Shenmue III - Fighting Talk (Non-Spoiler)

Vivi-gamer

Vivi-gamer

Joined
Jul 27, 2018
HI,

So I have begun Shenmue III like most of you and I still feel a little puzzled by the combat.I don't quite know what all th Training focus on:

Attack - Is this Strenght overall
Endurance - Is this Health or does this increase the time you can block?
Kung Fu - ??? - Not sure if this will be relevant later and neding to be a certain level for a story point?
Moves Levels - Some moves you can Level up in Sparring, But I've not been able to get an indication on the stats of each move (Other than it's Level), I mean how much damage it actually does - In the previous two games you could go to the menu and see a bar on your moves progress and also stats on it's power.

I think the biggest problem I am having is the Blocks Stanima Bar, I find often that when an enemy catches me with a 5-6 combo I'm toast - S o I am wanting to know if this bar increases as you train?

I've noticed you can do a quick retreat by pressing backwards twice.

That's just my thoughts and questions but if anyone else has any questions regarding the combat feel free to address them here :)
 
FYI in Shenmue II I don't think the power for your moves ever increased. The only thing that changed as the progress bar increased in II was how long the damage lasted for, i.e. how long it would take for the enemy to regain health after you had hit them with that move.

I think endurance is health/stamina, because that increases as your endurance increases, doing things like One Inch Punch and Horse Stance. Kung Fu looks like the sum of Endurance + Attack. I'm playing on Hard and it's pretty challenging, it really makes you focus on training and sparring :)
 
Training on horse stance and one inch punch machines increases the stamina/health bar.

Attack increases by sparring, and yeah I think is just a strength/power increase.
 
Amir said:
I think endurance is health/stamina, because that increases as your endurance increases, doing things like One Inch Punch and Horse Stance. Kung Fu looks like the sum of Endurance + Attack.
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Correct, that’s been my observation from finishing the game.

In terms of combat once you have enough move scrolls I immediately went to Skill Book editor and started creating my own custom list under Manual Assign (M1-4) I usually reserved this for powerful attacks, typically that required 3-4 button combinations so I could pull those off every time with trigger button.

Don’t forget to switch back to Automatic mode or have a manual list with new move scrolls purchased when sparing because once a move has been mastered when sparing you will not improve XP for attack and overall kungfu level without new move scrolls. So always look to purchase new scrolls or complete pawn shop exchange quests.

Finally don’t forget to look at Skill Books section and you will see move list for a lot of Ryo’s combinations he learnt in the first two games. These can’t be assigned to bumpers unfortunately but some of them are legitimately great offensive options such as Mud Spider, Twin Blades or Oblique Slam. Also remember double tapping left analogue stick left or right is to dodge and double tapping down gives you space. I would often close in and either dodge or pull back letting them start combo and counter attack. Lots of options available. In fights with multiple opponents right thumb sticks switch which character you will attack seen by small white icon.
 
I've spent only few hours on the game but I didn't get the logic leading the key mapping. In S1&2, the keys were intuitive: one for punch, another for kick and the last for grabbing. But Shenmue 3 looks more like Mortal Kombat's shambles. It's quite difficult to remember each combo.
 
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I have only played until passing the end of the demo, but I think I am getting use to it and liking it really fast. I usually don't like the front buttons combo stuff (I rarely perform a Raging Demon with Akuma or the Geese Howard super) but somehow I am able to perform Elbow Assault, Counter Elbow and another two "difficult" ones at will. How all the system will work through the game I don't know, but so far I am liking it, it is not VF but the fighting was my biggest worry and it is no more.

Also, I would love to really need 4 different set of moves and use manual mode during the game depending on the rival. I am playing on hard, btw
 
The fighting system is absolutely awful, i think the game in general has been pretty shit, only a few hours in but i might just watch a playthrough instead of suffering through it
 
I find the fighting definitely more challenging than previous games, at least on Hard, which I think is a good thing for those who want it. On my last playthrough of Shenmue II just before starting up III, I managed to win almost every fight by spamming Elbow Assault, but that strategy doesn't work in III.
 
