Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

I've been thinking about the training mini games that could be featured in Shenmue 4, and one that came across my mind is the walking on wooden beams like that martial artist we see in Bailu Village. This could make for a great martial arts training mini game.
Everytime Ryo practiced this mini game he would have to cross a random section of wooden beams with the player having to perform a random QTE sequence of buttons.
By crossing the random path of wooden beams Ryo would gain experience and level up is Kung Fu.
This would be the tradicional version of Excite QTE and would help the player to train for future QTE events that he would come across in the game.
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Since today is Father's Day, I have decided to dedicate it to the most influential man in the Shenmue-verse and my favorite character in the entire series, Iwao Hazuki. The man who inspired Ryo's quest in the first place.

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From flashbacks, we see how strict yet loving he is towards Ryo. Which in my opinion, is where Ryo gets his stoic demeanor from.



His parting words of "Your friends...keep those you love, close to you" have been a constant theme throughout Ryo's entire journey. Such as when he learns the Double Blow technique from Yamagashi-san or when one of his best friends lends him his motorcycle to save Nozomi at the harbor. Or when Guizhang saved his life when Chai tried to kill Ryo with a steel beam. There are so many examples throughout the story that I could write an entire thesis paper but for the sake of brevity, his last words served as the overall theme to the series about love, kinship, and familial bonds.


While we do not know exactly what occurred on the day that Zhao Sunming died, we do know that his death is what motivated his son Zhao Longsun (known as Lan-Di) to murder him in an act of revenge. Ironically comes full circle as now Iwao's son Ryo is out for revenge against him for the same reason as Longsun Zhao. I look forward to learning the truth behind this mystery in a potential Shenmue IV or V.

At the end of the day, while Iwao did not live long, he was the most influential man in the entire story. His strength and wisdom were unparalleled and yet, behind his no-nonsense demeanor, beat the heart of a kind man. These parting words being some of my favorite in the entire series.

"Those who follow the path of the warrior must be ready to die. To...stand by one's convictions...die for one's convictions that is how I lived my life. Ryo, it is up to you to discover your path and to see it through."

Happy Father's Day Iwao-sama, your memory will never be forgotten.


P.S. As a side note, I think it's cool that his seiyuu actor is no other than the infamous and badass Segata Sanshiro. One of the most masculine men to grace the planet.

 
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Since today is Father's Day, I have decided to dedicate it to the most influential man in the Shenmue-verse and my favorite character in the entire series, Iwao Hazuki. The man who inspired Ryo's quest in the first place.

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From flashbacks, we see how strict yet loving he is towards Ryo. Which in my opinion, is where Ryo gets his stoic demeanor from.



His parting words of "Your friends...keep those you love, close to you" have been a constant theme throughout Ryo's entire journey. Such as when he learns the Double Blow technique from Yamagashi-san or when one of his best friends lends him his motorcycle to save Nozomi at the harbor. Or when Guizhang saved his life when Chai tried to kill Ryo with a steel beam. There are so many examples throughout the story that I could write an entire thesis paper but for the sake of brevity, his last words served as the overall theme to the series about love, kinship, and familial bonds.


While we do not know exactly what occurred on the day that Zhao Sunming died, we do know that his death is what motivated his son Zhao Longsun (known as Lan-Di) to murder him in an act of revenge which ironically comes full circle as now Iwao's son Ryo is out for revenge against him for the same reason as Longsun Zhao. I look forward to learning the truth behind this mystery in a potential Shenmue IV or V.

At the end of the day, while Iwao did not live long, he was the most influential man in the entire story. His strength and wisdom were unparalleled and yet, he behind his no-nonsense demeanor beat the heart of a kind man. These parting words being some of my favorite in the entire series.

"Those who follow the path of the warrior must be ready to die. To...stand by one's convictions...die for one's convictions that is how I lived my life. Ryo it is up to you to discover your path and to see it through."

