Shenmue I & II on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
SEGA®’s most requested re-release of all time finally comes to a new generation. Shenmue delivers an epic story of revenge within a unique open world that is still unrivalled in depth and detail. Return to the epic saga that defined modern gaming. The saga begins…again.
Shenmue I & II is a adventure, open world and story rich game
developed by D3T
and published by SEGA.
Released on August 21st 2018 is available only on Windows
in 6 languages: English, French, German, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
It has received 2,897 reviews of which 2,580 were positive and 317 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.6 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 34.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 2.42€ on Instant Gaming.
The Steam community has classified Shenmue I & II into these genres:
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows 7 64Bit
- Processor: Intel i3-560 / AMD FX-4300
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti (1GB Vram) / AMD Radeon 6990
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 30 GB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
For the best experience, make sure you've never played anything more advanced than this and then have children and lose your hair before playing the third one. It's clunky, but it's still the best kung fu movie I've ever played.
Expand the review
Shenmue 1 is a masterpiece that set new standards for its era. With its innovative gameplay elements and a richly detailed world, the game offers an immersive experience that remains impressive even today. Tip: If you get stuck, resist the urge to look up a solution online right away. Instead, visit the fortune-teller and choose "hint." This unique mechanic helps you progress while staying true to the game's spirit. A must-play for fans of narrative-driven and authentic adventure games.
Expand the review
It's more like a meditation on daily life than a videogame. Compared to today's open-world games Shenmue I & II seem downright unimpressive at a first glance. But even though the world in Shenmue is ridiculously small, the side activities are very limited and the plot is barely anything more than a rather basic revenge story, Shenmue I & II are a very special and unique experience even today. My impression during the first minutes of Shenmue was mixed. The game made me curious and for a 25 years old Dreamcast title the presentation is decent at the very least with especially detailed grafics and character models for the time and good music, which makes the game quite atmospheric and interesting to explore. On the other hand, the sound quality of the voices is very poor because it's extremely overcompressed and the controls seem a bit stiff and delayed at first. The gameplay is super slow-paced. 95% of the time you just run through the various small areas and talk to people, trying to find clues that'll lead you to your father's murderer. The gameplay has barely any action at all and it is really just about exploring the gameworld, getting to know the important NPCs and soaking up the atmosphere, which I enjoyed quite a lot. It was very relaxing without being boring. Your diary always tells you in a very short and straight-forward manner what to do and where to go next to progress the story. Everything else is up to you to discover, so the game completely flows exactly as fast or slow as you wish. But as much as I see this as Shenmue's biggest strength, it might be the ultimate turn-off for other people. The games indeed feel just like an old tech demo sometimes, because the gameplay mechanics really aren't that deep. The combat (which occurs only very rarely) seems tactical at first with all those possible moves and combos that you can learn, but in the end half-arsed button mashing will absolutely get you through the majority of the game and probably only the very last few fights will give you a small challenge. Many action sequences are even further reduced and minimal and consist of simple and often slightly annoying quicktime-events. Due to the limited gameplay mechanics, some parts of the game actually start to drag heavily. For example towards the end of Shenmue I i started to refer to it as the "forklift simulator", because it forces you to repeatedly race the exact same unskipable forklift race and then just makes you drive around crates from point A to Point B for hours on end. Shenmue I & II really feel like a mundane nine-to-five job at certain times and if that was the developers goal, then they fully succeeded. Some people may also criticize that Shenmue II does next to nothing to really innovate and neither develops the gameplay formula nor the presentation. It looks, sounds and feels literally just like a big add-on to Shenmue I, but as a positive aspect Shenmue II's seamless continuation of the story and consistency in the controls, presentation and artstyle form a very cohesive experience in combination with Shenmue I. At least the streets of Hongkong in Shenmue II are more colourful and lively than the small japanese town in Shenmue I and it