--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit (Feb 1, 2017) :
Part Three of the interview translation is now ready.

Read the translated article here on the Phantom River Stone blog:
Part One: http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2016/12/yu-suzuki-interview-part-1.html
Part Two: http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/01/yu-suzuki-katsuhiro-harada-interview.html
Part Three: http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/02/yu-suzuki-katsuhiro-harada-interview.html
Part Four: Coming soon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A glimpse of a new illustration for Shenmue III plus some original images / documents from the days of working on "Virtua Fighter RPG" / Shenmue I & II.

These are from a new Japanese-language interview with Yu Suzuki & Katsuhiro Harada (from the Tekken series) published online at denfaminicogamer.jp.

Regarding an English translation of the Shenmue-related parts of the article, I am working on this and will post up a separate thread about it once ready.

For now, here are the Shenmue-related images from the article:

Shenmue III: Yu showing Tulou illustration
http://i.imgur.com/xKgKn6s.jpg

"Ren's hideout"
http://i.imgur.com/6MpzCny.jpg

"Pier at Langhuishan"
http://i.imgur.com/yrrcIkk.jpg

"Shelves at Tomato Convenience Store"
http://i.imgur.com/xEFglpu.jpg

"Suspension bridge"
http://i.imgur.com/81gT6IT.jpg

"Interior of Hong Kong restaurant"
http://i.imgur.com/0VyMrry.jpg

"Aberdeen"
http://i.imgur.com/TBj1Bds.jpg

"Hong Kong: Bird Street"
http://i.imgur.com/olmFaUD.jpg

"Part Time Job: Breaking Tiles" [translated version]
http://i.imgur.com/USrnUIb.png

”Fishing” [translated version]
http://i.imgur.com/rq3k7Rz.jpg

"Washing spot" [translated version]
http://i.imgur.com/v3Q5B3G.jpg

"Interior of the Yuki Dojo"
http://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/SCAN00801.jpeg

Article source: http://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/projectbook/virtua_fighter

In Shenmue I & II Ryo gathered various pieces of information about the visit father made to Hong Kong & Guilin all those years ago, so I've tried to bring these together into a diagram showing some of these relationships and timelines.

The diagram includes some assumptions / guesses, which I talk about here:

Blog post:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/02/iwao-hazukis-china-visit-diagram-of.html

http://i.imgur.com/QvEB4lR.png

The character of Yuanda Zhu is quite enigmatic, as he seems to change what he says depending on who he is talking to. I don't think he has bad intentions towards Ryo, but I get the feeling he is hiding the true circumstances around the death of Sunming Zhao. It will be interesting to see how (or whether) this is developed in Shenmue III.

I've never heard of the website ricedigital.co.uk before this news story. This is what a friend told me:

They are a decent-sized and reliable Japanese site based in the UK. They have connections to the industry as their sister company is PQube, who publish Japanese games.

http://s21.postimg.cc/c8lo99y53/rice_dojo.png

British website Rice Digital is reporting that, according to "a trusted source close to Atlus USA," HD remasters of Shenmue 1 and 2 will be released this year, with it being "safe to assume a PC/Steam release."

You can read more analysis of the report here and forum discussion here .

This Friday, March 3rd, the monthly #SaveShenmueHD Tweetathon continues the campaign for Sega to make a formal commitment to releasing such remasters ahead of Shenmue III.

I've completed an English translation of the recent Famitsu interview with co-producer of Shenmue III, Cédric Biscay.

The interview covers Cédric's background and reasons for starting his company Shibuya Productions, and he talks about some of the guests and goals of the MAGIC event.

And of particular interest for Shenmue fans, at the end of the interview Cédric is asked about Shenmue III and the current development progress. Here's the relevant section:

http://i.imgur.com/NlwmD3M.jpg

If you have a few minutes the whole interview is worth a read too. Link:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/03/interview-with-cedric-biscay-at-magic.html

It's not part of a trailer. That whole "Meeting With Yu" section of the video looks like a collection of live gameplay demonstrations and checks. It does look like a cutscene of some kind included in the part they were checking, though.


Yu-san primarily sits in the position we have always seen him in. He rarely will leave that chair. The process is, like it's always been with Shenmue development, is that each of the developers will go to the main table at arranged times to present what they have been working on, on the main TV screen. Yu has a huge pointer stick and he will go through absolutely everything that is right, and also what he wants changed. Or that something he has asked to be changed has not been done right.
These meetings can be with an individual developer, or with a group of them together if it relates to developmental duties which cross fields. For inspirstion and reference, the cupboards on the side of the office contain all resources, from each game, guide books, and of course, the multiple folders which make up the Shenmue "bible" as it's known.

There isn't a single thing in this game, that has not been locked in without Yu-san having the final decision, and things are done exactly to his liking. Despite being a Kickstarted game, he is as relentless in his desire for quality as you could possibly imagine.

21st March 2017

$6,730,004 (+$4,473)

74,042 backers (+68)

WOW. Nearly $4500 in 8 days, and nearly 70 new backers. Dev Room Update 2 seems to have been a big hit!

I've received many requests on Youtube to include the dog and bird sounds into the FREE 1 track.

I would say yes. You guys don't have to believe us, but what Spaghetti was saying about smoke and mirrors, and what they have revealed in Kickstarter updates compared to what we have seen, they are playing their cards very close to their chest. No bullshit or joking about here, and Adam, Matt, George, Jessica and Joe will back me up on this 100%.

Understand how much money i personally had to give, and the sacrifices i am still having to make to this day, to be sitting there on that bus. Do you really think Yu and the gang turned around and said, "peeps we are fucked here. We only have a shitty Ryo model and a fishing pond to show ya, but please, big it up to the hills when you get back and make it seem like we know what we are doing. Thanks buddy.". If i seen something i wasn't happy with, then trust me they would have heard about it. In fact, there was one thing that i was unhappy with, but i wasn't going to say anything. But after talking with Matt (sitting beside me) he brought up the same thing. Did we say something? Damn right we did. It was about the QTE sequence we seen and we were not happy with aspects of it. Yu himself humbly apologised..... Let that sink in. Yu Suzuki is fucking apologising to us?? That's how humble he is. He knows what he needs to do, and how demanding us hardcore Shenmue fans are. He knows what we want and expect. He assured that it was still early testing and that it was being worked on, like every aspect of the game. But this was a fully rendered and animated QTE sequence with black suits, much in the style of the White Dynasty QTE sequence from Shenmue 2.

