History YMMV / Shenmue

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* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[AwesomeMusic/{{Shenmue}} Now with its own page]].

* DrinkingGame: Take a shot every time Ryo says "I see"... On second thought, don't; you're too assured to get alcohol poisoning if you do.

** Even ''Shenmue III'' falls victim to this with the announcement that the story would not see its conclusion in the long awaited sequel, with some fans expressing a fourth or even a fifth entry would be too much.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Perhaps ''the'' single greatest example in modern gaming. On release, ''Shenmue'' was nothing more than utterly groundbreaking, being one of the greatest looking and most detailed games ever made. Just about everything it does as a major selling point has, unfortunately, been done better by someone else- the groundbreaking graphical quality and motion capture elements that gave the game an incredible look are now the norm in video games, while the open world elements and social interactions with different characters are now to be expected in open world games. In addition, ''Shenmue'' has a number of crucial flaws that other open world games have solved. A lack of a minimap or any kind of objective markers makes exploration a chore, and the stilted voice acting and deathly slow pacing have been sidelined by more modern games. The result is that despite it being praised as one of the best games ever made, it's hard to replay the original and understand why, unless you realize that it invented an ''entire genre of video games''. ''Shenmue II'' has actually held up much better than the original, mostly due to the numerous refinements it makes in it's gameplay causing it to play much closer to modern day standards for games.

** "Anata no KONBENI TOMATO MA-TO!" (literally, "Your convenient Tomato Mart"). This often [[{{Mondegreen}} mondegreened]] line is what the singers are actually saying in the song that plays whenever you visit the Tomato Convenience Store.

* ShallowParody: Compare the number of smartass jokes "about that day" and "looking for sailors," to the percentage of the game that revolves around either of those things.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQa3yGXzGls Sailors.]] So much that it became an AscendedMeme in ''[[VideoGame/SegaSuperstars Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing]]'' (Mission 22, a timed gate mission as Ryo in the ''VideoGame/SuperMonkeyBall'' Treetops track, outright tells you that you'll find no sailors, but rather lots of monkeys.[[note]]Unless you're playing on the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}}, in which case the baby monkeys spectating the track are gone because of the console's inferior processors, natch.[[/note]])

* AlternativeAesopInterpretation: Some people have argued that the life-simulator portions, constant moving goalposts, and generally tedious aspects of the game cause the story to work well as a {{Deconstruction}} of the RoaringRampageOfRevenge; all the complexities and delays in Ryo's plan to face the man who killed his father reveal just how difficult it is to actually carry out revenge and how you ultimately still have to live your life no matter how you devote yourself to a cause.

* DrinkingGame: Take a shot every time Ryo says "I see"... On second thought, don't; [[MostAnnoyingSound you're too assured to get alcohol poisoning if you do.]]

* MostAnnoyingSound: "There's no power in your arms." You'll hear this if you have a hard time doing the Swallow Flip.

* MoneyForNothing: In the first game, you start with 10.000 yen (about US$60 in December 1986) and receive a daily allowance of 500 yen, about 3 dollars. Not a fortune, but most of the products you can spend your money on - like candy, cassette types and action figures - are fun but useless, some are useful only for a handful of side-quests that won't change gameplay or story. No matter how the player spends or saves cash, there will be enough when it's necessary for plot almost for sure. Partially averted in the 2018 remaster, as the final savegame from the first game can be used to start the second, and toys from the first can be sold for money.

* EarWorm: The Tomato Convenience Store theme. Every single version of it.

!! Games with their own pages:

Examples pertaining to ''VideoGame/ShenmueII'' can be found [[YMMV/ShenmueII here]].

* AccidentalInnuendo: Ryu's infamous sailor line. He's following a lead, but since Ryu doesn't explain himself and just asks where sailors hang out it sounds like he's looking for a hookup.

** The ''Shenmue III'' Kickstarter campaign is this in ''spades''. ''Everything'' from a lack of a [=PS4=] physical version[[note]]which has since been remedied for those pledging $60 or more[[/note]], not releasing it on other consoles, early images and footage shown, the extent of Sony's involvement [[note]]Sony has denied any involvement, but any game developer knows [[http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/19/8624665/big-indie-kickstarters-are-killing-actual-indies $2 million is not enough fund a small game]], let alone one as ambitious as Shenmue[[/note]], the vague stretch goals, [[TheChrisCarterEffect the story won't conclude with this entry]], lack of [=PayPal=] support[[note]]which was added after the campaign ended up to the end of the year[[/note]], and the rewards, which many have complained are too expensive to afford. Many refused to pledge until a [=PS4=] physical version was announced, along with a variety of other reasons. While supporters and detractors feel the campaign was poorly handled, fans who have been waiting 14 years for another ''Shenmue'' urged these people to put aside these reasons and pledge for the sake of the game itself, and are just happy to see the game finally be on its way to getting developed. There's also the matter of what happened to ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'', another Kickstarter-backed-game, which has some fans concerned that Suzuki and company will fall victim to the same mistakes that Inafune made.

** Although it's not without its fans, driving the forklift as a part time job. While the intent was likely to add to the realism to make you feel like you really were in another person's reality, it was also seen as a repetitive drag by those who just wanted to continue on with the story.