also has better music in my opinion but that's purely subjective. In the end, after easily fixing some minor grafics glitches and getting to grips with the slightly stiff controls I actually started to enjoy Shenmue quite a lot. Due to its slow pacing, great atmosphere, relaxing music and low overall difficulty it's the perfect game for stressful times when you really just need to shut down for an hour or two and immerse yourself into a well-made and atmospheric world. If it weren't for the somewhat stiff controls, overcompressed sound, a few dragging sections and the generally non-existent replay value, Shenmue I & II would easily be a solid 5 (maybe even a low 6) out of 8, but the gameplay premise is indeed somewhat of an acquired taste and it might be just too slow and "unexciting" for people who are looking for some action, so for currently 35 Euros at full price this collection is way too expensive. Highly recommended if you are looking for a more relaxed and atmospheric adventure experience though. _________________________________________________________________________________ SHENMUE I & II Genre: Adventure / Open-World Sandbox / Fighting Release: Q3 2018 ( ) 0/8 Simply one of the worst games ever made. Don't waste any money on this. ( ) 1/8 Bad. Seriously flawed with barely any redeeming qualities. Worth a couple of Cents at best, if at all. ( ) 2/8 Sub-par. Only for hardcore-fans of respective genre / series. Don't pay more than 5 bucks. ( ) 3/8 Meh-diocre. It‘s okay. Don't pay more than 10 bucks. (X) 4/8 Decent, but not for everybody. Don't pay more than 15 bucks. ( ) 5/8 Good game, Must-play for genre- / series-fans. Worth 20 to 25 bucks max, if you are not a fan. ( ) 6/8 Great game, universal recommendation. 30 bucks would be a steal for this. ( ) 7/8 Outstanding game, a milestone of it‘s respective genre. Definitely worth its full prize. ( ) 8/8 Simply one of the best games ever made. Get this, the prize doesn't matter.
Expand the review
I grew up knowing about these games, but had never played them. Until now. They are incredible. They are also deeply weird and experimental. Shenmue -- especially the first one -- is a mix of point-and-click adventure, walking sim, life sim, and fighting game. Most of the gameplay involves walking around and talking to people, absorbing the sights and immaculate vibes. Every now and then, the game presents you with a QTE event or battle sequence to check that you're awake. One of the main themes of these games is boredom. Or rather, patience, slowness. The Shenmue experience is about being slightly bored all of the time. Not entirely bored: you're still engaged and immersed, of course. But everything you do is at least a little bit boring. In Shenmue, if you want to grab something from a cabinet, you have to stare at the cabinet, then open it, then find the object inside the cabinet, pick it up and inspect it, and then store it in your inventory. This takes approximately half a minute, maybe more. It will feel like hours. Eventually, you get used to it. Or you don't and just stop playing. Thing is, though, everything in the game, even the boring parts, feel entirely by design. It's a revenge narrative about the importance of taking things slowly, meeting people, reconsidering your goals, etc. The boring parts feel purposeful. That's key to my acceptance of them. I just get into the flow, acclimate to the leisurely pace. It also helps that, again, the vibes are always immaculate. That object you just picked up from the cabinet is probably going to be lovingly rendered and designed -- within the constraints of graphics from 25 years ago, of course. You also chose to pick it up: the vast majority of the game's detailing is optional. You get as much as you put in. Shenmue II is, for lack of a better word, a more normal videogame. There's more action and the story is far more propulsive. It is an equally magisterial experience, if perhaps not quite as delicate, interesting, and authentic as the first outing. That said, while it's more normal than the first game, that doesn't mean it's actually normal compared to all other games. The entire final act, without spoiling too much, is a long (long) walk through nature. Now, this long walk happens right after the most action-packed sequence in the franchise, so it feels like a well-earned cooldown sesh. It's fine. It's vibes. You pick up wood in a cave. 10 out of 10, would light a fire again. I will say this: Shenmue II clearly influenced open world design in ways Shenmue hasn't. The original remains a unique oddity, perhaps too small, self-contained, and meandering to be truly imitated. I think calling these games "dated," as many would, is both missing the point and not really helpful. This is not how most or any games played in 1999. It would not be how games would play later, either. They are very expensive art games. Hugely expensive. The closest modern comparison isn't actually the Yakuza titles, but Death Stranding. One of the best parts of Shenmue is when you open the cabinets below the kitchen sink and jump at the sight of a scuttling cockroach. Your protagonist comments, "It's just a cockroach." Peak immersion.