Do i think the game is going to be delayed? Of course. What game isn't these days. But the reasons i have are the opposite, in that the game could probably be released in December on schedule, but i know Yu will agonise over EVERY detail and pixel in this game. Every line of dialogue and how it's spoken. How the animations look, how the cut scenes are directed. I think this game will be delayed because for the lack of resources he has now compared to what he had at Sega, he will still try and make sure this game goes out looking as ambitious and grandeur the originals were.

So what if it's delayed. Big deal. Are they liars and cheaters! No they are not, and if i see anyone brand the team with slurs like that, they will be warned. What difference does it really make, except for good things. We don't know what's happening, and if 2 fully HD remasters are due to be released over the coming year or so, then by all means take your time YSNET. We have 2 games to keep us preoccupied. We don't know that for sure, but have some faith. Everything will be fine. Before you know it's you will have completed this game over a matter of hours. See when you have completed it, that's when to worry about if there will be a Shenmue 4 or where the future lies. Right now, you know what's coming, so enjoy the ride and the excitement of Kickstarter updates and major gaming events because very soon, it will all come to an end. Stop thinking and worrying about the future and live for the now.

Inside its like a big classroom. Suzuki-san is at the head table and each member of staff has daily meetings at scheduled times where they bring their work up to him. Okayasu-san sits just to the right of the main table at his own desk, then all the other staff, old and new are together. Learning and working. Sometimes Suzuki-san​will do a walkabout and see what you are working on at that present point in time.

I've made a small video to help promote the Slacker Backer campaign. Hope everyone enjoys it!

Please watch in HD 60FPS for the best experience.



Thanks to Mr.357 for the gameplay footage and thanks to Kiske for the idea

We've been talking about this off and on. We've had the idea of thanking the team for their hard work. This includes Shibuya Productions and YS Net. I think in the final or so year of development, it would really give a boost of morale for the team. They truly deserved to be thanked in a real, authentic manner that is deserving of the Shenmue fanbase.

This thread is for ideas. ShenGCH had the idea of a massive card that is signed by various Shenmue fans around the world. I had the idea of giving the team a fruit basket.

Any idea would be nice. We are currently coordinating teaming up with Shenmue 500k and possibly Team Yu to see what we can get off the ground because the team deserves support and thanks, and if the industry won't do it, like always we'll carry this by ourselves.

Cheers for the compliment, Flagship.

Does anyone know how many people work in Shenmue 3?
Not exact numbers, no. Even if we knew the exact staff count for YSnet, it'd still be inaccurate because of other development studios assisting (Neilo, for example) as well as contract/freelance staff. It's not a big team on the whole, that much we can assume.

I'd say you have all of Okayasu-sans company helping (in a hush hush capacity due to it being his own studio and that would muddy the waters in terms of finances etc), but don't forget there are also 2 YSNET studios working on Shenmue 3. You have the Ebisu studio which I don't know the layout and figures for. I was surprised that's where the package that RyoHD got his package from to be honest. Then there's the Gotanda studio. That's the one we have seen in the Kickstarter videos. There's about 16-24 developers in there, but I would say not at the one time. Especially if they are doing a 24 hour turnaround. That's not including management.

And thank you for the kind words guys. It's always very appreciated. But you know me, and it's really no trouble and also not a lot of work. Anyone could have done it.

Yes, that one. It appears to be interesting to see how are the characters linked.
http://shenmuedojo.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/shenmuecharactertree.jpg

Not particularly large or high-res, but this is the one I found in the Dojo's art archive.

Interestingly enough I also found an illustration of Ren using grenades. I wonder if that'll happen in Shenmue III? It'll certainly be... explosive. :lol:

I was talking with Adam Sipione earlier and he can relate to this more so than I can, but with the Twitch channel and plans/preparations I am putting myself under for that really takes a lot of the hype away. It's work. It's great work, but it's still work nonetheless. I am starting to understand the misconception professional streamers are placed under, in that their lives are sweet playing videogames all day etc, but it's actually a job.
And I only stream once a week! With the E3 supershow though, I am putting in a lot more work, feeling a lot more stressed, and a lot more pressure, mixed with the stress and emotion of E3/Shenmue fan also.
I can't imagine the effort and pressure Adam has with the documentary. As much as I am sure he enjoys it, travelling to all these places to interview people, it must take it's toll, and some of the hype he would experience as a fan of the series. Having to deal with the constant gripes from fans asking where is the documentary and when is it coming etc.

Sorry guys, I cant jump on the hype train as of yet. Maybe at one of the stations down the line.

Yes, it is the best part of any game I've ever played, to me as well. Also, imho, "Disc 4" is what makes the difference for S2 from being just a fantastic game to the single best game of all time. Don't get me wrong, S2 would have been one incredible, outstanding, legendary game even without it but the Guilin part is really what makes it my personal best game of all time. It just puts it a cut above anything I've ever seen, and probably ever will see.

In fact, S2 made the rest of gaming kind of "sour" to me for many years, which is part of why I had also quit gaming for like 10 years. S3's announcement brought me back to gaming again. But for many years, I just didn't find any game even remotely as captivating, beautiful and entertaining as S2, except for S1. So I didn't like gaming very much anymore.

I guess the announcement of S3 gave me new "hope" for gaming and as I have grown older I have kind of grown to accept that no game will probably be as good (to me personally) as S1 and S2 but I figured I could still have fun with other games. Still, nothing can touch S2. In fact, nothing can touch S1 , except for S2 which surpassed it. :)

Will S3 surpass S2? I don't expect it to and I don't need it to. I hope it'll be a great game in its own right, but frankly I don't think it will be as great as S2.

Part of what made S2 great was the sheer scope it covered. The bustling streets of Wan Chai, the lively harbor are of Aberdeen with the sketchy Beverly Hills wharf, the maze-like Kowloon with its sinister skyscrapers and street fighting spots, combined with Guilin's breathtaking landscape.

Yu never intended S3 to have that scope. I think it can be more like S1, covering a relatively small area while offering great depth.

Fig CEO discusses a little bit about visiting Japan recently to see 'Shenmue 3', calls it "beautiful" :-D

How this person has access to see shenmue 3?

Well, he is a really important person in the crowd-funding industry, I assume he just wanted to pay a visit. A part of me wishes he was able to strike a deal and provide some *cha-ching* in exchange for a cut of the profits but let's not go there xD. Great to hear his positive feedback, some may say he'd say the same for any game (and that may be true) but I find his choice of words seem considered/genuine (you wouldn't call any game 'beautiful' imo), and in general it's nice to hear of someone who's more up to date on YS.net's progress. It is indeed real, and it is indeed coming! :-D Interesting article and statistics all round, the only fig game that I've backed is that Jay and Silent Bob one...

