Part 10: Don't Touch That Button!

Ryo picks up his allowance and enters the dojo bright and early, where he finds Fuku practicing.

Probably because you never learned them.

Uh, whatever that means.

No kidding. You still bite your nails, eat your boogers... that stuff's disgusting, man.

Now, normally I would jump at the chance to deny Fuku something, but this actually gives us a new move which is pretty decent.

All right, go.

Oh, Fuku-san, that's not how you do it!

This is. The Pit Blow is a two-step punch that can be handy in certain situations. It's got a long recovery though, so if you pull it out at the wrong moment, you're sure to eat some punches. It replaces the Elbow Slam, a generic arm strike.

Things get a little creepy. Time to escape to town.

Lookie, some kids are playing soccer in the street.

I have a bad feeling about this.

Oh shi- Utilizing his lightning reflexes, Ryo...

Er, whoops.

At home, the kids' mom blames the boys for the event and takes away their soccer ball, giving it to a Chinese boy in the neighborhood. Ryo totally ruined their day. Jerk. However, as we find out in the future, it turns out the ball is cursed, so maybe Ryo unknowningly did them a favor.

That was the first of many Quick Timer Events, or QTEs, that occur throughout Shenmue. If you've played Resident Evil 4, then you basically know how these work. A button flashes and you need to press it within a certain time limit. While some consider them shallow gameplay, they make for some very slick action sequences. Normally, you should try to avoid failing them, as some (such as this one) are not repeatable. I don't believe there are any consequences for this event, however, so we'll move along.

Let's see, what were we up to again?

Oh yeah. Must find sailors.

Ryo continues on to Dobuita, and asks Nozomi about sailors.

Nozomi wins the common sense contest again.

You can see the excitement in Ryo's eyes.

Nozomi cares about Ryo.

But Ryo's just a damn dirty liar.

We also inquire at the burger shop because it's funny for juvenile minds such as ours.

However, the bars don't open until the evening, leaving us with time to kill once again.


The first TWO options to three votes will both win. Please list the number in your post because I'm a lazy ass.
1) Hit the arcade.
2) Practice moves.
3) Try the Tomato Mart raffle. Also, shop.
4) TOY CAPSULES!
5) Get a soda.
6) Play some slots.
7) Make phone calls.
8) Feed the kitty.
9) Stroll around town looking for interesting characters.
10) Other (Post your choice)


NEXT UPDATE: Time Wasting, Episode 2