Random Shenmue III Thoughts

The flaming pearl was the first thing I pointed out when people took Shenmue III too literally and were concerned the treasure was just a literal chest of treasure. I mean, seriously...you think everyone's going crazy over these mirrors just to get rich? Does Lan Di strike you as someone who's driven by greed?

I've always had the impression the mirrors unlock the source of some incredible power -- eternal youth, resurrecting the dead, time travel -- something like that. And maybe it can only be accessed by someone with royal blood.

And I've always thought that if there was a physical treasure, it's probably long gone by now, or out of reach. Why? Because there's no way Ren's going home rich :ROFLMAO: He's going to learn that friends are more important than money.
 
orient said:
The flaming pearl was the first thing I pointed out when people took Shenmue III too literally and were concerned the treasure was just a literal chest of treasure. I mean, seriously...you think everyone's going crazy over these mirrors just to get rich? Does Lan Di strike you as someone who's driven by greed?

I've always had the impression the mirrors unlock the source of some incredible power -- eternal youth, resurrecting the dead, time travel -- something like that. And maybe it can only be accessed by someone with royal blood.

And I've always thought that if there was a physical treasure, it's probably long gone by now, or out of reach. Why? Because there's no way Ren's going home rich :ROFLMAO: He's going to learn that friends are more important than money.
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I just hope Yu Suzuki doesn't take out the mystical elements from the Shenmue series because I would be really sad if that were to happen.
For me; the mythology and the mystical elements from chinese culture are one of the most fascinating things about Shenmue; they are like the salt and pepper of the series.
Taking them out makes no sense to me and would end up making Ryo's journey seem just like your typical revenge story.
 
Sergeynest said:
I just hope Yu Suzuki doesn't take out the mystical elements from the Shenmue series because I would be really sad if that were to happen.
For me; the mythology and the mystical elements from chinese culture are one of the most fascinating things about Shenmue; they are like the salt and pepper of the series.
Taking them out makes no sense to me and would end up making Ryo's journey seem just like your typical revenge story.
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Agreed, but I honestly don't think we have anything to worry about.

I've gotta say, it's funny how the tides have turned over the years. I remember the backlash to the hints at "magic" in S2 back in the day. A lot of people really weren't on board with it, saying it destroys the realism.

But now it's seen as a fundamental part of the series, with only a small minority who dislike the idea of the mystical aspects becoming reality.
 
orient said:
Agreed, but I honestly don't think we have anything to worry about.

I've gotta say, it's funny how the tides have turned over the years. I remember the backlash to the hints at "magic" in S2 back in the day. A lot of people really weren't on board with it, saying it destroys the realism.

But now it's seen as a fundamental part of the series, with only a small minority who dislike the idea of the mystical aspects becoming reality.
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TBH it kinda felt out of place back in the early 00's. Everything feels realistic in Shenmue and then out of nowhere swords are flowing and beams of light are shooting out everywhere. To make matters even worse we were in limbo for years and Shenmue Online having Ryo shoot hadoukens😂.

After completing Shenmue 3 its easier to deal with. Im still not sure whats going on with Shenhua and her abilities but I expect Shenmue 4&5 to deliver the goods on that.
 
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BruceWayne911 said:
TBH it kinda felt out of place back in the early 00's. Everything feels realistic in Shenmue and then out of nowhere swords are flowing and beams of light are shooting out everywhere. To make matters even worse we weren't in limbo for years and Shenmue Online having Ryo shoot hadoukens😂.

After completing Shenmue 3 its easier to deal with. Im still not sure whats going on with Shenhua and her abilities but I expect Shenmue 4&5 to deliver the goods on that.
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I think that for the original Shenmue Yu Suzuki always wanted to incorporate some mystical and magical elements that are connected with chinese mythology that inspired him in the creation of the Shenmue story but nothing too much over the top; like Shenmue Online per example.
I think that for Shenmue online he had to go that route because he had to have more room to expand that universe in order keep adding more content on the long run.
I see Shenmue's mysticism and magic a bit like Game of Thrones; where there are things that can be explained and some things that are kept in the dark that don't have a clear answer; but nothing super extreme like in other video games or tv series; at least that's how I hope it will be portraid in the series.
 
What if Shenmue III had released on the Dreamcast with the exact same story content that we got in the Shenmue III we did get? Obviously, I don't think that would have been the case had it come out on the Dreamcast as I do believe the game would have been somewhat different...I think we would have seen Baisha for one thing...but what if?

What if you got the exact same story from Shenmue III (current day version) in a hypothetical Dreamcast or Xbox version? Do you think people would have been more forgiving back when or would they still be annoyed about the lack of true progress?

Just a random thought.
 
A lot of people didn't like Disc 4 of Shenmue II back in the day. Even myself, after the action packed heights of Disc 3, found it to go on a bit too long. I loved all of it in the remaster though, so I'm happy to admit my 17 year old self was wrong in that respect, but I really disliked the 'magic' in the ending too both then and now. For a game that tried more so than any other to be realistic I thought it was too much of a tonal shift. Personally, i was glad that was retconned.

