Sega legend Yu Suzuki's labor of love, Shenmue, is undoubtedly a landmark title. Generally considered ahead of its time, this Sega Dreamcast classic was a huge graphical jump forward, a vast step for large-scale narrative and played a big role in popularizing the open-world adventure genre which Grand Theft Auto 3 ran off with. Shenmue earns a place on this list for a less proud element - its heavy reliance on Quick Time Events. "Man, that was the most awesome bit of QTE gameplay I've ever experienced!", said no one, ever. But to give credit where it is due, Suzuki's implementation of these dastardly QTEs was a lot less intrusive than the immersion-destroying "Press X to save the girl" rubbish we've been subjected to since then. In Shenmue, these reflex-testing button-sniping sections were worked into the free play almost seamlessly, so you rarely had that feeling that you were playing a barely interactive movie. Whether it was in the middle of a street brawl or while leaping and bounding through a chase scene, these scripted moments worked far better than you would expect. This was a new direction for QTE usage, and one which has been copied many times but rarely improved on.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