I'll be honest. I don't like the new fighting engine at all. Until I see more footage out there of people doing fights in S3 on hard difficulty and kicking serious butt I think it's not worth the hassle investing a lot of time into mastering it.

I'm not being too negative, just critical because I think that this is literally my only criticism of the game, the animations are one thing but the execution is another, the moves I want to come out simply don't and it ends up playing like a masher, the fact the words come up saying "JUST HIT A/B/X/Y" proves this. Suzuki may have made Virtua Fighter but this time around the combat isn't fun, isn't worth the investment of trying to master it and only serves to be part of the story where Ryo defeats his foes.
 
I'm playing on hard, last fight of the first dojo, attack lvl 9, stamina lvl 8, kung fu lvl 16,
all of my moves are on master - no chance.
i can block and dodge in all the directions, he hits me like 3-4 times and its over
but my hardest special moves only reduces 1 1/2 of his health bubbles.
so even if i survive long enough to reduce his health to 50%, it doesnt mean anything
because he can still beat me in 5 seconds if he catches me on the wrong foot.
 
Tosh said:
I'm playing on hard, last fight of the first dojo, attack lvl 9, stamina lvl 8, kung fu lvl 16,
all of my moves are on master - no chance.
i can block and dodge in all the directions, he hits me like 3-4 times and its over
but my hardest special moves only reduces 1 1/2 of his health bubbles.
so even if i survive long enough to reduce his health to 50%, it doesnt mean anything
because he can still beat me in 5 seconds if he catches me on the wrong foot.
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Have you purchased sweeping move kick from Tao store? I found I would let him get close and then quickly dodge or pull back and let him start animation attack and quickly counter with counter elbow assault or powerful kick flooring him. While he was on floor I would quickly hit him with 1-2 sweeping kicks taking off further health. If you have enough space and understand timing brawling uppercut also takes off good chunk of health.
 
I'm playing on Hard. I think the more you invest into it, the better it gets.

Sweeping Kick from the Tao store is a blessing and should be one of the first moves you invest in. I noticed that some moves transition into sweep kick once you level it all up a little more. It's so worth it. I feel like the more you spar, the better the fighting gets. If you get your levels up on everything, it seems to me that everything starts feeling a little more responsive.

If you try to go gung-ho and button mash then you will have a bad time with it. But if you keep your distance and look for your openings, it ain't too bad. You can't just go in anymore and spam Elbow Assault like you could with the old games. You do have to be a bit more mindful and keep your distance and look for windows of attack.

Sure, I miss counters and throws greatly. I really miss Swallow Flip and Machine Gun Punch. But I don't find the fighting to be too bad. It's just re-adjusting to it and getting used to it that is the key factor. It can be janky at times thanks to canned animations...I wish this game had more money to do better animation work as a whole.

It's far from perfect and I would love to see them refine it more down the road (if we get to IV, I hope they add throws and a dedicated dodge button to it and just speed it up a little)

But once you get the hang of it, I don't think it's too bad. It's just different to what we're all used to.
 
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1) Master all moves and buy all the moves you can get and max them. The more moves you master the harder the move hit and the stronger your character hits since master moves increase Strenght and Kung Fu.
2) The Horse stance is useless... Do the One inch much instead it increases your health bar faster than Horse stance and faster to level up.
3) Perhaps you can do horse stance "After" you master once inch punch but have not reach that level instead.

The most important is leveling the moves. The Horse stance and One-inch punch don't make a huge difference except for more health.
Have anyone know what Kung Fu actually does?
Strength increases Damage of all Moves so is very useful.

Elbow Strike is really good it seems to destroy the enemy Defence Bar once you master the move and raise your strength.
So you can use elbow strike to destroy the defense and then do a combo.
 
