Did Shenmue 3 hurt the series?

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Truck_1_0_1_ said:
Not 4; 4 will be made without a doubt in my mind.

Beyond 4, however, will be a sticky sitch; if the anime buys well, 4 has modest sales and some more money is pumped in to make the experience as polished and top-notch as can be, we may get 5.

But if even one of those fails to meet expectations, IMO, we will be at the same point we were after 2.

In my heart, I know we won't be at that same point, but in my head, I don't have enough knowledge/foresight/wisdom to know how things will turn out; it's 50/50.

All we can do is wait it out and see and I will do so with an open mind and ready for anything :)
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Yeah you're right. I didn't see it that way first, but I think you're right.
 
No, it didn't, but the "fans" are doing everything to make it turn out to be Star Wars, when the original trilogy and the Prequels trilogy were pretty good. Then, unfortunately, came Disney and then the "fans" they really wanted.
 
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Looking back, I don't think it was the third game that hurt the series, it was the 18-year wait that hurt some of our perceptions. As I said before, it was 85% of the game I was expecting. If in theory, Shenmue III came out on Dreamcast in Japan in 2002 as it is now but replace the fighting engine with the VF one and the QTEs for how they were in the originals (okay, take out the Save Shenmue temple), it would've 90% been the game I was anticipating (with a margin of plus or minus 5%).

Notably, some of us wanted something more "conclusive," but I knew we weren't. I remember that YouTube guy that complained about how we couldn't land a hit on Lan Di but should've landed at least the bodycheck or something. I disagree because Ryo couldn't land hits on Xiuying or on two old men (he only landed the bodycheck and reverse bodycheck because they let him). What makes you think he has a chance against Lan Di?

I felt the third game advanced the story no differently than the first two. But outside of that, my only "disappointment" is that the game should've been released in Dec 2002 on Dreamcast in Japan and maybe the OG XBox the following November in North America. Maybe it could've gotten a March 2003 Dreamcast release in Europe?

As for Shenmue 4, I look at that more as a question of when as opposed to if.
 
RyoHazuki84 said:
But outside of that, my only "disappointment" is that the game should've been released in Dec 2002 on Dreamcast in Japan and maybe the OG XBox the following November in North America. Maybe it could've gotten a March 2003 Dreamcast release in Europe?
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What could have been!
Sadly Shenmue 3 hadn't even entered any stage of development after the release of II as AM2 were taking a well deserved break, according to Yu-san himself.
At that point, the Dreamcast was discontinued and the rest is history.
Sad days, but we *did* succeed and got our Shenmue 3, even if it didn't progress the story as much as we'd hoped for in those 18 years inbetween.
 
Sonoshee said:
What could have been!
Sadly Shenmue 3 hadn't even entered any stage of development after the release of II as AM2 were taking a well deserved break, according to Yu-san himself.
At that point, the Dreamcast was discontinued and the rest is history.
Sad days, but we *did* succeed and got our Shenmue 3, even if it didn't progress the story as much as we'd hoped for in those 18 years inbetween.
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Weren't there a few things that alluded to a IIIx development? Even if it didn't make it very far. There was a comment from someone in the Dragon & Phoenix book that released, was there not?
 
Sonoshee said:
What could have been!
Sadly Shenmue 3 hadn't even entered any stage of development after the release of II as AM2 were taking a well deserved break, according to Yu-san himself.
At that point, the Dreamcast was discontinued and the rest is history.
Sad days, but we *did* succeed and got our Shenmue 3, even if it didn't progress the story as much as we'd hoped for in those 18 years inbetween.
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I suppose, but Dreamcast wasn't 100% discontinued as a whole as it was still officially alive in Japan until 2007 at some capacity, but keeping it Japan exclusive WOULD NOT help at all, nor realistic nor did it really keep Shenmue going.

I personally feel that the third game "progresses" the story no differently than the first two games. In the first game, the "progress" is that Lan Di is in Hong Kong and you get the Phoenix Mirror. In Shenmue II, it's largely about looking for Zhu Yuanda and that Lan Di might be in Guilin because that's where the mirrors were made. And you meet Shen Hua at the end, finally. In Shenmue III, you learn that Iwao and Lan Di's father were friends, Ryo's mother's name (Akane, which is funny because it's Ichi's mother's name in Yakuza: Like a Dragon), and that the Chi You Men's leadership have struggles and that Lan Di was raised by them.

