Random Shenmue III Thoughts

I'm not against Suzuki compromising his vision and making IV the last game, as long as it's good.

The thing is that Yu Suzuki really want to do this? he will enjoy ending like this? it will be satysfing to him ending his story this way? imagine for a moment that Shenmue is your story, would you want to compromise and cut out even more things in your story just to finish quickly? I don't want to compromise my stories.

I don't think he wants to finish in IV, i think his plans now is to finish in V.

Yu Suzuki said Shenmue III got us to 40% of the story, how Yu Suzuki will complete this story in just one more game? i find this not only hard but this can compromise the quality of the story as well, i'm not saying is impossible but in my opinion this is really hard.

If Yu Suzuki decide to end in IV i will completely understand, i will understand his reasons for this. One way he can do that is make Ryo, Shenhua and Ren travel by train to all the places left they need to go like Sergeynest said in another thread, by boat and by train, is one way to do this, but i think that everything will happen really fast in the game.

Like i said in another thread, at the end of the day Shenmue is Yu Suzuki story, Yu Suzuki don't have the obligation to continue Shenmue, my opinion is Yu Suzuki should do what he wants with Shenmue, i feel this way because i have empathy and respect for him. I'm not saying i will agree with everything, i'm just saying that is his story and that i hope Yu Suzuki can complete Shenmue in a way that will be satisfying for him.

Changing subject... i saw this picture now and it was like this at Shenmue Forever "Was the final boat sequence in #Shenmue3 supposed to be playable? It would have been fun to play this minigame. Especially if the ring could be thrown overboard!"

I showed this picture for my friend, my friend knows a lot about chinese culture and said this to me "This type of game is very common in China."

Really interesting, like i said a long time ago i feel that Yu Suzuki wanted to do more with the game, this part in the boat was supposed to be playable but it was cut out of the game? if Shenmue IV happens we will see this minigame? would be really nice to see this minigame in Shenmue IV.


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That would have been great to be able to walk around the boat and get people's feelings on what happened at the old castle, and Shenhua has a conversation with Yuan.

In the beginning of the Niaowu part we can explore the boat but is just for a short time, About what you said it would have been great, i agree.
 
You know, I understand that critics of Shenmue III can be harsh and generalize all fans. However, it is not any different when fans of Shenmue III do it to detractors. I have not insulted anyone who has enjoyed it and in fact, I am perfectly content with someone enjoying something I do not. While I can not control how others behave (nor would I want to), I hold Shenmue fans to a high standard. I do not like being typecast just because I did not enjoy a game.

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You know, I understand that critics of Shenmue III can be harsh and generalize all fans. However, it is not any different when fans of Shenmue III do it to detractors. I have not insulted anyone who has enjoyed it and in fact, I am perfectly content with someone enjoying something I do not. While I can not control how others behave (nor would I want to), I hold Shenmue fans to a high standard. I do not like being typecast just because I did not enjoy a game.

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It is sad and this happen both ways, i remember when i saw this comment on YouTube... "People that like Shenmue III are deluded."

This things happen in the other way as well, people that like Shenmue III telling this things about people who don't like Shenmue III, and some people now disrespect Yu Suzuki.

Like i said in the other thread i like Shenmue III but you don't like the game that much and that's okay, respect is really important.
 
I love how they did the training in Shenmue III, i love training in this game. There are so many ways we can train in the game. We can train alone the One-Inch Punch, Horse Stance and Rooster Step. In martial arts training we have to repeat a lot of things like this, i love the attention and care with details Yu Suzuki have with martial arts in the Shenmue games.

Not only in Shenmue but in Virtua Fighter games as well, and this is one of the reasons why i think the Virtua Fighter series became my favorite fighting game series, the attention and care with details about martial arts.


We can train and learn new moves with the other members of Bailu Martial Arts Hall and Wu Shen Hall, we can train with other characters as well.

I just feel that about the food system it would be better if in the difficulty options we could choose if we want to eat in the game or not.

I think it would be better like this...

Easy - Story Mode, the player will not need to eat.

Normal - Recommended mode, the player will need to eat just 1 or 2 times a day in the game.

Hard - Challenge mode, the player will need to eat 3 or 4 times a day in the game.