Happy Father's Day Iwao-sama, your memory will never be forgotten.


P.S. As a side note, I think it's cool that his seiyuu actor is no other than the infamous and badass Segata Sanshiro. One of the most masculine men to grace the planet.

Very wonderfully said simply put what you said was incredible. The Nozomi flowers scene is such a underrated and heartwarming scene also one of my favorites. Sidenote did you know that after the scene that you can call her and thank her for the flowers? Once again very phenomenal post.
 
I agree with Kyo_JP. I kind of like Shenmue III fighting system. In my case after playing VF5 Ultimate Showdown more than 60 hours i feel the same way, i really need VF Ultimate Showdown fighting system in Shenmue IV, the fighting system of this game is amazing, i love this game, but i know that this is a desire that probably will never happen.
I understand the appeal, but the 1-on-1 VF style breaks down in 3D with multiple enemies. The combat of S1 & 2 is not really acceptable nowadays -- using the D-pad in 3D space. People expect 3D fighting to behave in a certain way -- fluid, multi-directional movement and attacks, proper lock-on, ability to easily swap between opponents, etc.

I think they were on the right track with S3, but they only managed to get ~65% there with the resources they had. It honestly reminds me of Yakuza 1 on PS2 -- the seeds of something great is there, it's just a bit clumsy, stiff and lacking in nuance.

If S4 could increase that to ~75-80%, with faster response time, better hit detection, more varied AI, and grapple/counters, I'd be more than satisfied.
 
I understand the appeal, but the 1-on-1 VF style breaks down in 3D with multiple enemies. The combat of S1 & 2 is not really acceptable nowadays -- using the D-pad in 3D space. People expect 3D fighting to behave in a certain way -- fluid, multi-directional movement and attacks, proper lock-on, ability to easily swap between opponents, etc.

I think they were on the right track with S3, but they only managed to get ~65% there with the resources they had. It honestly reminds me of Yakuza 1 on PS2 -- the seeds of something great is there, it's just a bit clumsy, stiff and lacking in nuance.

If S4 could increase that to ~75-80%, with faster response time, better hit detection, more varied AI, and grapple/counters, I'd be more than satisfied.
I like Shenmue III combat system, i agree with you that they were on the right track with S3, i just think it needs improvements but for me it was fun playing, my time with Shenmue III was really unique and good for me.
 
I've been thinking a lot about Shenmue IV recently, thinking if is in development and how the game is going to be, if Yu Suzuki will change the Shenmue gameplay style and things like that.

I say this because of what happened with Shenmue III, i remember when the game released one of the first brazilian anaylsis i saw on internet had this title... "Analysis | Shenmue III ignores 20 years of evolution and brings tasteless experience."

So because of this and other things i saw i reflect now if Yu Suzuki will change drastically the Shenmue style/vibe/gameplay/experience in Shenmue IV.

After everything he said i think he will do some things in a different way but not to the point of changing 100% the Shenmue style, if he change everything i will not like it.

Here are some things i think should never change in Shenmue.

1. In my opinion Shenmue games are like detective games, Ryo need to ask other characters, this way Ryo find clues about the things he wants to know, and he can learn more about the characters, this way we fill the notebook little by little and this is how we progress in the story, sometimes Ryo even writes about his feelings in his notebook.

If Yu Suzuki change this to marks on the map indicating where we need to go i will not like this. A lot of games have this and i don't mind although if the game have the option to turn this off i prefer, but in the case of Shenmue is different, if this happen it will lose a big part of what Shenmue is for me, if this happens in Shenmue IV it will need to have a on/off option about this in my opinion.

2. In all Shenmue games Ryo only enters in serious fights when he wants to help someone in danger, when somebody attack him first or do something bad with him first, and when he needs to fight someone to get closer to Lan Di.

