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[Rumour] Shenmue 1 and 2 HD Remaster Coming 2017

I hope true. Despite owning part 2 for 16 years, I've never played it.
I always said wouldn't until part 3 was announced, but now I'm just too lazy to set it up :p
ndg5wt6.jpg

HD remaster would help.my lazy bones.
 

grim-tales

Member
I've never played any Shenmue games, what are they broadly like? Maybe the remaster would come to something like Switch or PC (but I'd need a serious upgrade if it was PC).
 

openrob

Member
I hope true. Despite owning part 2 for 16 years, I've never played it.
I always said wouldn't until part 3 was announced, but now I'm just too lazy to set it up :p


HD remaster would help.my lazy bones.

Playyyyyitttttttt!

I've never played any Shenmue games, what are they broadly like?

They are like pure gold. Haha
I'm sure spaghetti will come along and tell you, but they are very ahead of their time. Open world, but focus on small detail. Detective sim, with virtu fighter segments, living world, and lots of insight into Chinese mythology.
 

Spaghetti

Member
Is there any chance that sega publishes 3?
Zero.

Shibuya Productions is publishing the PC version, Sony is publishing the PS4 version. The rights are snapped up, unless either party decides to leave (which is completely unlikely).

Man, I hope all you people who backed the Kickstarter actually enjoy the two entries that are already out. They're pretty polarising games.
The first game is polarising, but the second? There are people who hate the original but love the sequel on this very forum. It's a much better received game, and for good reason.

I've never played any Shenmue games, what are they broadly like? Maybe the remaster would come to something like Switch or PC (but I'd need a serious upgrade if it was PC).
Martial arts epic taking place across China (but begins in Japan). Open world-ish design, adventure game elements, life sim elements, an omnidirectional Virtua Fighter-like fighting system, mini-games, serious commitment to world-building, and a slow burn pace that builds towards climax.
 
I hope they make improvements to controls at the very least but it could use a few other tweaks to pacing in places in the first game. My fear is that people will start playing 1 and not be that into it and put it down, without even getting to 2 which holds up much better. It's hard for most people to go back and play games that are more than 15 years old, and for good reason. Many advancements have been made in game development. Even though the Shenmue's hold up better than most.
 

grim-tales

Member
They are like pure gold. Haha
I'm sure spaghetti will come along and tell you, but they are very ahead of their time. Open world, but focus on small detail. Detective sim, with virtu fighter segments, living world, and lots of insight into Chinese mythology.

They sound interesting. Thank you! :)
 

orient

Neo Member
I hope they make improvements to controls at the very least but it could use a few other tweaks to pacing in places in the first game.

All they need to do is retroactively add Shenmue 2's 'wait' feature into the first game and the pacing issues will be fixed. Shenmue is an intentional slow burn, but the ability to fast-forward time would at least remove the handful of occasions when you literally have to wait an entire day before the next event happens. It'd make the game more enjoyable for most people, while the people that like wasting time don't have to use it.
 
Apologies for the bump, but a slight development related to this has been noticed by Kiske over at the Shenmue Dojo. The same author of the rumored Shenmue HD article, "I love Japanese Games" also wrote an article with the rumor of a Parappa the Rappa and Gitaroo crossover game, which was basically confirmed on Friday with the launch of a website:

Rumor article - http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/project-rap-rabbit/

Confirmed article - http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/project-rap-rabbit-confirmed/


Now, whilst we still are no closer to Shenmue HD, this example certainly does bolster the reliability of the author of the original Shenmue HD article, and that his/her source from Altus is indeed legitimate. As to why we haven't had an announcement yet remains unknown, but hopefully we won't have that long to wait!
 

lawtowler

Member
Apologies for the bump, but a slight development related to this has been noticed by Kiske over at the Shenmue Dojo. The same author of the rumored Shenmue HD article, "I love Japanese Games" also wrote an article with the rumor of a Parappa the Rappa and Gitaroo crossover game, which was basically confirmed on Friday with the launch of a website:

Rumor article - http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/project-rap-rabbit/

Confirmed article - http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/project-rap-rabbit-confirmed/


Now, whilst we still are no closer to Shenmue HD, this example certainly does bolster the reliability of the author of the original Shenmue HD article, and that his/her source from Altus is indeed legitimate. As to why we haven't had an announcement yet remains unknown, but hopefully we won't have that long to wait!

E3 I reckon. Good to know the source of the rumour is actually pretty reliable. Hype intensifies.
 

