Shenmue III Review: 10 Ups & 6 Downs

4. An Incredible Sense Of Place

The one thing Shenmue does better than any other franchise, and the aspect most fans point to as the reason they fell in love with it, is not the plot, nor the forklift simulation, but an unparalleled sense of place.

In the way lazy reviewers like to say any AAA comic book game makes you feel like men spider, bat, and super in nature, Shenmue makes you feel like Ryo Hazuki. Which is to say, all the tiny details combine to entire submerge you within what is, ostensibly, an entirely ordinary world. The slice of life is strangely hypnotic, and gradually you become needled into this richly formed tapestry.

It's arguably the closest games have ever come to presenting a virtual holiday. Shenmue III adds two new destinations to the list. But again, it's those little touches, not the broad strokes, which make it. It's saying good morning to Shenhua at the start of each day, before later retiring to exchange stories round her hearth. It's this homliness contrasted by the austere sterility of Hotel Niaowu, which itself grows comforting as you get, little by little, to know the ferocious-looking woman behind the desk. It's making a long distance call to your housekeeper, or de facto girlfriend, not because there's an achievement or loot tied to it, but because you get the impelling feeling that Ryo really should.

You don't get to spin webs, or drive Batmobiles. But you get to see the world in the well-worn leather jacket of another. This is living.