Ryo don't have guns, only his fists and this is linked to martial arts, if in Shenmue IV i see Ryo with a baseball bat starting a fight with everybody i'm sure i will not like this, in other games i don't have a problem with this but Shenmue have a different style, Ryo is not a character that does this things, and Shenmue is a martial arts story, in this case i think Yu Suzuki will not change this.

Shenmue III didn't ignored 20 years of evolution, is just a different style and gameplay and this is good for the game industry in my opinion, Shenmue don't have to be GTA, Yakuza, The Last of Us or other games, is just different styles in my opinion, i don't want all the games franchises to be the same, i like to see different styles.

A good example for this is Resident Evil, RE 1 till Code Veronica had one style of gameplay, in RE 4 a lot of things changed, CAPCOM continue with this changes in RE 5 and RE 6. With RE Revelations 1 and 2 CAPCOM tried to bring back some things of the old style into the gameplay and i think it was well recieved, then with RE 7 CAPCOM changed again the gameplay style and continued with this with RE VIII.

Some fans didn't like the changes and think that the only true RE games are RE 1 till Code Veronica, they think that with RE 4 this was the beginning of the end, that CAPCOM killed the franchise because of this changes.

Some fans like me embraced some changes and like the classic games but enjoy others RE games too.

But back to Shenmue it really depends on what will be the change, depending on the change i will enjoy but other changes i will not like it, but if Shenmue IV have the same style as the previous games this will not be a problem for me, i love the Shenmue style/vibe/experience.

At this point is the right decision to try to please people that never cared about Shenmue?

Yu Suzuki said that he did Shenmue III for the fans, but now i ask myself... what Yu Suzuki really want to do with Shenmue IV? the gameplay will change drastically? just some things? or it will have the same style as the previous games? i think that maybe some things will change but it will continue in a lot of ways to be the Shenmue we know, i have so many questions, only time will answer.
 
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I'd expect it to play like Shenmue, but maybe feature a more developed story and better pacing as the threads start getting wrapped up. It really makes no sense to keep the focus on idling around town and killing time this many games into the series. The ability to idle around town should be there, but I'd hope the designers realize the focus needs to switch to the story this many games in.

I definitely agree it makes no sense to turn this into Yakuza or some weird hybrid beat-em-up. It's the fourth game in one continuous series.
 
Getting people into the fourth instalment in a series with a continuous story is going to be difficult no matter what, but pandering to people who will never be satisfied with Shenmue won't ever be the answer.

I don't think that's what Yu Suzuki wants to do though, and now they've laid the groundwork for rebuilding traditional "Shenmue" elements with the last game, a sequel would be an opportune time to play with the formula and be a bit creative in reinterpreting what a Shenmue game in 202X would be. Shenmue is always going to be niche from here on, but they should be aiming to become head and shoulders above other games in a similar niche by focussing on the areas the series has traditionally been praised for.

I yapped on about it in a long post in another thread, but I think the next game could really benefit from reintroducing elements of non-linearity to help set itself apart. Easier said than done though, as branching questlines increases the overall amount of work that needs to be done, much of which may not be seen by the average player, and there may be trade-offs when it comes to polish as a result.

A "no-cost" (i.e, all the content you're making WILL be seen by the player no matter what) way to do this would be to change Shenmue's progression structure so that you're given multiple objectives to tackle at your leisure and largely in any order you want. Give Ryo some core objectives that tell the story of the overall plot, his personal character arc, and his interactions with other characters, and spin out a series of questlines from there. How the notepad works would have to be changed and it would probably mean a ton more dialogue needs to be created for NPCs, but I think it would probably help shut people up who accuse the series of being stuck in the past without adding something stupid and totally out of character like a crafting system, or whatever.
 