I think Shenmue III would always have been a divisive entry whether today or twenty years ago. Going from an intricate urban environment to a full blown city, to a remote rural village would always drive some players away.

If Yu had stuck to his original vision of Bailu without the arcades and distractions then it potentially could have been less well received than the version we got.
 
danielmann861 said:
What if Shenmue III had released on the Dreamcast with the exact same story content that we got in the Shenmue III we did get? Obviously, I don't think that would have been the case had it come out on the Dreamcast as I do believe the game would have been somewhat different...I think we would have seen Baisha for one thing...but what if?

What if you got the exact same story from Shenmue III (current day version) in a hypothetical Dreamcast or Xbox version? Do you think people would have been more forgiving back when or would they still be annoyed about the lack of true progress?

Just a random thought.
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Down by Law said:
A lot of people didn't like Disc 4 of Shenmue II back in the day. Even myself, after the action packed heights of Disc 3, found it to go on a bit too long. I loved all of it in the remaster though, so I'm happy to admit my 17 year old self was wrong in that respect, but I really disliked the 'magic' in the ending too both then and now. For a game that tried more so than any other to be realistic I thought it was too much of a tonal shift. Personally, i was glad that was retconned.

I think Shenmue III would always have been a divisive entry whether today or twenty years ago. Going from an intricate urban environment to a full blown city, to a remote rural village would always drive some players away.

If Yu had stuck to his original vision of Bailu without the arcades and distractions then it potentially could have been less well received than the version we got.
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IMO had Shenmue 3 released on Dreamcast or Xbox we would've gotten a completely different game. A game that rivals Shenmue 2. Shenmue 2 was such a great game because alot of assets were already in place. If you give Yu Suzuki the money and a development team things were only going to get better with each entry.

The Shenmue 3 we got on PS4 and PC was extremely watered down but without a full development team, money and assets what else could you expect. I personally wouldn't mind see the remainder of Shenmue finish up with the Sega Dreamcast assets. I think it would be cheaper and Sega would probably let Yu have access to a full development team(at least I'd like to think so). Indie developers get away with using SNES graphics for games why can't Shenmue use the old system? Shenmue is a niche franchise.
 
danielmann861 said:
What if Shenmue III had released on the Dreamcast with the exact same story content that we got in the Shenmue III we did get? Obviously, I don't think that would have been the case had it come out on the Dreamcast as I do believe the game would have been somewhat different...I think we would have seen Baisha for one thing...but what if?
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As much as its a fools errand, or pipe dream, I still hold out hope that one day a Shenmue III Dreamcast style mod will be created by the community. All of the textures from the original games are in the hands of modders, so I am not sure how the actual development of that would take place. Taking Bailu Village for example, could all of the current textures be replaced with textures from the original games? Or would the environment terrain need to be recreated from scratch, and then have the work done on that?

I half heartedly looked into using UE4, but there's no way i could pick it up. In my simpleton mind, i wish there was some sort of program where you can easily select a texture... say the path and grass around the verdant bridge, and replace it. You have a drop down menu to select the texture you want to replace it with (Shenmue 2 grass and path texture) and boom. There you go. If it was as simple as that, i wouldnt stop working on it, replacing every little detail, interior and exterior. But of course, life and game development just isnt that simple.

I know it would be far too difficult to incorporate all of the story elements, such as cutscenes etc, but just to walk around a Dreamcast themed Bailu Village, looking like the original games would have done (had they carried on) will still be a dream I hold onto.
 
danielmann861 said:
What if Shenmue III had released on the Dreamcast with the exact same story content that we got in the Shenmue III we did get? Obviously, I don't think that would have been the case had it come out on the Dreamcast as I do believe the game would have been somewhat different...I think we would have seen Baisha for one thing...but what if?

What if you got the exact same story from Shenmue III (current day version) in a hypothetical Dreamcast or Xbox version? Do you think people would have been more forgiving back when or would they still be annoyed about the lack of true progress?

Just a random thought.
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It's also a thought I had not too long ago. I wondered if people were pissed at the story because it's been 18 years of hype and after all this time they were thinking of something epic, or would they be this pissed about the story back then ?

Of course, acknowledging that there is some problems in the storytelling as well.
 
danielmann861 said:
What if Shenmue III had released on the Dreamcast with the exact same story content that we got in the Shenmue III we did get? Obviously, I don't think that would have been the case had it come out on the Dreamcast as I do believe the game would have been somewhat different...I think we would have seen Baisha for one thing...but what if?

What if you got the exact same story from Shenmue III (current day version) in a hypothetical Dreamcast or Xbox version? Do you think people would have been more forgiving back when or would they still be annoyed about the lack of true progress?

