The Indifference of Shenmue’s Schedule

Whenever you start a new day in Shenmue, the first thing you see is a notebook, providing a useful account of your adventure so far. It's designed to remind you, the player, what to do next, but the idea that Ryo Hazuki is checking his goal as soon as he wakes also feels like a statement of intent. You might have heard about Shenmue's quirky forklift races and action-packed Quick Time Events (QTEs), but at its centre, this is a game about a teenage boy determined to track down his father's killer.

Set in 1986 Yokosuka, Japan, Shenmue begins in the mundane suburban streets Ryo calls home, as he wraps his head around the events of a few days prior: a mysterious man from China visits his father, murders him, then takes a strange, almost fantastical object, the Dragon Mirror. With little to go on behind the motive, and determined not to involve the police, Ryo turns to his local community for answers. What did others see that day?

As you walk down quiet roads, alongside children playing and clothes hanging on washing lines, and begin to ask neighbours questions, it's quickly apparent this is an investigation like no other. A teenager turned detective might seem unconvincing on paper, but it works in large part because Ryo knows everyone, and everyone knows what's just happened to him. Conversations start with a brief greeting and a short set of condolences, before Ryo gets down to business. These conversations are short and succinct - perhaps it's the grief, or it's just who Ryo is - and with no branching dialogue choices, it means the investigation can move along at a fast clip.