I understand the appeal, but the 1-on-1 VF style breaks down in 3D with multiple enemies. The combat of S1 & 2 is not really acceptable nowadays -- using the D-pad in 3D space. People expect 3D fighting to behave in a certain way -- fluid, multi-directional movement and attacks, proper lock-on, ability to easily swap between opponents, etc.
I’m still hoping that Yu adopts a hybrid fighting system in S4 wherein certain fights revert to a classic 2D style to accommodate some of the narrower locations in which Ryo will be fighting (cliff temple corridors, trains, etc). I doubt it’ll happen, but I really do like the idea of a game with a mixture of 2D and 3D combat and would definitely pay for a classic 2D fighter DLC with the cast of Shenmue too.
 
How the notepad works would have to be changed and it would probably mean a ton more dialogue needs to be created for NPCs...
That's the main issue I see with this approach. The writing and VO budget literally doubles with two quests on the go, triples with three, etc.

The only way around it, I can see, would be to have dramatically fewer NPCs, or go to a more generic open-world format where the majority of NPCs spout generic lines, and only a small % have "quest" dialogue. Who knows, maybe fewer NPCs would make sense in S4's locations, but I think there's potential for disappointment if the game has no built-up areas. Maybe it could be a mix of the two.
 
Regarding multiple active questlines, maybe they could do a Mass Effect style dialogue wheel where once you've 'UMMMED' at an NPC it could be something like

- Have you seen a glamorous woman in a red dress pass through here? - Main questline
- Do you know where I can find someone who studies Bajiquan? - Side Quest
- Is there a place I can earn some money? - Generic / activity based
 
Regarding multiple active questlines, maybe they could do a Mass Effect style dialogue wheel where once you've 'UMMMED' at an NPC it could be something like

- Have you seen a glamorous woman in a red dress pass through here? - Main questline
- Do you know where I can find someone who studies Bajiquan? - Side Quest
- Is there a place I can earn some money? - Generic / activity based
Honestly it wouldn't be that different from Shenmue II when you have the option to ask about 3 different topics, but then you almost have to default to Skrim-esque generic dialogue where most NPCs give you an identical response.
 
That's the main issue I see with this approach. The writing and VO budget literally doubles with two quests on the go, triples with three, etc.

The only way around it, I can see, would be to have dramatically fewer NPCs, or go to a more generic open-world format where the majority of NPCs spout generic lines, and only a small % have "quest" dialogue. Who knows, maybe fewer NPCs would make sense in S4's locations, but I think there's potential for disappointment if the game has no built-up areas. Maybe it could be a mix of the two.
Or just one dub. I would happily have one dub as things stand, never mind if it meant more NPC dialogue and story quests.
 
I was really surprised when it was announced that Corey was returning for Shenmue 3, I assumed that if you're going to make Shenmue on a budget, surely the English dub would be one of the first things to be cut?
 
I was really surprised when it was announced that Corey was returning for Shenmue 3, I assumed that if you're going to make Shenmue on a budget, surely the English dub would be one of the first things to be cut?
Exactly. It was great we got Corey back for III, but if the primary factor to determine if a Shenmue IV game exists is money, then its one thing I would be looking at. I used to love the English dubs, but over time, I now play the games in its original language. It just sounds so natural and authentic. No disrespect to any of the English talent. If the effort was made to have brought back all of the original cast for Shenmue III, then perhaps I would be more torn between which dub to play through. But now its an easy decision; Japanese all the way.
 
I'm glad that's becoming a common sentiment. It's nice to have two dubs, but if it's the difference between a game and no game it's an easy choice. Maybe Corey can get hired to dub the anime at least.
 
I’ve said it before and will say it again, I’d much rather they cut the Japanese dub if one has to go. Shenmue has always sold more in the West than it has in Japan and the gap seems to have grown wider still with S3.

Being the fourth game in a series that most of the target audience (according to Yu, mainstream gamers) have never played is already going to make Shenmue 4 seem incredibly inaccessible. Removing the English dub is only going to make matters worse in that regard.

