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Yu Suzuki Thinks He Was Able to Make Shenmue III ‘Several Levels Higher’ Than the Initial Project

thelastword

Banned
"I’ve been making games since 1983 and there wasn’t once where I could do everything I wanted. All the time, it’s about half of the things I wanted to do. But since I could complete at least half of it, I am happy. If I manage to do everything 100%, I won’t have anything to do next.

The problem is when you make a game … if you put everything you want in, you can put a lot in it, but the risk gets bigger because it’s a completely new game. And this time for Shenmue III, I had to pare down a little bit on the innovation, and it’s more a game I made for the fans of the series. But there are still new things in it.

In my mind, I think I was able to make a game that was several levels higher than the initial project, and I have done everything that I could that was in my power, so I am not that anxious, I am more looking forward to seeing how people see the game. If some people don’t like it, I guess that, since I’ve done the best I could, there’s no way I worry too much about that."

Regarding the pace of Shenmue III, Suzuki said it is a bit faster than the old Shenmue titles, though still quite slow compared to other modern games.


"I’ve arranged a game to fit the time we’re living in now, so it’s a bit more modern, maybe. You know, nowadays everything is going faster, these movies, the games. [Players are] looking for the thrill that it provides, and I think the Shenmue we have now is a bit faster as well compared to the old Shenmues. But since it’s still Shenmue it’s still quite slow and chilled compared to other games. It’s like, it’s just a slow life."

https://wccftech.com/yu-suzuki-thin...veral-levels-higher-than-the-initial-project/
 

Kazza

Member
In my mind, I think I was able to make a game that was several levels higher than the initial project, and I have done everything that I could that was in my power, so I am not that anxious, I am more looking forward to seeing how people see the game. If some people don’t like it, I guess that, since I’ve done the best I could, there’s no way I worry too much about that."

As a backer, this game already looks to be exceeding my expectations by far, both in terms of scope and quality. Just to remind everyone, this is what we were shown at that famous E3:

shenmue-3.jpg



And this is what we are getting:

shenmue-3-ps4-playstation-4-1.original.jpg
 

Thaedolus

Gold Member
As a backer, this game already looks to be exceeding my expectations by far, both in terms of scope and quality. Just to remind everyone, this is what we were shown at that famous E3:

shenmue-3.jpg



And this is what we are getting:

shenmue-3-ps4-playstation-4-1.original.jpg

I think the problem is a lot of people just don't like Shenmue or don't "get" it. I can't really blame them if they weren't there 20 years ago, and even then the first game has some un-fun bullshit you gotta deal with. But I'm really happy it's staying true to its roots. I don't really want a modern take on Shenmue, just tighten up the graphics on level 3 a little bit and keep the spirit of the originals.
 
Z

ZombieFred

Unconfirmed Member
Really excited to finally soon play this. I only want nothing but good success with this title so the story can finally be concluded. The game's slower pace is one if the highlights of the series to me because it felt semi real in a way.
 

Kazza

Member
I think the problem is a lot of people just don't like Shenmue or don't "get" it. I can't really blame them if they weren't there 20 years ago, and even then the first game has some un-fun bullshit you gotta deal with. But I'm really happy it's staying true to its roots. I don't really want a modern take on Shenmue, just tighten up the graphics on level 3 a little bit and keep the spirit of the originals.

I don't know how people can complain about the graphics at this point - it looks like a modern AA game to me. I don't think it's just the age of the games it is a sequel too which counts against it. You can see from the mixed reaction to Death Stranding that some people simply can't stand slow-burn games. Even though Yu says here that the game is the most action-packed yet, it's still going to be more slow moving than most games (although it looks like it's going to be much faster than Death Stranding is!).

I hope it finds its audience among newcomers.
 

Great Hair

Banned
I think the problem is a lot of people just don't like Shenmue or don't "get" it. I can't really blame them if they weren't there 20 years ago.

I was there, loved every bit of the first one and have no interest in buying shenmue 3. 20 years have since passed, nothing in shenmue 3 will justify the wait of 2 decades.

