We really have come a long way...

I still remember getting over the moon after each Shenmue 3 rumor posted by Kiyuu. By 2010 I literally lost hope in Shenmue 3 ever materializing. I didn't even give the forklift tease from Suzuki any attention. In my mind, it was impossible.

The announcement at E3 2015 was such a shock to me... Not only Suzuki is making Shenmue 3, (a game, not a manga or a novel), but he also has some AM2 veterans there to help him.

To this day, the fact that we're getting Shenmue 3 hasn't sunk in, yet. It probably will when I see it running in all it's glory.

About the December update.

What if the plan has always been to show the new material (trailer, screenshots or whatever) to the 10K backers first and to the rest of the backers and the public, afterwards?

We were hinted at December time for new material and for the reasons you all know, we deducted that it would be PSX.
What I personally had not considered was the Los Angeles dinner with Yu. Now, it took place right? This would mean that all the 10K backers had a sneak peak on the new Shenmue 3 material.

I know this assumption of mine comes out of the blue, but I hope everything is now clear for a public reveal... Some kind of Christmas gift or "Year wrap-up" in other words.

Although it'd likely cause a delay to make use of the extra funds, the Agile management methodology could actually facilitate the development and implementation of new features thanks to more money.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/1764527

Greetings Everyone!

Lots to update this month, so here we go!

PC Version Available on Shenmue.link

There have been many requests for the PC version pre-order option during the Slacker Backer Campaign, and now that agreements by all affiliated parties have been finalized, Shenmue.link is accepting Shenmue III PC version pre-orders as of today. As always, sales from the PC version will also help towards the Stretch Goals.

Just as with the Kickstarter, backers will be able to choose whether they would like the PS4 version or the PC version. For example, if you have pledged for the PS4 version, you can still switch to the PC version, or vice versa. Backers will be able to make their choice during the backer surveys. (More on the surveys below.)

Game Development

R&D for various game elements is on course as the development team shifts its focus towards production. Main game scenarios are nearing completion, motion capture tests are well under way, and voicing tests with the cast have begun. Yu-san and the production staff are happy to say they are enjoying the work as they continue to diligently make progress on the mini-games, events, and battles.

“I have been absorbed in developing the game and I stay in the studio all night time to time. My life is all about Shenmue day and night.”-Yu Suzuki

Backer Surveys

Currently backer surveys are currently planned for the summer of 2017. On the surveys, we will ask you for your reward preferences that pertain to the different tiers and for your shipping information if you have pledged for physical rewards. There will be further updates ahead with more information regarding the surveys.

New Work-in-Progress Visuals

These are still work-in-progress and are subject to change.

http://i.imgur.com/CIVk8aB.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WB8qQOz.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qgE9DSH.jpg

Am I the only one here that doesn't want Shenmue 4 to be the last one (if it actually is). I actually want 5 or 6 installments.
But of course ideally, I would hope it never ends!

I sure hope they don't put mini-games that doesn't mesh well with the game's setting just to please the fans. If forklifts are too urban for Chobou, then I'd rather not see them. Nor an arcade.

I'm guessing there will be board games, gambling... Maybe some mini-game that has something to do with farming in Bailu. I can't remember exactly, but Shenhua said something about a job in Shenmue 2 that involves the fields, I forgot what she said, but I remember thinking "I bet I'm going to work there when I arrive at Bailu".

I just love how Miyawaki stuck with that 90s/early 00's manga artstyle.

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

So I've got some funds after my mother passed away so I transfered alot of it on my savings account.
Then I thought "you know, after a really shitty christmas i'm gonna treat myself." So I bought a new phone (because my current has deteriated performance) and well I still had 400 bucks leftover.
Then I thought:" mm might as well support shenmue 3 again and get me that trial version." so I ordered it.
So with 300 to spare I trained my eye on the Nintendo switch when it comes out next year, welp never mind that because I got the signed edition of shenmue 3 too. You know what? I feel alot better now!
Ps:
I didn't forget the dojo and what you guy's have given me so expect some periodic donations aswell.

