Shenmue story theories and stuff

[ShenSun]

A Facebook user shared his thoughts on the recently released VF RPG concept artworks.

My thoughts on the recently released concept art at GDC...

Obviously these are in beta form so final product would differ significantly from 'AKIRA RPG' original concept.

Card 1: Chapter 1 Yokosuka – Father is murdered and Ryo’s setbacks. Experiences from Shenmue 1. Image shows Ryo leaving for China with Gui Zhang and Master Chen in the background. Lan Di and men in black suits can be seen in background, possibly alluding to Ryo’s motivation for revenge.

[Cards 2 – 4 show a mixed up, possibly early version of the first 3 quarters of Shenmue 2 as some bits don’t make much sense but seem to take place before Card 5 Guilin]

Card 2: The events of Shenmue 2. Ren, Xiuying, Dou Niu are featured with the backdrop showing Kowloon and an airplane which can be seen in the Hong Kong segments of Shenmue 2. Yuan can also be seen wielding his infamous chainsaw and the members of the Heavens can be seen in the bottom left corner overshadowed by their leader Ren. This card represents a mix of the more urban settings of Shenmue 2, perhaps featuring a mix of Hong Kong (Xiuying) and Kowloon (Dou Niu). Also most likely deals with the whole Yuanda Zhu rescue plot.

Card 3: The project Berkley train sequence. Notice that Ryo’s clothes have now changed to a green attire. Maybe this is showing development as a martial artist? A face similar to the stone face in the Project Berkley sanctuary can also be seen – overall this might be a modified chapter which was split up and mixed into Shenmue 3 as it doesn’t make much sense as to why it is here in the timeline. You can make out that the train is headed for a more country, green setting which has not yet been seen in Shenmue 2. A bunch of characters can also be seen, including Gui Zhang? Perhaps Gui Zhang does follow you to China after all and this is a segment reserved for Shenmue 3. The Phoenix mirror is central in this image, indicating a train journey to a destination important to the mirror? Maybe the treasure hold of the Qing Dynasty? The face also resembles DURAL from Virtua Fighter confusingly - perhaps this image is too early a first draft when Virtua Fighter characters were still central to the story?

Card 4: Ryo trains to become a better martial artist as represented in Shenmue 2 when in Hong Kong. Master Baihu can also be seen? Overall I think this chapter represents the personal growth which Ryo experienced while under Xiuying’s care in Hong Kong and could also represent how he learned to further better his training from various martial artists in China. Why is Lau from Virtua Fighter next to Xiuying/Lan Di? (cant figure out which). Again, perhaps this is still too early a draft when VF characters would cameo. Yuanda Zhu also makes a cameo. I conclude that cards 2-4 were therefore highly modified versions of Shenmue 2 as the timeline conflicts a little. i.e. where is the boat chapter???

Card 5: Shenhua and Ryo meet in Guilin. Niao Sun is also present – perhaps she is the one who is following Ryo and Shenhua in disc 4 and not Lan Di? The ‘bad presence’? Notice Ryo is grounded, rather than training for hasty revenge he is sitting down among nature - a much more peaceful image. Signifies Ryo's 'spiritual awakening' or beginning of shift in perspective from vengeful to peaceful.

Card 6: The old man from the project Berkley trailer and rumoured 4th Chi You Men leader can be seen atop of Ryo in a fighting stance similar to Chai. This could be the moment when we meet this 4th mysterious Chi You Men leader. Niao Sun is also still present which means she will have an ongoing role in the earlier parts of Shenmue 3. The other man I suspect to be a past representation of Lan Di’s father in training…maybe this is the chapter where you learn more about him? Or could he be Shenhua’s father? There are also faces shown in the orange ball of fire behind Ryo in combat stance and the ground he seems to be on looks like ice, maybe indicating that Project Berkley sanctuary?

Card 7: Luoyang. Ryo trains with martial artists. The Chi You Men are present and Shenhua is central to the chapter, maybe this is where the Shaolin temple Shenhua kidnapping takes place and Shenhua realises her power? Ryo meanwhile trains to become a better martial artist. (All 4 chi you men can be seen bottom of image. They all kidnap Shenhua to extract her power?)

