Random Shenmue III Thoughts

Accidentally clicked on this thread and was reading some initial story plans. This particular quote stuck out to me-



We know a lot changed but I am curious what planned romance there was. With Li Feng, or a different character that got scrapped? Curious to think about.
Wow he said that and nothing happened not a twitter rant not cancelling, nothing. Ahhh like the 90s/early 2000s
 
I'm on June 30th in Shenmue III, i will see now a warning cutscene that i have only 1 month to complete the game, i never saw this cutscene while playing, the bad ending happens on July 31st.

On my first playthrough i played in a slow way but now i'm playing even slower, i'm learning so many things about the game in my second playthrough.

I'm taking my time with the game to experience everything that the game has to offer like foods, clothes, mini games, finding all the Chobu Chan, all the Scroll moves, max kung fu and much more, and to me the game is so much more enjoyable this way, to me the gameplay of Shenmue III is so good that i can spend many hours playing the game without getting tired.

I really prefer to play the Shenmue games in a slow way, it's more enjoyable this way for me.

When i finish my second playthrough i will come back here to say my final thoughts about my experience with the game in this playthrough.


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When i saw the NPC Xu Shengchuan i immediately remembered about Kenji Miyawaki, the character designer of the Shenmue series.

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kenji_miyawaki.jpg
 
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Now that's a day you don't see every day

I made a mistake, thanks for letting me know, i edited my previous post and now it’s okay.
 
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I made a mistake, thanks for letting me know, i edited my previous post and now it’s okay.
I was only kidding around… I liked the post you made and was deliberately missing the point as a joke. :) sorry I came across the wrong way, I meant no offence.

You are correct about the slow-burn way of playing being far better, and about Shenmue III being a lot of fun if one really gives it a chance. It ain’t perfect and it does have issues we have all talked about elsewhere, but I still got joy and fun out of it, and I’m glad we have it.
 
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It's okay, i wasn't offended, and i really made a mistake so is good that now my previous post is correct about the date.

The Shenmue series to me is so calm and relaxing, has a ZEN vibe and this is one of the beautiful things about the Shenmue series to me.
 
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I wonder what kind of cuts would have been needed to get Baisha into the game as planned. I think Niawou was meant to be 3-4 times smaller than it was, so if they stuck with the original plan do you guys think that would have been enough to get Baisha? It's a dang shame, especially since Yu said in interviews that Baisha is where things really heat up and told us to look forward to it.
 
I wonder what kind of cuts would have been needed to get Baisha into the game as planned. I think Niawou was meant to be 3-4 times smaller than it was, so if they stuck with the original plan do you guys think that would have been enough to get Baisha? It's a dang shame, especially since Yu said in interviews that Baisha is where things really heat up and told us to look forward to it.

It could have been a different number of things. Development time, money, Deep Silver breathing down their necks to get the game out the door. It could also be that the team didn't have a solid budget to work with from the get-go which affects the development process.

We did get a glimpse of Ryo in Baisha in a development image on the Kickstarter, however and I'd like to think they were quite a way in on it and that - somehow - it can be finished and reworked in to S4.
 
I played Shenmue 3 back when it was released, I've had time to let the experience sink in and what remains in my memory is the following.

I enjoyed Shenmue 3.
I enjoyed the slow pace of the game, gathering herbs, the fighting system, setting some time each day to train diligently, exploring the locations, etc.
My expectations were reasonable for a sequel that would have way less budget and man-power. I was not disappointed by playing the game. It was a relaxing time.

The food system didn't work, but could be circumvented easily so it didn't get in the way.
I didn't like how Shenhua feels much more distant once you arrive at Niaowu.
The story had some shaky moments.
But the true issue for me was the lacklustre ending, it was too short, too rushed, lacking in interaction between the most important characters in this chapter, didn't explain anything, was little in the way of a conclusion for this chapter and didn't make me feel hyped for a next entry.

An ending can break a game, but in this case it didn't ruin it for me, while the ending was disappointing, I still cherish the experience I had with Shenmue 3.

I was actually surprised to see so many people disliking the game.
 
I played Shenmue 3 back when it was released, I've had time to let the experience sink in and what remains in my memory is the following.

I enjoyed Shenmue 3.
I enjoyed the slow pace of the game, gathering herbs, the fighting system, setting some time each day to train diligently, exploring the locations, etc.
My expectations were reasonable for a sequel that would have way less budget and man-power. I was not disappointed by playing the game. It was a relaxing time.

The food system didn't work, but could be circumvented easily so it didn't get in the way.
I didn't like how Shenhua feels much more distant once you arrive at Niaowu.
The story had some shaky moments.
But the true issue for me was the lacklustre ending, it was too short, too rushed, lacking in interaction between the most important characters in this chapter, didn't explain anything, was little in the way of a conclusion for this chapter and didn't make me feel hyped for a next entry.

An ending can break a game, but in this case it didn't ruin it for me, while the ending was disappointing, I still cherish the experience I had with Shenmue 3.

