I've had Shenmue III sitting on the shelf since not too long after it came out. I knew it was the type of thing I'd have to wait until I was really in the mood for, not a thing to be forced. I'm glad I did wait on it. The game is ultra slow, at least the way I'm playing it going for the trophies. This is another one of those titles where the trophies fit well imo, because in the previous games I had little motivation to spend piles of limited resources on capsule toys, random knick knacks and dodgy street gambling. The additional incentivization brings side elements like that more fully into the game. There's rarely a fishing mini game that I won't skip, but they've got me going for it here.
As for the game itself, the general take that it's more Shenmue is bang on. Like, if this game out 1 or 2 years after Shenmue II did I'm not sure how different it would have been. If you liked those games I see no reason you wouldn't get into this, but if you didn't I'm not sure what it would do to sway you. I can see why it landed with a thud, though. Stuff like Assassin's Creed, Elder Scrolls and of course Yakuza spent 20 years building on the foundation it laid. They solved the "there's no moment to moment action" problem - which isn't really a problem per se, just a necessity for keeping the mass market's attention. Shenmue's a game that demands you accede to its pacing, its adherence to real world-ish rules. Ryo even gets tired & hungry throughout the day in this one, something that I'm sure didn't endear it to anyone without the patience to stroll through its environs rather than dash everywhere.
The one big elephant in the room with this one is the dialogue. It's exactly as clunky and wooden as it's ever been, and there's a LOT of it. Like, a lot a lot:
You can tell the translators were just given a massive script full of lines with little or no descriptive context, a lot of it is oddly mistranslated compared to the spoken Japanese dialogue. But even with total accuracy, it wouldn't change how robotic it is. One of the most revelatory elements of Shenmue II was the final act where you finally meet Shenhua. You just go on this really, really long walk (or run) to her village in China's rural interior. Throughout you have a branching conversation of a complexity that nothing had ever come close to at that point. She really was the most complex digital character I'd ever encountered by far, and that journey was like really getting to know a person. It was one of those things that impacted me on a personal level in a way I'll never forget.
The problem is that in the intervening years, Naughty Dog absolutely mastered fluid, lifelike dialogue in gaming. So even though Shenmue III presents you with plenty of branching conversations, they're going to seem weird or amateurish to anyone who doesn't find their style quirky or quaint. But even then, I'm one of those people who absolutely "gets" Shenmue and has from the moment I picked it up, but it still stretches and occasionally snaps my own capacity to buy into it. Here's a sample:
Shenhua: Ryo.
Ryo: Yes, Shen Hua.
Shenhua: What were you like when you were a boy?
Ryo: {picks dialogue option} I was always really focused on martial arts. My father made sure that I always trained hard every day. He never took it easy on me no matter what.
Ryo: Shen Hua.
Shenhua: Yes, Ryo.
Ryo: What were you like as a girl?
Shenhua: I was always playing with animals, they speak to me and warn me about bad weather coming or other things. They're very helpful.
Ryo: Really?
Shenhua: Yes.
Shenhua: Ryo.
Ryo: Yes, Shen Hua.
Shenhua: It's getting late, you should go to bed.
Ryo: Oh, it's already that time. I'm going to bed.
Shenhua: Yes.
....
And on and on it goes. Some situations are better scripted than others, but this was the stuff of memes back in 2001. In 2022 it just comes across as a design fumble that has you questioning Suzuki's thought processes here. Fortunately it's not enough to prevent a character like Shenhua becoming endearing or forming an attachment with her as your choices affect how close she gets to you. Nonetheless, I don't know if it was a budget or time thing, but I don't understand why they'd script things this way.
The visuals are nice, and of the quality one would hope for. At least they didn't get stuck having to shortchange the audience in that regard. I will say though, they really went HAM with the skybox day-night cycle and lighting effects. Like, whatever artist did this is like the Eddie Van Halen of the saturation slider:
Shenmue fields forever...
I don't mind it too much. It's very easy, but the breezy ultraviolence, undulating terrain (I like those nervous jumps to/from the genies), and Nazca's sheer pixel prowess keep me occupied, just about. (I prefer MS2's drier palette to MSX's sometimes outrageous cartoon hues, in fact, I consider MS2 the most beautiful Neo Slug, in stills... but regardless, that's some impressively detailed 2D archaeology) The boss is slightly redeemed by what I call the Woodchipper Principle. It's mild and easy, but if you reach it properly-equipped, you can shred it in comically short order, like four seconds or something. 
Here, don't tell anyone!