Emhemed

Member
Apologies for the bump, but a slight development related to this has been noticed by Kiske over at the Shenmue Dojo. The same author of the rumored Shenmue HD article, "I love Japanese Games" also wrote an article with the rumor of a Parappa the Rappa and Gitaroo crossover game, which was basically confirmed on Friday with the launch of a website:

Rumor article - http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/project-rap-rabbit/

Confirmed article - http://www.ricedigital.co.uk/project-rap-rabbit-confirmed/


Now, whilst we still are no closer to Shenmue HD, this example certainly does bolster the reliability of the author of the original Shenmue HD article, and that his/her source from Altus is indeed legitimate. As to why we haven't had an announcement yet remains unknown, but hopefully we won't have that long to wait!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1374156

Let's hope they're related.
 
I was a huge Shenmue fanboy, still am, but I wouldn't re buy the first two games again. If at all on PC so modders can make some QOL improvements that cut down on downtimes.

To me they simply aren't replayable. I love them for what I experienced with them, but I couldn't bring myself to replay them, even then.
 

liquidtmd

Banned
Woah easy there man, at most we might get like a demo or some such.
Announcement trailer at the most, with a likely Late 2017 release date at the earliest.

Yeah probably.

I dunno. Just rumours that these ports have been done for a good while, coupled with Sony's fairly high profile reveal of Shenmue III.

If Shenmue 3 does indeed make Late 2017 and isn't delayed (which it hasn't been yet), then a massive trailer of that on stage coupled with a instant blowout of the HD Collection would be a great 5 month primer to get people all caught up.

Wishful thinking you're right.
 
Woah easy there man, at most we might get like a demo or some such.
Announcement trailer at the most, with a likely Late 2017 release date at the earliest.


Not according to the article though, where the source claims that it's more or less done. That was February. Whilst I am keeping an open mind, even not having my hopes high for E3, but a shadowdrop would be a potential mic drop.
 

Bioshocker

Member
I hope it's true. But if it is I really hope it's an HD remaster done right. The original games doesn't just need a finishing touch on the graphics department but new controls and, preferrably, new voice acting. I find it hard to believe Sega would be willing to invest what it takes.
 

micster

Member
Shenmue 3 story trailer followed by the stage announcer stating "New players to the Shenmue series want a way to play the original games on Playstation" BAM 1+2 trailer.
 

ArchAngel

Member
Hopefully they use uncompressed voice audio this time.
e3 Sony stage, Shenmue 3 release date and "download the Shenmue 1/2 collection ... right now"!
 

EmiPrime

Member
I was a huge Shenmue fanboy, still am, but I wouldn't re buy the first two games again. If at all on PC so modders can make some QOL improvements that cut down on downtimes.

To me they simply aren't replayable. I love them for what I experienced with them, but I couldn't bring myself to replay them, even then.

I will re-buy them regardless but I agree, a simple visual remaster isn't enough. They need to be remade with control, QOL and structure improvements and have bigger cohesive maps without loading times (make Sakuragaoka and Dobuita one map for example) otherwise they will get panned in reviews and ruin Shenmue 3's chances of success. What was amazing 18 years ago won't cut it today.
 

openrob

Member
If it were announced, would you expect it during a press conference?


I will re-buy them regardless but I agree, a simple visual remaster isn't enough. They need to be remade with control, QOL and structure improvements and have bigger cohesive maps without loading times (make Sakuragaoka and Dobuita one map for example) otherwise they will get panned in reviews and ruin Shenmue 3's chances of success. What was amazing 18 years ago won't cut it today.


At the same time they are such high quality efforts of that time that they can hold their own.

The visuals, outside of resolution and textures, are rich and detailed, fully voice acted, the algorithms​ controlling the living world are well designed. The cinematography and music/audio are very good. The fight system is rewarding and has depth.

Outside of load times, certain controls and small improvements, is a case of if you don't like the game it's not because it's old, it's because you don't like the game.
 

Spaghetti

Member
I hope it's true. But if it is I really hope it's an HD remaster done right. The original games doesn't just need a finishing touch on the graphics department but new controls and, preferrably, new voice acting. I find it hard to believe Sega would be willing to invest what it takes.
I think we can expect a revamped control scheme for analogue sticks as a given. Even simply remapping D-Pad controls to the left stick in an emulator makes a difference in the original games.

If it were announced, would you expect it during a press conference?
Depends entirely on the synergy between SEGA, Sony, and YSnet. There's no evidence that there is any, so I'll hedge my bets and say no, and SEGA will do their own thing when they want to.
 
Are the Shenmue games most comparable to the Yakuza titles?
I've recently started playing Yakuza 0 and really like it so I'd be interested in a Shenmue HD collection if its a little similar.
 

WITHE1982

Member
My dream of being able to remote play Shenmue while tucked up in bed is almost a reality.

Would love this rumour to be true but I'm just a bit concerned on the amount of work needed to improve Shenmue enough to appeal to a wider market. However much I love the game the controls are complete garbage and there's a LOT of work needed to get the graphics anywhere near up to standard.

