Lakshya was brought in to help with the expanded scope in NPCs and characters. I seem to recall a small snippet where the development team has increased.

It could be larger than we think now.

The Shenmue 3 Lakysha team consists of approximately 30 game artists, namely 3D character art. In Japan I would estimate another 50-55 staff comprised primarily from YSNEt and Neilo staff, as well as various local contractors. This would would bring the team size to approximately 80-85 members, far smaller than the 175 member Shenmue 2 team, but still very capable at that. As an example, the highly acclaimed Shadow of the Colossus PS4 remake was achieved by a team of 80 staff spread between Bluepoint Studios and SIE Japan Studio.

As far quality is concerned, my sense from Yu Suzuki based on past interviews is that Shenmue 3 will be his most personal and intimate game in the series. I believe that we are in for something quite special.

As of May 17, 2018 12:00 JST

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Only $109k to go!!

In reference to the logo on page 6 of the comments, I'm hoping for the return of the original logo. I still really don't like the Yu Suzuki drawn logo.

Nice to see everybody is so positive. I saw the IGN video and they said it will be delayed as a negative.


IGN paints every delay as a negative. It doesn't matter which game it is. They value not impeding on their impatience more than the quality of the product.


Granted more development time does not always equate to a better game, however YSNet had received a substantial injection of funds midway through development (which is rare in game development as the budget is established upon the initiation of the publishing deal - however Shenmue 3 was without one until August 2017) which allowed Yu to broaden the game beyond was initially envisioned.

When you look at the average game development cycle, 36-48 months is typically the norm. If anything, it was premature of Yu to target a 2017 release.

An example of various game development periods:

Shenmue I - 48 Months
The Last of Us - 44 Months
Until Dawn - 42 Months
Ico - 44 Months
Uncharted 4 - 42 Months
Heavy Rain - 48 Months
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) - 49 Months
Resident Evil 5 - 50 Months
Max Payne 3 - 58 Months
Killzone 2 - 51 Months
Beyond: Two Souls - 43 Months
Resident Evil 6 - 43 Months



It's likely that Shenmue 3 will fall between a 46-48 month cycle for a May - July 2019 release. Contrary to the popular opinion of IGN editors this shouldn't be a cause for concern.

Edit: Added additional game titles.

I don't get why they went with the cartoon-like approach with Shenmue 3's graphics. I much prefer the old Shenmue 1 and 2's realistic graphics. I'm not sure if it's to cut cost, but Shenmue 3 doesn't look anything like previous games.

Any thoughts?


The look of Shenmue 3 has nothing to do with its current budget, rather it is a deliberate aesthetic choice. The Unreal 4 engine in its very nature is designed for achieving realism, its lighting, its shaders, etc

This is an out of box UE4 rendering by a single individual:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaA2ZYhs-7I

Further to the budget issue, Hellblade was completed for 'way below $10 milion' using the Unreal 4 Engine.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2015/09/16/ninja-theory-hellblade-indie-game/


Example:

https://i.imgur.com/Wh2bxIA.jpg

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

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


Yu Suzuki has stated in many previous interviews that the aim (for Shenmue 3) is "reality", not "realistic". YSNet has created a completely customized set of shaders to achieve this objective.

I always respond to this question with this:

So, personally, my answer is no. Shenmue has always been highly stylized imo, and I believe it's just the difference in fidelity and graphical tech between a 20 yo game and an UE4 game that is causing the perceived dissonance between the old games and 3. Just my personal opinion, though.

Agreed. Shenmue has always been a bit exaggerated, the colors always a bit saturated.

The unknown grandma in SIII looks to be a perfect continuation of this art style.

https://i.imgur.com/ltV1Mkn.jpg

The Shenmue III art style is fairly characteristic of Japanese video games, namely an idealized or exaggerated aesthetic. This is in largely in contrast to western video game developers who tend to favor a photorealistic approach. (Note: This is a sweeping generalization and there are obvious exceptions to both)

I happen to prefer the former, but ultimately it all comes down to personal preference.


Exaggeration

https://i.imgur.com/sB4yFMB.png


Photorealism (Ultimately any game which employs face capture technology)

https://i.imgur.com/Fn0CnK9.png


Photorealism isn't really an art style per se, but it is the direction video games seem to be heading.

Yu Suzuki emphasizes the "humidity" word to define Shenmue. He actually thinks that modern technologies make possible the feel of this humidity to recreate some reality. According to him, being only realistic is not interesting because realism is not an end in itself. The Suzuki's intention is to offer something more attractive, more aesthetic than the reality, to embellish it.

Source: https://shenmuemaster.fr/page.php?cat=shenmue3&page=gamescom-2017-the-recap

The art style hasn't really changed from the first two games except this guy has grown a mullet and now appears to be covered in a layer of grease.

The_Intruder wrote: Do you guys think they will announce Shenmue III release date at Gamescom August 21st because I can't wait any longer to play this game. Im really hoping for the game to come out before summer 2019.

The release is most likely going to occur sometime between May - September.