Will it be Enough after almost 19+Years?

That's a good question.

Contentwise we are getting the full Shenmue 3 experience thanks to the investments made by the publishers. Story content for sure.

There might be some small mechanical issues in th egames (some are concerned about the fighting) but that will be all relative to the budget. Personally the fact we are playing this game will be enuogh and everything else will be a bonus.
 
Well, the game hasn't been in development for 19+ years, much like Final Fantasy XV which was halted and then had a massive overhaul then poorly handled by a new team - Well at least YsNet don't seem to be incompetent as FFXV's team... I hope. But realistically I see the game really beginning from 2015/2016 (I'm sure someone here has a more accurate depiction of the development cycle :p) but the KickStarter is really what brought life back into this project and where Shenmue III really started to become a possibility.

think if you're looking at it as a game that is nearly 20 years in the making... you're going to be disappointed :p Plus, this game hasn't even had the Triple-A Production value behind it like Final Fantasy XV, so it really isn't going to live up to such expectations - As they're false.

But, will this game appeal and please fans from 2 decades ago... hard to say. It's going to be a different experience through and through - I get the impression that a lot of Shenmue III's narrative progression will be focused on Ryo's Training. Of course I am hoping the investigative elements also push the story too, but I'm not so sure at the moment.

As a fan though, I'm just grateful it exists as a game, once again referring to the train wreck that is Final Fantasy XV it's not even being finished as a game but the last story points are being shovelled into a novel... So I am just grateful that we're getting to experience Shenmue III as a game. I can't wait to continue the narrative and see the lore expanded, learn more about the Mirror's power, the Chi-You Men, & maybe finally confront Lan Di! It's going to be a spectacle, maybe not the most technically most impressive game of the generation but very endearing to though invested in the series like us :)
 
Final Fantasy XV is only good as a gateway to Final Fantasy. Other than that, most hardcore fans (which I’m not of, but I’m a casual FF fan) agree that if you started with 4, 5, and 6, then you have set the bar way too high lol.

Anyway, back on subject. The concept of Shenmue has gone back over 20 years and it’s still Yu’s vision and direction. With my positive experiences with the Unreal Engine, I’m certain Shenmue III will still feel like the old Shenmue games and more. When I see the videos, I see some of the old Shenmue with something new. When I pick this game, I want to feel like I’m in 2003, when the game should’ve came out. Now that most stretch goals are going to be implemented, I look forward to it more than ever! If Suzuki and his crew (apparently he got a good number of the original team back) can make an excellent game at a fraction of the budget of the original, I’d be super impressed.

I’m not really disappointed that they’re not bringing back the VF engine, but I understand to appeal to new gamers or to veterans not good with it, a simpler system is more than welcome. I plan on playing it on Manual EVERY time I play. All I want is a game that can take me to its world and make me believe I can be there, or inspire me to go there as the first game did with me for Japan, as the second game did with me for Hong Kong. A lot of open world games are style over substance, and Shenmue as well as Suzuki’s games as a whole have never been that, they’ve been the reverse.

I think GTA5 and MGS5 are fun games, but a guy did a video about why Shenmue is still the best open world game ever with how most open world games feel too much like a “playground” as opposed to an actual world to experience, and Shenmue gives you that experience with how you can interact with every character, and how every character has their own routine. In most open world games, the NPCs are just there and nothing more for you to punch or shoot at. Nothing wrong with that, it’d be nice to see more open world games akin to Shenmue that allow you to interact with regular people and how they can help you. If Shenmue sticks to its vision, I think it’ll be one of the best games ever in helping make this long overdue saga take one step closer to completion.

I like how Ryo is going to have more clothes to wear, and that he can eat to replenish health and stamina. Some of the new features make perfect sense and are long overdue. I didn’t agree that even though you could go to restaurants or purchase chips or chocolate at a Tomato Mart, you couldn’t consume them. I’m glad that the option is finally going to be included. I’m also happy that training is back and was surprised that it wasn’t utilized in Shenmue II. This time, the training seems very functional and fun.

20 years ago as a high school student, I was hyped for the original game and it met my expectations. Here I am as a middle aged man, and those feelings have yet to linger away for the upcoming third game, and I’m proud I played a small part in making it happen.
 
I think the most exciting thing for me is that this Shenmue has the most recorded Dialogue lines ever. A lot of story to take in guys. I want to say the wait has been dreadful but in the sense of bringing it to life by the fans will make this experience one of a kind. The gaming industry must respect that and of course big brother Sega is keeping a close eye on it as well.

I'm hoping to see a Showing here in Tokyo for TGS 2019. I want to be present for its premiere if planned.
 
I think the most exciting thing for me is that this Shenmue has the most recorded Dialogue lines ever. A lot of story to take in guys.
This is what does excite me! I'm hoping there will be a lot of depth in the dialogue options, not necessarily choices but many situations which occur which may be missable or require you to do certain things. The previous games have so many unique moments that it will be fun discovering scenes which you may have overlooked on the forum :)
 
I can see it being like Splinter Cell: Conviction to me. I didn't like it as a Splinter Cell game, but enjoyed it all the same. I've purposely not been keeping on top of the updates so that the entire game's a surprise, however I've accidentally stumbled across tidbits of information that make it seem like there's no elements of the originals in there that I loved.

Hope I'm wrong obviously, but my relatively low expectations should soften the blow if it's not the amazing game I expected when I was 12.
 
