That being said, Shenmue fans are not like most gamers. Were the ones who played Myst non stop back in the day. You have to have a broader outlook to be able to appreciate Shenmue for what it is, boring and tedious gameplay or not. The Japanese were almost arrogant, in a way, to be soooooooo confident that this game would gain mass appeal to go spend that much money on it.
But Still, I'm glad they did because its still one of the most unique franchises.