Shenmue III Update #67: Developer Room Update 3

[Spaghetti]

I want something that looks like Shenmue. When I look at what we've seen so far, Shenmue III looks nothing like it. It looks like Street Fighter IV. Yakuza looks more like a Shenmue game than Shenmue III at this point.

The fact remains that Shenmue III is a budget game that is going to get slammed to death by both loyalists and the press. All of this can be avoided if Sega steps in and provides real support of the development of the game. Getting Yakuza's team to work on the game would be a step in the right direction as they have cranked out games nearly every year and has garnered the success that Shenmue never reached.

The character we've seen was designed by Shenmue's lead character artist, has a 3D model that closely replicates the artwork, and both were approved by series creator Yu Suzuki. Bring up other games all you like, but this is Shenmue's aesthetic and arguably always has been. I know everybody has their own idea of what they wanted Shenmue III to be in their head, but you're kidding yourself if you think you know better than the multitude of series veterans working on this game.

I don't even know why you're here if you want Shenmue to be Yakuza that bad.

If you want a game that looks like Yakuza, is made by the Yakuza team, and will probably play like Yakuza... you know what my answer is going to be. Just go play Yakuza. Let Shenmue be itself - in the hands of the people who know it best.

[Bluecast]

I personally don't understand all the fuss over a clearly unfinished character model.

Maybe this is why we aren't seeing a lot of backer updates. If this is what it's like on the Dojo I daren't even guess what the KS comments are like. I'd expect this sort of behaviour from ill-informed 'journalists' from IGN or Eurogamer, but not those claiming to be Shenmue fans.

No. This is exactly what I expect out of Shenmue fans. It's always been like this. The lashing out when Shenmue Online was revealed and had little to no info other than a CGI trailer. That freakout was legendary. The backlash over Kikizo. Many more times. The Shenmue fanbase is very passionate and VERY vocal. Pressing the panic button early is a tradition around here. I recently read the PSX thread. Yup,tradition as Tevye would sing. It will pass and Shenmue fans will be talking how much they love this series again soon.

[KidMarine]

With the correct textures applied, you really couldn't see the new guy as a street fighter in Kowloon or something? He's unfinished but he fits more or less fine.

[ShenSun]

Go easy fellas, its the first model they've shown us. Im sure the final product will look much better, especially when they hear the mixed feedback. It worked for king of fighters xiv and they're basically a budget company.

Have a look for yourself

Original model


Updated model


Point is, let's just wait and see what happens.

To darksniper's point, I myself have always thought that Shenmue 3 would have similar models to Yakuza as that appeared to be the direction and natural progression for the series. Shenmue Online's cut scenes basically had the same detail as Yakuza models. While it was a cut scene back then, creating a model of that caliber in 2017 shouldn't be too hard i hope.








They seem very similar in my opinion.

Regardless, we should all remember, this is a budget game, so we can't expect AAA models. We knew this going into the kickstarter.

Im not fond of the new model, but im going to wait until they reveal the game properly to make a proper judgment.

Oddly enough, i actually enjoyed Ryo's initial model lol. Well at least from this angle anyway.


God knows who this guy below is. He is a hero regardless



Would be lovely if Sega jumped in to help with development, but we all know that isn't going to happen.

Saying that though, why on earth does Shenmue 3's backgrounds look so damn impressive. Hell, they even look better than Yakuza's backgrounds. What on earth is going on lol???????







Also worth noting is that the current new model looks completely out of place with the backgrounds


Yet, the Shenhua model looks like it matches this background perfectly.



All we can do is wait. Its in all of our nature to rip apart and speculate on every bit of Shenmue info that is released, and to be honest, we're all probably overthinking everything.

Yu Suzuki is the man who has made some of the best character models during his time. Im sure it will be ok in the end.

Let's wait for a proper reveal ppl. Remember, if this was a fully published game by Sega, Sony or whoever, we wouldnt even be seeing these premodels or prebackgrounds. We would just see the finished product. Its only because we're Kickstarter backers why we have access to all of this.

[darksniper]

Go easy fellas, its the first model they've shown us. Im sure the final product will look much better, especially when they hear the mixed feedback. It worked for king of fighters xiv and they're basically a budget company.

Have a look for yourself

Original model


Updated model


Point is, let's just wait and see what happens.

To darksniper's point, I myself have always thought that Shenmue 3 would have similar models to Yakuza as that appeared to be the direction and natural progression for the series. Shenmue Online's cut scenes basically had the same detail as Yakuza models. While it was a cut scene back then, creating a model of that caliber in 2017 shouldn't be too hard i hope.