I'm one of the older fans around here - I was 25 or 26 when I played Shenmue I, so I don't have a childhood memory to live up to. Having said that, I was still mightily impressed by Shenmue at the time. My hope is that there will be an abundance of the same kind of rare and unique experiences that people are still discovering and sharing with each other from I & II even now... in other words, in 2038, someone will share an interaction with a character in a specific time or place that they found in III, and others will have that same "Wow, I never saw that before!" reaction. So I've got high (low?) hopes for the depth of the game's world. That's what will make it really satisfying to me.
 
I knew Shenmue back then but I never played it because I was blinded by the Ps2 hype. Played Shenmue on my DC the first time in 2018 and so far the third installment will be completely satisfying for me. It looks just like a modern Shenmue. That is all I want.
 
When people talk about something missing in their lives, this is a prime example for me. I could not care how good or bad this game is, I just need to see the third game through, and ideally the entire series.

I was a kid who was bullied at school, never thought I would have a decent job, own my home, get married and have a child. Because these stuff have come to fruition, I have largely put the bad times behind me. I no longer think about the times I was bullied and I have no real regrets from the past or things buried that I don't want resurfacing.

However, Shenmue is the god damn exception. Since the second game, I've probably not gone a single week without thinking about Shenmue. It's the only lingering thing from my past that's on my mind. It's got to a point I could not care if this game was absolute crap, I just need the closure!
 
If they can deliver the same thing that made me fall in love with Shenmue the first time around then it will be enough.

If they can deliver an evolution of the Shenmue I know and love then that will be even better.

It's as simple as that for me.
 
God I hope Shenmue III lives up to the hype...if the Shenmue saga dies, spectrums of humanity may die along with it...

The death of Shenmue will signal the death of heartfelt and human interactive art as businesses invest in more inhuman and sociopathic & psycho media to hypnotize the masses...
 
If you approach the game with the feeling that the longer you waited for it, the better it needs to be to justify that wait, then it can't possibly live up to such a standard. Not even a triple-A budget would have allowed Suzuki to compete with that kind of expectation.

This is a continuation of Shenmue, nothing more and nothing less, and those who've played it from a fan's perspective are satisfied that you'll enjoy its authenticity. It's as good as it was always going to be, but with a dash of modern polish over what was possible in 2003. Unlike your anticipation, the game hasn't been continuously cooking since then, with every false dawn making it bigger and better, so try not to drop that baggage in its lap when you finally get to play it for the first time.
 
I have changed so much since late 2001 when I first completed Shenmue II. I don't really have the time or patience for most games anymore, and the ones I do try often leave me numb or bored.

Yet something tells me that I will get an insane thrill when I finally play Shenmue III. I want it to be good, but I owe it to my 2001 self to just bask in the experience, no matter what I think of it from a critical point of view. We have to keep reminding ourselves how unlikely this outcome truly was. If not for the passion of this community, the advent of crowdfunding and a little marketing boost from Sony, we probably would have all gone to our graves without ever playing Shenmue III. It is worth remembering that.
 
Shenmue is more than just a video game to me. In a lot of ways it helped me transition into adulthood. In terms of satisfaction, I would've been happy if Yu Suzuki wrote the remaining chapters on a napkin and framed it somewhere for people to read. What I've seen from Shenmue III so far is giving me the inclination to believe this is a very unapologetic Shenmue experience and I couldn't ask for more.

As far as what I'm personally looking for out of the game in terms of expectations, the only thing I want is for the game to teach me something that I can carry on to my real life and learn some lessons that can make me a better man like Shenmue I and II did.
 
I feel very confident I will be satisfied with it.

Following up the most expensive game series ever with a modest crowdfunded sequel was always going to be really, really hard. From what we've seen and heard so far though, it looks like the series spirit is alive and well without too many compromises, and in fact may well exceed what was possible with the originals in some respects. The game design side has undoubtedly been expanded upon, and that's pretty exciting.

Heightened RPG mechanics feel like a natural evolution of what was there before, and should really provide the incentive to get into a routine of training and learning the combat system. Making money seems so much more robust than before, and the freedom seen in the buy/trade/sell systems really makes me think learning the game world intimately will have a huge benefit. The Affinity System too sounds like it could totally flip the script on how investigation gameplay works now in Shenmue, and add some complexity and consequences over just "talk to person A/B/C/D/E to learn about person F".

They've really gotten their hands in the dough trying to build a better Shenmue, and on a restricted budget that's a really bold move, but I think it's going to pay off. Some might not appreciate how much more gamey Shenmue III is over the originals, but I think the shift is justified and might even get more players to enjoy Shenmue how many of us enjoy it; by really soaking it all up and "living" it.

Even now I have no real idea where the story goes or what Ryo's arc this time around is, but what we've seen of the plot this year alone has me confident they've nailed the tone. The MAGIC 2019 and E3 2019 trailers are great examples of this, because there are so many familiar little ticks in the storytelling you can see happening, so I have no doubts this has been handled well and will feel as true a continuation as possible.

The visuals are the sticking point for some people, but I don't have a problem. They're not the selling point and wisely weren't Yu Suzuki's focus for the budget, but even still they've been consistently polishing how it looks even in these final months. The game genuinely looks great at it's peak:

je2019_03_late_aftern1bjcd.jpg


The colours and the atmosphere are just something else.

Roll on November. Roll on September for the backer trial, even. I'm ready to go home.
 
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