In S1, Master Chen says the mirrors will revive Chi You and he learned that info from Yuanda Zhu, so why would Zhu lie?
Well, why would he lie to Ryo? If you're going to complain about contradictions, then you'd might as well start with Shenmue II contradicting Shenmue I. Yuanda Zhu, the same man who supposedly told Master Chen about Chi You's resurrection, tells Ryo right to his face that the mirrors are nothing more than a treasure map and Ryo doesn't even question it.
Also even in the bad ending to S2, the phoenix mirror cracks and Lan Di says he wants to take Shenhua's power for the Chi You
I'm not sure about this, but I believe this may have been a mistranslation in the Xbox version of the game. In the European Dreamcast version, the subtitle reads "I shall take your power, for the Chiyoumen."
It's definitely possible that this was what was intended by S2 but the big outstanding issue is still Chi You, whose origins date back to around 2500 BCE. In S1, Master Chen says the mirrors will revive Chi You and he learned that info from Yuanda Zhu, so why would Zhu lie?
It is never explicitly stated that the mirrors will revive Chi You. Master Chen says that Zhu once told him that "when the Dragon and the Phoenix meet, the gates of heaven and earth will open...and Chi You will resurrect itself on Earth." Then Master Chen speculates that Lan Di will "try to make use of both mirrors," but he's actually just as clueless as Ryo as to what they do or how they are used.
The whole thing was cryptic at best and we don't know whether or not it was ever intended to be taken literally.
Why this treasure was hidden one year before the end of the Qing dynasty when it could supposedly "revive" it is anyone's guess.
Wait, what? When was this stated? As far as I know, we have no clue how long the treasure has been hidden for.
What could any of this have to do with Chi You if there are characters in S1 older than the mirrors?
If there was an ancient set of mirrors as I have speculated, and the new set is an exact replica made from the same type of stone by the same lineage of stonemasons, then anything is possible. I don't really see why their age matters in regards to their potential ability to resurrect Chi You.
I always thought the story from Chen and Zhu were both wrong (like how in Raiders of the Lost Ark, we learn that the ark is a weapon and then a radio, but it's neither of those things) but, barring some Nibelheim-esque twist where everyone in Bailu Village has been bribed into lying to Ryo, it seems to confirm with 100% certainty that the mirrors are 76 years old and that they are keys to a literal treasure.
How so? How is it confirmed any more than it was in Shenmue II? Both games only make reference to the mirrors being the key to unlocking a treasure. Aside from the bad ending in the American version of Shenmue II, Chi You was literally only mentioned one time in the entire series.
Just because the mirrors were made in Bailu Village, that doesn't mean that the villagers necessarily know anything about what they do. Even Yuan might not know their true purpose if he and his recent ancestors have just been following ancient blueprints passed down from generation to generation.
I just don't think we're getting another big lore dump about the history of the mirrors; that's what Bailu Village was for.
That's just your own assumption. We don't know exactly when or where the biggest lore dump about the history of the mirrors could occur. I personally believe that we're still going to learn much more about them. If the story is only 40% complete by the end of Shenmue III, then I wouldn't expect for all of the biggest mysteries to have been revealed already.
It would be easy for the games to keep passing the mirrors off as literal treasure maps, only to reveal their true purpose when you arrive at the place where the treasure is supposed to be hidden.
I think that the scope and direction of the story has been dramatically altered, especially if it's going to end in 1 more game. If I recall correctly, S3 was supposed to move the story as much or more than S2 (at least in terms of chapters). If S4 is going to be the end, YS needs to reveal what happened in Meng Cun, Shenhua's real parents, what's at the cliff temple, what the mirrors actually do/what the treasure is (and what the CYM want), and resolve the conflict between Ryo, Lan Di and Niao Sun.
I think that all of these plot threads are still going to be resolved. I don't believe that Yu Suzuki has any intention of finishing the series in one more game. I don't think he would admit that Shenmue III takes us just 40% through the story, only to try and squeeze the last 60% into a single game.
The article you linked to is from four and a half years ago, right after the Kickstarter was announced. At this point, I'm almost positive that he knows it will take at least five games to properly complete the story.
Suzuki has said that he and his team thought S2 was the end so they put the fantastical elements in to "
go out with a bang". You're free to dislike it but it's where the series was always headed as far back as Project Berkley and if S4 ever comes out, the fantastical elements are likely to make a return.
Not everything that happened in the Project Berkley video was necessarily still meant to happen in Shenmue by the time it became a Dreamcast game. Project Berkley was also to take place in the Virtua Fighter universe, in which there exists an evil organization that kidnapped a ninja's mother and turned her into a fighting robot.
True, but if there was going to be more to it, it seems that S3 would have provided more insight rather than doubling down on what we learned in S2.
Not necessarily. Like I said, Shenmue III only takes us 40% through the story. There is still plenty of time for big reveals to occur.
I don't think Yu has any interest in truncating his story due to uncertainty regarding the future of the series. If he did, then he would have tried to finish it in Shenmue III.
I'm sure there's at least another wrinkle to what the treasure is to be sure, but this notion that there's a ton if story left is unrealistic. Even if he manages to secure funding for S5, how many more areas will we realistically be travelling to? We already know we have to go to the Cliff Temple, Meng Cun, and wherever the treasure is; even if there are 6 locations spread across 2 more games, I think that's the maximum we can expect (and that would be 2 S2 sized games).
You don't think that six locations spread across two more games is enough to tell all the story that needs to be told, even if it moves at a pace more akin to Shenmue II? I do. Besides, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of a Shenmue VI.
If he tries to wrap it up in S4, I'd be surprised if the nature of the treasure is substantially changed considering how much the supernatural is purposely downplayed in S3.
I don't think that the supernatural was really downplayed in Shenmue III, other than removing the scene of the floating sword maybe. Overall, it feels in line with the first two games. There are subtle hints of it, quite possibly building towards something bigger.
As I've already articulated in this post, we were never promised Chi You, but that also doesn't mean that it still can't happen. But just to make my own stance on the situation clear, I never believed that a literal Chinese monster that will devour our world would appear in the series nor did I want it to. That's way too over the top and fantastical.
Ideally, I would like to see the hints of mysticism that have been present in all three games pay off in a way that is more grounded in reality. Something that is not much more out there than what happened at the end of Shenmue II. I wouldn't even mind a Project Berkley moment, where Shenhua fends off some attackers by building up her Qi and releasing some sort of energy blast. But I would hope that even something like this stays within reason.
What essentially amounts to a kaiju appearing in Shenmue is just too much, in my opinion. I wouldn't mind the legend of Chi You having something to do with the creation of the mirrors though. I also think they could pull off someone being possessed by the spirit of Chi You or something of that nature. But a legendary Chinese monster literally being resurrected on Earth? I don't think that belongs in Shenmue.
@Dg1995 posted a perfect example of what I don't want to happen to Shenmue. Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy is a game that basically started out as a murder mystery but eventually turned into The Matrix.