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:
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.