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[Kazza]

I'm not usually one to read too much into tweets, but unless Cedric is a total dick, then this is a pretty heavy hint that Shenmue 4 will be coming at some point:




They already have the team together busy finished off the DLC, they have the engine, the character models, the fighting system etc all in place, so hopefully developing 4 will be a lot easier than 3. Can't wait!

 

[Kazza]

Oh, what a tease!

 

[MasterDerico]

The first two are better, but i had a good time with Shenmue 3. As a fan, i want more and more sequels!!

 

[ajim]

Just finished the game.

Abanaolutely loved it. Can see why a lot, especially new comers wouldn't, but man this game brought some powerful feels.

Here's to number 4.

 

[lachesis]

Well, I finished the game a few days ago, twice and got my platinum - including currently available DLC.
Normal mode was little too easy on the battle, and hard mode was just about right on my 2nd run thru. Hardest seems to be too hard for me.

There are good things and bad things - I love the whole Shenmue feel that presented with very little sacrifice, even with limited resources and all. But the biggest grip was all about the battle, and almost have-to-memorize QTEs. (Damn ducks and chickens on hard mode!) Storytelling could use a bit more of polish. I had a couple of crashes and some event skips on my 2nd run thru.

Final battle and ending feel like it was very much rushed, and I wish there could be more events that concern the "friendly" characters, including Shenhua, Shiling, Hsu and others. There's no events like Fangmei, or Izumi, Goro etc... that I felt like Ryo had made friends with certain characters in HK or Yokosuka - but leaving NIaowu didn't really feel that way. Perhaps the others who join in the end had their own self interest - but not much fleshed out, unfortunately. Or that damn lady in Bailu - the elder Yeh - she's saying something like "I have nothing to tell to someone like you" or things like that, and suddenly a few minutes later she asks for a favor to find herbs for her?

I immensely enjoyed Bailu part. While I liked all the activities in Niaowu - but the intimate setting of rural village was quite charming. Getting to know each other with Shenhua was interesting - but after leaving Bailu, the interaction pretty much dropped. Wish there were more dialogues between Ryo and Shenhua in Niaowu. Perhaps waiting so many years on the 3rd part and actually meeting Shenhua - I was expecting a bit more - even partially playable section of Shenhua or whatnot - but perhaps I was expecting too much.

It's the least polished game in the series overall - but having said so - it's still enjoyed very much - because not many games can give you such unique feeling of being and living in certain place. Getting to know the folks, seeing many details in their mundane things (such as Ren hitting on the Shilling on the boat ride - or that hilarious Good Health drugstore owner's character design) -I loved it very very much, and as a backer, I am sufficiently satisfied of the whole experience. Indeed a very powerful experience, delivered in such organic way of telling story with abundance of details throughout. Even QTEs - some were pretty amateurish - but some parts were unexpectedly awesome (the one in the bustling diner) or funny (the Iron-man landing girl)!

As per voice acting - I played 1st run thru on English and 2nd run thru with Japanese voice. English Ryo was much more confrontational - but Japanese Ryo was overly polite - that the character of English Ryo and Japanese Ryo felt a bit different in subtle ways. Some VO were better on English version - or at least had more "character" to them - and some Japanese VO were little too bland in some characters - such as the voice of the Inn keeper in Niaowu. I liked her English voice better than Japanese one.

DLC, while my initial thought was a bit of let down - but playing it actually changed my mind. It still has that classic Suzuki arcadey feel, that I just can't say it in words. Although it could be very easy once you upgrade your parameters by finding all the Bailu Chans throughout the village - but it still requires some sort of tactics, and switch ups to get the highest scores. Ryo is definitely OP one in there - that first you are already familiar with his moves (elbow strike is the key) - but other characters are not as gifted/easy as Ryo - that their moves take longer (especially Ren being such a swagger) - getting to know their play mechanics was a very enjoyable part.

Very much looking forward to the rest of DLCs - but most of all - very much looking forward to Shenmue 4. Hopefully they'll vastly revamp the fighting system (or bring the old system back with less or designated moves, plus grabs/throws!!) as the story is one step closer to its climax. All out battle with Chi Yu Men? How will Ryo be able to get as strong as Lan Di? With reserved expectation, though - I am hopeful.