Suzuki already stated before the release of the third game that Shenmue 1-3 only covers 40% of the story, so I can't say I'm "disappointed." IMHO, when people say the third game "doesn't advance the story," we should've campaigned to get the series done as a whole, not to just get a third game. I'll admit my expectations with Shenmue 3 was it's just a smaller piece of a bigger puzzle which is why I am content with the game. I wasn't expecting anything conclusive (I was also expecting another solid cliffhanger) and I think the story advances more than people give it credit for compared to how the first two games progress. My sole issue with the third game is the execution of the QTEs. But other than that, I just wish the game came out in December 2002 on Dreamcast as I said before. I would've loved to play the game continuing off my save of Shenmue 2, etc, but hey, we can only live in the reality that we live in.
 
RyoHazuki84 said:
I personally feel that the third game "progresses" the story no differently than the first two games. In the first game, the "progress" is that Lan Di is in Hong Kong and you get the Phoenix Mirror. In Shenmue II, it's largely about looking for Zhu Yuanda and that Lan Di might be in Guilin because that's where the mirrors were made. And you meet Shen Hua at the end, finally. In Shenmue III, you learn that Iwao and Lan Di's father were friends, Ryo's mother's name (Akane, which is funny because it's Ichi's mother's name in Yakuza: Like a Dragon), and that the Chi You Men's leadership have struggles and that Lan Di was raised by them.

Suzuki already stated before the release of the third game that Shenmue 1-3 only covers 40% of the story, so I can't say I'm "disappointed." IMHO, when people say the third game "doesn't advance the story," we should've campaigned to get the series done as a whole, not to just get a third game. I'll admit my expectations with Shenmue 3 was it's just a smaller piece of a bigger puzzle which is why I am content with the game.
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The difference being that we didn't wait 18 years between I & II.
After a wait that long I expected to see more of the story and some of the NPCs fleshed out, that's all, but I think budget and time had a lot to do with it.
I expect IV will change that though.
In all honesty, I was just content with getting back to the atmosphere and characters that I love. There's still nothing else like it.
 
Regardless of what we think of the quality of Shenmue III, I think it actually helped the series in other facets. I reckon the anime doesn't exist because there would've been no other barometer to determine if there was still an appetite for the series and thus here we are.

Also correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like since the announcement of Shenmue III, this forum in particular has had the longest stretch of sustained activity. I'm seeing people revisit the forum more in the past 6 years than in prior times. Before we could go a couple days (maybe even more) without someone really submitting a message. We have peaks and valleys for sure and certainly will decrease again if say the series gets discontinued, but yeah I feel like the fandom grew stronger. We even have more YouTube and podcast channels. It's kind of amazing.
 
I Got Sriracha In My DNA said:
Regardless of what we think of the quality of Shenmue III, I think it actually helped the series in other facets. I reckon the anime doesn't exist because there would've been no other barometer to determine if there was still an appetite for the series and thus here we are.

Also correct me if I'm wrong but I feel like since the announcement of Shenmue III, this forum in particular has had the longest stretch of sustained activity. I'm seeing people revisit the forum more in the past 6 years than in prior times. Before we could go a couple days (maybe even more) without someone really submitting a message. We have peaks and valleys for sure and certainly will decrease again if say the series gets discontinued, but yeah I feel like the fandom grew stronger. We even have more YouTube and podcast channels. It's kind of amazing.
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That's all thanks to the dedication and effort of those who actually put the effort in 24/7, 365 days a year. Not those who just blow in when Shenmue is a hot topic, and an easy fish for attention, likes and subscriptions. There are an awful lot of unsung heroes of Shenmue in this community, that never get the respect and recognition they truly deserve.

As for this site, this place was just 1 day away from no longer being a Shenmue forum, and rebranded as a "general" videogame forum/pub style hangout back in the 2000s. There was never any way I, and a few others would have let that happen. Shenmue always had a chance, as long as YS never gave up. There weren't many that saw that though.

24Nathan said:
Weren't there a few things that alluded to a IIIx development? Even if it didn't make it very far. There was a comment from someone in the Dragon & Phoenix book that released, was there not?
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Or whole Adam Doree/Kikizo article?

Dude... no. Let's not discuss that 😂😂😂
 
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Peter said:
That's all thanks to the dedication and effort of those who actually put the effort in 24/7, 365 days a year. Not those who just blow in when Shenmue is a hot topic, and an easy fish for attention, likes and subscriptions. There are an awful lot of unsung heroes of Shenmue in this community, that never get the respect and recognition they truly deserve.

As for this site, this place was just 1 day away from no longer being a Shenmue forum, and rebranded as a "general" videogame forum/pub style hangout back in the 2000s. There was never any way I, and a few others would have let that happen. Shenmue always had a chance, as long as YS never gave up. There weren't many that saw that though.



Or whole Adam Doree/Kikizo article?

Dude... no. Let's not discuss that 😂😂😂
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Nope, not Adam Doree. That wasn't what I was alluding to.
 