Verticality and a means of transportation.

-option to travel freely back and forth between the towns and other areas of the game.

- real time (5-10min) horse riding journey between Bailu village and choubu (with option to skip)
option for either 'on-rails' or free movement while on the horse. shenhua rides along with you, in-depth conversions while on journey.

-ride horse freely around large open fields, get on and off horse and will, jump small obstacles
-horse-back archery minigame in bailu village.

-real time train journey ( 5-10min)between choubu and baisha (with option to skip)
free movement around the train, talk to passengers, explore train car compartments, enjoy the beautiful scenery from the window.

-minor object transversal like hopping fences and rocks, climbing ladders (but never to areas where it would feel like an intrusion)
-wade through shallow water

-freely move a rowing boat or raft on the water (lake or river), and fish from it.

-examine almost any object in the game world (where appropriate) with hands/arms animations rendered.
-time skip at will.

-more complex npc behaviours with schedules; farming, cleaning, repairing a roof, travelling in and out of town, closing the business for the day, fishing, seeking shelter from the rain etc.

- when you buy a map, ryo actually uses it like a real map, taking it out of his infinity pocket to examine it. you can even walk around while holding it, with option to lower or raise it. a similar thing can be done with the notebook.

@SuzukiYu

Totally agree with you there. The camera in the previous games have augmented the immersion, the player's view is always in line with Ryo's.

And if you start appealing to modern reviewers "standards" I'm afraid you'll have to strip down a lot of what made Shenmue special in the first place... I doubt it'll be the critics' darling, so why appease to them at the expense of the fanbase? I'm all for making the game hospitable to newcomers, but definitely not at the expense of diluting the game's elements.

Take Kazuma in Yakuza and his 360 analogue movement. Or Lara Crofts in Tomb Raider..... Heck any modern day game which has a character you play as, having full instant 360° freedom. I'm fine with that.

But for Shenmue, and Shenmue 3 inclusive I may lean towards preferring tank controls. Yes they suck, and yes they may get slammed for it by critics, but the clue is in the word, as to why it makes sense. Walking is a chore. It's a weight. Any movement we do carries weight. It's meaty. That's why tank controls give Ryo that life-like feel, with the weight he carries. His movements are laborious, much like our own in real life. No one spins around on the spot 360°. Tank controls are part of Shenmues DNA for me and make up a part of the feeling that you are playing a Shenmue game, as much as any other aspect of it.

Please no fucking 360 degrees camera, it would kill Shenmue experience that has been designed to be immersive. Not being able to look above limits a human neck allows is part of this immersion, just like focusing on a specififc item with trigger to discover a potential interaction. IMO, the worst would be that a 360 degrees camera will probably impulse the Assassin's Creed/GTA syndrome with player just pushing the A button when close by an interactive item without having to aim on it.

PS: please pardon my broken English

Live music streams has started. Subscribe to the Dojo's YouTube channel to get a notification when it begins. We'll be streaming music 6-8 hours every day until E3.

Hype is officially real now.....

I'm usually the pessimist who's the first to criticise anything I dislike in those updates, but damn, that model is fantastic. Yes, the skin shader is a little plasticity, giving it a more cartoony look, but otherwise it's great. A great mix between the realistic and the stylized, basically what Shenmue is all about.

Not surprised at the E3 no show, the development isn't going according to schedule, that much is clear. Otherwise we'd already be playing the trial version, let alone not seeing any proper trailer.

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/shenmue/images/4/48/Cool_J_Z.png/revision/latest?cb=20160210173117

It's such a departure from the photorealistic style we all remember. :roll:
To that effect:
https://i.neoseeker.com/ca/shenmue2_conceptart_VfMWk.jpg

I really don't get why there's a pushback on taking a step closer to the concept art. I mean, I guess I do (opinions, etc), but I'm really failing to see the big deal. Why push for absolute realism when you have a great lead character designer in Kenji Miyawaki with a distinct style?