 

[lachesis]

Just received Yu Suzuki signed illustration in the mail! Can't wait to see what the capsule toys would look like. IIRC, I would get one of the toys ($300 tier).

Haven't downloaded the story DLC yet as I am running thru RE6 at the moment - but very much looking forward to it!

 

[ajim]

I still haven't received my signed illustration... I thought I did today but it was only the backer slip case they forgot to send to me initially. Haha. Wtf.

 

[lachesis]

I still haven't received my signed illustration... I thought I did today but it was only the backer slip case they forgot to send to me initially. Haha. Wtf.

Yikes - hope you get yours soon. That's quite unfortunate....

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

for anyone waiting for a sale

 

[D.Final]

for anyone waiting for a sale

Cool deal

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Shenmue 3 Developer Interview with Implausible Industries

A blog on the Shenmue series of games from Yu Suzuki with a mission to translate articles, videos and updates for English-speaking fans.

www.phantomriverstone.com

 

[Great Hair]

Implausible Industries is a Tokyo-based software house formed in 2013 by a small team of highly-experienced developers, who specialize in consulting and development of games on Unreal Engine.

KG: I played and finished the main story, but chose to ignore some of the side-quests. Sorry kid, I don't really have time to get you a soccer ball, I have to find the man who killed my father.

20 years for nothing. See you in Shemue 4 ...

 

[Miles708]

Shenmue 3 Developer Interview with Implausible Industries

A blog on the Shenmue series of games from Yu Suzuki with a mission to translate articles, videos and updates for English-speaking fans.

www.phantomriverstone.com

Nice, thanks for posting!
I, too, liked just staring at Niaowu buildings at night. Unreal Engine 4 really did save half of the japanese gaming industry in this generation.

 

[bronk]

I was part of the Kickstarter. I was crazy excited. I got it aaaand never played it. I don't know why. I should at least try it.

 

[Bullet Club]

It will be interesting to see at what price they launch it on Steam.

It's dirt cheap on consoles now.

 

[ajim]

It will be interesting to see at what price they launch it on Steam at.

It's dirt cheap on consoles now.

I rekon theyd go full price

 

[Bullet Club]

I rekon theyd go full price

Probably. It's still pricey on the Epic Store.

 

[Kazza]

With the Epic exclusivity period expiring, I wonder how long before the Sony one is over. I don't think it will be long until we see this on Xbox and Switch.

 

[Zero7]

With the Epic exclusivity period expiring, I wonder how long before the Sony one is over. I don't think it will be long until we see this on Xbox and Switch.

Afaik Sony contributed to it's development fund. It'll always be a PS exclusive as far as console versions go.

 

[Tiamat2san]

Afaik Sony contributed to it's development fund. It'll always be a PS exclusive as far as console versions go.

I would have choose an Xbox version if it was possible.
Before release, I would have double dipped if it was announced that the game would be on Xbox after a period of time.

now that I have played the game...
Fuck it.
I didn't even played the DLCs that I bought.
I think I have never been so disappointed by a game.

 

[ROMhack]

Did people like this? I tried it a few months ago and just couldn't get into it. It's so slow - even for Shenmue - and non-eventful - unlike the first two games. Ended up really disappointed.

 

[Pejo]

Well I have to hand it to them, they sent me my backer survey instructions to redeem the Steam key from Kickstarter yesterday.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Did people like this? I tried it a few months ago and just couldn't get into it. It's so slow - even for Shenmue - and non-eventful - unlike the first two games. Ended up really disappointed.

I hate it. And I am a fan of the first games, HD collection was one of the best games of that year to me. Very immersive and I enjoyed every second of them despite going in with fears if would feel heavily dated by now. But 3? Its like a parody. I kind of wished I never played it. It doesn't even feel like a sequel to what the first 2 games set up, to me.

