players.

Yu Suzuki once said that he hoped to create a relaxing experience with Shenmue - one that would let you fully enjoy the living, breathing gameworld. He seems to have accomplished those goals, and despite its deliberate gameplay Shenmue creates anticipation through its intriguing plot. The English translation of Shenmue has changed very little from the Japanese version. Sega of America made a conscious effort to stay true to Suzuki's vision and has kept the plot, gameplay, music, and environments intact. The minor changes that are evident in this latest build - such as the easily competent English voice acting and a few character name changes - are only essential products of its localization.