New Ryo & Shenhua models from press release

[sutoji]

For Ryo..



I find that this was the only one they got right as of yet in my opinion.

[shredingskin]

Yup, for some reason I like it more than the most recent one (even if it's not the SO Ryo I had in my mind). I would also prefer the older Shenhua.
I don't know why they changed the style from one update to the next one, maybe budget reasons, but I don't think so, it's not that the models they showed are lowpoly or anything like that, they look quite detailed.

Maybe they didn't want the game to look generic and wanted something that pops to the eye more easily to distinguish themselves from other games, but it looks like it's stuck somewhere between ps2 plastic looking and ps4 highpoly.

[Verderame]

We're here talking so much about why these model are so funky looking because YSNet doesn't have any budget to invest in professional marketing and pr.

This is why they can't afford to make a demo build for E3, or some good-looking promotional cg art like in the Dreamcast days. This is why that ankwardly and quickly slapped-together image made by some terrible amateur with Photoshop was all they got to show for their publishing deal announcement.

This is literally the only reason why.

[Verderame]

For Ryo..



I find that this was the only one they got right as of yet in my opinion.

Again, this is 100% about lighting.

[shredingskin]

That image is not funky looking, and it's the model thrown into a free UE marketplace asset.

They changed the character aesthetics (or at least it seems like it from the muscle guy and these new characters).

[Lan Di-sama]

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect something better than that when we're 2 years into development. Ryo looks OK, Shenhua looks less than OK. Need to see more before forming a full opinion, but I'm a little concerned - the E3 promo Shenhua looked like Shenhua, at least.

You... might want to look at the E3 model again.



The new one still needs work but... it at least evokes some of the designs we've seen for her in the past.

I definitely still think the face of the old model looks a lot more like the Shenhua we know than this new model. That being said, I'm ready and willing to accept Shenmue III however it turns out to be. I just hope it lives up to the 15+ years hype.

[shredingskin]

In all honesty NOTHING can live up to 15 years of hope.

Even today best and most expensive games can't, I just expect a game that tingles my nostalgia and gives me that Shenmue feeling that most games are not even interested in pursue.

[Verderame]

Shenmue III would not live up to expectations even with a 500 milion dollars budget

[Spaghetti]

For Ryo..



I find that this was the only one they got right as of yet in my opinion.

Again, this is 100% about lighting.

Yip. That's the E3 2015 model too, which we know can look pretty awful in certain conditions. It's too baby-faced to be Ryo anyway.

[Sappharad]

I skimmed through the 12 pages and there's a lot more discussion about the model than the font, which is reasonable. I generally agree with the comments, although I think the Ryo model has reached the point where it's at least recognizable now so as long as it looks good in motion I won't be too concerned. (But I also think Kiske's adjusted model a few pages back was perfect.)

As far as the font goes, I think I understand what they were going for. They're attempting to use a font that looks similar to the original Japanese characters that you see at the top of this forum page. I think that's actually a good idea, even though their current attempt looks bad. We already know that Yu Suzuki believes that younger people can't read cursive anymore, and I'll agree that it's generally gone out of use. Although I can still read cursive, I'm a little slow and I can't remember the last time I saw an entire letter written in cursive outside of someone just signing their name. A font in the style of the Japanese one kind of fits with the culture theme that they're trying to portray. If they want to go with that style, I'm fine with it provided they clean it up slightly so it doesn't look sloppy like it does now. However, I would prefer the original font along with the Japanese subtitle like the box art for the first game.

[ShenmueTree]

To troll or not to troll.

The reason they showed these models now is because we ain't getting any at gamescom.

Anyway... Why did they introduce a new font and not even use it. It's pretty mind-boggling to me. My only guess is that they had the publisher and this press released planned months ago (which would mean that the Ryo and Shenhua models would be out-of-date) and they just now released it as a kind of teaser for gamescom.

Also I really like Ryo's model. Only complaints I really have is I think the complexion is a bit off and that his jacket should look a bit more lived in. Like have it scuffed up a bit after all the fights he's been in.

[Spaghetti]

Anyway... Why did they introduce a new font and not even use it. It's pretty mind-boggling to me. My only guess is that they had the publisher and this press released planned months ago (which would mean that the Ryo and Shenhua models would be out-of-date) and they just now released it as a kind of teaser for gamescom.

Definitely possible, but a huge oversight if nobody bothered to update the key art.

We'll see what's used next week. Needs repeating, but the logo hasn't changed on the shenmue.link website, but it did when the Papyrus font was thrown out in June; so there's a chance this is just some kind of weird blip in communication.

[Ziming]

Question for Fans: Do you like the new #Shenmue3 logo used by the publisher Deep Silver or do you prefer the logo shown to us back in June? (Asked on Twitter & Facebook)

[Telekill]

Ok... I'm taking a step back from the models and trying to put more thought into this than the knee jerk reaction.

Ryo - I think he looks passable. Not great. Not horrible. I could get used to it. I find the difference a bit jarring at this time but also found it jarring going from Uncharted 3 to Uncharted 4. While Drake and Elena looked really close to their earlier counterparts, Sully looked way different. Different to the point of being jarring. That said, I got used to it.

Shenhua - Doesn't look much of anything like her earlier versions. To me this is what one of the NPC's would/should look like but not a main character. The modeling itself is fine, but the face just doesn't look like Shenhua to me at all.

In general, I prefer the two models that were shown at E3 2015's announcement to either of these.

As for the new logo... it looks horrible. Why would they announce they were using the original font for the series and then go to this abomination? It literally looks like a 5 year old scribbled it on a piece of paper with a crayon.

[Spaghetti]

Throwing my hat in the ring with a quick Photoshopping attempt:



Left the space blank where I made alterations on the Ryo model so I could show the relatively simple changes. Basically shortening the length of the nose, increasing the size of the forehead slightly, and lengthening/narrowing the face make a lot of difference. Adding more yellow into the skin helps too.

Obviously not as effective as making adjustments to the model, but the point is I think it looks close enough to the in-game models from Shenmue/Shenmue II to show the new Ryo may only need some small changes applied.

EDIT: Added a version with the new model on the end for comparison purposes. Seriously, I think just minor tinkering is needed to make Ryo look just right.