* InternetBackdraft:
** One of the major criticisms of the ''Shenmue III'' Kickstarter campaign came when, after the game had reached its $2 million goal, a Sony representative claimed they would help finance the game, ''at least in terms of marketing and publishing''. This small detail was overlooked, and adding the fact that other financial backers could not be mentioned due to contractual obligations, led to a widespread misconception with fans asking where their pledge money would go or why they were pledging to begin with if Sony had the means of funding the game entirely [[note]]Consensus among fans is that the Kickstarter is not asking for money to fund the project, they are gauging fan interest, whether the game is worth releasing or not[[/note]]. This led Suzuki to apologize for not being upfront with fans, assuring them that while Sony and Shibuya Productions are helping to finance the game, the fans' pledge money would only go toward game development and the companies wouldn't see a cent of it.
** The ''Shenmue III'' Kickstarter Twitch stream featuring Awesome Japan - the company running the campaign - and Yu Suzuki did not go well at all. This was due to the poor quality of the camera equipment, poor sound, and one of the English presenters who took a lackadaisical approach to the entire interview and halted it himself despite more questions being sent in by viewers. Granted, very important information was obtained during the interview but most people who clicked the Youtube equivalent only read the comments rather than watching the video itself. Awesome Japan also apologized for the incident.
** The announcement at E3 2019 that the PC version of ''Shenmue III'' would suddenly be exclusive to the [[Creator/EpicGames Epic Games Store]] did NOT sit well with backers who pledged for the PC version, after it was already planned to arrive on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and backers had been given the option to choose a Steam key as their choice of platform. Those who pledged for the PC Physical Version would receive a code for the Epic Games Store instead of a physical disc. Backers affected by this quickly flooded numerous social media platforms demanding refunds, with some backers in Europe threatening lawsuits. Although YS Net announced that no refunds would be given and the exclusivity deal was only for a year, claiming that the Steam version would arrive at a later date, it did little to calm the flames as many backers, including those unaffected by the move, felt that both YS Net and Deep Silver handled the situation poorly.

** The announcement at E3 2019 that the PC version of ''Shenmue III'' would suddenly be exclusive to the [[Creator/EpicGames Epic Games Store]] did NOT sit well with backers who pledged for the PC version, after it was already planned to arrive on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and backers had been given the option to choose a Steam key as their choice of platform. Those who pledged for the PC Physical Version would receive a code for the Epic Games Store instead of a physical disc. Backers affected by this quickly flooded numerous social media platforms demanding refunds, with some backers in Europe threatening lawsuits. Although YS Net announced that no refunds would be given, it was later announced that the Steam version would arrive at a later date, but it did little to calm the flames as backers felt that both YS Net and Deep Silver handled the situation in an unprofessional manner.

** The announcement at E3 2019 that the PC version of ''Shenmue III'' would suddenly be exclusive to the [[Creator/EpicGames Epic Games Store]] did NOT sit well with backers who pledged for the PC version. For the digital version, it had been planned to arrive on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} instead, and backers had already been given the option to choose a Steam key as their choice of platform. For the physical version, backers will instead receive a code for the Epic Games Store instead of a disc. The game's Steam forum, Kickstarter comments section, and Deep Silver's social media accounts were quickly flooded by backers demanding a full refund of their pledge. Those who complained to YS Net received a message stating that their pledges would not be refunded.

** The announcement at E3 2019 that the PC version of ''Shenmue III'' would suddenly be exclusive to the [[Creator/EpicGames Epic Games Store]] did NOT sit well with backers who pledged for the PC version. For the digital version, it had been planned to arrive on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} instead, and backers had already been given the option to choose a Steam key as their choice of platform. For the physical version, backers will instead receive a code for the Epic Games Store instead of a disc. The game's Steam forum, Kickstarter comments section, and Deep Silver's social media accounts were quickly flooded by backers demanding a full refund of their pledge. Those who complained to YS Net received a message stating that refunds would not be addressed.

** The announcement at E3 2019 that the PC version of ''Shenmue III'' would be now be exclusive to the Creator/EpicGames Store did NOT sit well with backers who pledged for the PC version after being told for years that the game would be released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} instead, and were even given the option to choose a Steam key as their choice of platform. The game's Steam forum and Kickstarter comments section were quickly flooded by backers demanding a full refund of their pledge, as well as Deep Silver's social media accounts, as they had previously done the same thing with ''VideoGame/MetroExodus''.

** The announcement at E3 2019 that the PC version of ''Shenmue III'' would be now be exclusive to the Creator/EpicGames Store did NOT sit well with backers who pledged for the PC version, after being told for years that the game would be released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} instead. The game's Steam forum and Kickstarter comments section was quickly flooded by fans demanding a full refund of their pledge.

** The announcement at E3 2019 that the PC version of ''Shenmue III'' would be now be exclusive to the Creator/EpicGames Store did NOT sit well with backers who pledged for the PC version, after being told for years that the game would be released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} instead.

* MoneyForNothing: In the first game, you start with plenty and receive a daily allowance, and most of the products you can spend your money on - like candy, cassette types and action figures - are fun but useless, some are useful only for a handful of side-quests that won't change gameplay or story. No matter how the player spends or saves cash, there will be enough when it's necessary for plot almost for sure. Partially averted in the 2018 remaster, as the final savegame from the first game can be used to start the second, and toys can be sold for money.