110 Industries have been teasing Shenmue IV a lot lately

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The entire "nothing happens in Shenmue 3" is one of the most ridiculous comments I've seen in the fanbase

Sure things should have been told better and fleshed out more, but to say "nothing happens" means you weren't paying attention.

It's especially worrying when I've seen new fans in past twitch streams understand what happens in Shenmue 3 more compared to long time fans.
 
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Elfshadowreaper said:
With the fourth game they’re going to have to do a better job at conveying a sense of progression. I felt progression in the first two. I felt I was getting closer. Guy killed my father.. Who is he? Chinese… Where do Chinese people hang out? Bars. Group called the Mad Angels.. Leader is Terry.. They’ve gone to Hong Kong. How am I getting to Hong Kong?
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I stand in the minority on this but I still think Shenmue III marks the biggest progression in the story yet. That being the introduction to the Chi You Men, the Civil War inside the Chi You Men and the Chi You Men now having the mirrors in their possession. That to me still marks the biggest progression this series has seen yet.

Shenmue 1 and 2 are all hearsay and conjecture in terms of building lore. Yes, Ryo learns more as a martial artist but the main story really doesn't progress all that much in either of those games. All we get is a bunch of hearsay and conjecture followed by a backloaded ending of exposition.

It's all the inbetween stuff that makes Shenmue II memorable and that is what is lacking for some in Shenmue III. There's no WUDE moment, there's no Yellow Head Building, there's none of that and I get that is why most don't like Shenmue III.

But for me, Shenmue III offers an intimacy with Ryo that neither of the other games have yet to offer. The WUDE is still very much all over the game but its interesting they tried to blend it into actual gameplay. Not to mention the budding relationship with Shenhua that is built through those nightly conversations.

Sure, I have complaints. I wish we had found out more in Bailu than we did. I wish the thugs were more memorable. But in terms of actual progression, I still think Shenmue III makes the biggest jump yet. If anything it's left me more excited for Shenmue IV seeing that the mirrors are now in the enemy's hands. In some ways, I find that vastly more compelling than even Shenmue II's ending because now all bets are off going forward.

Shenmue III does follow the same formula as the other two games for better or worse though. I think it all depends on what you wanted from Shenmue III.

I don't know...but I know I'm in the minority when it comes to Shenmue III. The more I play that game, the more I appreciate it.
 
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My problem with Shenmue III isn’t the lack of progression, it’s just that most of it happens in the last hour of the game. I know we’ve beaten that point to death about the budget and rushed ending, but that is really my only criticism of it.
 
tomboz said:
Right you are. Until Ryo gets to Bailu Village and then suddenly starts getting his ass handed to him by random thugs.
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Yes, the same Ryo who fought off 100 thugs in Yokosuka but started getting his ass kicked by some more random thugs in HK. Gee, it's like there is a formula here or something.

I'm not talking about writing...the writing of said thugs is entirely subjective. You may like how said thugs were presented, you may not. That's entirely subjective. But the formula is very much the same between all three games. Ryo faces a new obstacle and has to learn new techniques to bring the obstacle down. I don't see the problem in that. I feel like that is Shenmue's formula and the same will probably happen in Shenmue IV. He will probably be taught by a new master at some point to learn some new technique to beat the next enemy.
 
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ShenSun said:
The entire "nothing happens in Shenmue 3" is one of the most ridiculous comments I've seen in the fanbase

Sure things should have been told better and fleshed out more, but to say "nothing happens" means you weren't paying attention.

It's especially worrying when I've seen new fans in past twitch streams understand what happens in Shenmue 3 more compared to long time fans.
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Let's be real about this.

It's not really "nothing happened."

It's more "what I wanted to happen didn't happen." Or at least that has been my realisation with a lot of the Shenmue III hate.

And I get it, I wish more happened in Shenmue III. I wish we had gotten more than we did. But yeah, the complaints that there was no progress in Shenmue III are ridiculous.

But we're beating a tired old drum here and maybe we should move on.

For my money, Shenmue III is the most compelling and entertaining "7.5" game I've played in a long time. I don't know what it is about SIII in particular but I still find myself replaying it. I'm on my 4th playthrough with the PC version. Most other modern games I don't play more than once. So yeah, I don't know what it is about Shemue III but I'm still not as down on it as most others seem to be. I actually appreciate it more and more with every playthrough.

But I don't know...maybe I just have Stockholm Syndrome at this point :ROFLMAO:
 
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danielmann861 said:
Let's be real about this.

It's not "nothing happened." It's more "what I wanted to happen didn't happen." Or at least that has been my realisation with a lot of the Shenmue 3 hate.
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Yeah, it's crazy bro. There are a lot of disingenuous fans when it comes to Shenmue 3. Fair enough if you don't like the game at all, but to continuously say "nothing happens" Is hyperbolic and objectively false. Those who say "nothing happens" but secretly mean "what I wanted to happen didn't happen" are just childish. Like if that's what you really feel, just say it, without hiding behind the "nothing happens" nonsense.

