Shenmue

                   I never really had the broad experience of community that Shenmue depicts. The community I grew up in was already becoming too busy and fearful, eventually closing in on itself. I wish I did because of how much joy I found in the community of Shenmue’s small world of Yokosuka, Japan. I moved Ryo Hazuki, an 18 year old teenager, through the four or five maps in the game, separated by load screens, that cram themselves with the feeling of being part of something, without filling the screen with so much noise and narrative.  It's a living and breathing world, with routines to remember and names to learn. The maps start off imposing, you can get lost in them early but your signposts and landmarks are the community, the people that live in the town.  Most of them just want to ply their trade, build motorcycles, and offer you a technicolor rainbow of a patch that you can never take them up on. Some of them, like Megumi, a pigtailed child, want your help raising a kitten that was orphaned in the aftermath of your father’s death. Oh yeah, this is a game about revenge, your father is killed by a man named Lan Di and it was up to you to track him down. 

                     Shenmue is a razor honed tale of revenge that takes a village to endorse and encourage, both consciously and subconsciously. Ryo’s neighbors aid and abet you every step of the way as you track down your father’s killer. They offer you hints and help, serving up small bits of themselves along the way. Little short peaks into their lives that color the  experience of asking everyone in your way, “ Do you know black cars, three blades, Lan Di , etc.”  You learn about the people around you through their utility to your quest for revenge. The town’s proxy to the sea means several people you meet come from somewhere else. They have a culture, history and past that are all their own. You can use that to your advantage and you will.  Some of them quickly suss out what you are up to and dissuade you, they become unhelpful. Tom Johnson, the displaced American, will bop around and offer a hotdog instead of help. Tom sees where you are heading and what it will cost you and wants none of that, well until he does (more on that later) . A small few, like Master Chen, both know that what you are doing is wrong and still surrender you to your quest for revenge, finding some utility in it, either by proxy or more directly. Most of the time though, his community is there to nudge you along the right path, oftentimes unaware they are putting you in close proximity with the danger of destiny.  They are happy to chat about their lives and sure, they may know something about a black car or a dockside gang.    

              At some point late in the third disc, the quest for revenge starts to collide more directly with Ryo’s community at large.  Your coworkers have to deal with the repercussions of you asking everyone you see about a gang called The Mad Angels,  a pompadour quaffed acquaintance takes a beating on your behalf and finally, Nozomi, a girl who you have kept at arms length and who has kept you slightly closer but still distant, is kidnapped.  You awaken with the desire to take a walk at 1am, a time you never seen previously on the game clock, so you know something is up. Your walk is halted by finding out Nozomi is gone, her mom thinking she was out with you, and before you have time to react, the phone rings. Nozomi is kidnapped and you need to make it to the docks by 3am.  Bolting into the town with only a timer as guidance, you assume you will be assaulted on my way to the bus and make it in the nick of time. NOPE!  You make it to the bus but it's 1am, of course the bus isn't running.  Quickly, you think about transportation and of course, head to your friend at the motorcycle shop.  Despite the hour, he answers the doors and informs you that all his hogs (as he affectionately calls them) are in various states of disrepair.  He informs you that Naoyuki, your friend from school, just had his hog (I also affectionately call them hogs) repaired. So you are off to his house to ask a big favor. Without hesitation, Naoyuki tosses you his keys and it's off to play through an approximation of Sega’s classic, Hang On!  Once you get to the docks , the battle rages but more importantly, you get Nozomi back and you share a touching scene while you drive her home, music swelling as you cut through empty streets on your hog. Neither of you saying a word, just savoring the rare chance to be close. Closer than you are with anyone else. 

                   All of this is only possible because of the community Ryo is surrounded by. They are all too eager to help and potentially harm Ryo in the process. I finished Shenmue and what I was left with was several tiny interactions with the folks around me. Coloring a world I was destined to leave, both as the player and as Ryo. Saying goodbye was often indirect in Shenmue.  You start working every day so you end up being too busy to check on the guy selling jeans, or the bread maker.  You don't get to take either barber up on their offer for a haircut. You’re just too busy.   You do get to say goodbye to Tom directly though and it breaks your heart.  Tom is going back to America. Before he leaves, he teaches you a sick-ass kick you can do,  contributing directly to your quest for revenge. It's a bummer, I didn't want to learn it, but I did anyway. Tom was pure, and still is,  but I stained him a little when I took that technique. He tells you that you are his best friend and you finally take him up on the offer to eat a dog.  After that, there is a hot dog truck-sized hole in your community and that's your cue to take off yourself.

                        The end of Shenmue has Ryo boarding a ship for Hong Kong. You leave everything you know, uncertain that you will ever return. Even if you do, will you be recognizable? Will the community you left be the same? If you do, who will be there? Tom wont, you know that. Nozomi won't either, she has left for Canada. You take every bit of aid and help without the chance or opportunity to pay it back, but its community. You don’t have to, you didn't ask for or take anything that anyone expects a return on. They are your neighbors, it's just what you do with neighbors.  You are borrowing cups of sugar in each interaction, so what if you pour a little of it into your own gas tank as you drive towards revenge.