I didn't exactly wait 18 years for this game like the people that played Shenmue 2 on the Dreamcast back in the day, but even I feel betrayed.

This "game" is frustrating beyond comprehension. Let me list the reasons why I despise this game:

- There's an absurd amount of grinding. Even when you're not doing side-quests or achievements, the game creates this fake longevity by forcing you to grind in almost every single activity in order for the story to progress.
- The pacing of the story is so slow and boring. Some people used to say that the Shenmue games were boring, but screw that, THIS IS BORING. Which is even more unnerving considering the fact that there's barely any story at all! This is barely a completed game, considering it has been in development for ATLEAST 4 YEARS! And don't give me the budget constraints nonsense, there's no excuse for the quality of this thing.
- Despite spending 2 games fighting assassins, goons and all sorts of martial arts experts, somehow Ryo is a wuss in this game, and needs to train endlessly because some anemic bastard stepped on his pinky toe too hard. What a joke.
- Despite being a game released in 2019, it still feels like it was made in 1999: bad voice acting, terrible subtitles in the japanese option, outdated controls (really? you couldn't look at the way other video games were made nowadays? you had to go with the "nostalgic route" and keep all the things that are wrong with the game?), cutscenes that fade out and fade in mid-conversation for no apparent reason, etc, etc.
- The fighting mechanics are completely ruined. Whatever fun players had from the flexible and satisfying Free Battle mode of the previous games is gone, and replaced by a stiff ass boring new fighting mode in which you can't tell if you're actually hitting the opponent or not. Also training new moves is guess what? More grinding! Got a new move? Train it by repeating the same thing 1 million times. Fun!
- The stamina mechanic will make you want to kill someone. Who the heck thought this was a good idea?! Ryo can't run more than 10 steps without having a heart attack what the heck is this nonsense?!
- Interesting characters from the previous games such as Ren and Shenhua are reduced to useless side bimbos. Ren serves almost no purpose in the story, and talking to Shenhua in this game is like talking to an AI sexbot. We had more meaningful and interesting conversations with Shenhua in the last 10 minutes of Shenmue 2 than the entire duration of this stinkfest.
- Enjoyed having missable content from the previous games and having to start a new playthrough because the game is infested with timed events? Congratulations! The game now has triple the amount! Really annoying specially for someone like me who has achievement OCD. Enjoy replaying this dumpster fire.
- I hope you enjoy the ending as well. 18 years for this cop out of an ending. I can't be mad at Shenmue 2's cliffhanger but this? What a giant disappointment.

No wonder this game is trash, Yu Suzuki says he doesn't enjoy playing video games.

I hope Lan Di comes out of the screen and kicks him in the balls.

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