Jibby wrote: Peter wrote:Why? We are getting HD releases. People will have seen the ending.
I keep forgetting this. There won't be any excuse now for people not playing the first 2 games before III.
I hope that let's the team be a bit more abstract and do things like start right where II left off in the cave.
Until we hear otherwise, it doubt the re-releases affected their plans for the start of the game. Aside from the beginning of the first game, just starting in the cave doesn't really fit with the introductions from the previous games and I'm expecting they'll do something consistent from that standpoint. We'll definitely see the cave scene again based on what they have shown so far, but very beginning? I doubt that unless they change the flow or start outside.
Consider these:
1. Shenmue 1 - Start of Disc 2 - Scene introduces the harbor area, panning around and showing stuff and Ryo getting there.
2. Shenmue 2 - Intro - Scene shows the boat arriving, a few areas of Hong Kong, and Ryo getting there.
3. Shenmue 2 - Disc 3 - Beginning of the chapter introduces Kowloon, Pans around and shows Ryo getting there.
4. Shenmue 2 - Disc 4 - Beginning of the chapter introduces Guilin, pans around the environment, has some flashbacks and shows Ryo getting there.
You could say the same about Beverly Hills Wharf as well, since they show that too in a cutscene when Ryo's on Wong's boat, but that's not really the start of a new portion of the story. Either way, they always seemed to have a cutscene to introduce every major new area, so there's probably going to be a similar one when you finally reach Bailu, where they pan around the village and probably show people working and kids playing.
On the other hand, where the story leaves off doesn't really give them a good opportunity to do one of those cutscenes that pans around and introduces the area. I don't think the cave is going to be a major area that you can revisit at will, it was pretty linear. Just from a story standpoint, I can't think of a way they could make it flow well after the cave scene if that's where it would begin, because what could happen afterwards might not flow well unless they fade out and skip time. Would they really have an intro that shows Ryo and Shenhua grabbing their things and walking out of the cave? That just seems a bit long for the very beginning.
The scene after the cave from the August 2017 trailer (as seen in one of the photos from today) where they show the game title logo seems like it could be exactly where they show the title in the finished product. I'm guessing that is where we'll see the usual camera pans around that area and it introduces Bailu Village. But that leaves the question of where the cave scene fits in, since we were initially told that the game starts the morning after the cave scene.
They promised a recap, and I don't think they'll change those plans because they had one in 2 as well. Is it possible that in addition to a separate recap, when you start Shenmue 3 it has a shorter one which at the end fades into a recreation of the Shenmue 2 ending, followed by fadeout, followed by "The next day 8:00 AM". Then the game begins with Ryo and Shenhua leaving her house and heading for Bailu, talking, and when they reach the area mentioned above you see the logo and it pans around the village. (Presumably, the re-created cave would be used again later to look for evidence of what happened to Shenhua's father, which is why they could flashback to it and not have re-created it for no reason.)
Anyone else want to propose their own idea for a beginning?
tl;dr - I just can't see the cave scene working as a good opening, that's all.
Posted: Thu May 24, 2018 10:47 am
