WEEKLY AM2 VOL. 7: INTERVIEW WITH SHENMUE PLANNING DIRECTOR, EIGO KASAHARA

[Switch]

A translation of Weekly AM2 Vol.7 is now up!

Eigo Kasahara: "The hardest part was the meetings. We would have an offsite camp every week, or every other week, held at a recreation facility at Lake Yamanaka [a resort area near Mt Fuji] or Zushi [a seaside location south of Tokyo]. Once we got there, it was continuous meetings for 24 hours a day. We'd usually stay up all night on the day before going there to prepare materials, so we ended up in meetings for two whole days without any sleep."



Weekly AM2 Vol. 7 (English translation)
https://www.phantomriverstone.com/2023/02/weekly-am2-vol-7-interview-with-shenmue.html

 

[code l name]

Thank you as always @Switch for your great work. We know according to many developers how grueling and intensive Shenmue's development was. A couple of additional quotes stood out to me-

The development duration was a remarkable 3 years 10 months!

It's sort of funny hearing this in the context of modern AAA+ games taking anywhere between 4-6 years, sometimes more from conception to final release. I know at the time it was a shorter development cycle but funny to look back on this.

I think Shenmue needs more than one completion of the game to fully experience the fun it has to offer, so I hope you'll enjoy it by playing multiple times, and you'll make a lot of new discoveries.

It's so clear to me they put in so much optional content for players to replay the game multiple times. Obviously, we don't have data or trophies in this era but I wonder how many casual fans even finished the first game let alone replayed it.

 

[JP_]

I wonder how many casual fans even finished the first game let alone replayed it.

I can’t even imagine not finishing it. But I’m sure you’re right. Those poor lost souls.