Peter said:
That's all thanks to the dedication and effort of those who actually put the effort in 24/7, 365 days a year. Not those who just blow in when Shenmue is a hot topic, and an easy fish for attention, likes and subscriptions. There are an awful lot of unsung heroes of Shenmue in this community, that never get the respect and recognition they truly deserve.

As for this site, this place was just 1 day away from no longer being a Shenmue forum, and rebranded as a "general" videogame forum/pub style hangout back in the 2000s. There was never any way I, and a few others would have let that happen. Shenmue always had a chance, as long as YS never gave up. There weren't many that saw that though.



Or whole Adam Doree/Kikizo article?

Dude... no. Let's not discuss that 😂😂😂
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I'm trying to get him on the show
 
Sonoshee said:
The difference being that we didn't wait 18 years between I & II.
After a wait that long I expected to see more of the story and some of the NPCs fleshed out, that's all, but I think budget and time had a lot to do with it.
I expect IV will change that though.
In all honesty, I was just content with getting back to the atmosphere and characters that I love. There's still nothing else like it.
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Definitely feel the same way. Shenmue 3 did nothing but help the series. Before Shenmue 3 Kickstarter all we had was merchandise and Ryo being playable in Sega All Stars Racing. I wanted Shenmue 3 to pickup right where it left off with volume, action, story and characters but IMO that was never going to be feasible.

The original 2 million dollar goal seemed way to low to ever make a Shenmue game. Even with the 7 million we raised I felt it wasn't enough to match up with Shenmue 2. Shenmue 3 was a little better than I thought it would be. With the success of Kickstarter, Shenmue 1&2 re-releases, Shenmue anime, Shenmue documentary and Phoenix & Dragon edition Shenmue games I believe we will get Shenmue 4.

The assets are already in place and I believe Shenmue 4 will be a true game that Yu Suzuki wants to release, it'll have more substance. IMO Shenmue 4 is the game that has to sell really well for us to get Shenmue 5. With the developer footing the bill this time Shenmue 4 can't finish in the middle of the road. Shenmue 4 might have to sell 500k+ IMO
 
Peter said:
As for this site, this place was just 1 day away from no longer being a Shenmue forum, and rebranded as a "general" videogame forum/pub style hangout back in the 2000s. There was never any way I, and a few others would have let that happen. Shenmue always had a chance, as long as YS never gave up. There weren't many that saw that though.
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I remember the likes of Clint, Martin, TwiceFriedRice... Feels like ages ago :LOL:
The place was completely different to what it is now!
Modding on the forums even in the last days of the previous forum was tough enough, you were scared to get your head bitten off by some members... there were places on the board even we wouldn't venture! :ROFLMAO:
 
Sonoshee said:
The difference being that we didn't wait 18 years between I & II.
After a wait that long I expected to see more of the story and some of the NPCs fleshed out, that's all, but I think budget and time had a lot to do with it.
I expect IV will change that though.
In all honesty, I was just content with getting back to the atmosphere and characters that I love. There's still nothing else like it.
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I understand the "wait" had a lot to do with it. But at the same time, I went into Shenmue III like I waited 18 months for it. I don't disagree that budget and time contributed a lot to what it was limited to, and I am expecting IV to really shake things up. But as I said before, I got 85% of the Shenmue III I was expecting.
Peter said:
Or whole Adam Doree/Kikizo article?
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I have not heard that name in a long time.
 
BruceWayne911 said:
The original 2 million dollar goal seemed way to low to ever make a Shenmue game. Even with the 7 million we raised I felt it wasn't enough to match up with Shenmue 2. Shenmue 3 was a little better than I thought it would be.
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This. As excited as I was that Yu would be able to continue Shenmue, not gonna lie, I was not optimistic at all that this game would deliver. Especially when one considers the original budget + inflation, I thought no way they were going to emulate what Shenmue relatively was in 1999-2001. Kickstarter games in general don't have a great track record and most are 2D games or 3D games that were not aiming for anything near what Shenmue needed to be.

I suppose they could've just used the Dreamcast engine or assets, but even that's not a guarantee that it would be a quality game. Don't get me wrong, a couple gems that were Kickstarted have been made but the odds were not in Shenmue's favor. In the end, I felt we got a very respectable even admirable effort that for the most part captured the spirit of the prior 2.
 
I Got Sriracha In My DNA said:
I suppose they could've just used the Dreamcast engine or assets, but even that's not a guarantee that it would be a quality game.
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Cedric Biscay, producer on S3, was once asked about this and said it wouldn't be cost effective, even though he'd personally have loved to have done it.
 
This seems to be a conclusion people come to when there is nothing else for them to talk about. Most of the people I talk to in the Shenmue community love Shenmue 3 - it just wasn't their favorite game in the series. Personally, it was my favorite title; the game has a way of relaxing me where other gamers completely fail.
 
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