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Shenmue creator has considered Yakuza 0-style prequel to continue series

Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki has discussed the possibility of a fourth game in the series, and the idea of developing it a…

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Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki has discussed the possibility of a fourth game in the series, and the idea of developing it as a more approachable prequel, similar to Yakuza 0.

Shenmue 3 was released in 2019, 18 years after the second game, but was aimed predominantly at fans of the series who backed the project on Kickstarter.

"I want Shenmue 4 to be enjoyable for newcomers," Suzuki said now, in an interview with IGN. "To make that possible, the most important thing is to make it enjoyable without knowing previous events in the story. I don't think that a new player wants to know 100 percent of the story. 20 or 30 percent could be enough.

"In Shenmue 3, we implemented a digest movie that teaches the player the main events of the previous games, but for Shenmue 4 I want to integrate that part into the main game. It would be great if the player could naturally learn about previous events just by playing the game. For example, rather than watching a separate movie, having playable flashbacks could be a way to do it."

To be clear, Suzuki didn't confirm if Shenmue 4 is in production - although he did still go on to discuss the series' future.

Could a prequel like Yakuza 0 - a turning point for that series, especially in the West - act as a more approachable entrypoint for newcomers for Shenmue?

"Yes, I have [thought about that]," Suzuki said. "I cannot go into detail at this point, but it is something I have been thinking about.

 

[The Snake]

Even back as early as Shenmue 1 I thought it would be neat to walk through Dobuita as Iwao. Cozy summertime 50s/60s Dobuita game would be pretty neat IMO.

 

[diffusionx]

Isn't one of the main beefs with Shenmue 3 that the story, which has been in limbo for 20+ years, went absolutely nowhere? And now they are floating the idea of doing a prequel? Is Suzuki drunk?

Until proven otherwise this is what I think the Shenmue story is:

 

[Zuzu]

Sure, but please just finish the story one day!

 

[Punished Miku]

Sega can make these games so fast his best bet is just securing enough funds to pay Sega to do it for him and give them a script.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Shenmue haters can jump in a wood chipper for all I care. Gimme moar Shenmue!

 

[Horseganador]

Yakuza 0 is better than the entire Shenmue saga combined.

 

[StueyDuck]

Playing as lan di and fucking shit up, I could see it work

 

[StueyDuck]

Shenmue haters can jump in a wood chipper for all I care. Gimme moar Shenmue!

You get two types of people. Those who just get shenmue and what it's about.

And plebs

 

[Deft Beck]

Yu Suzuki should consider just concluding the story in a more manageable fashion and moving on. It's been too long.

 

[KuraiShidosha]

Shenmue 3 is the ultimate monkey paw. Let's not wish for more.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Let it die. Make something else. 3rd one was dog shit despite fan backing.

 

[6502]

He had a once in a lifetime chance to finish the story and please fans, or do these playable flashbacks for a reboot / ending in a standalone shenmue title with that kickstarter.

As a day 1 backer I was gutted. I won't be strung along with future Shenmue games.

 

[Evil Calvin]

Shenmue was a time/ place game. What it wanted to be, morphed into what the Yakuza series was. There is no need at this point for a new Shenmue. We already have it with Yakuza and the Like a Dragon games.

 

[RickMasters]

Yu Suzuki should consider just concluding the story in a more manageable fashion and moving on. It's been too long.

Agreed. Maybe even rejoin sega and get it finished. Would love to see him try a new racing game after that. Or even some other type of game altogether.

 

[Fake]

To be honest, Yakusa engine is 100x better to Shemue than any other engine.

 

[Evil Calvin]

Yu Suzuki should consider just concluding the story in a more manageable fashion and moving on. It's been too long.

No. Let it be. No more sailors.

 

[rkofan87]

You get two types of people. Those who just get shenmue and what it's about.

And plebs

you have one more die hard fans who think 3 is shit.

 

[Griffon]

Just finish the story you started as a light novel and move on. People wont get suckered again for another shit game.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Isn't one of the main beefs with Shenmue 3 that the story, which has been in limbo for 20+ years, went absolutely nowhere? And now they are floating the idea of doing a prequel? Is Suzuki drunk?

Until proven otherwise this is what I think the Shenmue story is:

Ir was utterly baffling on all levels. The story went nowhere; 3 revealed the same things already revealed in 2. But they retconned on the supernatural stuff and it now seems more like a treasure hunt.