I was actually surprised to see so many people disliking the game.
It's overblown. As time goes on more people realise the things it did well.
 
About Baisha not being in the game i think it was like Sonoshee said, probably money and Deep Silver breathing down their necks to get the game out the door.

I feel that this about Deep Silver was one of the reasons because the game was delayed 2 or 3 times as far i remember, i don't remember now how many times the game was delayed, i remember that one time the game was supposed to release on August 27th, 2019.

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Probably Yu Suzuki wanted to have more time developing the game, maybe he even wanted to delay the game again, but probably was not possible and the game was released without Baisha.

Yu-san gave the score 7.5 for the game, it is clear to me that he wanted to do more with the game because of this score, and i think the big reason he gave this score was because Baisha is not in the game.

In one Kickstarter video Yu-san said... "Baisha will show off what Shenmue III is all about" but Baisha is not the game and to me this is really sad, The game without Baisha feels like Disc 4 is missing.

Baisha.jpg

Probably Baisha would be after Niaowu so i imagine how this part of the story would be. I can imagine Ryo, Shenhua and Ren travelling to Baisha, having many interactions on the boat and other places along the way like the Great Wall, arriving in Baisha the player could explore Baisha, talk with NPCs and much more, and there many important things would happen, and this way the ending would not feel rushed, i like the ending we got but it felt rushed, could have been better.

YS NET could have release Baisha as a DLC, it was really not possible? i wonder about that.

Shenmue III is a kickstarter game, even with limited budget YS NET made a beautiful game in my opinion, yes the game could have been better in some aspects but overall the game is beautiful to me, imagine if Shenmue III had a budget of AAA Games.

Maybe we will see Baisha in Shenmue IV or maybe we will never see this location in a Shenmue game, to me it is sad that Yu-san had to cut out content of his own story because he doesn't have the right opportunity to do in the way he really want.

I admire that even with all the problems Yu-san face to continue Shenmue he never gave up, continue and finish Shenmue is a personal journey to him like he said in the credits of Shenmue III, it is beautiful that to him is a personal journey, right now i really believe that one day Yu-san will complete his personal journey in Shenmue IV or V, and that we will see the ending of Ryo's journey.
 
It is so interesting to finally see this character in high quality, now we can see all the details.

Original design of Master Sun?
Original design of Grandmaster Bei?
Other character?

To me is probably the original design of Master Sun or Grandmaster Bei.



Character.jpg
 
It is so interesting to finally see this character in high quality, now we can see all the details.

Original design of Master Sun?
Original design of Grandmaster Bei?
Other character?

To me is probably the original design of Master Sun or Grandmaster Bei.



View attachment 17881
Isn't that the Man seen striking the camera (POV) in the Berkley trailer?
shenberkmaster.JPG
It's a blink and you'll miss it clip.
 
Isn't that the Man seen striking the camera (POV) in the Berkley trailer?
View attachment 17882
It's a blink and you'll miss it clip.

I totally forgot about this character, thanks for sharing. The name of the character was revealed sometime or not? i don't remember now.

I thought it was the original design of Master Sun or Grandmaster Bei because this art of chapter 6 represents some of the events of Shenmue III, in this art we can see Yanlang, Niao Sun, Shenhua and Ren, Akira/Ryo training and this character looking like is trying to guide Ryo in some way, and the city in the art is Xian but it looks like for Shenmue III Yu-san decided to change for Niaowu, i'm not sure about this but it looks this way.

To me the way Kenji Miyawaki did the art it looks like this character is one of Ryo's masters


Chapter6.jpg
 
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In this art we can see Yanlang, Niao Sun, Shenhua and Ren, Akira/Ryo training and this character looking like is trying to guide Ryo in some way, and the city in the art is Xian but it looks like for Shenmue III Yu-san decided to change for Niaowu, i'm not sure about this but it looks this way.
They're also closed into a circle at the center of the image, with more prominence than the villians. That could mean that the artist recieved the instructions of reflecting they are in the core of story even gameplay (own playable segment?) or that they're in real danger. Last option seems reinforced by the sketchy drawing compared to the rest of cast. They're like vanished or a memory.

The elder yet agile character can be observed in a literal way, some kungfu master teaching a very acrobatic move.
He strucks a lot as the movie typical expert at drunken fist style. But it seems too aerial move at least to me (yet classical from martial arts and wuxia movies), it doesn't fit in Shenmue or Ryo's style path. Also the artist would've added more surprise to Ryo's face.

The other way is that same you said, at a more abstract level, the guiding of his spirit. With one hand he empties Ryo's mind, from everything he previously knew (symbolized in Ryo set in horse stance, that was since S1) and the other seems to be "charging" knowledge that will be the training.
 
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Just came across this Image of Shenhua promotional Art and noticed something very interesting that might have a connection with the Scroll from Shenmue 3.
Shenmue 3 Flamming Pearl.jpg
They are definitely very similar. What are you thoughts on this guys !?
 
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