Just a random thought.
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Posted in another thread, where I guess a similar discussion is taking place:

I tend to believe our time in Bailu would've felt deeper if the original Shenmue 3 had gone ahead as planned: more NPC routines, deeper conversations with NPCs, more activities in Bailu, less of a 'designed' feeling (IMO, there's something a bit unnatural about the way both Bailu and Niaowu are laid out) as you walk through the various areas, more variety than copy/pasted gambling areas, etc. The story outline likely didn't change too much.

That's what I think would mostly change, the game's depth. I think story would've been quite similar. Surely it was re-written and edited to fit the new scope, but I think the story beats would have played out similarly; but with more depth.
 

danielmann861 said:
What if Shenmue III had released on the Dreamcast with the same story content that we got in the Shenmue III we did get? I don't think that would have been the case had it come out on the Dreamcast as I do believe the game would have been somewhat different...I think we would have seen Baisha for one thing...but what if?

What if you got the same story from Shenmue III (current day version) in a hypothetical Dreamcast or Xbox version? Do you think people would have been more forgiving back when or would they still be annoyed about the lack of true progress?

Just a random thought.
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I am going to avoid the speculative nature of this question because there is no way of knowing what Shenmue III would have been like if it had SEGA's resources behind it. However, to answer your question, as I can only speak for myself, yes, I would have been disappointed. Bad writing is bad writing regardless of when it was written.

The opposite is also true in that one only needs to look at the works of Tolkien or Shakespeare. In other words, good or bad writing is independent of the era it was written in. I have no doubt we would have gotten a Shenmue III with higher production values, but that doesn't mean much. The Transformers movies or the Star Wars sequel and prequel trilogies have high production values, but I don't know if anyone would consider them cinematic masterpieces either.

I would have been just as disappointed because Shenmue II did such a wonderful job setting everything up for Shenmue III. It's the equivalent in some regards, of Game of Thrones that had a great start but a disappointing finish.
 
Tsukuyomimagi99 said:
I am going to avoid the speculative nature of this question because there is no way of knowing what Shenmue III would have been like if it had SEGA's resources behind it. However, to answer your question, as I can only speak for myself, yes, I would have been disappointed. Bad writing is bad writing regardless of when it was written.

The opposite is also true in that one only needs to look at the works of Tolkien or Shakespeare. In other words, good or bad writing is independent of the era it was written in. I have no doubt we would have gotten a Shenmue III with higher production values, but that doesn't mean much. The Transformers movies or the Star Wars sequel and prequel trilogies have high production values, but I don't know if anyone would consider them cinematic masterpieces either.

I would have been just as disappointed because Shenmue II did such a wonderful job setting everything up for Shenmue III. It's the equivalent in some regards, of Game of Thrones that had a great start but a disappointing finish.
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Agreed, but in 2002 we would be much more forgiving of stilted cinematic-s, bad voice acting, and all those other things. Major AAA productions were still pretty unique back then. It is definitely hard to fairly judge Shenmue 3 as a modern game. I also think we would've gotten a fuller experience, which would have concealed issues with the plot, which is sort of something I can say about the first two games as well. The experience made up for any issues with the storytelling.
 
danielmann861 said:
What if Shenmue III had released on the Dreamcast with the exact same story content that we got in the Shenmue III we did get? Obviously, I don't think that would have been the case had it come out on the Dreamcast as I do believe the game would have been somewhat different...I think we would have seen Baisha for one thing...but what if?

What if you got the exact same story from Shenmue III (current day version) in a hypothetical Dreamcast or Xbox version? Do you think people would have been more forgiving back when or would they still be annoyed about the lack of true progress?

Just a random thought.
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The community would've been way more forgiving.

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I think for your average gamer, or for those who like but aren't diehard fans of the franchise, the experience of S3 is basically on-par with the previous games.

I watch lots of Let's Plays, and so many of the complaints fans have with S3, people also have with both 1 and 2. Meandering plot with lack of narrative substance (yes, even in 2 when you spend 90% of the game looking for one person), bad writing, the combat, etc. etc. For people who don't put this series on a pedestal, there isn't a whole lot separating the originals with 3. For us it's different because we spent 18 years thinking/speculating about our own perfect vision of S3.
 
orient said:
The community would've been way more forgiving.

I know this isn't a popular opinion, but I think for your average gamer, or for those who like but aren't diehard fans of the franchise, the experience of S3 is basically on-par with the previous games.

I watch lots of Let's Plays, and so many of the complaints fans have with S3, people also have with both 1 and 2. Meandering plot with lack of narrative substance (yes, even in 2 when you spend 90% of the game looking for one person), bad writing, the combat, etc. etc. For people who don't put this series on a pedestal, there isn't a whole lot separating the originals with 3. For us it's different because we spent 18 years thinking/speculating about our own perfect vision of S3.
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To me, that's not an unpopular opinion. It's actually one I mostly agree with.
 
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