The HD Remasters are not going to be announced at this E3, and probably ever . Hope you guys realize it before the crushing disappointment tonight...

Why do you think the remasters will never come out?

Because Shenmue 3's big moment at E3 is 2 years old, and in those 2 years we didn't get the slightest clue about the remasters being in production (not 1 leak, not 1 pic, nothing, zero), aside from some guy on Neogaf fucking about in a thread.

If Sega doesn't make the remasters during what is arguably the best period they'll ever have for Shenmue's popularity (between the KS announcement and Shen 3 release), when will they ever make them?

I understand the lack of faith from anyone. Heck I sometimes feel the same because ya know.... Sega.

But I've tried over the past few weeks to word my posts as best I can, to try and give you guys hints as to what a few people behind the scenes either know, or are at least aware of. My name may be green and I am just seen as someone who steps in when conversations go sideways around here, but rest assured that's not the case at all. Behind the scenes, I work endlessly developing contacts, relationships and try to get a feel as best I can in regards to what's happening with Shenmues future. This ranges from industry employees, journalists, and even Awesome Japan and YSNET on occasion.

I don't keep information to myself either, I also share what I find out with certain people I trust and feel should know within the community. Anything I hear ahead of time, I use to get ready from a community standpoint. Write a post and set up the mindset of how to present that. That trust goes a long way, and shows that not all of us want to run and post what would be considered a leak, on NeoGaf or to a media website. I hold Shenmue very close to my heart and that of course includes the integrity of both the game itself and it's creators.

In regards to Shenmue HD, I have tried to point you guys in the direction of positivity. You don't have to listen to me, and be as skeptical all you want, but rest assured my positivity doesn't come from a fanboy passion based on hopes and dreams alone. I take what I hear and base my aspirations on that. Whilst I protect the information and their sources on the one hand, i also try and be as reassuring as I can to you guys on the other.

I have said before to forget Blitworks. Also, it's very.... Very simply a question of WHEN, and not IF Shenmue HD comes along. It may not be tonight at Sony's conference. But it will come. Keep the faith.

Cheers guys! (Haha, I like the スイッちゃん)

But wait, there's more - here's the Fuku-san edition.

I've said it so many times, but when real footage of this game emerges and trailers are made public, true fans of Shenmue are going to be completely blown away by how amazing this game is on a "Shenmue" level.

It really will be a true successor to the previous two games.

http://i.imgur.com/e2x3CfQ.jpg

https://pending.me.uk/cd/bla_1503388800.png

http://abload.de/img/sequenz01_1lob47.gif

THE NEWS

~*~NEW~*~ 27th July - YSnet announces they will be hosting a meet n' greet session with Yu Suzuki in the entertainment area, and also confirms that an update with the "Latest news about Shenmue III" revealed in the business area will be available via Kickstarter and the Shenmue III website.

13th July - YSnet announces via the KS they will be showing the game in the business area of the event restricted from public entry ( please note, the update does specify that backers will be able to get the "latest on-site information" through games media outlets ), but are attempting to put together an event for fans attending the show via the public areas. It is also confirmed Yu Suzuki will personally be in attendance.

THE BASICS

YSnet announced in the June 2017 Kickstarter update that they will be taking Shenmue III this August to Gamescom in Germany, saying "While we are still working out the details with our partners, we plan to show our newest movie clips, share the latest updates and even make some new announcements."

Cedric Biscay has said via Twitter that Shibuya Productions, primary financier and one of Shenmue III's marketing partners, will not be the ones showcasing Shenmue III at the event, and that further details will be available "soon".

Sony, YSnet's other known marketing partner, have not confirmed a Gamescom presence but have recently hinted that a conference may be in the works for the show.

THE SPECULATION

Could YSnet be bringing a trailer to Gamescom? While it's impossible to know the style of the video YSnet will be using to show off the game, I think we can all safely assume Gamescom will end up being the most revealing look at the game we've had.

According to resident translator Switch, the plural "movie clips" in the English version of the update is intentional, as the author would have to check the meaning with whoever wrote the Japanese version; as apparently the language doesn't make a plural distinction. If we are to take it at face value that the English author followed this process, we can assume there will be more than one Shenmue III video coming out of Gamescom.

Shenmue HD has been rumoured for a very long time, but in the last year the anticipation has reached fever pitch with domain registrations, endless "insider" info, and SEGA themselves expressing a desire to make it. SEGA have kept Shenmue III at arm's length since it was announced two years ago, and we have no evidence the dynamic of this relationship has changed, let alone that Shenmue HD truly exists. So... keep expectations in check.

There are plenty of "cleaning house"-style announcements to make in regards to rewards fulfilment, pledge upgrades, and how long the Slacker Backer site will continue to be open for. Will they be part of the announcements made during Gamescom? Possibly. We can at least hope they are addressed in the KS updates following the event.

This thread is for discussion, speculation, and breaking news. HUGE news will warrant its own thread, but in most cases I will just change the title of this topic to reflect the current developments, and add a kind of newsfeed to the OP to keep people up to speed.

Big thanks to Kiske for the banner. Happy posting!

I will be there on behalf of the Dojo with live Twitter and Instagram posts throughout the event. Other sections of the community may be there also but it's still all being worked on at the moment, so more details will be revealed over the coming weeks.

To commemorate the 1500th edition of their weekly magazine, Famitsu is running a new Poll for Best Game, across all platforms, years and genres.

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KVzG13n1fPw/WWNQ8vL_jZI/AAAAAAAACks/TtuYKdA_zCQpVQjqcNEzZhiKPZRIawPNwCLcBGAs/s1600/l_595f2f7225954.jpg

You can vote for up to 3 game titles, so get casting! Deadline is July 18th.

A short guide to the poll, which is in Japanese, is available on the Phantom River Stone blog here:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/07/vote-shenmue-as-best-all-time-game.html

Direct link to the poll (use of automated translation recommended):
https://ebssl.jp/fm2/election/gameall/index.php

I've made a post on Phantom River Stone which hopefully captures the essential points from the last 3 updates about it, and reduces any confusion.



http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/0 ... at-we.html

Pledge upgrades are probably more important than Slacker Backers right now. No matter how good YSnet's showing is at Gamescom, some people are always going to hold back and wait for release.

