Shenmue I & II (HD re-releases) | Released on August 21, 2018 for PS4, Xbox One and PC

I grew up with the Dreamcast original, and played through most of the sequel in college. Later on I revisited it and finished the game. For old time’s sake, I am so excited about this, and Shenmue III.

But it needs to be stated that though they were groundbreaking games, and though they had a profound influence on game design across the industry... they have not aged well. I don’t expect them to have much mass market appeal with modern gamers. The gameplay is slow and clunky. The English translation and voice acting are laughable. The upcoming 3rd episode looks to be more of the same, an anachronistic indie project rather than the blockbuster AAA title it wants to be.

What I love about the original games was the feeling of place. The locations you inhabited were characters as much as Ryo and co. To this day the second game’s vision of Kowloon remains my favorite setting in any video game. I’m looking forward to visiting it again next month.