People of a sensitive disposition to this should brace themselves for Ryo, because if they're going back to the original artwork he's going to look more like:

http://i.imgur.com/KNsB6L2.png

- than the passport model. Frankly, it's the right decision.

Because many of us really love the style of the old games and they didn't look like manga. The main characters are stylized but not cartoony. So it's not about a push for absolute realism. Though many of the ordinary people are made to look more realistic even though they are less detailed and made with less polygons.

The old games were never meant to look like Miyawakis original concept images. His drawings provide a basis for the characters but the in-game models are based on highly detailed 3d-models sush as these: (http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=13792) (http://img.neoseeker.com/v_concept_art.php?caid=13794), and to some extent the busts that they made of the main characters. Even though the in-game models are obviously less detailed you can still see it's the same person and the peronality and character of the original 3D concept images is preserved. For me, this design is a huge part of what makes Shenmue my favorite game, and a manga style Shenmue is such a drastic departure from the old design that it wouldn't feel like Shenmue to me anymore. I highly doubt they will go that direction though.
The old games were made in a completely different time in completely different circumstances, to push the boundaries of what a video game even was in that era.

We were never going to get that with Shenmue III. It was never going to have the budget to keep up with the games that push those boundaries (visually, at least).

They made the right choice stepping closer towards the character designs, because the alternatives are either to shoot for something they know is out of their reach (at the expense of the whole project), or just produce a middling, fence-sitting attempt that doesn't capture any of the artistry of the designs or blow us away with technical prowess.

But yes, as you and others have said; things will still change, and we've only seen the character in a neutral test environment doing basic animation tests for defects in the model rigging. But don't expect them to suddenly do a 180 on adhering closer to the concept art that they have before. They've made the best, and ultimately most aesthetically pleasing choice in a difficult situation.

And with that also said, this character's design is inherently exaggerated. They're not all going to look this over the top.

honestly you people, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the model they showed. Its actually looks highly competent and very much follows the Shenmue style. What used to be texture work is now possible in actual geometry and lighting . Comparing some old mans face to a relatively young character is also hyper disingenuous in regards to texture detail.

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

If you think Ryo's face on the right is more detailed than the left one you are insane. or deliberately trolling

I think what we really should be discussing is why they have nothing to show at E3 and why this months update is a mere few minutes long concentrating on only one model.

People who aren't satisfied with the model, can you elaborate in detail why? Most of the posts I've read were "It doesn't feel like Shenmue" or "It's too cartoony"... I'm trying to understand why people would think so, and the only thing I can see is the skin shader being a little plasticky... That's pretty much it. And that is something that can easily be improved.

The face, proportions, and clothing are fine.The overall design is 100% the Shenmue I know and love. They translated the design from concept art to 3D model incredibly well. He is supposed to be this weird, overly muscular character with a creepy smile, I can't imagine him looking better than he already does in 3D. This bodes well for the rest of the characters, I say.

People who aren't satisfied with the model, can you elaborate in detail why? Most of the posts I've read were "It doesn't feel like Shenmue" or "It's too cartoony"... I'm trying to understand why people would think so, and the only thing I can see is the skin shader being a little plasticky... That's pretty much it. And that is something that can easily be improved.

The face, proportions, and clothing are fine.The overall design is 100% the Shenmue I know and love. They translated the design from concept art to 3D model incredibly well. He is supposed to be this weird, overly muscular character with a creepy smile, I can't imagine him looking better than he already does in 3D. This bodes well for the rest of the characters, I say.

https://s15.postimg.org/4futp723f/demforearms.png
https://static.gamespot.com/uploads/screen_kubrick/mig/5/4/5/7/2105457-169_wwe_all_stars_video_review_multi_040111_1.jpg

Proportions are far from fine in my opinion. I feel like in the past the 3D modelers tried to ground the concept art (the Joy example was good), but now they make it look even more outlandish hence it doesn't mesh well with the environment.

http://i.imgur.com/m0q9953.jpg

It's just the pose that's making it look awkward (They played some stock animations to try and find any issues with the model) I don't see anything wrong with the proportions themselves, I assume the red line implies you think his arm is relatively short compared to his body? It doesn't look that short to me, especially when you look at it from another angle.

http://i.imgur.com/fTufph2.png

Also, that picture of him inserted in a S3 environment is photoshopped, so clearly he won't fit in there... I'm sure you know this. The lighting on him will change completely if he was actually placed in that environment properly in-engine.