There are over 50,000 backers who pledged below the $100 demo tier. If they're given a reason to get excited about the backer demo, it could mean some serious money flowing in, and because they've already pledged to Shenmue III they'll be an easier market to sell to than fence-sitters.

If only half of that number pledge only an additional $20 at minimum, that's an extra $500,000.

Got my press pass approved this morning. Now time to make plans.

Yea I'd say it won't matter too much. I will be recording random footage for video packages when I get back anyways, and the KS should also have any major announcements covered.

But I'm a fan of live reaction videos so I will be trying to capture any footage like that at the event.

No probs. Its all for the cause. I don't do it alone though. It's a team effort, and right now I'm more concerned about everyone getting their passes and being there, as well as fans who are attending getting as much info about the meet & greet as possible. I will be there for the duration and will help out as much as I can.

On that note, I'm not 100% sure if it's allowed, but I have tickets to the 3 days I no longer need (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) so if anyone wants them, they are up for grabs.

Three weeks still to the gamescom, it looks like a never end! Sometimes it seems like a dream that we are going to see Shenmue 3, I never lost faith but It was almost impossible for me and now we are only three weeks to see it properly!

How will look like Shenhua, Ryo and the "old" characters?
How will it be to play with the new free battle mode after Suzuki's new ideas?
How big will be the game compared to Shenmue 2?
Will the NPCs have their own daily routines as they had in previous games?
How will look like the NPCs?
I have tons of questions!

I have most of these questions covered, in one way or another. But if you have tonnes, by all means say. Anyone can think of any questions they can think of then knock yourselves out. But think about them from the point of view of them being questions he can answer. There's no point asking him, "uuhh, when's the rewards going out?". Those are Awesome Japan's & Fangamers responsibility.

If I may... Can you ask him how long the game is planned to be, compared to the two previous games?
I really liked how lengthy the S2 was, and I'm hoping since S3 also takes place in three locations, we would spend considerable amount of time in each of these locations, enough to get familiar with all of them.

Also, are there plans to get in contact with Ren, Lan Di, and Joy's English Voice actors to reprise their roles in Shenmue 3? Last I heard they were eager to get on the project, but they've yet to hear from YsNET.

The first one I am working on, but it's a bit harder to try and word it than I imagined. He has already kind of answered that question in the Nico Nico interview in 2015, where he said that each experience is different for each player due to their age, playstyle, attention span etc. It could take someone 20 hours to complete the game, where as it could take someone 60 hours. The context of the question though was the fact that games in general are now played by all age groups, and that he creates his games to tailor the player in terms of difficulty (QTEs getting easier after numerous failed attempts for example).
But when asking a question like that, it leads to a bunch of specific questions like, as you say, the areas. How big is Baisha for example, can then correlate into how long it takes to complete etc. From experience, you do need to really nail down a question juuuust right, to really get the best answer from him. This is also with the language barrier, as the conversation doesn't flow as normal. For example, if you talk to someone about a topic, a specific details may come up where you immediately ask, and then you go off on tangents. Because of the translation between languages, it's very much stop/start, with no real method of natural conversation flow. So you have to get the question bang on , otherwise you waste time dwindling on something which could be useless info. The interviews are usually between 15-30 minutes depending, and you would be surprised how quickly it flies by.

The second part is easy. Firstly, they won't cast or record until the game is essentially finished. Around the 90% complete mark is when the voice acting is done. Eric went through it in Japan for us, and also told us about how fully complete cutscenes were there to be watched, in order for the cast to get into character, and have a sense of what exactly is going on in each scene. What's the context of the voicework, and what emotions should be portrayed at that time.
Also, I talked at the dinner with the executive producer about the original cast (to put a good word in for Eric, as I had promised him over a few pints the night before), and he said that they will be trying to contact them, but, with time and age affecting, well, everyone, their voices will still need to match the character. There are also some of the original cast who have gone completely off the radar too. One in particular, only ever did Shenmue as a professional voice artist, and since then, her whereabouts are unknown. He suspected she just had a family and chose a different career path away from voice acting.
To be honest, at this stage of production, it's a bit of a wasted question since I already know the response would be, "we will be contacting artists in the future", or words to that effect.


Just to add, I have about 20 questions already(that will be cut down once I've decided what's most important), which make up a sort of pathway through the interview. A beginning, middle and end. They would cover all the usual questions people ask. But Yu-san loves technical questions, that's his forte. Anything along those lines are great, although I am not a technical person. Questions that are a bit outside the box are always better than, "hey so will Ryo look like Ryo in the game?"

Funny how a few years back people were saying how satisfied they would be with a Shenmue 3 book, manga or even an unfinished Dreamcast build to be leaked online to give us closure to the story.

Now we're getting the real deal and we're all moaning about virtually everything we're seeing in each and every update. Suzuki must feel so encouraged.

I think I've also found Ryo in the "Great Wall" image.

Game Watch published a very interesting interview with Suzuki-san, the interview took place during Gamescom 2017 and includes some really insightful and interesting information about Shenmue III, here's a short summary of it:


⋅  The released Shenmue III teaser footage is real-time in-game graphics.
⋅  All charterers models are temporary and subject to change.
⋅  Facial animations were initially implemented but have been removed about a month ago.
⋅  The teaser was especially made for Gamescom 2017, no further plans to show more of the game at this year's Gamescom or Tokyo Game Show. However, a full-scale promotion will take place next year.
⋅  Deep Silver will publish the game internationally, and they'll provide budget and promotional support. A publisher for Japan is to be decided.
⋅  Suzuki-san would like to continue the series in Shenmue IV if possible.
⋅  Suzuki-san is not interested in forcing the Shenmue story to complete in Shenmue III.
⋅  Shenmue III will take around 30 hours of gameplay to complete.
⋅  The fighting engine in Shenmue III is being built from scratch, and unlike Shenmue II it won't use the Virtua engine.
⋅  A system that allows phone calls with characters from Shenmue and Shenmue II is planned for Shenmue III.
⋅  Suzuki-san would like to bring as many voice actors from the previous games as possible, but some are retired now, he will audition a new voice actress for Shenhua.
⋅  OST from Shenmue and Shenmue II will probably be reused in Shenmue III.
⋅  The new partnership with Deep Silver is strong and it's aimed to improve the Shenmue III experience beyond what was initially planned on the Kickstarter.

Finally, Suzuki-san asks the fans to continue their support, and promises to do his best to make a good game out of Shenmue III.

I have a very strong feeling that 2018 will be the year of Shenmue ...

