I’m really hoping they cram a lot of story into the 4th game and don’t think there necessarily needs to be a series of main villains to drive the story along.
In my eyes the game would be great if....
They stop off in a town near to the cliff temple (Baisha) to come up with a plan. Upon arriving, they find that the locals are having trouble with the CYM. Ryo saves an elderly Marshall artist from a group of CYM and learns that the man actually knew Iwao (who had also stopped off in the town on his way to the cliff temple 20 years ago). Ryo actually asks some questions about his father and we learn why he was traveling through China. The man suggests that there might be others who remember Iwao and Ryo speaks to 2/3 other martial artists who knew and trained with Iwao and talking with them fills in many of the gaps in the story. They also teach you a few moves (because there wasn’t anywhere near enough of that in S3) and that the best fighters bide their time while reading their opponents’ movements before striking at the ideal moment instead of just throwing their fists around (as we’ve seen with every master we’ve encountered so far).
After learning all there is to learn in Baisha, the town is invaded by CYM (think 70 man battle) and Ryo and the other martial artists have to fight them off. The group succeeds, but one of them is killed in the process (at the moment it really feels like the stakes are very low considering how dangerous some of these gangs are supposed to be). This tells the player that we’re not fucking around anymore and that the CYM aren’t just another punk gang. As with Shenhua in S3, the nighttime scenes here are used to develop Ren’s character a little more.
After the battle, the group decide to head to the temple. Ren decides to infiltrate the castle by himself and open a side entrance but gets caught and locked up. Ryo has to fight his way through the temple and finds that Ren is locked up with none other than Niao San.
The group form an uneasy alliance after she agrees to tell them where in the temple she hid the mirror and after retrieving it they work their way through the temple towards the dragon mirror. Just as they arrive however, she tries to attack Ryo but is stopped by Ren who pulls out his knife. She’s too fast for him though and manages to disarm him and comes at Ryo with the knife. After a QTE scene, Ryo dodges and incapacitates her before heading into the room where the dragon mirror is kept.
Of course, Lan Di is waiting for them as he thinks they are heading there with the Phoenix mirror. A fight ensues, but unlike last time Ryo is able to land a few blows. Lan Di gets serious and floors Ryo, taking the Phoenix mirror. He now sees him as a threat and decides its time to finish him off for good, but, at the last second, Ren steps in and stabs Lan Di. Lan Di kills Ren, but as he is wounded and now has both mirrors, decides to leave and heads back to Tentei.
Ryo carries Ren back to Baisha and they burn his body in a giant treasure chest shaped coffin. Through his grief and the following conversations with Shenhua, he begins to realize the consequences of his choice to pursue vengeance and even spots the parallels between himself and Lan Di. For the first time in his journey he begins to question the path he’s taken and decides that he needs to find out the truth about what happened between Iwao and Sunming Zhao.
The game takes us on a train to meng sun. Ryo arrives to find no information but soon finds himself in trouble with the local CYM. He ends up their prisoner and is taken to their leader in that area, Ziming Hong. After realizing their connection through the pendant that LT gave Ryo, Ziming reveals that he is still working to take down the CYM and avenge his family and points Ryo to a small village nearby.
After asking around in the village, Ryo is sent to speak with a reclusive man who lives on the edge of town. When Ryo asks if he knows anything about Sunming Zhao, the man’s demeanor changes. He asks who Ryo is and why he’s asking and, after Ryo explains, tells Ryo that he hasn’t heard that name in a long time. Yes, of course, this man is Sunming Zhao and he is very much alive. Fin.
I think this would set up S5 to cleanly wrap up the series. We learn about the true power of the mirrors from SZ at the beginning, travel to the place where the mirrors are going to be used (maybe back to Hong Kong), meet the 4th CYM leader, have a big showdown between the CYM with Ziming showing his true colors and Lan Di performing a heel turn when he realizes that his father is still alive. Ryo confronts Tentei (Zu Yuanda) and we learn Shenhua’s true power (she’s key to stopping whatever it is the mirrors do).
Sorry. I’m bored at work.