Attack increases by mastering moves during sparring. Endurance increases through one inch punch, Horse stance and ... .

Kung Fu increases with the other two stats and dictates how hard you can hit while endurance increases health and block duration.

If you want to make fighting easier, master every move you have available through sparring (each move can be mastered through two training sessions if you spam it and get good/great on the QTEs), train with the wooden dummies and buy/trade for new move scrolls to master.

I warn you that it really takes the challenge out of the fighting if you train too hard though, with only the best dojo fighters providing any kind of difficulty.
 
stillsense said:
I'll be honest. I don't like the new fighting engine at all. Until I see more footage out there of people doing fights in S3 on hard difficulty and kicking serious butt I think it's not worth the hassle investing a lot of time into mastering it.

I'm not being too negative, just critical because I think that this is literally my only criticism of the game, the animations are one thing but the execution is another, the moves I want to come out simply don't and it ends up playing like a masher, the fact the words come up saying "JUST HIT A/B/X/Y" proves this. Suzuki may have made Virtua Fighter but this time around the combat isn't fun, isn't worth the investment of trying to master it and only serves to be part of the story where Ryo defeats his foes.
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It’s just you.
 
The problem I have now is that I've mastered all my moves I've got so far! you can't increase your attack skill by sparring when you've got no more move scrolls

I've also mastered one in punch and if horse stance is the same level then I've nearly mastered that too :p

A side note - not sure if anyone has mentioned it but when you do sparring the in-game clocks time actually stops, unlike on mini-games or horsestance/oneinchpunch
 
Vivi-gamer said:
The problem I have now is that I've mastered all my moves I've got so far! you can't increase your attack skill by sparring when you've got no more move scrolls

I've also mastered one in punch and if horse stance is the same level then I've nearly mastered that too :p

A side note - not sure if anyone has mentioned it but when you do sparring the in-game clocks time actually stops, unlike on mini-games or horsestance/oneinchpunch
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Time to find some more skill books. Looks like there are more than 50, so I’m curious how high the Kung Fu stat can go. Each move scroll seems to add 1 to the attack stat when mastered, so I’m guessing the total Kung Fu stat could be 99/100
 
tomboz said:
Time to find some more skill books. Looks like there are more than 50, so I’m curious how high the Kung Fu stat can go. Each move scroll seems to add 1 to the attack stat when mastered, so I’m guessing the total Kung Fu stat could be 99/100
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Oh I have been :p I've bought all the ones from Tao & all the ones trading with the pawn shop at panda market + the DLC ones :p - I should add I am still in Bailu - I think I'm about level 31 Kung fu
 
Vivi-gamer said:
The problem I have now is that I've mastered all my moves I've got so far! you can't increase your attack skill by sparring when you've got no more move scrolls

I've also mastered one in punch and if horse stance is the same level then I've nearly mastered that too :p

A side note - not sure if anyone has mentioned it but when you do sparring the in-game clocks time actually stops, unlike on mini-games or horsestance/oneinchpunch
Click to expand...
I noticed that in the demo as well.
In the demo, I had all moves brought and mastered by noon.
Horse stance and one inch punch does use time through.
How much HP you have now ?
since you almost mastered endurance exercises.
 
I came back home earlier than orignaly planned so I could Play the game yesterday for the first time. I have just seen the first fight with the bookie and I cannot complain much about the fighting system much. Feels different than the fighting of 1 and 2 but it still fits in the lore of the Shenmue universe I think. In a manner of speaking the figthing is harder now than it was in the past. Because the Energy is refreshing anymore. And it also seems you cannot consume items during the fight???

So you have to be much more strategic than you have to be in the past. Failing a few times in the first figh and the need to practise at the kung fu hall was quite a nice Feeling. A big difference compared to the first Shenmue, were every fight before the fight against the great Chai in the Arcarde were rather simplistic.
 
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