Update:
Switch has kindly translated the original interview

Here it is, a full translation of the GAME Watch interview. Enjoy!

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/game-watch-interview-with-yu-suzuki.html

http://i.imgur.com/sCek1CHl.jpg

I've posted up a full translation of a Famitsu interview held yesterday with Yu Suzuki at Gamescom.

"Tortoises, ducks and frogs will be making an appearance!"

Link to interview:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/translationinterview-with-yu-suzuki.html

http://i.imgur.com/ZLKRROxl.jpg

Hello guys,

2 new interviews have been posted on Japanese websites. Full translations will most likely be done by Switch I think, but I've decided to translate some stuff quickly on my free time.

Hope you'll like it !

https://s2.postimg.org/6be2u47rt/003.jpg

From Dengeki :

- Anticipated things (best 3) : 1. Continuation of the story, 2. Open World, 3. Forklifts

- Suzuki san thought at first that it'd be difficult to have something like an open world (because of the budget), but with the recent partnership with Deep Silver and development's improvements, he might be able to provide something that has the atmosphere of an open world. Volume of the 2nd area that we can see in the PV should be around 3 times bigger. That's also why they had to announce the delay, because the game's content has been improved and they need more time

- In the "Shenmue World", players can earn money through different ways like gambling, selling items (to a pawn shop for example) and purchase new moves (scrolls) to get stronger and beat a boss

- He's also talking about Shenmue's logo changes. "My father wrote Shenhua's kanji (莎花). And my mother worked on the "愛すべき友を持て" (Keep friends, those you love, close to you) calligraphy. However, I thought it'd be great if I could do it myself this time

https://s2.postimg.org/z2awk6dll/shenmue3_006_cs1w1_900x360.jpg

https://s2.postimg.org/6qty0vj2x/shenmue3_007_cs1w1_900x206.jpg

- Players who haven't played the first two games will have no problem playing the 3rd one. For Shenmue II, we added a 15 minutes movie of the first Shenmue so players could catch up, but this time we'll work on something more simple based on images and texts

https://s2.postimg.org/qmpxgf049/009.jpg

4Gamer :

Can you tell us why you decided to work with Deep Silver ?

- Suzuki san : We worked on the Kickstarter Campaign right after announcing the game and it was a success. However, it's difficult to do an open world with the budget we had, that's why we kept looking for a partner. They already worked with Sega in the past and they were a recommandation from people I trust

- About improvements, Suzuki san is providing an example. For the 2nd city we are going to visit in the game, they planned around 50 to 60 NPC, but now, this number could reach 200

- Shenmue III will start 6 hours after the end of Shenmue II

Other things are mostly stuff we already know like the phone calls etc.

Original links :

Dengeki

http://dengekionline.com/elem/000/001/580/1580312/

4Gamer

http://www.4gamer.net/games/305/G030593/20170824023/

That's it for now. Have a nice day !

VG24/7 Yu Suzuki interview:

https://www.vg247.com/2017/08/25/shenmue-3-open-world-dead-eyed-characters-shenmue-4/

A big part of Shenmue 3 for fans is nostalgia. How do you bridge the gap between nostalgic nods and new stuff? The first two games are quite unique in that you really have an all-new cast in each game, but that isn’t so good for nostalgia…

Yeah, this time we will see a lot of new people in the game. But at the same time, you can make a phone call to the characters of Shenmue 1 and 2. When you call those older characters, all of the images come up as your flashback, your memory.

In the form of original screenshots, or new recreations of those scenes?

Movie, a movie from the original.

The environments look fantastic, but there’s been a lot of chatter about the character models this week. What do you have to say to that? Are improvements coming?

You know, to be honest… the faces, they’ve not been properly deployed yet. This is a behind-the-scenes story, but up until a point 2 months ago the face motion has been removed. The developer changed some structure to the bones of the character model, and this caused a problem. Because of the problem, we decided to stop working on face animation for now.

[Suzuki opens his laptop and brings up an internal, unreleased development video showing facial animation tests for Ryo and Shenhua. The animations look fairly decent, and certainly avoid the dead-eyed stares seen in the recent Shenmue footage or Andromeda-style exaggeration.]

This is still the sample model, the older one, but… this is a test. We’re going to make this even better. We’re incorporating about 11 different types of face motion, and we’re working towards that. That will be improved a lot.

...

Hi guys, this is my first post on Shenmue Dojo, I've been reading you since long time, but never wrote a single post... anyway, you ispired me doing this, and I think something like that would blends a lot better with realistic enviroments.
Maybe I overdo a little ... actually I tried to use FFXV characters as reference, they do look realistic to some extent, but still they have some anime touch which I think would suit Shenmue III very well!
http://i.imgur.com/WxuYXC8.jpg

https://www.gamekult.com/actualite/yu-suzuki-le-plus-difficile-est-de-creer-de-bons-personnages-3050797909.html

Interview context: Gamekult is shown an extended version of the trailer with additional scenes and QTEs with "work in progress" mark. Then the interview begins with Suzuki and his English translator.

https://i.imgur.com/jseQm8Q.jpg

Gamekult: First of all, I would like to know why you decided to publicly publish a short version of what you just showed us privately? Is it for marketing purpose or a future backer exclusivity?

(Suzuki begins to talk to his translator who is also in charge of the business side of YSnet. The latter takes the floor.)

YSnet businessman: That's a good question! Honestly, there's no specific reason but some people think showing the extended version is too early. The idea behind the trailer was to announce our partnership with Deep Silver. We aimed to reveal that we got a better financial support. We have been silent for too long so it was important to show something at Gamescom while it's not a real marketing strategy.

Yu Suzuki: We may create an improved and longer version of the video for the end of the year. A true promotional trailer.

GK: After watching the video, I now wonder how you proceed with animation in Shenmue 3. Do you use motion capture, handmade animation or both? Are you working with an outsourcing studio or do you have your own motion capture studio?

YS: We use motion capture as working base then we make adjustments. Everything is captured internally although we do not have a true motion capture studio. We're using a magnetic capture tool because it needs less space to work so we can easily proceed in an open space. However, we are certainly going to use a real motion capture studio for the most important action scenes.

GK: Are you working with outsourcing studios? For instance, TOSE or Virtuous.

YS: We have our own team where people from various companies are working. In general, everything is made internally. The goal is to avoid outsourcing.

GK: How many people are working in the team?

YS: Sorry but I can't tell you any figure.

GK: How will your partnership with Deep Silver benefit Shenmue III? Is the original project going to evolve?

