I'm thinking of actually buying the original game lol and I wonder if the japanese version can be set to have english text and subtitles?
Nope, the Japanese version Shenmue (1) only has Japanese audio and Japanese subtitles. (Weird side note; there is also a Japanese release of the English spoken Shenmue, called "Shenmue US". This version has English speech with Japanese subtitles). The only way to play the game with Japanese speech and English subtitles is by using a fan-made undub version.
Ok. Because I *think* I read somewhere that the text would change to english depending on the consoles set language. But if it's true and the jap version only has jap text then that's too bad. Because it's dirt cheap.
I can guarantee you that the Japanese version has no English subtitles. So wherever you read that, that information in false (unfortunately!)
I read somewhere that Sega did make a version with Japanese voice overs and English subtitles for Ryo's English voice actor but it was never released. The one that was released is the fan version though.
Thanks for the replies. It's not that I prefer japanese voice acting it's just that the japanese version is super cheap. In fact I just listened to it on youtube and boy oh boy am I happy I won't be getting the jap version. I sincerely prefer the "dead inside" english dub. The guy doing ryu's voice sounds more like some kind of biker badass who smokes two packs a day than like the son of a strict dojo sensei.
BTW here's a video of the japanese "us shenmue" with english menus, english speech and subs . Usually it's still cheaper than a PAL or US release.
Also, if you want to play this version with lossless audio you want to get the 99 min disc version. Unfortunately these disc are very hard to come by that #1, even work in the Dreamcast and the brands that used to work no longer do due to manufacture cost cutting on lower quality materials, and #2, you must also have a compatible disc burner that can even handle these discs in the first place. When I order them I have to order them from a guy in Japan and even then he sells them to me at a premium simply because there is really only 1 confirmed bran that still works and even then you must be from Japan to get your hands on them in the first place as the company only accepts Yen and ship to Japanese addresses.. That being said, if you want to get some of these discs for that version of the game I would be willing to sell you some of the blanks I am getting delivered to me on Monday.
Haha thanks man but as I was saying in op I'm thinking of buying the game. As in the actual gdroms. And it looks like I'll be buying the japanese "us shenmue" as it has english sound and text and is usually cheaper than a pal or ntsc-u release.
Huh, thanks for the heads up. I'll keep it in mind. One more question, is it possible to set up english text in japanese shenmue 2?
Yeah I thought so much. I'll probably buy two pal shenmue 2's, keep one and sell one for €20. For the lulz.
rumour has it that during the production the voice casts were shown the version of Shenmue in Japanese voice AND English subtitle to play. for what ever reason Sega never released that version...
Thank god they didn't. The jap voicecasting is absolutely horrible imo. I prefer watching anime with subs but the case of shenmue is an exception where the english dub actually sounds better.
Really? The English dub in Shenmue is horrendous! The main reason you should play the PAL Dreamcast version of Shenmue 2 over the Xbox version is because it's subbed and not dubbed. Anyway, the un-dub version of the original is definitely the way to go if you ask me Japanese voices with English subs. It isn't perfect, there are a few times where the text disappears way too fast because of the differences between the Japanese and English scripts, but it's preferable to the dub.
Same with the English Xbox speech dub of part 2. It is just impossible to fix that. I can live with that though just to have my ideal version of the game. We should be very grateful for Smith and kogami making these 2 versions for both camps.