In my opinion, the modeling of this new character is incredible, much better than the last version of Ryo that we saw in March. Which makes me think that when they show the definitive model of Ryo will impress us.

This character has an incredible amount of detail, far superior to the Shenmue passport. And all this still unfinished and without animations. The artist who is doing this really knows what he is doing.

You may or may not like the style of the character, but you can not deny what a good job. I really want to see characters like Ren or Xiuying.

On the other hand, if they definitely delay the game, I hope they show a video that leaves us with our mouths open and with a bit of luck we can have the demo this year.

http://fs5.directupload.net/images/170531/tt7ceql5.jpg

Original:
http://fs5.directupload.net/images/170531/2dpwigy9.jpg

I really hope this is by FAR not the final design because after two years to see this kind of character design is disappointing for me :(
Sorry mate, you sucked all the character from that model with that Photoshop.

Totally agree @Spags @darksniper! While making the headlines and aiming for deadlines certainly helps, games should be approached and developed in an organic fashion, this isn't a movie tie-in game that Yu's trying to produce where compromising for a specific deadline is a must, it's well and truly a work of art to us and it's always satisfying to see him take the craft so seriously.

I don't think I've shared my opinions outside of the Shenmue streams (@Peter's and @Ziming's) regarding the last update but I was really impressed with the attention to detail with the level of work presented, it's unprecedented and quite ambitious as far as any kickstarter project I've seen/backed, especially when you consider it's legacy.

I believe it was mentioned by a few how Shenmue 3 should resemble an art style closer to the Yakuza games/Shenmue online. While I can understand and appreciate that, it's not anything I expected for this project to fulfil, I think that it's an unfair limitation to place on it due to the difference in the games budget as well as really restrictive from a development perspective if Yu-san and the team indeed wanted to challenge/change from that.

Personally I think Shenmue's biggest advantage is that artistically it's so distinctive that it can flex and be interpreted in many different ways, we've seen examples of this from things such as the Shenmue manga, art illustrations and even the fanart! Whenever we've see that saturn version it looks memorising from so many different perspectives to seeing someone's snes-looking fangame looks just as exciting. Trying to imagine Shenmue 3 in a stylised cell-shaded graphics sounds just as appealing to me. In conclusion, I think what they've shown so far is great and Shenmue is a sensory experience, the music, ambience, colour pallet, how Ryo walks, passage of time and interactions etc are just as important. It's nice to see that cold, hard decisions have been made with this game for it to be a reality (this can't have been easy for the team), that's what I've really wanted to see. Saying that, my favourite footage so far is still the one from March where we got to see the QTE, chair moving, closet opening etc specifically that gameplay snippet where we see Ryo standing and his brief idle animation and transitioning to nightfall, THAT is what Shenmue needs to evoke and where the real challenge lies (and do well, in which it DAMN is so far if I may say so! xD)

http://oi64.tinypic.com/2jcfz13.jpg

Seeing the finished project is key here, what's shown (like the model of the man) is cool from a development perspective but it isn't the actual representation of the game we're seeing yet, so I put it in the same value as a 3D model render of a product that i would show to clients or a concept image from a game kickstarter pitch, it looks cool but it isn't quite tangible/grounded yet. No doubt will a lot of work and changes will go into embedding that into a game environment and seeing scales/looks. (e.g. the scenery and architecture also look great on their beastly machines, but if I plan on playing this on a base PS4, will it still look cool when you consider many unreal engine 4 games are sometimes lower in resolution and use a lot of AA? These things you can only know/judge when the game is closer to reaching the finish line imo.)