YS: To be honest, we just signed the contract. We have yet to know what Deep Silver can bring us exactly but we hope it's significant (laughs). From a business point of view, we should take advantage of their international network and their communication expertise since they have a great record with Japanese studios.

GK: How will you proceed to make the game interesting for the fans as much for the newcomers? Can we start Shenmue III without having played the previous episodes?

YS: We plan to insert images and videos from previous episodes in ingame situations, something like memories. One of the ideas consists of inserting visuals when you're phoning characters from Shenmue I & II.

GK: Yakuza 3 proceeded differently with cinematic buildups to summarize the story of Yakuza 1&2. I wonder if Shenmue 3 can proceed the same way but the visual contrast between cinematics and the gameplay would be obviously significant.

YS: I still don't know how it may look on screen but it's a possibility. Anyway, we'll decide our own way to proceed.

GK: What will the Shenmue III main themes be? Storywise, is there any particular event or topic you're willing to set up?

YS: It's faster to show you. (Suzuki starts his PC and launches a slideshow) Here we go, the three key points of the game are romance, characters' life and martial arts. Then my main goal is to use the latest advancements in technologies to express feelings through gaming situation. Today there are even more ways of expression but also more challenge with the modern tools. With Unreal Engine 4, the most challenging part is to create good characters.

GK: You mean, using your own engine when you're working on Shenmue I&II was easier than using a foreign third-party engine?

YS: Yes, absolutely!

GK: So far, have you programmed with your own hands?

YS: I created some algorithms and little prototypes but I'm not working at the heart of coding. I worked on an artist's AI who appears in the game, NPC behaviors and some combat scenes. But my main job is research. The final code is written by people who are more skilled than me.

GK: About visuals, how far do you think you are from the final state?

YS: First of all, I confirm that everything related to the characters is temporary. Then I would like to say that, in order to reach the best possible result from a technical point of view, we need a lot of resources, way more than we currently have today. That's why I'm trying to find a balance between visual quality and the other key points of the game, especially what makes the gameplay singular and different from the other productions.

GK: About environment size and interaction volume, how would you rate Shenmue 3 compared to the Dreamcast episodes?

YS: I would say that the game is as wide and dense as Shenmue 1&2... On further consideration, it will even be richer. The time of play is more difficult to estimate since each player has his own pace and may progress differently with all the side quests available. I think more than 20 hours will be needed.

GK: In order to make Shenmue 1&2, you traveled several times in China. Did you travel again for Shenmue III or are you using mainly archives and memories?

YS: I went back to China two years ago, when the project did start. (Suzuki is searching his PC folders to find photos of mountain landscapes, old buildings and busy streets) As you can see, we reproduced some roofs of tiles in the last video. I really would like to display as much characters as those you can see in these photos! (laughs)

GK: If you were going to leave Japan to live in another country, would you choose China?

YS: Not China, no. (laughs)

END OF INTERVIEW

There is another major reason the faces were removed (I think), but give us some time to get home and put some more interviews up.

Did anyone find some higher resolution versions of those gorgeous new images?

Found them
http://shenmue.link/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/S3_Ctsn_0831_01.jpg
http://shenmue.link/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/S3_Ctsn_0831_02.jpg
http://shenmue.link/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/S3_Ctsn_0831_03.jpg

http://www.gameblog.fr/interview_1100_yu-suzuki-je-ne-suis-pas-encore-satisfait-du-design-actuel-m

Translation from French.

https://i.imgur.com/zyrGefI.jpg

Gameblog: Suzuki-sensei, how are you? How do you feel here at Gamescom after you showed us this first trailer ?

Yu Suzuki: To be honest, it's more a teaser rather than a real trailer! About the Gamescom, I believe hundreds of thousands of people come here, that's truly gigantic. I only visited the business area at the moment, I don't know how things look at the other side, in the public areas. But we will go into it soon, I'm sure that will be great. I have already met a lot of fans and enthusiastic journalists. All these people give me a huge boost.

GB: So far, is the development going well? Are you pleased with your working pace and progress?

YS: We made a lot of research before we signed our partnership with Deep Silver. Since that moment, I feel we now have the full team and I'm relieved. Finally, we can focus entirely on the remaining part, I mean the production.

GB: Does Deep Silver provide you funds for the remaining production? Can you tell us something more about it?

YS: I cannot comment officially or give you precise figures. But yes, there is something...

GB: How close we are actually to the trial version?

YS: I'm currently thinking about the best way to design the demo, in order to show the game to the players. But I'm still unable to tell you when it will be available... It will be sometime!

https://i.imgur.com/9sssThK.jpg

GB: What are the main mechanics that you will take back from Shenmue 1&2 and the new ones you're currently creating for Shenmue III?

YS: I could not be really specific about Shenmue 1&2 mechanics but I can tell you that our first priority is to remain faithful to the spirit of the first episodes, the "Shenmue universe".

However, regarding Shenmue 1&2, the constituent elements such as mini-games, jobs and miscellaneous activities were not really linked together. They were simply there, and their connections were not strong enough. In Shenmue III, I want to tie the different elements really tighter, make these connections clearer. This way, the world of Shenmue will be improved. Each gameplay sequence will be included more naturally into the story, the screenplay, then the player feels more involved and focused. I believe this will be one of the strongest and most attractive features of Shenmue III.

https://i.imgur.com/kEdploI.jpg

GB: Can you tell us more about the new QTEs we've seen in the extended teaser?

YS: I hope you'll appreciate this new QTE system! Let me give you few examples...

(Yu Suzuki starts his PC which is connected to the television then opens a Powerpoint file with pictures and texts about every elements of the game. He goes directly into the slides about the QTEs)

The most important aspect of the new QTEs is the fun provided to the players. We would like to challenge the QTE concept with a new function called "Variable Speed Play" in order to offer a funny and entertaining experience to the players. It's a style of QTE that has never been seen before.

So far you're only seeing the Circle or Triangle buttons from the PS4 controller but more symbols are yet to come. QTEs might be based on colors seen on the controller buttons, or even on Chinese characters associated with some specific actions. Moreover, we may imagine a system based on specific sounds associated with each controller button. A color coupled with a sound. This way, we could perform QTEs only by referring to a game sound... Well, it's still experimental but I would like to offer that kind of experience to the players.

https://i.imgur.com/mSnKDBJ.jpg

GB: What about the battle system?