They seem very similar in my opinion.

Regardless, we should all remember, this is a budget game, so we can't expect AAA models. We knew this going into the kickstarter.

Im not fond of the new model, but im going to wait until they reveal the game properly to make a proper judgment.

Oddly enough, i actually enjoyed Ryo's initial model lol. Well at least from this angle anyway.


God knows who this guy below is. He is a hero regardless



Would be lovely if Sega jumped in to help with development, but we all know that isn't going to happen.

Saying that though, why on earth does Shenmue 3's backgrounds look so damn impressive. Hell, they even look better than Yakuza's backgrounds. What on earth is going on lol???????







Also worth noting is that the current new model looks completely out of place with the backgrounds


Yet, the Shenhua model looks like it matches this background perfectly.



All we can do is wait. Its in all of our nature to rip apart and speculate on every bit of Shenmue info that is released, and to be honest, we're all probably overthinking everything.

Yu Suzuki is the man who has made some of the best character models during his time. Im sure it will be ok in the end.

Let's wait for a proper reveal ppl. Remember, if this was a fully published game by Sega, Sony or whoever, we wouldnt even be seeing these premodels or prebackgrounds. We would just see the finished product. Its only because we're Kickstarter backers why we have access to all of this.

That's my point exactly. I've always felt like that graphically Shenmue would have a similar aesthetic look that Yakuza has and would be the natural progression of the series. Shenmue online's models look more like what we would expect today. Spaghetti is trying to create an argument and show anger for no reason. I've played all of the Yakuza games and enjoyed them.

I feel like Spaghetti is trying to say that comparing Yakuza to Shenmue is apples and oranges and it's clearly not. The main producer of the series IICR worked on Shenmue back in the day. Denying Shenmue's influence in Yakuza is clear fanboyism and bigotry against Nagoshi's pet project and that's what Spaghetti showing at this point. Clear and blatant ignorance.


Of course if I want to play Yakuza, I can go play Yakuza. The point is that each time I play Yakuza it reminds me of how much I want Shenmue III. But to deny the amount of similarities is downright crazy. Going into Club Sega and playing Yu Suzuki's past games including one that has the main character of Shenmue makes me want Shenmue III even more.

Yakuza oozes of classical Sega charm and I still feel that Shenmue III needs the same thing (classic sega arcade games, capsule toys etc.) I'll reserve further judgement when we're able to see actual gameplay footage. But right now Shenmue III looks like a typical run of the mill Unreal Engine game. However the background images do look phenomenal, so I'm sure that eventually they'll get the character models right.

[Gen]

How do we know this character was designed by Miyawaki? Not saying it wasn't but the drawings don't look like his style at all.

[ChiefNeo]

To all the people complaining about critiques, go home. Don't come to a forum, a place of discussion, if you can't take anything but positive praise. No one here is decrying the entire endeavor, we are simply stating that it doesn't look like the game that we expected. There is nothing wrong with that. I don't care if you like the direction it's going. I don't care if you like this style. I don't care if YOU like what you see. Right now, I'm not fully sold.

I don't like how the character model looks. I'm still playing the game. I still donated money. I'm still going to give my opinion. It's an opinion many here share. GTFO if you don't like it and can't accept anything but glowing and positive statements.

To me, it doesn't look the way I envisioned. It makes me sad the same way that Wind waker made me sad back in the day. Still a great game, but did not look the way I wanted Zelda to look.

I hope that overtime the characters revert back to the previous palette and presentation. What gives me hope is that, as many people have stated already, that model doesn't fit in the environments we've seen so far. There's a clash. I'll just have to wait and see how it progresses.

[ChiefNeo]

I want something that looks like Shenmue. When I look at what we've seen so far, Shenmue III looks nothing like it. It looks like Street Fighter IV. Yakuza looks more like a Shenmue game than Shenmue III at this point.

The fact remains that Shenmue III is a budget game that is going to get slammed to death by both loyalists and the press. All of this can be avoided if Sega steps in and provides real support of the development of the game. Getting Yakuza's team to work on the game would be a step in the right direction as they have cranked out games nearly every year and has garnered the success that Shenmue never reached.

The character we've seen was designed by Shenmue's lead character artist, has a 3D model that closely replicates the artwork, and both were approved by series creator Yu Suzuki. Bring up other games all you like, but this is Shenmue's aesthetic and arguably always has been. I know everybody has their own idea of what they wanted Shenmue III to be in their head, but you're kidding yourself if you think you know better than the multitude of series veterans working on this game.