I get that people will argue that it’s a Japanese game, but given that the story has now moved on to China, I don’t see how a Japanese dub makes any sense whatsoever from an immersion/authenticity point of view. Bar Ryo, it makes absolutely no sense for any of the characters we’ll be meeting in the game to be speaking Japanese.

The English voice actors have taken a lot of shit over the years, but I really do think that the problem stems from poor localization and poor direction. Neither would be particularly difficult to fix.
 
I’ve said it before and will say it again, I’d much rather they cut the Japanese dub if one has to go. Shenmue has always sold more in the West than it has in Japan and the gap seems to have grown wider still with S3.

Being the fourth game in a series that most of the target audience (according to Yu, mainstream gamers) have never played is already going to make Shenmue 4 seem incredibly inaccessible. Removing the English dub is only going to make matters worse in that regard.

I get that people will argue that it’s a Japanese game, but given that the story has now moved on to China, I don’t see how a Japanese dub makes any sense whatsoever from an immersion/authenticity point of view. Bar Ryo, it makes absolutely no sense for any of the characters we’ll be meeting in the game to be speaking Japanese.

The English voice actors have taken a lot of shit over the years, but I do think that the problem stems from poor localization and poor direction. Neither would be particularly difficult to fix.
While I agree that the main reason why the English localization is bad due to poor direction, I can not agree with the rest of this sentiment. If we are going by your logic here then starting from Shenmue II, the entire series should have been in Chinese with Ryo struggling to survive due to language barriers. After all, Ryo had to get a letter translated in the first title.

We are at the point that while Suzuki does want to grow the fanbase, the reality is that Shenmue is a niche franchise. The series was created by a Japanese artist infused with his sensibilities whether Suzuki is conscious of it or not. For me, it's not a matter of quality, it is about getting closer to the original artist's intention. Since he originally intended for his work to be in Japanese, then that is what I want to hear if I was given the ultimatum. And this is coming from someone more used to the English dub than the Japanese dub.

Also, this is not a condemnation of English dubs as they have vastly improved over the years. Sometimes the English version surpasses the Japanese version in terms of quality. But unless the original artist intended for their work to be in English, I will always take the original language version any day.
 
While I agree that the main reason why the English localization is bad due to poor direction, I can not agree with the rest of this sentiment. If we are going by your logic here then starting from Shenmue II, the entire series should have been in Chinese with Ryo struggling to survive due to language barriers. After all, Ryo had to get a letter translated in the first title.

We are at the point that while Suzuki does want to grow the fanbase, the reality is that Shenmue is a niche franchise. The series was created by a Japanese artist infused with his sensibilities whether Suzuki is conscious of it or not. For me, it's not a matter of quality, it is about getting closer to the original artist's intention. Since he originally intended for his work to be in Japanese, then that is what I want to hear if I was given the ultimatum. And this is coming from someone more used to the English dub than the Japanese dub.
My logic is that a western dub makes sense when targeting a western audience. I only brought up the immersion/realism angle as I’ve heard that used as a reason as to why the game needs a Japanese dub on multiple occasions. That said, it makes a lot more sense for everybody to be speaking English as, as you yourself point out, we know that Ryo doesn’t speak Chinese.

At the end of the day Yu’s going to do whatever he wants to do, but if he’s serious about targeting a more mainstream audience, I really don’t think that giving mainstream gamers in the west another reason not to play Shenmue 4 is a good idea. And yes, before someone brings it up, I know that there have been games without an English dub that have found moderate success in the West, but how long did it take for Yakuza to really become big outside of Japan?
 
Yakuza 0 was the big breakthrough and IIIRC it definitely didn't feature an English dub. The first game did, however. In fact, they hired known Hollywood actors, including Luke Skywalker himself! It flopped. A good game is the priority, imo. I'd take text if it meant a better game. I remember the excitement I had for Yakuza and then the crushing disappointment when I realized I was getting into another big budget Shenmue-esque flop. Glad I was wrong, but the dub certainly didn't help anything.
 
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