These days I feel like you can have one of the coolest games in the world but if technical performance isn't pitch/pixel perfect people will rip it to shreds, whether they're too accustomed to what they've experienced from different titles with different budgets, if they can't get immersed without it (which is a huge shame) or if these people simply want to dismiss it because they don't want to feel like they're missing out (I'm surprised how much of a factor this especially is today, with people committing less time to games.)

Saying that, polish does matter and these days I often feel it pays to wait for a game to actually have most of it's kinks ironed out. Some games can get away with it depending on what it is or how you see it, but it's crucial with Shenmue as an immersive experience so i hope they don't experience much difficulty with the engine there (thank the father's of heaven that this game isn't on unity engine!) I'm sure (just like the original games development) we're going to notice so many changes to many different aspects of the game, Yu-san is very meticulous with this sorta thing as you all know so it'll be interesting to look back if anything else. Just recently, games like mass effect andromeda and yooka laylee sound like they're getting such significant changes it's basically an overhaul to the experience (which is a kind of a shame considering how things turned out regarding their respective launch.)

The Fig CEO comments still has me excited, just makes the game seem that much more real and instils/reinforces a lot of confidence in that serious work is indeed happening and that it's taken seriously. (Not that I doubted it, I'm glad much is kept a surprise it's nice to see another perspective especially after the broken age kickstarter, as someone said I'm sure they'd welcome a potential Shenmue 4 campaign on their platform in the future if the opportunity were to arise!)

...

Just my thoughts on all this, thought it might've be worth reiterating here. Really excited to see more down the road, very patient for 3, kinda impatient for 1 and 2 HD :-p Hoping for the Rice Digital rumour to come to fruition and that Shenmue HD is on track for this year (failing that please just announce the game, YOU ARE TEARING ME APART SEGA!)

We're almost there everyone! :-D

http://oi66.tinypic.com/2ir6pas.jpg

p.s. I'm almost towards the end of thimbleweed park right now, shaping up towards being my second favourite crowd-funded game. It nails pretty much everything for a modern point n' click (except I think they went a bit too far with the in-jokes/breaking the fourth wall, too much of it gets stale+annoying and yeah I'm not a fan of the deadpool movie, monkey island definitely did this more tastefully imo) but was reading on just how much it exhausted the dev's to work under crowd-funding... :-( Hope they're not burning out at YS.net and wish them all good health...

p.p.s I just heard right now that there's a patch that comes out for thimbleweed park where you can disable the annoying in-jokes AHAHAHAHA what?!?! Guess there were others that were more vocal about it! xD I've never heard anything like this happening, closest being much of the awful/redundant dialogue being cut out in the DmC definitive edition

Tweeted by Shenmue Forever:

Well, that's YOUR opinion.

I wouldn't be surprised if you also said for 10 years that Shenmue 3 would never happen.

As for myself, I prefer to live in a "fantasy world" where people still believe Shenmue HD can happen and are ready to fight for it.

I've been saying for 10 years and i'll say it again; there won't be a shenmue hd rerelease. not ever. can't believe so many people here get their hopes up based on nothing. why would sega re-release these games? answer that question. there is no reason. hell even square had to bend backwards to do hd rereleases of final fantasy 10 (and now 12) which actually was a commercial monster success unlike shenmue. and shenmue is more expensive to rerelease as well.

Don't you think it's a superficial comparison?

No.

Explore realistic Japanese town, engage in fenced-in fisticuffs against single or multiple enemies, learn new moves, enter shops to buy items, play games in arcades, engage in a range of tasks for the locals, seek out the truth behind a violent, sinister plot that's dragged you in against your will and threatens to hurt more of the people you care about.

Change "Japanese Town" with "Chinese Town" and you just described Sleeping Dogs.
Like I said, it is superficial, once you actually put those games side to side, the comparison falls apart. I just wanna comment on a few parts:

Explore realistic Japanese town
Yokosuka is no where near close to Kamurocho in tone, feel, and aesthetics. One is a pleasure/night life quarter and the other is a quiet and homely town.

