Shenmue Master & Yu Suzuki interview - Shenmue 3 speculation

[Luvly KM]

I don't know whether you guys frequent neogaf but this was posted today

Yu Suzuki allowed an exclusive interview entirely about Shenmue at Shenmue Master (French Shenmue fan-based website), and discussed a few things.

A few things to note:
- He has written 11 chapters (Shenmue 2 ends at 6)
- Ryo's will for revenge on Lan Di will disappear throughout the story (essentially confirms there won't be a big final battle between Ryo and Lan Di).
- Shenhua has the ability to recall/link in with the memory of ancestors.
- The man in the photo with Iwao (from the hazuki Basement) was his old training partner from China who plays a large role in the story
- The Shenmue IP still belongs to Sega. Could be bought.
- When asked what his favourite part of Shenmue was he responds "So far we are only at Shenmue II, I developed the story until chapter 11. It's in this sequel the part of Shenmue I care about most is hidden.

Nice to see this, if still a little depressing hearing that the part Yu cares about would be in the next game. He still talks apprehensively about the story, and talks as if a 3rd installment will come about, and doesn't let up many details about the story.

Basically, im pretty buzzed to hear that Ryo's lust for revenge wanes. It suggests that through his journey and teachings he has come to understand himself and his plight which i personally feel is the best possible 'ending' (if you will) for the series. so beautiful.

Link to the interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o4MHjEdYpQ

[FableSide]

hi...read forums pretty much everyday.. not much of a poster but the news of the possibilty of Yu aquiring the licence gets me excited for something to happen

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/yu-suzuk ... ega/089331

hopefully 2012 will be a good year for the fans

[darksniper]

Yesterday's news was a great boost in the spirit of Shenmue fans. Obviously while there's nothing concrete to assume, there is plenty to talk about.


From what we know, the gentleman in the picture with Iwao will be a huge part of Shenmue III according to Suzuki. I assume as many others that that could be Lan Di's father. It would make too much sense. Obviously there's a lot to be explained. He could also be tied in somehow to the missing link between Xuying Hong and her brother Ziming.

I wonder what part of the game is the monumental important piece that Suzuki mentioned that was most important to him. I have a feeling that it has to do with an interaction between Shenhua and Lan Di. Especially with him revealing Shenhua's ability to remember her ancestors. I think she will be the one who reveals the truth about Lan Di, who he is, what his intentions are and the instigator between the showdown between Ryo and Lan Di.

With that being said, I think we can assume that Ryo will not kill Lan Di after all. I keep picturing Ryo with his hand on his throat in deep consideration of taking his life, then flashbacks of Shenhua, Xuying and others teaching him about revenge will kick in. Lan Di will also probably have an explanation of why he did what he did. I'm not saying they will kiss and make up, but I think the end of Shenmue will not be as confrontational as we originally thought.

A lot of stuff was revealed in Suzuki's telling interview yesterday. The only question that should have been asked imo is the role that Niao-Sun will play in the sequel. Since she was revealed long ago, but never seen in the two games. I didn't think about that until after the fact, because the interview was very well done. Credit to everyone involved.

Any free thoughts and speculations, please share!!!

[Bluecast]

Ryo will wake up in a spaceship and all his family and friends will be fellow crew members as they awake from being asleep many months on the way to mars and his name will really be Sam Tyler

[MiTT3NZ]

FACT: There will be little to no actual fighting in Shenmue III.

Also, it looks like there won't be much to do in Shenhua's village, which begs the question "Just how boring will this game actually be?"

Cue backlash from deluded fans.

[Stocke]

The interview was good, it gave us a fair bit of information for 10 minutes.
while i did enjoy it, it makes us speculate more than ever before.

Which i'm quite honestly tired of doing.

God, i just want to know the damn story

[Peter]

We do have a Shenmue III facts and speculations section, never mind a thread. Its called the Shenmue III forum.

Just have the topic discuss any new speculation that you feel has come from the interview.

[Mitsuzuki]

Question: Is this new information that Suzuki-san has written 11 chapters?

Because if so, that is exciting news. At the very least, if the story has been written it's the first big step.

[Bluecast]

Question: Is this new information that Suzuki-san has written 11 chapters?

Because if so, that is exciting news. At the very least, if the story has been written it's the first big step.

The story was finished in 1999.

[Mitsuzuki]

lol, ok then. Not the momentous piece of news I thought. Hopefully there's enough breadcrumbs in the rest of the interview to give some more insight.

[Ziming]

"Shenmue has the image of grand scale," said Suzuki. "But making something of grand scale requires appropriate preparation. I want to make 3 with the same volume as in the past. There have actually been a lot of requests from fans for 3 as well. There were even petitions signed by by tens of thousands of people. I wanted to carry out my obligations for the series."

During the press conference, a reporter had asked Suzuki if he planned on completing the series' full 16 chapters at some point. Suzuki corrected the question, saying that the story actually has 11 chapters.

In the Famitsu.com interview, Suzuki explained what he means by "chapters." Suzuki uses the style of novelizing his scenarios before converting them into a game script. He takes this approach because he feels the story and emotional impact can be more deeply expressed through novelizations. It's not necessarily the case that these novelizations are converted directly into game form, but they are made with the idea of being converted into games, inserting quick timer events in one area, inserting gameplay systems in other areas, and so-forth.

Just because there are eleven chapters, it doesn't seem that Suzuki actually plans on having eleven Shenmue games at some point. Thinking about how to put those eleven chapters into the form of a game is something Suzuki feels he'll have to consider if given the chance to make a new Shenmue. "It would be possible to finish the entire story in a single game if we were to show just the highlights and skip over parts," said Suzuki. Joking that the game would probably never reach the end if they made one title every five years, he said, "If given the chance, I'd have to think about the scale and the time frame. The Shenmue essence is, of course, in the scenarios I've made. I'd have to think how to make something from them."

Xbox nation interview (2002)

XBN: Okay, three projects rumored to be development at AM2: Shenmue III?

Suzuki: Not at the moment. That depends on how well Shenmue II is received. I've written the series myself up to Chapter 11 [Picks up phone again and asks for someone to bring in his original Shenmue manuscripts]. See here, Chapters 1, 2, 3-and in this big book are chapters 5-11.

XBN: That's huge. Do you think you'll ever get to make them?

Suzuki: I'd really like to...one day. Of course, I've done concept stuff and research into further sequals. I've got some of the visuals prepared all the way up to Chapter 6. But we can't commit to them yet. The good thing is, the groundwork for Shenmue was the hardest part, so it would be much easier to make Shenmue III for us now. It would probably take half the time of the last one. Have a look at this CG mural of a Chinese court i designed-that's from a Shenmue III location.

[Peter]

The only thing that irks me is that the more interviews Yu does, and the more time he spends travelling, the less work he is doing in his YS studio. Shenmue based or not, we know he has a small team. So if hes not there, what are they working on??

[Who Really Cares?]

I belive he said in an interview they are working on some phone games and a Kinect title.

[Fenix]

Loved that interview. It's pretty cool and give us curious revelations.

[Peter]

I wonder if this Kinect game is what hopefully lead to development £££ for a future Shenmue title. It would certainly be the biggest opportunity to generate as much capital as possible when looking at YS Studios' list of projects