I don't even know why you're here if you want Shenmue to be Yakuza that bad.

If you want a game that looks like Yakuza, is made by the Yakuza team, and will probably play like Yakuza... you know what my answer is going to be. Just go play Yakuza. Let Shenmue be itself - in the hands of the people who know it best.

Please. We don't need you and your subjective statements parading as objectivity. Keep yourself from telling me that this is the aesthetic that presents the game I grew up with and have been following at worst as long as you have. And get your head out of your ass telling people that they either agree with you or belong elsewhere.

No one here is sending emails to Yu complaining, or saying anything other than an opinion.

[Yokosuka]

How do we know this character was designed by Miyawaki? Not saying it wasn't but the drawings don't look like his style at all.

Indeed, Amir (who had talks with some Shenmue III devs) said that several charadesigners are working on the project, I believe he meant 2d charadesigners. Althought that doesn't alter the initial argument.

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

Don't want to be mean but king of fighters character models still look horrible by the way...

[darksniper]

I want something that looks like Shenmue. When I look at what we've seen so far, Shenmue III looks nothing like it. It looks like Street Fighter IV. Yakuza looks more like a Shenmue game than Shenmue III at this point.

The fact remains that Shenmue III is a budget game that is going to get slammed to death by both loyalists and the press. All of this can be avoided if Sega steps in and provides real support of the development of the game. Getting Yakuza's team to work on the game would be a step in the right direction as they have cranked out games nearly every year and has garnered the success that Shenmue never reached.

The character we've seen was designed by Shenmue's lead character artist, has a 3D model that closely replicates the artwork, and both were approved by series creator Yu Suzuki. Bring up other games all you like, but this is Shenmue's aesthetic and arguably always has been. I know everybody has their own idea of what they wanted Shenmue III to be in their head, but you're kidding yourself if you think you know better than the multitude of series veterans working on this game.

I don't even know why you're here if you want Shenmue to be Yakuza that bad.

If you want a game that looks like Yakuza, is made by the Yakuza team, and will probably play like Yakuza... you know what my answer is going to be. Just go play Yakuza. Let Shenmue be itself - in the hands of the people who know it best.

Please. We don't need you and your subjective statements parading as objectivity. Keep yourself from telling me that this is the aesthetic that presents the game I grew up with and have been following at worst as long as you have. And get your head out of your ass telling people that they either agree with you or belong elsewhere.

No one here is sending emails to Yu complaining, or saying anything other than an opinion.

According to Spaghetti's logic, Yakuza and Shenmue are different games, have nothing to do with each other nor have had any correlations to each other in the past. We should just deal with what we see and shut up if we have any critiques because Yu Suzuki is god. Spaghetti is the type of person that will attack anyone who has a different opinion than his because he believes his own opinion is "fact".

[mjq jazz bar]

There are some posters whose positivity is coming across a little aggressive, but their hearts are in the right place. I do think we should be open to opinions both good & bad. To act like we're where exactly we want to be almost two years into this project is a little naive.

Of course we've all waited a decade and a half for this (well, most of us), so we are definitely overjoyed the game is finally coming, but so far things haven't been handled perfectly and I think it's understandable some people are feeling restless with how little has been shown for a game that was meant to be released in six months.

Obviously, none of us know what's really going on deep within Ys Net's studios, so until there's more information I don't blame anyone for feeling a little negative.

[Shenmue_Trilogy]

Bring up other games all you like, but this is Shenmue's aesthetic and arguably always has been.
I don't even know why you're here if you want Shenmue to be Yakuza that bad.

Wow. Just wow...Just put your own "fact" and question the user for beeing here....this is not the right way to react to critism or other opinions. He does not want Shenmue be Yakuza. He wants the character style of Yakuza and I do agree.

[darksniper]

Bring up other games all you like, but this is Shenmue's aesthetic and arguably always has been.
I don't even know why you're here if you want Shenmue to be Yakuza that bad.

Wow. Just wow...Just put your own "fact" and question the user for beeing here....this is not the right way to react to critism or other opinions. He does not want Shenmue be Yakuza. He wants the character style of Yakuza and I do agree.

I'm glad that Spaghetti is not a mod here. He's the type of person that would ban someone for having a different opinion than his, and then forcefeed his own opinions as absolute truth.


But to be clear I didn't write that post. That was Spaghetti who unfairly attacked my reasons for being on Shenmue Dojo.

[Let's Get Sweaty]

Is it Spaghetti season already? Last time I checked it was still duck season. Or was it rabbit season?