YS: In Shenmue 1&2, I choose the Virtua Fighter system. It was more about strategy than button mashing. In Shenmue III, I would like a more friendly system and something completely new. One of the most important improvements would be the ability to attack several enemies once, during the same combo. Unlike the previous episodes - and many other games - where you had to fight only one ennemy once, if three enemies surround you, you need to fight all of them at the same time, by doing combos on each other (Suzuki mimes a triple combo with his fists: "bam - bam - bam!").

Of course, if you want to focus on one enemy only, you can do so, but you will have the choice.

GB: Like Shenmue I, can we train our moves to improve Ryo's abilities, skills and techniques?

YS: Yes indeed, I would like to make this happen and I'm still thinking about it. Solo training is definitely part of Kung Fu. The skill tree system is still confirmed as well. (Suzuki opens a new Powerpoint slide named "Skill Tree").

Each blank rectangle you're seeing here represents a skill book. These books can be obtained by several manners. You can buy some books in stores while you can earn the other ones by prizes. They can also have different forms: books, scrolls or sheets...

https://i.imgur.com/PLxQ3x2.jpg

GB: Everyone was suprised by the lack of facial motion in the teaser. Can you give us an explanation? By the way, is the charadesign final?

YS: First of all, no the charadesign isn't final. Actually, no character in the teaser is finished. I'm still not pleased with the current design, even if it's way better than the characters we showed at E3 2015. About the facial motion, it was there two months ago, but the developers changed something in the face bone structure then everything started to bug. (The translator is miming with his hand the jaw entering the head). The facial motion no longer worked so we decided to remove it from the teaser.

GB: The logo has changed again too...

YS: Yes, it has been changed because I wanted to remake it myself. By the way, the ideogram you can see on the poster has been made by my father (Suzuki points at the kanji on the poster - see the red circle on the picture below).

https://i.imgur.com/CpkMb09.jpg

GB: The interview already comes to the end... Shortly, have you got any positive news about Shenmue HD?

YS: As you know, Sega still owns the licence, so I really cannot say anything about it.... but I want to tell something to Sega: please, do it! I really would like to see this happen.

https://68.media.tumblr.com/c76cd8e09ccbe5c284a877f39c982a54/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco1_400.jpg

At the Gamescom 2017 event, we were very lucky to have a quick interview with Shenmue 3 director Yu Suzuki. Unfortunately, over the 3 days available with Suzuki-san, it was very hard to secure an interview with the team due to the general media already having pre-booked all of the time slots available with Suzuki-san through their new publishing partner, Koch Media. But thanks to a few people behind the scenes (especially the community's own Shenmue Ambassador Ali Novin!), we were able to be squeezed in for some quick interviews at the end of the final day, and got to experience the Deep Silver media area! (and rub shoulders with other developers in the area. 5 points to who can guess the developer in the chequed shirt.) Possibly a happy accident, but quite hilarious that Shenmue 3 was allocated Wareho...errr room number .08!

https://68.media.tumblr.com/e10f0bec5012af5650278ed6617f3ea1/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco2_500.jpg

For this interview, we are unbelievably thankful, as both Suzuki-san and Harry-san were understandably extremely tired, and in light of that, our time with them was very short. Despite having upwards of 20+ questions prepared, i only had time to ask a very short number so apologies in advance that i did not get an opportunity to ask a lot of gameplay based questions. I didnt get to that stage, and before i was out of the "introductory" questions stage, it was time to wrap up the interview! Either way, its always an honour to be in the company of Suzuki-san, and we are so grateful for his time at Gamescom. Enjoy :)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SD. So hello Suzuki-san. Welcome to Germany! Have you been to Germany before? Have you been to Gamescom before?

YS. It’s my first Gamescom, but however, for Germany, I don’t remember… 2 or 3… around 3 times. I have a feeling the number grows with each interview (laughs)! It’s around 5 times… I think. Although, just before when you asked the question, I said twice! But I think 5 times is the right number.

SD. So we know you are in Cologne for Shenmue, but I know you have a love for art and architecture. Do you have any plans to do any sight-seeing whilst you are here?

YS. On the day we arrived, or maybe the day after, I went to see the Dom (Cathedral). It’s splendid! I also walked around the Old Town. Yes, it was amazing. It was more impressive than the Tokyo Tower (laughs). I am joking! But it was amazing. I could say amazing over and over.


https://68.media.tumblr.com/d9b32515d8c7f5ffadb78bf509d9ff0c/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco3_500.jpg

SD. We are at Gamescom for Shenmue 3. But I have to ask, why Gamescom? We just had E3, and Gamescom is a little bit after, so did it just feel right?

YS. The reason for the timing was that I wanted to make the announcement in conjunction with the forming of the contract with Deep Silver. The agreement, to put it simply, was not ready in time for E3.

SD. Ok, so I just want to bring it back a bit, to the Kickstarter update where you announced that you had to delay the game. How hard was that decision, and were you worried about disappointing the backers?

YS. Hmmm, yes of course. I was most concerned about the backers. At the time, we had already made progress in our partnership talks with Deep Silver. So for us, being able to aim for something above what had been the plan with the original Kickstarter, it would have been extremely difficult to implement an open world with the initial plan we had at the time of the Kickstarter. So I continued to look for a partner after that. I really wanted to create an open world somehow. So I kept searching, and eventually we were able to form a partnership with Deep Silver which enabled us to upwardly revise the plan.
So at that time, I took into account what we would be able to achieve with Deep Silver. I felt positive we would be able to achieve a “scaled-up” Shenmue 3. If conditions improved after forming a partnership with Deep Silver, we would be able to expand our plans. That would bring along with it more tasks to complete, and I hoped to announce the good news to everyone along with the schedule change. But at that point the contract with Deep Silver hasn’t been finalized, so I wasn’t able to mention it. That was the situation.

https://68.media.tumblr.com/02ed8d4d4c19b506b54b42ccf5da6441/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco4_500.jpg

SD. In the same video, you mentioned “new technologies, possibilities and new expressions” for Shenmue 3. Could you tell us more about those, and have they changed what you originally thought Shenmue 3 would be like?

YS. We have a complete set of basic shaders, although these need to be tuned for Shenmue. But having a full set of basic shaders is one of its (Unreal 4 Engine) advantages. Also it’s an engine designed for games, so there are all sorts of libraries for 3D games. So when you’re at the prototype/building stage, it’s very quick and efficient. That’s another benefit.
With Shenmue 1 and 2, my program forms the base, so I understand all parts of the program. However this time, the innermost working are a “black box” so I can’t obtain a full understanding of every part, and that can sometimes be a problem. From an overall perspective, it’s a really marvellous engine, especially when it’s used by multiple people. For example, we take the case of 30 or 40 people, or more, are developing the game simultaneously. It can handle management and so on, and do things like analysing the workload, rendering load, CPU usage and various others. Product management has also been made easier too, so overall, I think it’s a superb engine.