If we look at it "objectively", the story was generic and never really the strong point of shenmue 1 "bad person, good person". It was the gameplay&mechanics that made us fall in love 1999., among the visuals.

Im going one step further and claim :

Shenmue 2 was not necessary at all and DID not progress the story, it was just a filler. Same with Shenmue 3? Wanna bet that "BadPerson" will escape again? And Ryu has to follow him back to Japan? (Shenmu 4 Return Home written in Kanji).

Sorry but bad gameplay, terrible, wooden combat/animations and no engaging story ... for sure no story worth being told across 3 f#cking games. Shenmue 1 on the Dreamcast 1999 locked better than Shenmue 3 ... YOU can literally smell, taste that Unreal engine 4.
 

Thaedolus

Gold Member
I don't know how people can complain about the graphics at this point - it looks like a modern AA game to me. I don't think it's just the age of the games it is a sequel too which counts against it. You can see from the mixed reaction to Death Stranding that some people simply can't stand slow-burn games. Even though Yu says here that the game is the most action-packed yet, it's still going to be more slow moving than most games (although it looks like it's going to be much faster than Death Stranding is!).

I hope it finds its audience among newcomers.

I wasn't really criticizing the graphics just making an old reference to this:

...basically saying all I need is more Shenmue with better graphics, which is what we appear to be getting :)

I was there, loved every bit of the first one and have no interest in buying shenmue 3. 20 years have since passed, nothing in shenmue 3 will justify the wait of 2 decades.

If we look at it "objectively", the story was generic and never really the strong point of shenmue 1 "bad person, good person". It was the gameplay&mechanics that made us fall in love 1999., among the visuals.

Im going one step further and claim :

Shenmue 2 was not necessary at all and DID not progress the story, it was just a filler. Same with Shenmue 3? Wanna bet that "BadPerson" will escape again? And Ryu has to follow him back to Japan? (Shenmu 4 Return Home written in Kanji).

Sorry but bad gameplay, terrible, wooden combat/animations and no engaging story ... for sure no story worth being told across 3 f#cking games. Shenmue 1 on the Dreamcast 1999 locked better than Shenmue 3 ... YOU can literally smell, taste that Unreal engine 4.

Why does the wait have to be "justified?" It is what it is, it's not like I've been replaying just Shenmue I and II over and over for 20 years. I'm not regretting the fact that it's back because of how long it's been?

And you can't look at it "objectively," because I disagree with the assertions that Shenmue II was all filler. It introduces all sorts of new characters (we already know some will show up in III) and progressed Ryo's quest for the truth. It's told in a very mystery novel sort of way, which means it meanders here and there while trying to figure out what's going on, but that's not filler, that's the structure of that type of story. I mean according to this analysis everything in Harry Potter books 2-6 was filler and didn't progress the plot at all because the final showdown happened in 7.

As for the Unreal Engine 4 criticism, yeah I get it that it certainly has a look to it, I just don't really mind/care at all.
 
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Kazza

Member
I wasn't really criticizing the graphics just making an old reference to this:

...basically saying all I need is more Shenmue with better graphics, which is what we appear to be getting :)



Why does the wait have to be "justified?" It is what it is, it's not like I've been replaying just Shenmue I and II over and over for 20 years. I'm not regretting the fact that it's back because of how long it's been?

And you can't look at it "objectively," because I disagree with the assertions that Shenmue II was all filler. It introduces all sorts of new characters (we already know some will show up in III) and progressed Ryu's quest for the truth. It's told in a very mystery novel sort of way, which means it meanders here and there while trying to figure out what's going on, but that's not filler, that's the structure of that type of story. I mean according to this analysis everything in Harry Potter books 2-6 was filler and didn't progress the plot at all because the final showdown happened in 7.

As for the Unreal Engine 4 criticism, yeah I get it that it certainly has a look to it, I just don't really mind/care at all.


Oh, my words about the graphics weren't directed at you, more at some of the people who just say it looks bad without elaborating on what exactly looks bad about it. Still, the "it looks like a PS2 game lol" crowd seem to have been pretty scarce these past few months, so I guess the gradual improvements to the character models have been having a positive effect.


