There have not been a whole lot of really popular console games of this type, which maybe is the reason why so many are confused. The most popular, I would say, was Konami's Snatcher for the Sega CD (still one of my all time favorites). PC gamers have had much more experience with games of this type, even from as far back as when Infocom text adventures were popular. Sure Shenmue gives you more freedom, an extremely realistic living breathing modern day (well, 1980's) town and environment and a whole lot of little side things to keep you busy, but the basic graphical adventure engine is still present. Walk around, talk to people, collect clues and items, then talk to more people find out more clues and information, become involved in an action scene of some sort, a cut scene plays, and repeat. Shenmue features all the advantages, as well as a few disadvantages, found in the genre as well.

The story of Shenmue is a mystery waiting to be solved, and not a whole lot of background information is given before the game actually begins. You are Ryo Hazuki, a Japanese high school student living in a small town in Japan, in the year 1986. You return to your home one afternoon to see some commotion going on in your father's dojo. Your father, Iwao Hazuki, is engaged in a fight with a mysterious Chinese man by the name of Lan Di, who is looking for a "Mirror". With a powerful form of martial arts, Lan Di fatally wounds your father, who just moments before, provided information on where this Mirror could be found. Ryo, who was helplessly restrained during the whole ordeal, had to witness this entire scene and soon thereafter, vows revenge and set off on a journey to find why this has happened.

Shenmue, which is really only "Chapter 1" in the series, (taking place only in Yokosuka) spans a fairly short period of time in the overall plotline. Upon making it to the end of the game, it becomes obvious exactly where the story is going next, though I won't ruin it by giving away details.

Besides the absolutely stunning visuals and breathtaking soundtrack, Shenmue's most amazing feat lies in the emotional interaction between yourself and other people, and the realistic nature of everything around you. Shenmue runs in real time, meaning the entire game is on a clock, albeit an accelerated one. People who live in the small towns in which the game takes place, Yokosuka, Sakuragouka and Dobuita, all go about their lives in a realistic fashion. They wake up between 7:30 and 8:30, leave their homes, go to work/school, open their shops, then go to lunch, back to work, then maybe to a bar or Red Light district, or to get some dinner, or home. You can actually choose a person, and follow them around each day if you were determined enough. The scheduling is amazing. Everything is always changing in Shenmue, the time of day, the weather patterns, the traffic on the streets, etc. You must take all this into consideration as you play, because you too live by this system. Ryo wakes up at a certain time, and usually needs to get some sleep at a specific time as well. Oddly enough, the only thing you never seem to need to do is eat/drink, or use a bathroom.

Throughout the game, the main actions you will engage in are conversation and develop relationships. You must talk to absolutely everyone if you want to figure out what to do next and how to push the storyline along. Some people know nothing, while others will tell you to speak with someone else, or perhaps even give you a solid piece of information or a physical clue. It takes a while before figuring out who may or may not be of use, but until then you may find yourself visiting a ton of shops and different parts of town before making any real progress. In the beginning, you may just gawk at the insane amount of detail, and feel totally overwhelmed, especially when exploring Ryo's house. While you can seemingly examine every little thing in Ryo's house, that is not the case throughout the game in other locations, thankfully. What does get annoying, however, is when you become confused as to what needs to be done next, and you start asking everyone in sight the same question over and over, only to get the same answer. As varied as some of the conversations can get, characters repeat the same lines a few times too often occasionally. There is no real way to alter the storyline by not making certain decisions, or by missing an event. A few things may change here and there, but Shenmue still guides you along, from beginning to end, in a sense.

Speaking of conversation, there has been a fair share of opinions tossed around regarding the voice acting found in Shenmue. Sega had to voice 200 characters for the game, and while I can admit that some of the voices sound quite amusing and weird, the main cast of characters sound quite good, Ryo and Nozomi especially. I was certainly impressed with the ability of the English voice actors to pronounce some of the complicated Chinese and Japanese names, terms, prefectures, and towns. I have never really had an issue with most English voiceover work, and in my opinion, Shenmue does a more than adequate job.

As pieces of the plot unravel, there will be times when you are faced with various action scenes, with the most common being free fighting and Quick Time Event. QTE is a Dragon's Lair style event, which is used in choreographed fight scene, a chase down the street, or anything else twitch-like. It was basically a way to make an "interactive" cut scene. They are a lot of fun, and if you screw up, they can (sometimes must) be done over. The QTEs can sometimes happen at times when you least suspect it, so you always have to be ready to press a direction or a button. Free fighting could be described as a mixture of Virtua Fighter and Final Fight. They are fight scenes, which usually pit you against a whole slew of enemies. The fighting engine is quite a bit deeper than I thought it would be, almost too much so, with plenty of simple and advanced throws, punches, kicks and dodges to utilize. I wouldn't have minded even more QTEs and free fights, but I'm sure that will be seen in Shenmue: Chapter 2.

Beyond conversing with the many characters, Ryo has to find ways of killing time between things he must do, all thanks to the time control system. Since Ryo has no need to eat, he might as well explore, play games, practice his fighting moves, go shopping, or even raise a kitten. There is plenty to do, though it all costs money. Thankfully, Ryo's grandmother provides him with 500 yen every morning. As far as games are concerned, playing perfect emulated versions of classic Sega arcade games such as Space Harrier and Hang-On is always fun, but for some reason I was drawn to the simple, yet addictive dart game. Practicing the Virtua Fighter style moves Ryo learns (by experimentation, buying scrolls, or other characters) for when he gets involved in the multiple enemy free fights is also a good choice.

Since everyone has always praised Shenmue for its amazing visuals and music, there is no reason to really go in depth with them once again. It's probably; overall, the best looking game I have ever played. The sheer amount of detail to be found everywhere is crazy, and the amount of polygons the Dreamcast smoothly pushes around in Shenmue, along with the high quality textures, are also a sight to behold. Same could be said for the magic weather, and realtime lighting changes. You can definitely tell that a lot of work went into the game. Some of Sega's best music composers worked on Shenmue, including Takenobu Mitsuyoshi and Yuzo Koshiro, so you know the soundtrack had to be good... and it is. All beautiful cinematic orchestrated stuff, with a hint of eastern influence.

There are too many reasons as to why Shenmue is a game not worth missing. Besides being arguably the best looking/sounding game ever, it tells a great story, gives you plenty to see and do, and lastly, and places you in the most fully realized, living, breathing videogame world yet. While it definitely may not be for everyone (especially those who can't stand slower paced games), there should be enough "ohhhs and ahhhs" to please absolutely anyone in one way or another, including those who consider themselves only casual gamers. Shenmue may not be the best game ever created (it's up there), but a gaming experience no one should miss regardless.