Random Shenmue III Thoughts

Trashing about Yu-san is similar to hitting your dad on a weelchair with a sweated rotten sock. Listen, he made the videogames. Respect the guy and when:
- he responds a question: accept his statements. He's saying what he's willing to and probably its for the project's well, he knows better.
- he announces a game: celebrate his creativity shape. Everything else, saying "this isn't what I was expecting" that won't help at all. Shenmue taught us about frustration and waiting.
I know that it may sound totalitarian but in a certain way, if you REALLY want Shenmue 4 to happen, it has to be like that. At least for myself, I devote to "the party" (YS.net) like a commie.
 
I saw that A Gamer's Journey: The Definitive History of Shenmue is now available on Vimeo. I'm planning to purchase it soon and it will be my first time seeing the documentary, but in the meantime, i decided to rewatch the trailer on Vimeo. The ending of the trailer caught my attention.

At the ending of the trailer, there is a scene with Yu Suzuki holding The Legend Of Akira Chapter 4 Guilin.

Yu Suzuki: Chapter four is set in Guilin. So this is Shenmue III

Guilin.pngShenmueIII.png


As far as i know the Documentary was done at a time when Shenmue III was in development, if this is correct then it looks like at this point Yu Suzuki already had cut Baisha out of the game.

In the video Yu-san said that chapter 4 is Shenmue III

~The Legend of Akira~ Chapter IV Guilin (~晶の章~ 第四章 桂林)

In the game is Bailu Village and Niaowu in Guilin.

After this chapter is Chapter V Baisha

~The Legend of Akira~ Chapter V Baisha (~晶の章~ 第五章 白沙)

It looks like the Shenmue III we got is only chapter 4 Guilin of The Legend Of Akira, and chapter 5 and 6 of the chapters cards, chapter 5 in the chapters cards is Guilin, and chapter 6 is Xian, it looks like Yu-san changed to Niaowu for Shenmue III.


Chapter4.jpg

Chapter5.jpgChapter6.jpg​

I also remember that sometimes Yu-san likes to put pieces of other chapters in the games, a long time ago Yu-san said that the first game is only chapter 1 and Shenmue II is 80% of chapter 2, and that the remaining 20% is some pieces of chapter 4, 5 and 6, so maybe he also put some pieces of other chapters in Shenmue III.

Upon comparing some chapters outlined in The Legend of Akira with some chapters cards of the Virtua Fighter RPG, there seem to be some differences between them.

The Legend Of Akira
Chapter I: Yokosuka
Chapter II: Hong Kong
Chapter III Suzhou
Chapter IV: Guilin
Chapter V: Baisha

Virtua Fighter RPG
Chapter I Yokosuka
Chapter II Hong Kong
Chapter III Train
Chapter IV Shanghai & Suzhou
Chapter V Guilin

Yu-san said that Shenmue III is chapter IV Guilin, and it looks like what happened in the fortified castle was supposed to happen in Baisha.

The next chapter of The Legend of Akira is Baisha. The first location of Shenmue IV will be Baisha or we will never see Baisha in a Shenmue game in a official way? only time will tell, all i know is that it is really sad that Baisha is not in the game.

Yu-san said... "Baisha will show off what Shenmue III is all about" so it really seems like Baisha would be super important to the overall narrative of the game, i really believe that if Baisha had been in the game the game would have been even better.
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From time to time i look at the Shenmue III steam page to see how is going about the recent reviews and all reviews, now is even lower.

Now for recent reviews is Mixed and 63% and all reviews is Mostly Positive and 78%

From time to time it gets better about the recent reviews, but as far as i know now is the lowest that the game has ever reached on steam about reviews.

From time to time i also check the score for the Shenmue anime on MyAnimeList, is getting lower everytime, as far as i remember when the anime ended the score was 6.84 or something like that, i'm not sure but now is 6.67, i think it was last week that the score were 6.66 but now is back to 6.67

The pacing of the anime is fast if we compare to the pacing of the games but we still see a low score for the anime, at least on Crunchyroll is better.


Steam.jpgShenmueAnime.jpg​

People can dislike Shenmue III all they want and people can dislike Shenmue the animation all they want, I'm just expressing my sadness about this topic, i just think this situation is really sad.

My favorite video games series of all time is struggling to survive, my favorite video game series don't get the love and the support it really deserves, we don't know what the future of Shenmue will be, one of my favorite game creators Yu Suzuki don't get the credit and the respect he really deserves.

The Shenmue series is consistently overlooked and faces criticism from various angles, the criticism is not just about Shenmue III is about the entire Shenmue series, some people really love to hate Shenmue as if hating Shenmue is a sport to them, and these people will only be satisfied when the Shenmue Series die.