I was there, loved every bit of the first one and have no interest in buying shenmue 3. 20 years have since passed, nothing in shenmue 3 will justify the wait of 2 decades.

If we look at it "objectively", the story was generic and never really the strong point of shenmue 1 "bad person, good person". It was the gameplay&mechanics that made us fall in love 1999., among the visuals.

Im going one step further and claim :

Shenmue 2 was not necessary at all and DID not progress the story, it was just a filler. Same with Shenmue 3? Wanna bet that "BadPerson" will escape again? And Ryu has to follow him back to Japan? (Shenmu 4 Return Home written in Kanji).

Sorry but bad gameplay, terrible, wooden combat/animations and no engaging story ... for sure no story worth being told across 3 f#cking games. Shenmue 1 on the Dreamcast 1999 locked better than Shenmue 3 ... YOU can literally smell, taste that Unreal engine 4.

I only played the series for the first time 3 years back, so have no nostalgia about it (apart from watching a TV slot about it on Bad Influence back in the day), but I think it's still a little bit special. There's just something about the mixture of the mundane every day life with a grand martial arts adventure that no other game (or any other media for that matter) gives you.

I guess that for many of the people who played it in 00/01 Shenmue provided their first experience "working" a job or "travelling" to the Far East. As an adult who had already done both those things, my experience with the game was very difference, but perhaps no less valuable. Ryo stepping out onto that dock in Hong Kong at the beginning of Shenmue 2 reminded me of the countless times I had arrived in some strange new place as a backpacker - bag on my back, passport/money in m pocket, completely lost and not even knowing where I was going to sleep that night. Him doing that crate moving job reminded me of my own crappy crate moving job in Australia as I scrimped and saved for a trip to China. Hell, I even had my passport and money stolen once (but unlike Ryo, it didn't lead to me befriending a gang of adorable ruffians). Shenmue 2 really nailed the "stupid young boy goes out into the big bad world" experience for me. Best. Filler. Ever! :messenger_beaming:

Like Kojima, Yu Suzuki has big fucking balls and isn't afraid to make players feel a range of emotions during a game. I felt a little impatient and frustrated during the first part of Shenmue 2, forced to work a crappy job and stay in a fleabit hotel when all I wanted to do was continue on with the adventure and get closer to Lan Di. I think Yu wants you to experience the same emotions Ryo is feeling. The monotony of that first part just makes action packed Kowloon part all the more special. And then you have the end, which could be described as a "walking/talking simulator", but man that slow trip through the forest, , chatting, camping etc was super special after the drama of the rooftop. Again, that took balls, but I think it payed off and contributed to an already unique and memorable game, as do many others - at least 80,000, judging by the Kickstarter and slacker backer campaign.

I was initially worried that them using Unreal 4 would result in a generic looking game (that very first video I linked before added to my fears), but pretty much everyone who has seen the game has said that it looks and feels "so Shenmue", not generic looking in the slightest. I agree 100%, I don't think you could point out another Unreal Engine game that looks similar (certainly not the recent Link's Awakening, which also used Unreal!).
 
I was there, loved every bit of the first one and have no interest in buying shenmue 3. 20 years have since passed, nothing in shenmue 3 will justify the wait of 2 decades.

If we look at it "objectively", the story was generic and never really the strong point of shenmue 1 "bad person, good person". It was the gameplay&mechanics that made us fall in love 1999., among the visuals.

Im going one step further and claim :

Shenmue 2 was not necessary at all and DID not progress the story, it was just a filler. Same with Shenmue 3? Wanna bet that "BadPerson" will escape again? And Ryu has to follow him back to Japan? (Shenmu 4 Return Home written in Kanji).

Sorry but bad gameplay, terrible, wooden combat/animations and no engaging story ... for sure no story worth being told across 3 f#cking games. Shenmue 1 on the Dreamcast 1999 locked better than Shenmue 3 ... YOU can literally smell, taste that Unreal engine 4.