 

[lachesis]

Well, unlike most, I honestly expected worse and more compromised - but was pleasantly surprised the outcome. General Shenmue gameplay and feel is definitely there - but not in the battles. Also, the story didn't feel like it moved any meaningful way, nor Ryo didn't feel like he grew up much either, even after all that he went thru since S1, and S2.

A couple of weeks ago, I did receive the Gatcha (random) prize from FanGamer. I think I'm still waiting for something else (not really sure - I received a T shirt, signed art, digital soundtrack etc, as I backed $300 tier). Pretty neat. I got Chai - was hoping for the forklift if I had a choice - but oh well!

Yes, I find S3 is definitely the worst of the 3. It has evolved in some places, but the battle part was pretty bad and not deep nor tactile/satisfying enough. I did finish the DLC the 1st one, but 2nd and 3rd one is to do. Perhaps I will tackle it over the weekend before I receive PS5 and XSX next week.

I am looking forward the Anime implementation of it and want to find out how good a real director can manage to tell a story. Yu Suzuki, to be honest, isn't the best storyteller in my opinion - even though I am a big fan of his works - and a big fan of Shenmue series. Perhaps it's one of the amateurish charm of Shenmue's story - but with a proper storyteller involved, things can be told much more interesting ways.

And Shenmue 3 - if you liked Shenmue 1 and 2, I'd say play the game, but with way low expectation. I wasn't expecting the game to come out at all, so my expectation was practically zero - even though I backed the S3. I was thinking what can they do with just measly 2-3M dollars, when the original cost like 20-30 times more than that, with only 30 or some people? I am just glad that the series managed to move one step further... and I do wish for a much much improved Shenmue 4 in the future.

 

[Enjay]

This game is bad and everyone involved should feel bad.

 

[ROMhack]

I hate it. And I am a fan of the first games, HD collection was one of the best games of that year to me. Very immersive and I enjoyed every second of them despite going in with fears if would feel heavily dated by now. But 3? Its like a parody. I kind of wished I never played it. It doesn't even feel like a sequel to what the first 2 games set up, to me.

Yeah, I think they put too much into it being a Shenmue game and giving fans exactly what they wanted based on experiences with the first two. For me, it didn't work as it just came across as watered-down but with less interesting characters and a far less interactive world. I can deal with slow games (I usually like them) but not Shenmue 3.

I know some people expected a more Yakuza-like experience but I'd have been happier seeing a little innovation. Just something anywhere close to the ideas that made the first games so special. As it is, it's a fan's game with almost no new ideas whatsoever.

The graphics, audio and all that are understandable given the budget.

 

[lachesis]

Well, I did test Shenmue 3 on PS5. It works quite nicely at solid 60fps - as expected. I don't think on my PS4 Pro it ever hit 60fps solidly - but this is a buttery smooth experience. Looking forward to do some DLC playing once my save files are ported over.

Edit: Loading is obviously quicker - less than half of what it used to be (not scientific, but feels quite short)

Edit2: After finishing all DLCs - it has some serious hickups. I haven't noticed much hickup in Bailu or early demonstration part, but Chobu area was rather strange. Not enough to botch any gameplay - but when running up & down the towns, it's annoying enough to notice.

 

[Enjay]

I hate it. And I am a fan of the first games, HD collection was one of the best games of that year to me. Very immersive and I enjoyed every second of them despite going in with fears if would feel heavily dated by now. But 3? Its like a parody. I kind of wished I never played it. It doesn't even feel like a sequel to what the first 2 games set up, to me.

It was a horrible "game" and isn't even a sequel to the first two so much as it's a soft reboot setting up for a sequel that hopefully never gets made.

 

[Pejo]

Well, I have to hand it to Ys net. It took them for fucking ever, but I legit got my Steam key that I paid for in the original backing of the Kickstarter. Installing now and looking forward to playing this finally. I heard it sucks, but I'm still ready.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

[RELEASE][Shenmue III] Eric Kelso As Ren & Paul Lucas as Lan Di

This is a full character mod for Wuying Ren and Lan Di, with re-recorded lines by Eric Kelso and Paul Lucas, the original voice actors for Wuying Ren and Lan Di in Shenmue I & II...

www.shenmuedojo.com