Expand the review
Playing Shenmue I & II is like reading classic English literature: the pacing is often slow and the dialogue seems a bit stiff, but you simply have to admire just how phenomenal it was at its time and how it pioneered a lot of things we take for granted now. Shenmue wasn't the first game to have a fully explorable 3D world, nor to use voice acting and motion capture, nor to have an active day-and-night cycle, nor even the first game to have QTEs (though it did coin the phrase). But was indeed the first one to put all of these together so well that in doing so they created an in-game world that seemed genuinely alive and realistic. One wherein you could see the sun rise in the morning and have the weather change from sunny to rain, see a neighbour walk to the store he works and see him have lunch in the afternoon and go to a bar at night before heading back home. A world wherein you can walk through houses opening drawers, where you can talk to anyone, buy items, get a job, get into kick-ass fist fights, and gather clues about the mysterious martial arts master who murdered your father-sensei right before your eyes. Speaking as one who wholly admits to wearing nostalgia glasses: it is as beautiful today as it was over two decades ago. Part three of the saga took a while to get here and got a lukewarm reception, but here's one die-hard Shenmue fan who hopes to see the day when Ryo Hazuki finally faces Lan Di for their final confrontation.
Expand the review
Similar games
View all
Mars: War Logs
An Intense Cyberpunk Rpg On the Red Planet! Mars War Logs takes you to Mars, nearly a century after the cataclysm that threw the planet and its colonists into chaos. Water has become the most precious resource on the arid red planet, with a few companies fighting a perpetual war for its control.
Shenmue III
Shenmue III sees the eagerly anticipated continuation of the epic story-driven saga. Take control of Ryo Hazuki, a teenage martial artist, determined to unravel the mystery behind his father's murder and to exact revenge on the killer.
FINAL FANTASY IX
Selling over five million copies since its release in 2000, FINAL FANTASY IX proudly returns on Steam! Now you can relive the adventures of Zidane and his crew on PC !
FINAL FANTASY VIII
It is a time of war. Galbadia, a Global Superpower, has declared war on Dollet, a country whose training academy is home to two personalities: the hot-headed Seifer and the 'lone wolf', Squall Leonhart. Both are equally at conflict with each other as their country is with Galbadia; to others, Squall appears lacking in team spirit, while...
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind® Game of the Year Edition
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind® Game of the Year Edition includes Morrowind plus all of the content from the Bloodmoon and Tribunal expansions. The original Mod Construction Set is not included in this package. An epic, open-ended single-player RPG, Morrowind allows you to create and play any kind of character imaginable.
GUN™
When life robs Colton White of all that matters, the only thing left he can trust is his GUN. From award-winning developer, Neversoft, and accomplished screenwriter, Randall Jahnson (The Mask of Zorro, The Doors), GUN follows Colton on his quest for discovery as he seeks to exact vengeful justice on those who have wronged him.
Omikron: The Nomad Soul
"I have many things to tell you and very little time… I come from a universe parallel to yours. My world is desperately in need of your help. Only YOU can save us."Responding to the desperate pleas of a mysterious character from another dimension, your soul must enter the dark and futuristic city of Omikron.
Secret of Mana
The memorable adventure of Randi, Primm and Popoi is reborn as Secret of Mana! Originally released in 1993, Secret of Mana is by far the most popular title in the “Mana” series and has now undergone a much-awaited full 3D remake!
DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT
The Dragon Ball RPG of your dreams! For the first time, you can play the rest of the story. Step into the universe of Dragon Ball Z in all its iconic glory and become the hero you were always meant to be!
Pathologic Classic HD
Pathologic Classic HD is the Definitive Edition of the original Cult Classic Psychological First-Person Survival game. In this unforgettable experience, players control one of three unique characters as they try to save a mysterious town from a deadly plague that cannot be stopped.
Tales of Symphonia
FIRST TIME ON STEAM – Based on the PlayStation®3 port of the original GameCube game, this RPG classic is finally available for PC.Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 07 April 2025 06:03 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 08 April 2025 19:22 |
| Steam price | 13 April 2025 20:40 |
| Steam reviews | 13 April 2025 17:52 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about Shenmue I & II, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about Shenmue I & II
- SteamCharts - Analysis of Shenmue I & II concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck Shenmue I & II compatibility
Online players
24
Developer
D3T
Publisher
SEGA
Release
21 Aug 2018
Platforms
By clicking on any of the links on this page and making a purchase,
you may help us earn a commission that supports the maintenance of our services.