The exploration of said towns/districts is vastly different between the two games. In Shenmue, NPC's can all be interacted with, a lot of them have vital information necessary to proceed through the game, some just assist you with the current objective, most of them are useful and not just randomly spawned nobodies. Oh, fully voiced too.

Kamurocho's inhabitants are just crowds... There to fill the streets.

Kamurocho also doesn't sleep, the shops never close, that NPC quest giver will stand there, day and night, waiting for you... The realism aspect in Yakuza is weak in comparison. It's Game-y, Arcade-y, which is TOTALLY fine. But dramatically different than Shenmue.

engage in fenced-in fisticuffs against single or multiple enemies
I could count the FREE battles in Shenmue 1 on my toes and fingers... Yakuza is pretty much 90% battles... Walking the streets for 20 seconds prompt a battle. It's a brawler/ARPG. Shenmue is an adventure game. Where battles count, and actually story related. Just because you punch people in the face doesn't make it comparable... (Again, that applies to Sleeping Dogs).



enter shops to buy items

Like most open world/semi-open world games these days?... Anyway:

Shenmue allows you to meticulously explore even the tiniest details in every store, even if it doesn't sell anything... A lot of the stores in the game are open for you. Yakuza just allow you to walk in a portion of a store, with a fixed camera, and the option to talk to the shopkeeper to refill your health/heat.

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

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

Nothing too special. Used the existing parts on the model and made a few minor adjustments. I think it looks respectable enough for a quick dick around in Photoshop, and that the new model itself is largely on-track for getting where it needs to be.
http://i.imgur.com/UdhFrcT.png

Here's a new article translation from Game*Spark Japan, interviewing Yu Suzuki and executive producer Hideaki Morishita.

I think it contains a lot of interesting insight. They speak about the fuss surrounding the teaser trailer despite the fact that many of the characters in the trailer are nowhere near their finished form.

Read the interview here:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/translation-interview-with-yu-suzuki.html

http://i.imgur.com/1xOO0HZl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/A4m8KNO.png

We've come a long way.
We really have. Really shouldn't lose perspective at this point.

I'm sure some people may say E3 2015 Shenhua is better but I really can't see it. She needs more work than Ryo right now, but she's verging a lot closer to an ideal than the old model.

We've come a long way.

UPDATE: The trailer has now hit over 700,000 views

If the cursive style is indeed the problem (I personally don't have any trouble reading it, but we did learn cursive in school when I was a kid), then why not just use some classy serif font and keep the strong brushwork of the Japanese version. Yu Suzuki's brushwork in Japanese is strong and assured, whereas his version with roman letters is not (imo). So, something like this would be my suggestion:

http://www.zoonbats.com/s3/s3_logo.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.

Is the Yakuza games and AAA games the only games you play and thus hold Shenmue 3 to the same mark to? You have a very tunneled vision of today's modern gaming.

Well comparisons need to be made somewhere to give a frame of reference so stop the condescending attitude.

You are going on about scaling the game back and ending it, which is never gonna happen.

The game is going to be inevitably scaled back, it will never be the ground breaking epic Shenmue 1 and 2.

It's been explained in the Kickstarter and numerous interviews what this game will be, how big it will be, that it won't end with 3. Why are you drabbling in about stuff that really doesn't matter?

Don't tell me it doesn't matter, I've been waiting for what seems to be over a decade for this game. Do you honestly think waiting over a decade for an answer to the cliffhanger from one of my favorite games doesn't matter? I don't want a repeat of that with Shenmue 4.

You've been waiting 15 years for a series to continue, and now you want the series to end. Logic is not your strong suit.