Card 8: If you notice carefully atop the mountains, figures can be seen standing. There are 4 mountains and 4 figures standing. The Chi You Men guarding the 4 cardinal points? A wolf can also be seen? Do you fight Ziming in this section? There are also two images of Ryo shown – one in his green attire where he seems to be screaming and a second in a new blue ‘Akira’ attire where he seems to be more grounded. Could this be the completion of Ryo’s evolution from hasty, vengeful teenager to calm, collected and rational adult? A figure can also be seen in the skies above the mountains. The heavenly emperor? Tentei?

Card 9: Ryo now a reformed and competent martial artist stands ready in a combat stance as if to beckon a fight. The principle idea symbolised in this card is fight. The sun is also setting which could be symbolic as to his journey for revenge coming to an end. An as of yet unknown character stands. Maybe this character is 'RANDI' mentioned at GDC - a beta form of Lan Di? Or Tentei? Horses can be seen galloping in the hills. Horses have been central to the plot of Shenmue for some time - Luoyang being a place in China where horses are venerated and the setting is a country, mountainous setting similar to the artworks featuring Ren and an ancestral form of Shenhua riding horses.

Card 10: the sun has risen indicating a new day, a ‘fresh start.’ Ryo is clasping the body of somebody…possibly Lan Di? Also, it seems as if Lan Di is staring at Ryo from the heavens. Perhaps Lan Di has died and Ryo has realised that nothing has changed, his revenge was futile, he regrets his decision and now is devoid of purpose. The way he carries the body along a long white road, could it indicate that Ryo is mourning? Or maybe this is not Lan Di but someone else?? A large temple can be seen in background...Ryo carrying this person to their tomb?

Card 11: Ryo embarks on a quest to find himself along with his newfound friends. As indicated in the Project Berkley video, by this stage Ryo “is not alone anymore” – the ending is not nesecarily that sombre, although Ryo has found himself to have no purpose and must begin a new journey to find himself in life. Perhaps that is why his back is turned to Shenhua and Xiuying? Even though they are in the same picture, Ryo understands that he must begin a new personal journey for his own self-discovery.

[ShenSun]

Thanks for that Zim. That was a very interesting read.

[Nahovil]

Card 7: ...They all kidnap Shenhua to extract her power?

Extract? A power?

[Supa]

We know that Shenhua has some sort of power from several things: first off is the whole way she appears in Ryo's dreams in Shenmue I. Second is the bad ending of Shenmue II where Lan Di already has the Phoenix mirror and comes to her in Guilin saying "I will take your power for the Chi You". Third is the whole ending of Shenmue II where Ryo can't get the Sword of Seven Stars to go into the rock, and she touches it and it magically goes in. Fourth is the China Joy Shenmue Online trailer where she is seemingly controlling the phoenix. And finally, the Project Berkley trailer where she seems to create an explosion from her hands.

[starscream178]

Don't forget towards the end of Shenmue II, Ryo and Shenhua stop at a garden of flowers and she controls them and has them surround her with out her physically even touching them. Ryo mentions it and she just thinks its a normal thing that every one can do. That's the first in your face hint imo.

[Supa]

Slightly off topic, but still to do with Shenmue III and beyond, does anyone think that these pictures (concept art from Project Berkley and pictures of future characters showcased at the Shenmue The Movie premiere) are of the same character?



(second from the right)

[fittersau]

A Facebook user shared his thoughts on the recently released VF RPG concept artworks.

Card 7 could be SongShan Shaolin Temple - featured in Kenji


Card 8 is confirmed to be Cangzhou by a previous post as well as this Kenji image.


Card 10 is in the Forbidden City of Beijing.


My gut feeling is we'll get Shenmue 3 and Shenmue 4, therefore Shenmue 3 will encompass cards 4, 5, 6, 7 and Shenmue 4 will conclude with 8, 9, 10, 11.

[Amir]

Was thinking about Card 4 and the 4 characters, was wondering who they were, and at the same time I was listening to the Kowloon music from Shenmue II, got onto the Scout's theme, when it hit me...