SD. I’m glad you mentioned shaders because I remember a conversation we once had about how important the colours of Shenmue were important to you. How difficult has it been to achieve the “look” and “colour” of Shenmue with Unreal 4?

YS. The basic attractive colours in Unreal 4 are formed with High Dynamic Range, and there is a wide range of colours from light to dark which can produce images where you can really feel the light and shade. This was the key deciding factor for my selection of the Unreal Engine. For me, the light and the shade are the most important part. For Shenmue, there are 2 things which are necessary to add. The next stage is there has to be a feeling of humidity. Shenmue has to have a slightly “wet” feeling to it. A damp kind of feeling in the air. I don’t mean actual rain, but the air should have a kind of moist feeling to it.
It’s difficult to achieve this with the standard Unreal 4 shaders, so I think we will have to write our own. The Shenmue teaser we have shown has achieved that look of “wetness” I think. We have now reached the second step. We are not yet at the third stage, but that will be images that you can smell. For example, in China they may chop up a pig like this, and then, without storing it in a refrigerator, sell it under the hot sun. It has that kind of raw stink, and that’s something I think we managed to achieve in Shenmue 2. Shenmue 3 will also be going onto this stage next. A “smell shader”, or a “stinky shader”! (laughs).

https://68.media.tumblr.com/9d51b582086d5bd4cb64552253c54f48/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco5_400.jpg

SD. I have a lot of questions to ask, but I know time is very short, so I will ask my final question. With being president of your own company, you have hired new staff members to work on Shenmue 3. How does it feel to pass on all those years of knowledge and experience to young new developers? Have you had any difficulties managing a team like this?

YS. Well not all of our staff are young, there is someone who is 50 years old… all ages really. But management is the most difficult part. They have entered the company going through interviews, and it’s hard to get to know someone properly at the interview stage. So after that process it turns out there are some people who speak extremely little, for example, so yes it can be pretty difficult. Various strategies are needed in order for each person’s performance level to reach 100%, and that’s the part that’s most difficult. I would prefer to lose myself in the creative work, but quite a bit of time is used up on management.

SD. Suzuki-san, thank you.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


...and in the blink of an eye, it was all over! Apologies again that we could not have had more time to ask more questions, but there maybe more inverviews coming out from the Shenmue Online Community in the near future with lots more questions so stay tuned for that! ;-)

But before we left, as always, we had to surprise Suzuki-san with a gift! Thanks to a fantastic idea from 500k owner Aaron Barstow, we decided to try and somehow put Suzuki-san into one of his favourite bands, Van Halen. So working together, we came up with the idea of having an artist design an image of the band members but also insert Yu Suzuki in amongst them! After contacting one of our contributors to the Instagram page, @r_wuying, he understood the concept, and very quickly came though with an awesome piece of work!

https://68.media.tumblr.com/0909930dd8da47c5b51aaf4011880926/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco6_400.jpg

Of course, we couldnt give Suzuki-san an image on a PC, so we had it framed and brought it to Germany to present it to him from all of the Shenmue Community, for which he was extremely surprised and thankful (as always!)

https://68.media.tumblr.com/2e40913861ed15c10f8431df35f79231/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco7_500.jpg

https://68.media.tumblr.com/5d4165cea5becd3cdfd3c367fa97797f/tumblr_ovog4lS9W61vilcqco1_400.jpg

My Gamescom experience was one i will always remember, and i have to say thank you to so many people including David and Kenji from Shenmue Master, Aaron and James from 500K/Team Yu, Silvia from 500k, Chao from the community and of course Ali Novin for all his hard work behind the scenes to make the interview happen. On a personal note, it was fantastic to meet long time Dojo members YS, Snoopbob, B-Ren and Bluemue at the event too!! Its a shame we couldnt have all spent more time together! Also, of course how could I forget (which I did :oops: ) the amazing Switch for being on point with translating duties as always!

But with that, another event has ended, and the long journey continues! See you all again soon :D

https://68.media.tumblr.com/b234f70ac010c1b6abbdc429c3014c6e/tumblr_ovoeetc4Sy1vilcqco8_500.jpg

I'd speculate that, following the Deep Silver deal, those few additional $29/$60 donations aren't really needed for boosting development, so you'll probably accomplish more for the game by purchasing through conventional channels on release, thereby contributing to official sales figures that will help determine the future of the series.

I've worked with UE4 a bit. I think most developers hate the engine when they first deal with it because it is pretty much a pain to do anything as a newbie. Variables don't really have intuitive names, so one really needs to know the engine to get what they want. The blueprint system they use is an absolute abomination for anyone who knows how to program (something that would take up about 10 lines of code takes up your entire screen in the blueprint), but the blueprints were designed for people who don't know how to program so no surprise there. Even then, programmers and artists will need to spend significant time to figure out how to do anything in the engine. There are a lot of inter-workign parts to allow for global ease of use that is hard to trace if you are trying to figure out how things work (it took me forever to figure out how AI and other entities used nav-meshes because the engine automatically associates existing nav-meshes and sorta hides how it does it from the user... unless you are willing to go into the UE4 source code). This initial difficulty is probably what Yu Suzuki was talking about when he said it was "difficult to use."

But, once you take the time to learn things, development is a breeze. The epic team pretty much thought of everything when it comes to game development, and any idea you have you can typically prototype within a day. It is also extremely easy to create gorgeous environments since they made so many complex shaders and post processing effects easily available to the developer. I can guarantee you that anything Shenmue I & II did, UE4 can do, and more. If Shenmue I was made in UE4, there wouldn't be any need for a loading screen when transitioning from an outdoor environment to an indoor one due to the level streaming feature.

UE4 was designed as a general purpose game engine from day 1, and to say that it is only suited for specific popular games that used it is unfair. Yes, the unreal engine got it's start in FPS games, but Epic Games had enough experience in licensing the different versions of their engines, that they have a very good idea on what tools game developers need to create whatever they want. This shows in the variety of games that use unreal's engines. FPS, MMOs, racers, platformers, VR... every type of game you can imagine probably exists as an unreal engine game. I don't think there will be any problem with Yu Suzuki and his team creating what they want in UE4.

You can go here if you want to see a list of games that currently use UE4.