What a load of fucking shite.
 

muteZX

Banned
in medieval times, of coz not having Dreamcast, I downloaded this exactly video at internet café - and bring it home on like fifteen 3.5 inch floppy disks, a risky business, to show this eighth wonder to my friends. Shenmue was awesome.
 
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Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
I was there, loved every bit of the first one and have no interest in buying shenmue 3. 20 years have since passed, nothing in shenmue 3 will justify the wait of 2 decades.

If we look at it "objectively", the story was generic and never really the strong point of shenmue 1 "bad person, good person". It was the gameplay&mechanics that made us fall in love 1999., among the visuals.

Im going one step further and claim :

Shenmue 2 was not necessary at all and DID not progress the story, it was just a filler. Same with Shenmue 3? Wanna bet that "BadPerson" will escape again? And Ryu has to follow him back to Japan? (Shenmu 4 Return Home written in Kanji).

Sorry but bad gameplay, terrible, wooden combat/animations and no engaging story ... for sure no story worth being told across 3 f#cking games. Shenmue 1 on the Dreamcast 1999 locked better than Shenmue 3 ... YOU can literally smell, taste that Unreal engine 4.

Shenmue II was packed. I have no idea what you're talking about. I was there too..
 

Enjay

Banned
I was there, loved every bit of the first one and have no interest in buying shenmue 3. 20 years have since passed, nothing in shenmue 3 will justify the wait of 2 decades.

If we look at it "objectively", the story was generic and never really the strong point of shenmue 1 "bad person, good person". It was the gameplay&mechanics that made us fall in love 1999., among the visuals.

Im going one step further and claim :

Shenmue 2 was not necessary at all and DID not progress the story, it was just a filler. Same with Shenmue 3? Wanna bet that "BadPerson" will escape again? And Ryu has to follow him back to Japan? (Shenmu 4 Return Home written in Kanji).

Sorry but bad gameplay, terrible, wooden combat/animations and no engaging story ... for sure no story worth being told across 3 f#cking games. Shenmue 1 on the Dreamcast 1999 locked better than Shenmue 3 ... YOU can literally smell, taste that Unreal engine 4.
Exactly this. The only people who still like Shenmue are backers who don't wanna admit they got taken and millenial posers who never played them.
 

Thaedolus

Gold Member
Exactly this. The only people who still like Shenmue are backers who don't wanna admit they got taken and millenial posers who never played them.

lolok. The game we're getting now looks miles beyond what I thought it would turn out as. I was thinking we'd be lucky to get some small area like in the first game with some small advancement of the plot/conclusion. This absolutely looks like a full Shenmue game at this point.
 

NT80

Member
Shenmue 1 and 2 looked amazing for their time on Dreamcast and part of the appeal was exploring that big detailed world. By the look of this it's not going to have anything like that impact for me.
 

Punished Miku

Gold Member
Shenmue 1 and 2 looked amazing for their time on Dreamcast and part of the appeal was exploring that big detailed world. By the look of this it's not going to have anything like that impact for me.

Shenmue 1 budget - $70 million (1999)
Shenmue 3 budget - $7.1 million (2019)

$1 in 1999 equivalent to roughly $1.54 in 2019, so adjusted for inflation (if my poor math is right):

Shenmue 1 budget - $100.93 million (2019)
Shenmue 3 budget - $7.1 million (2019)

I think they're doing okay, but of course it wont be the impact of the first game.
 
Suzuki hasn't made a good game in over 15 years, without SEGA he is a hack, he will be exposed just like Kojima will be without Konami

Nagoshi reigns supreme
 

NT80

Member
Shenmue 1 budget - $70 million (1999)
Shenmue 3 budget - $7.1 million (2019)

$1 in 1999 equivalent to roughly $1.54 in 2019, so adjusted for inflation (if my poor math is right):

Shenmue 1 budget - $100.93 million (2019)
Shenmue 3 budget - $7.1 million (2019)

I think they're doing okay, but of course it wont be the impact of the first game.

I know. They don't have the budget and the staff and support of Sega. The Dreacamse Shenmues really had that wow factor 20 years ago that they can't hope to recreate now.
 
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