Hardest - Nightmare Mode, the player will need to eat a lot of times a day in the game.

I think will be better this way, this way players can choose what is best for them, would be nice a mod like this for Shenmue III. I like the food system i just think it needs improvements but i love the fact that we can eat in the game, and we have a big variety of foods and drinks, to me is really good.

When we train we level up in the game, when we train in the game we can see that Ryo is getting stronger and can endure more without eating and i love this detail, i really enjoyed the way Yu Suzuki did this.

And look at this place and view... the places and visuals of Shenmue III are gorgeous.

I just need to earn one more trophy in VF V Ultimate Showdown but after that i wiil play all Shenmue games again. 😊


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Imo food should just be a way to heal or stamina recovery is just a way to increase the experience you get from levelling up moves during practising and stance training.

Running out of food so you can't run is too realistic for its own good.
 
What is ironic for me, is that for all my criticisms of Shenmue III, the stamina gauge is not one of them. To me, it adds a degree of realism in that Ryo is not a superhuman, and seeing how Shenmue is all about immersing the player via realism makes sense. Besides, the food is cheap, once your stamina gauge reaches level twenty (maximum level) the decrease is nominal, and there are money exploits so players can always be stocked with food and potions.

If I had to make any critique it would be the lack of variety in what the foods do outside of restoring hit points. I like Oregon Pacifist's idea about giving different properties to foods such as a small speed or attack boost or ones that decrease stamina drain and increase your gambling odds. I think that would motivate players to try a different variety of foods and would present fewer false choices.
 
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This could be the mini-game

I do kind of want to hear Corey Marshall deliver the lines "I better find a toilet", "Hello, do you know where I can find a public toilet?", "Ah, that's better.".. at least until the meter runs out again.
 
Ryo Hazuki: I better find a toilet. Hello, do you know where I can find a public toilet? Ah good, that's better.

Great... now i need a peeing minigame in Shenmue IV. 😊
 
I decided to rewatch Matt McMuscles Shenmue III's video again and realized why I will never subscribe to his channel nor Super Eyepatch Wolf's. My main issue with his video is twofold, the first being that for someone who wants to come across as a neutral arbiter of information on post mortem retrospectives clearly shows his bias, and secondly, he falls on his sword too many times to count. I will now present my opinion on why that is.

First of all, he criticizes the ambiguity of Sony's involvement with the Shenmue III Kickstarter. Yet, in the very next breath, he mentions Gio Corsi's quote to which if he had dug deeper he would have found out that Sony was providing some money for marketing, production costs, and to cover the logistical side of things. If one goes on to watch Personal Magnus' video "Making Shenmue III was not easy" he provides a clip from Gio Corsi himself.


He then did not mention that the first two Shenmue titles costed SEGA in the vicinity of forty-seven to seventy million dollars in total. A figure that is so high that every Dreamcast owner would have had to buy Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka twice for SEGA to break even. This failure is why Yu Suzuki was "Moved Upstairs" which is a business speak for his creative power being neutered to save face. So when the Kickstarter was announced in which fans would be taking the financial risk and not SEGA they decided to let Yu Suzuki borrow the license to the Shenmue Intellectual Property. Because as we all know, this was a win-win situation for SEGA in that if Shenmue III sold well, they could easily swoop in and take some of the profits for themselves, and if it failed, SEGA would lose nothing.

His next big mistake was bringing on Super Eyepatch Wolf. For someone who wants to portray the situation in a neutral manner bringing on someone who has a negative bias towards the game defeats that purpose. It is also an Ad Populum fallacy because his video is the most popular on the topic but it is not an objective one. Ironically, there were two easy ways he could have avoided this which are either to find someone with a positive bias as well to counter Eyepatch Wolf's opinion such as Adam Korlaik, James Reiner, Oregon Pacifist, Personal Magnus, or Virtua Bros or just leave him out of it altogether.

While I agree with Eyepatch Wolf on the combat system in Shenmue III, I disagree with him on everything else. His complaint about the stamina system is an excuse to artificially inflate the game's running time is absurd. When you can exploit the money system in Shenmue III of which there is a YouTube video out there explaining the process his whole argument falls apart.