Ryo being weak and losing to some goons is narratively weak too, since 1 and 2 were about him growing as a fighter. He beat the big bad of Hong Kong with his bare hands. This combat system in 3 was utter shit regardless.

S3 destroyed any interest I had left in this franchise. Just keep it at 1 and 2. He can end the story via anime, comic or w/e.

 

[A.Romero]

It's the only way going forward. I couldn't stand the original formula in 3 and I used to be a big fan.

 

[The Snake]

No. Let it be. No more sailors.

This post smells strongly of "I am only familiar with this property via memes"

 

[Evil Calvin]

This post smells strongly of "I am only familiar with this property via memes"

I played the first one halfway through when it came out. I only remember forklift driving, gotcha machines, asking every fucking person about where the sailors are at, and slowing exploring the house. That's about it. I liked it at the time but I doubt it holds up well.

 

[Hunter 99]

Please don't do a prequel...just finish the story for the fans who supported you and showed love from the beginning.

Like others are saying its been a hell of a long time since I first played shenmue in 99-00 and it literally blew me away but after 3 which was a dissapointment I'm kinda happy just to let it rest.

Newbies won't care for shenmue one bit so your relying on your fans who are most likely 30s plus to buy the game.by the time it releases it will be dead in the water..

For me playing the yakuza 3 demo on ps3 back in day was my moment when I realised wow this was the new shenmue and boy what a time I had with the yakuza series since.

 

[MMaRsu]

Dont bother dude. People want either a conclusion to the story or nothing at all.

 

[Brigandier]

Ir was utterly baffling on all levels. The story went nowhere; 3 revealed the same things already revealed in 2. But they retconned on the supernatural stuff and it now seems more like a treasure hunt.

Ryo being weak and losing to some goons is narratively weak too, since 1 and 2 were about him growing as a fighter. He beat the big bad of Hong Kong with his bare hands. This combat system in 3 was utter shit regardless.

I agree with everything... It was an insult to the fans and new players alike how S3 was basically S2 but with some additional story about the treasure.

It was totally ridiculous that Ryo couldn't beat the two muscle heads without learning a special move for each of them lol.

Not even a month earlier he whooped 3 champion street fighters, then brought down about 8765 gang members, Shit loads of chi you men footsoldiers then smashed Master Baihu then Dou Niu.

But now he can't beat some thugz all of a sudden

It was awful writing and character development, it made Ryo look like a bitch when 20 years ago in Shenmue 2 after Kowloon we felt like we was playing a young man who was starting to realise his potential to become a master at a young age who was strong as fuck and finally finding his discipline.

Then in S3 he's just an angry impatient low skilled idiot who seemed to have forgotten all his training and moveset, He wasn't even this dumb in S1 so I honestly think YS forgot about how Ryo had developed and that's his fault for not replying S1 and S2 before he started development of S3 it's amateurish.

 

[Tiamat2san]

Yu should pay a visit to ryuga gotoku studio and they should partner up.
It’s an efficient teams ,Yu should be a co-director.

 

[TaroYamada]

Honestly Shenmue 3 wasn't very good. It's a bummer because the first two were excellent games, the first is among my favorite games ever but I don't think he knows why it was great and I don't think he could make another good one.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

There's one hope for Shenmue continuing I think and that's SEGA using some of the Yakuza tech and assets and funding it themselves (which they should have done for with 3 the bastards).

If they're willing to fund new IPs like Lost Judgement, then why not Shenmue? I think a Shenmue 0 or 4 done properly and to a similar standard as Yakuza could sell well and rekindle interest in the series anyway.

 

[Pejo]

I think a prequel is completely ignoring what people want, which is to finish the damn story.

I would say, switching up the gameplay genre would be a blessing at this point since 3 has proven that Suzuki is a conman has no idea how to update Shenmue's gameplay directly.

Do your prequel AFTER you finish the story, you grifter.

 

[RAIDEN1]

Yakuza 0, COMPLETELY missed the vibe of the 80s, it could have been Sega's very own Vice City with the music etc.....barely felt like you were in 1988

 

[PrefectAboro]

I'm still pissed that SEGA won't give him back the rights to Virtua Fighter engine! I mean Yakuza series gets to have them as mini-games in the arcades but Yu Suzuki can't have the fighting engine in Shenmue 3 or 4?

