It’s been said time & time again that patience is a virtue. But for gamers patience can be worn thin when multiple years pass and all that’s left is a cliffhanger just reminding an entire community of what could’ve been – that is the story of the “Shenmue” franchise. Revolutionary at the time, “Shenmue” and its direct sequel reinvented what an action-adventure, open-world experience could be in video games before the days of “Grand Theft Auto III” and the “Yakuza” franchise became a thing. Unfortunately the releases, though critically acclaimed, weren’t financially beneficial mostly due to the fact they were released on Sega’s Dreamcast and Microsoft’s Xbox systems during a time when Sony’s Playstation 2 ruled the roost. But like most forms of entertainment that gain a cult-like status as the years progress so did “Shenmue”; encouraging the developers to invest in a HD remaster of “Shenmue’s” first two entries while Kickstarting the much lauded third installment thanks to fans both new & old. Lets find out if the eighteen-yearlong wait was worth it with some first impressions of “Shenmue III”.