In my opinion if things were as they should be Yu Suzuki would have the best opportunities to continue Shenmue and at his pace.

Shenmue would have had the DLC for Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, Shenmue would have spin-off games, the Shenmue anime would have a second season, the Shenmue anime season 1 would have a DVD/BluRay release

Shenmue would have a manga version, Shenmue would have more merchandise, Shenmue would have a live action movie, Shenmue would even have a Shenmue musical and much more. In Japan musicals about anime and games are popular and i enjoy japanese musicals very much, even Resident Evil had a musical in Japan.

Telling the Shenmue story in a musical would be very different and interesting to see, the more Shenmue in more media the better.

If one day the Shenmue series dies at least i know that i tried my best to keep the Shenmue series alive.

I know i got a little bit off topic here but this situation about the entire Shenmue series is really sad.

This post of mine is full of sadness but i still have hope... hope for the future of the Shenmue series.

 
While I'm more prone than before to *sigh* concluding the series in anime, the truth (better said, my truth) is that anime stills a niche format.
Followed by millions, specially in internal Japan market but still niche in western. There's a few otaku shops here, and you can sense the "is a thing for freaks" lower but still present. Personally I've been "adviced" to "evolve" many times meaning leaving comic, figures, anime and even videogames behind. And its not even an addiction what I have but just passion. Do this clever people apply the tale for themselves and evolve leaving soccer, fishing or dancing behind? No, they dont even consider it because you guessed right, their hobbies are normal and so grown up.
My hobbies gets reduced in a very simple way that can be easily replicated the other way around. Do you fish? You sit down for hours grabbing a cane with a hook? Mate, grow up. Uh fishy fishy, you can buy fresh fish in the market!!
Sounds snob and idiotic right? Because it is. People should stop judging other people's lifestyles.

Stopping my rant now, thats why I prefer live action over anime for Shenmue in case of not being possible to finish in game form (luckily enough, this scenario is not yet here). There was some low noise time ago, about Netflix offering this but without Yu Suzuki in creative control. That I can't agree at all. Live action with Yu Suzuki at least as 2nd director or assistant director should be mandatory to ensure the characteristic lightful mood of the series.

Allow me to note that checking reviews very often is futile, as it just show a tiny portion of a bigger picture. S3 is already gaining better reviews due Yu-san not making new games other than Air Twister, his abscence in industry becomes noticiable like many others big names from the old school. In many years from here, when Yu-san is not here, many people will be older and reconsidering how they acted Im sure there's gonna be a concensed "we were too hard". This can be avoided by not discussing videogames as if this were politics. Polarized and extreme opinions, lack of grayscales, absolute truths...

Im on the boat of thought that the next series to experience a huge boost in popularity similar to Persona, will be a conjuction: Yakuza, Virtua Fighter and Shenmue. One will pull the other.

Dont be sad for things out of your control, please. Specially with all your dedication and devotion to concluding and later expanding the series. You did great with Iwao spin off, and usually Im against spinoffs specially for Shenmue.
I believe that YS.net has noted it and we will see that content in a not so distant future.
 
You are a monster dude! :D I thought I was a big deal when I did it on PS4. 1000 fish is crazy time consuming, but for me 500,000 tokens are even harder.

I had told myself that I would never do these achievements again, but if they announce Shenmue 4, I promise I will unlock them again on steam. Perfect warm up for the new game! :LOL:
 
I feel like I should go through these games again…well, specifically replay 1 and 3 and actually finish 2 for my first time lol. 1 I feel was the perfect length, got the platinum my first run. 3 kinda felt like it was dragging but I feel it was one of few games where they can get away with saying that’s the point, to feel like Ryo trying to rush into things and having to learn some patience. 2, knowing what I do about it, in comparison to either seems very daunting.
 
BloodyHeartland said:
I feel like I should go through these games again…well, specifically replay 1 and 3 and actually finish 2 for my first time lol. 1 I feel was the perfect length, got the platinum my first run. 3 kinda felt like it was dragging but I feel it was one of few games where they can get away with saying that’s the point, to feel like Ryo trying to rush into things and having to learn some patience. 2, knowing what I do about it, in comparison to either seems very daunting.
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I envy you if you haven't experienced arriving to Guilin and trekking with Shen Hua yet. It moves me everytime but the first time was.. lack of words to describe it. Sorry for the hype but sincerily Shenmue 2 GD4 its otherwordly.
 
