MAGIC '18 - ShenmueMaster Yu Suzuki interview

[Kiske]

Saw this didn't have a dedicated topic so I thought I'd knock one up.

You can find the video here:

phpBB [video]

Yu is quite coy with his answers, but there are bits and pieces in there that intrigued me.

In particular, Yu mentioning how events may play out differently depending on your dialogue choices. Would have liked to have asked a follow-up if that kind of branching design applied to other stuff like success and failure at fights and QTEs; like Shenmue II.

[Jibby]

Well conducted interview by ShenmueMaster.
Whilst we got some fragments of info, I feel like Yu wants to keep certain gameplay mechanics under wraps for us to discover ourselves when we finally play the game.

[Spaghetti]

It might not even be that. To some degree the mechanics will be elaborated on when the promotional push begins as well.

This interview is only one part of a grander puzzle anyway. Like, take the arcade question. In this interview Yu's answer was fairly blunt and uninformative, but didn't he say in another interview from MAGIC '18 he was working towards negotiating with SEGA to be able to include his older arcade games?

[James Brown]

Is it wise to consider the answers where Yu replied like "We can't talk about that currently", or "sorry this is confidential"...as Yes's haha? I say that only because there are questions where he actually replied with no for, such as visiting Luoyang City

[adom11800]

For anyone who doesn't want to have any spoilers please don't read this. Good but vague interview. Hopefully that's for a good reason though. So what we learned in this interview is:

- We won't ride a horse in Shenmue 3 but I still think Ren will make his appearance on a horse.
- Yu said 'not yet' to visiting Luoyang City. Shenmue 4 then by the sounds of it.
- Stars and legends (He shall appear from...) will be a part of the story flow in Shenmue III.
and so on...

I wonder why he couldn't answer the question about having arcade games in Shenmue 3?

[Spaghetti]

I wonder why he couldn't answer the question about having arcade games in Shenmue 3?

It's the same answer he's given when asked about Hang-On or Space Harrier specifically, so he may be referring to them rather than stuff like Excite QTE/QTE Title (both of which we know exist in the game already).

I said earlier I remember Yu saying in an interview he's trying to licence his arcade titles for use in III... but I can't find the source so maybe I'm mistaken or dreamt it up, or whatever. All the same, if he wants to use those games he'll have to talk with SEGA about them. I hope they can work something out, it'd be fucking amazing if they could include Power Drift.

[b_ren]

Yu Suzuki is the master of giving nothing away that's for sure.

[Switch]

I wonder why he couldn't answer the question about having arcade games in Shenmue 3?

It's the same answer he's given when asked about Hang-On or Space Harrier specifically, so he may be referring to them rather than stuff like Excite QTE/QTE Title (both of which we know exist in the game already).

Yes, Yu's next words (not subtitled in this video) confirm this is the case, which are: "You're talking about Sega arcade games, right?"

[spud1897]

I thought the interview was quite good. Little snippets of information while not giving too much away.

In terms of the mechanics I reckon we will see them in more detail when a big reveal is done. We already know QTE's are back and the battle system will be (from my assumption) a real time system. Looking forward to it.

[Spaghetti]

Yes, Yu's next words (not subtitled in this video) confirm this is the case, which are: "You're talking about Sega arcade games, right?"

Ah, thanks!

I thought the interview was quite good. Little snippets of information while not giving too much away.

In terms of the mechanics I reckon we will see them in more detail when a big reveal is done. We already know QTE's are back and the battle system will be (from my assumption) a real time system. Looking forward to it.

Not just your assumption. Yu reiterated a few times during other MAGIC interviews (500K, Gameblog) that the combat was a real time system - although somehow geared more towards advancing the narrative and telling a story.

What that could mean is anybody's guess, but it doesn't sound a million miles away from stuff that was included in Shenmue II; like mid-battle cutscenes, different outcomes if you were defeated, fights you can't win, mid-battle QTEs, pre-battle QTEs determining how many enemies you battle, etc.

That's why I don't really know why people automatically assume the worst when Yu says gearing the combat more towards furthering the narrative. Shenmue II did a lot that might be considered the same.

[spud1897]

Yes, Yu's next words (not subtitled in this video) confirm this is the case, which are: "You're talking about Sega arcade games, right?"

Ah, thanks!

I thought the interview was quite good. Little snippets of information while not giving too much away.

In terms of the mechanics I reckon we will see them in more detail when a big reveal is done. We already know QTE's are back and the battle system will be (from my assumption) a real time system. Looking forward to it.

Not just your assumption. Yu reiterated a few times during other MAGIC interviews (500K, Gameblog) that the combat was a real time system - although somehow geared more towards advancing the narrative and telling a story.

What that could mean is anybody's guess, but it doesn't sound a million miles away from stuff that was included in Shenmue II; like mid-battle cutscenes, different outcomes if you were defeated, fights you can't win, mid-battle QTEs, pre-battle QTEs determining how many enemies you battle, etc.

That's why I don't really know why people automatically assume the worst when Yu says gearing the combat more towards furthering the narrative. Shenmue II did a lot that might be considered the same.

I quite liked the fact that Shenmue 2 allowed for slightly different scenarios to play out due to the results of the fights. It added replay value & watching BrutalMoose stream Shenmue 2 he commented the same and re-visited certain QTE's to see alternative outcomes.

Anything that moves the story on, has an effect on or enhances the story is good for me. I know some people are worried about the dynamics of the battle system in terms of how it will work. Watching streams of people playing Shenmue has opened my eyes a bit to how complex the system is in those games & some newer gamers would find this frustrating (however much I liked it).