I am not sure what he means by how interacting with the world is still clunky when all you have to do is press a button and the game even highlights things in red when you shift into first-person view. Finally, Eyepatch Wolf complains that Longsun Zhao gets away again and Shenmue III was all for nothing. Forgetting the context around how the game ends.


This is then where Matt brings up the whole Epic Games controversy and once again falls on his sword. He mentions in one breath how fans were not getting the video game that they pledged their money towards and yet in the next breath states that Shenmue III would be coming to Steam within a year. It is amazing how he does not realize his irony.

I think that it was not the moving of launchers that was a big deal because if Shenmue III were moved over to CD Project Red's GOG launcher the outcry of betrayal would have been non-existent. It had to do with the issues the launcher had at the time which had to do with missing features, security issues, bugs/glitches, and potential privacy violations. Therefore, I will provide my perspective on the situation.

When it comes to missing features, Epic has provided a roadmap for the improvement of its launcher. Now whether they implement these proposals is one thing but at least they are aware of this. For the next two points, I will simply state "Welcome to the Internet" a software program that will always be in a perpetual beta state.

Bugs and Glitches are ubiquitous in all software no matter how well coded it is. One only has to watch the "Son of a Glitch" YouTube channel to see this. However, does this stop people from buying video games? Does this stop people from using various software programs? If not, then why does Epic get thrown under the bus because of it? This same logic could apply to security issues as no matter how fortified your firewalls are, some hackers will find a way through them. It has happened to Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, YourTango, Google, the PlayStation Network, and Steam as well. Does this stop anyone from using their services? If not, then why is it a big deal when it's Epic?

Finally, spying on users' private information is something that happens on the microscale and the macroscale. How many individuals have had their personal information leaked online by some hacker? Then you have the National Security Agency spying on all information users post online which is a constitutional violation of citizens' rights. Yet, when it comes to the latter, no one cares but Epic supposedly does this there is massive uproar. Not saying it is acceptable, but either it is all okay or none of it is. In either case, my overall point is that when you entered into the online world you entered into a perpetual beta where you are always at risk. It is what you agreed to when you decided to enter into this domain.

Then Matt complains about the preorder gifts which is just pedantic. Someone who has spent five to thirty dollars is not someone who is even covering the full cost of the game. Anyone over that threshold is like someone who has been given first-class treatment on an airplane being served Foie Gras, Fillet Minion, Caviar, and Champagne but complains when they see someone in Coach Class being fed a cheeseburger with fries and a Coke. Especially considering you were not promised these items in the first place. Because by that logic, is it not unfair for the customers who are not getting these exclusive Kickstarter rewards? I mean they are supporting the game with their hard-earned cash too.

Finally, Matt laments how Shenmue III has us right back at the beginning again. Yet forgets to mention the upcoming anime. This means that Shenmue's future is still uncertain because if the anime is a success, then Shenmue IV is looking more promising, and maybe SEGA will reconsider the viability of the Shenmue franchise once again.

In any case, I apologize for this long post, but I wanted to get all my thoughts out there.
 
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As I understand Youtube gaming personalities make more money, or earn more hits with drama and negativity. It's a shame the Shenmue series got that negative press but I just accept it's part of the culture, and I appreciate the positive experience the series has given me.
 
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Here's how I know the stamina system had no impact on my enjoyment of the game: I completely forget it exists when thinking back on S3. There's plenty of stuff that sticks in my mind, both positive and negative, but the stamina system is just...there. I guess it just never frustrated me. It adds some time buying and eating, I guess, but at least it gives you a legitimate reason to engage with vendors. I also thought all the food in the game looked cool.
 
Here's how I know the stamina system had no impact on my enjoyment of the game: I completely forget it exists when thinking back on S3. There's plenty of stuff that sticks in my mind, both positive and negative, but the stamina system is just...there. I guess it just never frustrated me. It adds some time buying and eating, I guess, but at least it gives you a legitimate reason to engage with vendors. I also thought all the food in the game looked cool.
Personally I get a bit of a dopamine rush every time I buy 200 cheap carrots and then force Ryo to eat 12 in one sitting, but that's just me and my disturbed ways.
 
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