Those 4 characters are most likely fighters that Ryo would have faced, with one based on Lau from VF when this was still Akira's Story/VF RPG, BUT when the story got shifted around, train chapter got cut, etc., those 4 fighters became the 3 Street Fighters in Kowloon (+ probably Master Baihu).

Lending further credence to this theory is the depiction of a seated old man who bears a resemblance to Zhu Yuanda. I'm guessing you initially didn't find him in Kowloon, but travelled on a train to this location to find him. Instead of being surrounded by black-suited gangsters he's surrounded by some folk dressed in pink, so I think these were the lackeys of some other villain and not Dou Niu.

I imagine the reason for the reduced location hopping was partly to save on time/budget creating new environments, but also to allow the player more time to explore areas in greater depth and detail.

Another theory re: Chapter 3: the ominous figure under the train could be representing Chai or his VF RPG equivalent, and there would have been a battle with Chai on the train. When the train was cut (very early on I'm assuming), this could have then been moved to a battle on the boat from Yokosuka to Hong Kong, which probably came about as an attempt to give the first game a satisfactory ending when it was decided to split it into Shenmue and Shenmue II. Then that got cut entirely, which is why

we'll be fighting Chai again in Shenmue III.

[Hyo Razuki]

^ Your post was very interesting to read. But as you have also said before, in other topics, we should take all the Project Berkley and Vf RPG stuff with a grain of salt, as that stuff was written over 20 years ago, probably. Not only are S1 and S2 a lot different from what Yu had first envisioned for VFRPG, but also S3's concept has probably changed, comparing to what Yu had in mind 14 years ago.

I sometimes get a feeling, Shenmue will be to Yu what Faust was to Goethe. His greatest achievement which consumed many, many years before it was completed. Goethe worked on his Faust for 60 years and Yu has been working on Shenmue for more than 20 now.

[shenmue852]

I have a theory as to where the Shenmue story may be going that might interest some of you. This might have been said before but, here goes anyway. Is it possible that in order for Ryo to get to Lan Di he will have to get one of the leaders of the Chi You Men to help him out. From everything I've heard it would appear that all 4 leaders each guard some sort of entrance or geographic location of some sort. Also juging by the lttle white yang stone that xiuying gives Ryo it would be safe to assume that Ziming is going to be the one to help and that little stone is going to convince him to do so.

Is it also possible that Ryo and Ziming have already met. Could Master Baihu in fact be Ziming... maybe. The only problem I have with this theory is that if Baihu is Ziming and in fact one of the four leaders of the Chi You Men then how the heck did Ryo beat him. Either he is very careless and underestimated Ryo or... He let him win on purpose. let's assume the latter but what would he possibly gain by doing this. Maybe it was a test to see how stong Ryo is, for what reason I am not yet certain. A quick side note: in all flash backs Ryo has the same hair cut as a child, so does xiuying (kind of) if you compare Child Ziming to Baihu I see the same similarity (or maybe I'm just looking too hard)

I was also thinking does the tiger on Ryo's back hold some sort of significance. Is Ryo going to replace Ziming as one of the four leaders of the Chi You Men. It seems his father had some sort of connection the them. Maybe his father was once one of the four leaders himself. It would explain why Lan Di didn't kill Ryo on that rooftop in Kowloon when he had the chance. Maybe he needs him to fulfill some kind of prophecy.

And finally let's assume that the four leaders of the Chi You Men are going to be replaced. Ryo Would be the Tiger, Sha Hua phenix and either Ziming or xiuying would be Dragon and Serpent it's hard to say who would be which. All four of these characters have no ties to stop them from doing so.

Thoughts anyone?

I also think Ziming is Baihu if not Lan Di.

I think Ryo beat him because although there are people a lot more powerful than Ryo, like Xiuying and Lan Di, Ryo is no slouch either, and every defeat had made him stronger because he learned from them (i.e Chai and Dou Niu

also, by the time Ryo faced Baihu, he had honed his skills a lot in various fights.

Also, just because he lost to Ryo, Baihu is no slouch either. He is one tough mofo.