Also I'm not sure if I'd be happy with re-recorded audio but TBH the games sure do need it.

I'll be there the second it's available if it turns out to be true though.
 
As much as I'd love to play it on Xbone for the achievos I'd much prefer it on Switch for portability reasons.

A while ago I'd really hoped there would be Vita versions due to it being the number one request on #buildingthelist and Gio being a big Vita fan.

I suspect that won't be a reality, but a Switch portable version I'd be totally down for.

My dream of being able to remote play Shenmue while tucked up in bed is almost a reality.

Although that would work for the time being too.
 

TLZ

Banned
I'd rather see them remade than straight HD ports. Played shenmue 2 around a month ago and I got bored. While an awesome game, there are some very tedious stuff I'd rather they get rid of.
 

jobrro

Member
Still hoping for this.

I was a diehard Dreamcast fan but never played Shenmue though I was eagerly anticipating it. I remember asking at the local Electonics Boutique about it many times.

Did play Shenmue 2 on Xbox, but that was maybe a decade or so ago.

Is Shenmue 3 really still for December this year? Seems soon. In the Kickstarter tier that gets me the beta but I hope Sega releases these games soon. I want to chew on them for a while, especially the original Shenmue.
 
Watch it be Japan-only like the Yakuza HD remastered so far.

And yeah, I highly highly highly doubt Shenmue 3 will come out this year, based on how little we've seen.
 

Ludens

Banned
D1 purchase for me, I hope Sega will release a PC and console version at the same time.
I will get the PC version on D1, I could also double-dip on PS4 if the console version looks and play exactly the same, just to "own" Shenmue titles in their physical form.
I had the DC games but I sold it for a good amount of money years ago.

Also Yakuza and Shenmue are VERY different. Both are based on japanase (and chinese for S2) culture, both have a mix between beat em up and rpg, but in Shenmue there are no random encounters, there are no sides (well, there are a few but they are hidden and I'm not even sure you can consider them side-quests honestly), Shenmue is less linear, since a lot of times you need to be in a specific locaton within a certain time, in the meanwhile you can do what you want in the city.

Similar games, but very different at the same time.
 

Spaghetti

Member
OléGunner;236858376 said:
Are the Shenmue games most comparable to the Yakuza titles?
I've recently started playing Yakuza 0 and really like it so I'd be interested in a Shenmue HD collection if its a little similar.
Yes and no. A few similarities but they diverge and go in very different directions. Yakuza does owe a lot to Shenmue, though. Shenmue II especially.

It's worth a shot if you're interested either way.
 

openrob

Member
OléGunner;236858376 said:
Are the Shenmue games most comparable to the Yakuza titles?
I've recently started playing Yakuza 0 and really like it so I'd be interested in a Shenmue HD collection if its a little similar.


Having just started Yakuza 0...No.

There are done similarities (e.g set in Japan, dealing with gangs, mini games etc, but the core of the game is so vastly different.

Something like Hotel Dusk or Life is Strange have more gameplay similarities (aside from the fights!).

Smaller contained world where you progress by exploring small areas and interacting with the environment to find items, or by talking too the right person to get information.

No mini maps and pointers!!
 

Spaghetti

Member
Does Japan even care about Shenmue like the West?
The West was always the biggest market for Shenmue. Not that there aren't fans in Japan, though. SEGA only releasing a Shenmue HD in Japan would be a dumb move that I doubt they'd make, and would go against pretty much every metric of data they'd use to determine how the game gets released.

Could you consider Shenmue as the Precursor to the Yukuza games?
Sorta? They're more different than a lot of people realise when you look past the surface elements.
 
Yes and no. A few similarities but they diverge and go in very different directions. Yakuza does owe a lot to Shenmue, though. Shenmue II especially.

It's worth a shot if you're interested either way.

Having just started Yakuza 0...No.

There are done similarities (e.g set in Japan, dealing with gangs, mini games etc, but the core of the game is so vastly different.

Something like Hotel Dusk or Life is Strange have more gameplay similarities (aside from the fights!).

Smaller contained world where you progress by exploring small areas and interacting with the environment to find items, or by talking too the right person to get information.

No mini maps and pointers!!

Thanks for the info guys, seems the similarities are more surface level in that the world is small and there's mini games etc
Very interested in a potential HD remaster of the Shenmue games, I'm a little tired of massive open worlds, especially those executed by the numbers. Hence my enjoyment a lot of Yakuza 0.
 

ViciousDS

Banned
Watch it be Japan-only like the Yakuza HD remastered so far.

And yeah, I highly highly highly doubt Shenmue 3 will come out this year, based on how little we've seen.


Be a terrible move


The only reason shenmue 3 probably exists is due to the west asking for it.
 
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