If the only thing you're worried about with Shenmue is the conclusion, you are missing the point. Trust me, reading the story or getting it in some non-interactive form would be extremely underwhelming. The story is nice and all, but it's only great because of the whole package that it's included in.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

https://i.imgur.com/2LwRfgP.jpg

Prior to the upcoming publishing of their interview with Yu Suzuki, Trent and Shendream from Shenmuemaster.fr have written a recap of what we learnt from the Gamescom event, divided into the following parts:

Deep Silver: The Origins and Nature of the Partnership
The Different Interviews With Yu Suzuki At Gamescom
An "Open World" Game With Enhanced Content
The Gamescom Teaser
MOCAP or Motion Capture
The Story's Main Themes
The Environment
New Characters
QTE And Fights
Mini Games And Part Time Jobs
The Current State Of The Development
The Shenmue III Staff
The Connection With The Shenmue I and Shenmue II Stories
Game Lifespan
Music And Dubbing
Start Menu And Shenmue Logo
Demo Trial And DLC
HD Remasters
Miscellaneous
Conclusion

You can read my humble translation of it here:
http://shenmuemaster.fr/page.php?cat=shenmue3&page=gamescom-2017-the-recap

Dear Backers,

On June 16th, 2015 this project began on Kickstarter. It has been two and a half years, but at the top of 2016 we were able to bring our team together to begin development in earnest, so it has been about two years now since things have really started moving.

For the development team that time has flown by, although with the many comments and questions we have received from you, the time may have felt more drawn out for some backers.

Next year is a very important year for Shenmue, so with that, we would like to bring you a conversation with Yu Suzuki and Hiroaki Takeuchi on how far we have come and where we are going from here.

About Hiroaki Takeuchi As an animation producer, he has contributed to an abundance of works that have helped bridge Japan with the rest of the world. His exemplary works include “The Animatrix”, “Tekkon Kinkreet” and “Berserk”. He acts as the CG animation producer for the Shenmue series. For more information on Hiroaki Takeuchi and his work, we invite you to his website .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ84uxIQBr8

Thank you for all of your support here on the updates and at the events throughout the year!

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/019/688/703/d1eedf87b2f4e60eafc00ef3ad14175a_original.gif?w=700&fit=max&v=1514176993&auto=format&gif-q=50&q=92&s=c1f202321064315c2557f5e4ccf8ffdd

Have a wonderful holiday season and New Year!
https://shenmue.link/post_en/833/?en

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/2070230

(Merry Christmas, motherfuckers!)

So, it's my first post on this forum, but I'm reading it for some months now.


And, the more I see people talking about the logo, the more I think :
The present one seems closer to the japanese logo.
So, in a way , it was the cursive one that was not the "true" shenmue logo.

In the end it is always a debate between the first logo we were used to
and the logo that transcribe the idea of the japanese characters in roman alphabet.
(Switching styles when switching alphabet or not is a really subjective choice, in the end.)


As for the update per see, I'm interested in the idea of a more thoughtful combat system.
My guess is that we may have a more abstract battle system, not a less complex one.
Maybe, it could use a more context sensitive range of actions ?
(like "punch" or "kick" initiating different moves depending on the ennemies positions ?
Or, inputs relating to more abstract battle concepts ?)
But, whatever it is, I trust them to come up with something interesting.

Really hyped for now.

https://i.imgur.com/m2FttyX.jpg

something looks off about her face shape. it look more rounded compared to the rest plus i don't like her lips.

Well, truth be told the S2 Shenhua face looks more like a 6-year-old than a 16-year-old. If I didn't already know it was Shenhua and I looked at that S2 image of her face, I'd think... little kid.

An English translation of the interview is now up at the Phantom River Stone blog.

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2018/0 ... iscay.html

I just watched the Shenmue Master video. What's Cedric said:

"We'll unveil the new steps, images, mechanics, etc"
"I did play the game recently. It's a beautiful game. At Magic, we'll see the game in motion, as beautiful as the screens you're seeing"

It amazes me the attention to detail that they have put in everything, it oozes that 90's Sega feeling every game had. It's a handcrafted work.

Do you think Guizhang will return? Maybe Shenmue 3 or even 4?