Someone in the industry needs to team up with Suzuki. Kojima, David Cage, Suehiro (Deadly Premoniton). He needs to stop the filler episodes (which was Shenmue 3) and start giving us the HEART of the story, beat by beat, cinematic QTEs, epic boss fights with characters from Virtua Fighter, and the detailed environments he's known for.

 

[Darsxx82]

A game at the level of the first 2 would need the following things in order of importance in my opinion:

1-A large budget, resources and a Studio with a large staff. Not less than 300 devs.

2-Yu Suzuki scriptwriter, set design and supervision.
3-New director for the project for everything else.

4-A game that covers the end of the story journey but is accessible to new players. The possibility of flashes of the past and memories of previous ones is a good idea. Even including the personal story of Ryo's father and Lan Di.

The feature that made Shenmue 1 and 2 special was combining cutting-edge technology (at that time SEGA had it), story and interaction. Today, to succeed in these aspects, great resources and good technology are required.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Futaleufu]

Then in S3 he's just an angry impatient low skilled idiot who seemed to have forgotten all his training and moveset, He wasn't even this dumb in S1 so I honestly think YS forgot about how Ryo had developed and that's his fault for not replying S1 and S2 before he started development of S3 it's amateurish.

Reminds me of David Chase who didnt even bother to rewatch The Sopranos before writing/producing "The Many Saints of Newark" that was more of a fanfic than a prequel.

 

[Fbh]

They made Shenmue 3: No one cared.
They made Shenmue the anime: No one cared.

On the off chance that for some reason someone decides to give this guy more money for another likely unsuccessful Shenmue project, shouldn't he at least try to finish the story for the fans instead of making a prequel?

 

[Madonis]

The problem is that finishing the Shenmue story can't be done properly in just one game, unless the creator massively reduces the scale of his ambitions.

Which is perhaps what he should have gone with, but it's clear that wasn't the plan.

From that perspective, perhaps a relatively more self-contained prequel might have helped keep the property alive and relevant.

 

[stn]

I just need them to finish the story and they can make any prequel they want!

 

[RavageX]

They just need to finish the STORY. Then you can worry about a prequel. From what I recall the anime didn't go anywhere either storywise.

 

[Soltype]

I just want to walk around unnecessarily detailed neighborhoods in 80's, I gave up on the story after 3.

 

[LordBlodgett]

I'm with everyone else here. If they had made a good Shenmue 3 and actually finished the story then I would be totally down for a Yakuza 0 type game, but as it stands I don't trust anything with Shenmue in the title, and this is coming from someone who had the first two Shenmue games in my top ten list for decades. First time I played Yakuza I realized it was the spiritual successor.

 

[AJUMP23]

Let it die.

 

[GHound]

Let it die.

That game was also bad, yeah.

 

[DryvBy]

Bring this but first let our boy finish his storyline!

 

[supernova8]

I thought the general consensus was that Shenmue 3 was a pile of shit that isn't fit for today's standards.

I watched reviews and it seems like Yu Suzuki is stuck in the past. Sure he was at the forefront in terms of world-building and environment interactivity at the time (I remember being amazed that I could even open the drawer in my bedroom in Shenmue 1) but fast forward to 2023 and... eh...

Maybe if Yu Suzuki is just in charge of the story but someone else actually handles making the game then I'd be on board.

 

[Chechack]

I cringe everytime i remember the announcement during the SonyCon like it was some sort of glorious comeback for gamers while some dude from EasyAllies i think was livestreaming and cried crying it.

Shudder

 

[Esppiral]

A precuel telling the story of Iwao, Land Di, Yuanda Zu etc would be sick

 

[xrnzaaas]

Yu Suzuki needs to be told his gameplay ideas are too oldschool and stick with taking care of the main story. Maybe get the RGG studio to help out? It's not like they have been only doing Like a Dragon games.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Shenmue 3 should have ended the story. People that still care about this series just want that.

Shenmue 3 was like the peak interest and support they’d ever get and future games weren’t guaranteed. Now it’s just the same situation as before.

 

[Mephisto40]

And it would have failed because it wouldn't have been as good as the Yakuza games