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Was Chai Niao Sun's subordinate all along? We know it was Chai's 'dream' in the first game to work for Lan Di and it could be assumed that in 3, there is an implication that he may have achieved his goal. However, when you look at the language of Yanglang (who described his as a 'watchdog' for the mysterious group that ordered his gang to capture the stonemasons) as opposed to answering 'yes' to Ryo questioning if he was CYM, it does make you wonder. When you look at Chai's character, he seems to fit the profile of someone who would be Niao Sun's subordinate. Both are devious, cunning, and masters of espionage. Crucially, Chai's martial arts style (Tanglangquan) is a warped version of what Niao Sun practices. Which, again, might suggest that he worked under her tutelage at some point. Particularly since it's a rather unique style.

Perhaps the biggest clue that Chai answers directly to her is how Niao Sun found out about the Phoenix mirror. Chai was the only known CYM affiliate that knew about the mirror and he purposely withheld this information from Lan Di for some unknown reason after finding out about it. Perhaps he was under strict orders from Niao Sun to keep it a secret?

The reason his goal might be to work for Lan Di, despite working for Niao Sun already, could be explained by the ending of Shenmue 3. The ending hints at a power struggle within the CYM, with Niao Sun desperate to become the head honcho of the organization. Perhaps up until this point, Lan Di was viewed as the leader of the group, thus making it a reasonable goal for someone linked with the organization to see working for him as the ultimate goal. Simply put, working for Niao Sun would simply be a stepping stone to being Lan Di's lapdog.

On a side note, there is a nice contrast between Niao Sun and Lan Di in personality. Both might be cruel but Lan Di is straightforward in his approach and displays honourable traits, such as staying true to his word by letting Ryo live in exchange for the dragon mirror in the first game and the phoenix mirror in the third. In addition to letting Iwao die a warrior's death. There was also no real need for Lan Di to accept Ren's bargain for the mirror, he could have just killed Ren and Ryo and took it for himself.

Niao Sun is very Chai-like in her behaviour...In a scenario where, like with Chunyan, Ryo offered to spare Niao Sun by offering her a hand to pull her up, I get the impression that she would return the favour by pushing him to his death once she got up and he had his back turned.
 
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A different and beautiful view of Niaowu after i defeated Longqi Ge in my second playthrough of the game at that time, i took the photos with my cellphone so is not in high quality.

This year i will probably do my idea about the photo album in high quality of all Shenmue games, i love this idea.

IMG_8467.jpg
IMG_8468.jpg
IMG_8471.jpg
 
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red said:
looks good.

i always thought shenmue's future should be on a handheld console.
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Very smart observation. Democratizing the series in multiplatform damaged its image imo, because S1&2 being tailored to Dreamcast and later locked for many years in that hardware gave it a special aura and also a better experience (the pad once you got used to it, the vmu display..) When S3, and before the remasters got into PC there was lots of complains about being extremely difficult to pass certain QTEs, learn moves and even controlling Ryo. Because this mostly nice people used keyboard. Shenmue needs a gamepad no matter the platform you use, it enhances the experience by many points.
In case of getting official portable release, there's a lot of features that could be repurposed like training Ryo outside the game. Example: a podometer increasing Ryo's stamina as you walk in real life.

Edit: also when it was exclusive DC rottenware it seemed more prone to get people aknowledge it was a 1999/2001 game so it got judged in fairness.
 
Seaman said:
Very smart observation. Democratizing the series in multiplatform damaged its image imo, because S1&2 being tailored to Dreamcast and later locked for many years in that hardware gave it a special aura and also a better experience (the pad once you got used to it, the vmu display..) When S3, and before the remasters got into PC there was lots of complains about being extremely difficult to pass certain QTEs, learn moves and even controlling Ryo. Because this mostly nice people used keyboard. Shenmue needs a gamepad no matter the platform you use, it enhances the experience by many points.
In case of getting official portable release, there's a lot of features that could be repurposed like training Ryo outside the game. Example: a podometer increasing Ryo's stamina as you walk in real life.

Edit: also when it was exclusive DC rottenware it seemed more prone to get people aknowledge it was a 1999/2001 game so it got judged in fairness.
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Playing it with a keyboard seems like a recipe for pain.
 
Sergeynest said:
Really nice video for a Shenmue fan to watch. It shows Fenghuang "Aka" Niaowu; Guilin and other beautiful locations from China accompanied by some lovely music.
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OMG... Next time... (faint) warn about the precious music accompaining the video. The scaling up/down... scaling... SuperScaler... Yu-san ♥️ Shenmue ♥️
Lets go there. I wanna go there!
I see sacred Shenmue tree at 6:00
 
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