Friday 5th June saw the official announcement (after the leaks 2 weeks prior) of Virtua Figher: Crossroads. With a first look at the Story mode our breath was taken away with just how good this looked.
Story Mode Trailer
Following new protagonist Cielo in the fictional city of Vilaspara, we find our new hero meeting friends and chatting in a very familiar restaurant, more on that later, before heading off to some fighting pits, giving strong Shenmue Chapter Card 4 and Virtua Fighter Anime vibes.
We then get one very slick-looking fight scene in said restaurant, before the owner is revealed to be none other than Pai Chan! Shenmue fans will relate this back to the Dou Jiang Diner fight in Shenmue 2!
Later on, a more detailed story mode trailer was released –
Extended Story Trailer
As many of our regualrs will note here, is the very distinct feel of Shenmue! From 1 second in and all the way through you can feel the Shenmue vibes across this city, feel and look. Seeing Cielo running through QTE’s, fighting multiple enemies, one v one fights and exploring worlds, you could be forgiven for thinking this is Shenmue V2.0 (or VFRPG reborn), What is clear here is that RGG have taken on all their experience to create a stunning showcase.
In the 25-minute extended Developer Showcase video, further details were given around how this concept came to life. From planning character motivations and character trees, to integrating the VF fighting engine within the narrative, RGG are clearly seeking to put Virtua Fighter back at the forefront of the fighting game genre.
A major talking point is the writing team. Coverage notes that David Hayter is involved as World Building Supervisor, with Brad Kane as Lead Writer and Tsuyoshi Furuta, from the Like a Dragon/Judgment side of RGG, involved as Scenario Director. That gives the project a very clear RGG flavour, especially in the way it appears to be building a living urban setting around martial arts culture.
Developer Showcase
Shenmue Links
From the comments and observations online, many have already made links to our beloved series. While the tone of VF: Crossroads is different from Shenmue, it is very clear that Shenmue along with Like a Dragon/Yakuza and VF RPG has been a huge inspiration here.
One of the developers commented, “I think it’s going to give people a whole new kind of experience that they’ve never had from a video game.” Shenmue, of course, did this back in 1998.
However, what this feels like is perhaps what the AM2 team, headed up by Yu Suzuki, had envisioned with Shenmue but were not able to fulfil in totality, despite delivering a massively groundbreaking title. If anything, this shows just how far ahead of the curve AM2 and Suzuki really were.
The next question is what this means for the Shenmue series. Does SEGA need Shenmue when they now have this, especially when many in our community have noted how close it feels to Shenmue while also expanding into the FGC? The smart money would be on SEGA pushing this over a new Shenmue game, but there is absolutely no reason why SEGA could not still do Shenmue if they struck the right balance between its unique feel and the modern presentation seen here. The engine is there, the passion from us is always here, this could be the spark needed to allow SEGA to re-launch Shenmue in the way they have with Virtua Fighter.
Community Push
As ever, we will continue to push for the betterment of the Shenmue series. The Tweetathons using #LetsGetShenmue4 will continue while we assess our next steps. This is including reviewing the current hashtag and perhaps changing tact.
July’s Tweetathon will have a message very much linked to this new Virtua Fighter title. As promotion around Virtua Fighter: Crossroads progresses, we are asking the Shenmue community to show love for the game, while also highlighting what Shenmue brings to the table.
This means encouraging discussion around the historical links to VF RPG, the strengths of Shenmue, and why the series still has a unique place in SEGA’s catalogue. In an ideal world, we want SEGA to pick Shenmue back up and we will keep making the case for exactly that.
Coverage
Going forward, we are hoping to cover Virtua Fighter: Crossroads in its entirety. Please keep an eye out on our social media, youtube and forums for more information!
