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Sega has confirmed that Shenmue I & II will not include any online features, so if you’re gonna get sweaty in the game, it won’t be with anyone else.
News comes via YouTube user Adam Koralik, who revealed a bunch of new details on the upcoming re-release of the Dreamcast cult classics.
Shenmue Passport is not included in the bundle either, although that’s not really a massive loss; it only really served to introduce you to the world of Shenmue with some admittedly nice-looking (at the time, anyway) real-time videos of the cast chatting about the game’s various features.
On the plus side, there’s no microtransactions. Apparently some folk were worried about this when Sony described the game as having ‘in-game purchases,’ which is true — you can buy stuff in local convenience stores. It doesn’t mean you’ll be using real world money, though.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Shenmue I & II won’t feature corporate tie-ins, so the Coca-Cola vending machines and Ryu’s lovely Timex watch have been ironed out. The former only featured in the Japanese version anyway; the US and UK got Jet Cola machines instead.
Elsewhere, loading times have been reduced by a few seconds while transitioning between locations, and you can select from a high resolution and original resolution mode, which display at 1080p and 480p, respectively.
Finally, Shenmue II is based off the Xbox version of the game, but the annoying bloom effect is now entirely optional.
Shenmue I & II is due for release on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One on August 21.
