ActionAdventureRPG
Shenmue I & II
Give it 2 hours
Gets good by 2h almost every game dips in hours 2–3
Fully opens up by 20h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending 19% of players who started
Started playing 35% of owners
Steam reviews 89% positive of 3,277
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 3 reviews are negative (31%); after 20h it's 1 in 18 (6%).
- Fully opens up by hour 20.
- 19% of players who start reach the ending.
- Most players drop off before “Shenmue: Stab In The Dark”: only 53% of starters get there.
- Only 35% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 3,306 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 298 reviews: 18.2h for positive, 8.4h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (35% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Shenmue: Stab In The Dark Shenmue: Find the Phoenix Mirror in the Hazuki Basement Most players quit here 53% −47
- Shenmue: One Step Closer Shenmue: Reach New Yokosuka Harbor 60% +7
- Shenmue: Gainful Employment Shenmue: Get a job at the Harbor 45% −15
- Shenmue: Break And Enter Shenmue: Get into Warehouse 8 and meet Master Chen 56% +12
- Shenmue: Fallen Angels Shenmue: Rescue Nozomi from the Mad Angels 38% −19
- Shenmue: Next Stop Hong Kong Shenmue: Complete the game 37% −1
- Shenmue II: Baggage Claim Shenmue II: Get your bag back after it is stolen 39% +2
- Shenmue II: Slippery Like An Eel Shenmue II: Chase and catch Wong in QTE 31% −8
- Shenmue II: Never Assume Shenmue II: Meet Lishao Tao 29% −2
- Shenmue II: Not Done Yet Shenmue II: Complete the game 19% −10
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (55)
story milestone ending side
- Shenmue: Gacha Catcha Shenmue: Find your first collectable toy 100%
- Shenmue: I Know Kung Fu Shenmue: Learn a combat move 83%
- Shenmue: To Be This Good Takes Ages Shenmue: Play Hang-On or Space Harrier 81%
- Shenmue: Freeloader Shenmue: Buy a soda for thirsty Wang Guang Ji 76%
- Shenmue: Boy Scout Shenmue: Help the old lady in Sakuragaoka find a specific house 72%
- Shenmue: Needle In A Haystack Shenmue: Find Charlie in the tattoo parlor in Dobuita 67%
- Shenmue: Simpler Times Shenmue: Find the flashback in the Yard 67%
- Shenmue: Unexpected Visit Shenmue: Visit the fortune teller 65%
- Shenmue: Mirror, Mirror Shenmue: Get the letter from Yuanda Zhu translated in Dobuita 63%
- Shenmue: One Step Closer Shenmue: Reach New Yokosuka Harbor 60%
- Shenmue: Break And Enter Shenmue: Get into Warehouse 8 and meet Master Chen 56%
- Shenmue: Stab In The Dark Shenmue: Find the Phoenix Mirror in the Hazuki Basement 53%
- Shenmue: I Know More Kung Fu Shenmue: Learn 5 combat moves 51%
- Shenmue II: Money For Nothing Shenmue II: Give money to the musicians at the beginning of the game 51%
- Shenmue: Gainful Employment Shenmue: Get a job at the Harbor 45%
- Shenmue: Appropriate Response Shenmue: Call the police at the beginning of the game 44%
- Shenmue: Yummy Meal Shenmue: Find the flashback in the Kitchen 42%
- Shenmue II: Baggage Claim Shenmue II: Get your bag back after it is stolen 39%
- Shenmue: Fallen Angels Shenmue: Rescue Nozomi from the Mad Angels 38%
- Shenmue: Next Stop Hong Kong Shenmue: Complete the game 37%
- Shenmue: Sore Knuckles Shenmue: Beat the 70 Man Battle 37%
- Shenmue: Stay Down! Shenmue: Beat Chai in the Harbor 37%
- Shenmue: Hot Dog Moves Shenmue: Learn a move from Tom at the hot dog stand 37%
- Shenmue: Mark's Favorite Shenmue: Win a forklift race 35%
- Shenmue: Cat Burglar Shenmue: Find Megumi's kitten when it goes missing 33%
- Shenmue: Gacha Catcha II Shenmue: Collect 25 Capsule toys 33%
- Shenmue II: Challenger Shenmue II: Win an arm wrestling match 32%
- Shenmue II: Slippery Like An Eel Shenmue II: Chase and catch Wong in QTE 31%
- Shenmue II: Apprentice Shenmue II: Learn your first new combat skill 31%
- Shenmue II: Cartographer Shenmue II: Place a map marker 29%
- Shenmue II: Never Assume Shenmue II: Meet Lishao Tao 29%
- Shenmue: Practise Makes Perfect Shenmue: Practise your Kung Fu in the Dojo with Fuku-san 28%
- Shenmue II: Autumn In Wan Chai Shenmue II: Catch the leaves 27%
- Shenmue II: Unexpected Visit Shenmue II: Visit a fortune teller 27%
- Shenmue: Treasure Your Friends Shenmue: Find the flashback in the Dojo 25%
- Shenmue II: Another Fine Mess Shenmue II: Fall off a building with Ren 24%
- Shenmue II: Nomad Shenmue II: Leave Hong Kong 23%
- Shenmue II: Adept Shenmue II: Learn 5 combat skills 23%
- Shenmue II: Under Your Nose Shenmue II: Catch Yuan and rescue Zhang Shu Qin 22%
- Shenmue II: 5 Star General Shenmue II: Find Yuanda Zhu 22%
- Shenmue: What's It Worth? Shenmue: Take the Phoenix Mirror to the two antique shops in Dobuita 21%
- Shenmue II: New Kid On The Block Shenmue II: Impress the Yellowhead scout, Yuandao Huo, with your fighting skills 20%
- Shenmue II: David And Goliath Shenmue II: Defeat Dou Niu 20%
- Shenmue II: Tree Hugger Shenmue II: Find the Shenmue Tree 19%
- Shenmue II: Not Done Yet Shenmue II: Complete the game 19%
- Shenmue II: Good Samaritan Shenmue II: Straighten the man's sign near the Come Over Guest House in Wan Chai 19%
- Shenmue II: Flower Power Shenmue II: See the flowers with Shenhua 19%
- Shenmue II: Back To School Shenmue II: Master the Wild Throw move from the Kung Fu school in Wan Chai 18%
- Shenmue: Gacha Catcha III Shenmue: Collect 50 Capsule toys 17%
- Shenmue II: Expert Shenmue II: Learn 10 combat skills 13%
- Shenmue II: Sweet Sorrow Shenmue II: Say goodbye to the 4 wude masters before leaving Hong Kong 13%
- Shenmue II: Strongarm Shenmue II: Win 5 arm wrestling matches 13%
- Shenmue II: Big Spender Shenmue II: Have less than 50 dollars when your bag is stolen 11%
- Shenmue II: Master Shenmue II: Learn 15 combat skills 8.9%
- Shenmue II: To Be This Good Takes Ages Shenmue II: Play all 4 arcade games 6.6%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.