It's all good if some fans hate the story in Shenmue 3, but the disingenuous stuff is just sad and I think a lot of us can tell when someone isn't being 100% truthful.

I've also seen a lot of fans throw Shenmue under the bus completely because of one mediocre entry. I personally didn't like Yakuza 1 or 3 but I don't want the series to die. Nor does the Yakuza fanbase, and they would even tell you that some of the entries in that series are just borderline "ok"
 

This needs updating, for example, it includes nothing from DLC, but it is a good start. Things happened, period. They may not have been to your liking, or gone as far as you wished they did, but they happened. And I think once we get at least Shenmue IV, but hopefully the finale of the story in Shenmue V, Shenmue III will be seen much more positively as a piece of the pie, instead of the interim finale and feared "final nail in the Shenmue games coffin" that some currently see it as.
 
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ShenSun said:
I've also seen a lot of fans throw Shenmue under the bus completely because of one mediocre entry. I personally didn't like Yakuza 1 or 3 but I don't want the series to die. Nor does the Yakuza fanbase, and they would even tell you that some of the entries in that series are just borderline "ok"
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See I'm the opposite, I fucking love Yakuza 3. I still think Yakuza 3 might be my favourite of the series. Not necessarily for the story (the story is not entirely my favourite - it's fine but not my favourite - I actually think Y6 may be my favourite story of the series) but I really love Okinawa in that game and there is just something about that game I keep going back to.

But whatever, different strokes. But I do hear you. I mean even with all these Shenmue IV rumours, I was surprised by how many are still bringing up their dislike of Shenmue III as a means of pessimism for the continuation of the series based on their dislike for SIII.

I mean, sure, you have every right to dislike SIII. I'm not saying that you must like the game. But am I in the same community that once never gave up for the future of Shenmue for 15 odd years while everyone laughed in their faces telling them it would never happen? Or did I enter the twilight zone?
 
Shadow2222 said:
My problem with Shenmue III isn’t the lack of progression, it’s just that most of it happens in the last hour of the game.
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This is basically my view on it too.

The ending of Shenmue III represents a pretty huge shakeup in the series status quo, but doesn't have the build up it deserved.

On the plus side, it's an excellent place for Shenmue IV to start from. All major characters have had some form of status change that could drive interesting character development.
 
For me, every aspect of Shenmue III was just disappointing. There isn't really a aspect that I necessarily hate, just found almost everything about the game to be a disappointment. gameplay, story, side quests all just kind of underwhelmed me. I just hope 4 is SO much more improved. Although the combat I think was inexscusably bad in 3, the publishers should not have let the devs ship the game with that system so unfinshed.
 
Shadow2222 said:
My problem with Shenmue III isn’t the lack of progression, it’s just that most of it happens in the last hour of the game. I know we’ve beaten that point to death about the budget and rushed ending, but that is really my only criticism of it.
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See I could make the same argument about Shenmue II though...I mean Shenmue II does backload most of its major story points into that one scene with Yuanda Zhu. But that's just my thought.

I will agree about the rushed ending though. Not to sound too apologist for SIII, but that's been my major complaint with Shenmue III as a whole. It needed more time in the cooker. It's very ambitious for the budget it had in terms of the number of systems its implementing but that ambition is also its weakness. On every front. But I guess they just ran out of time and money to make that happen and what we got was something a bit undercooked.
 
Jigen said:
I disagree... That statement ignores all the story and character progression for both Ryo and Xiuying in the former half of the game.
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I'm not talking about Ryo's personal growth. I'm talking about the main overarching story beats. The main overarching story beats are all relegated to the back end.

Besides that, all this talk about Ryo's personal growth is still questionable for me. I've always said that Xiuying is right about him. He does not take it fully in. His heart is in the right place but he is always rushing into conflict without thought.

Take one scene with Feng in Shenmue III as a perfect example. Ryo pushes Feng to try and tell him more which ultimately results in Feng shutting him out all together. Does this sound like a man who has really learnt the WUDE or does it sound like a pushy boy rushing into something that is still over his head? He still has much to learn...which is where one of my big complaints of Shenmue III comes in. That I thought it would be the turning point for him. Although, maybe it takes getting his ass kicked by Lan Di to finally beat some sense into him but we will see in Shenmue IV as to where Ryo is mentally after that fight.

But that's besides the point.

Anyways, the point is not about Ryo's personal growth. I'm talking about main overarching story beats. And yes, the main story beats in Shenmue II are all backloaded into Yuanda Zhu's one scene. Otherwise, take the personal growth out of it and the whole game of Shenmue II is basically the same as III...you're searching for one person the entire time. And when you find that one person, they give you the exposition dump. The difference between SII and SIII is that SII did a better job distracting you from that with everything else going on regarding the other elements introduced.

Whereas Shenmue III doesn't have the WUDE moments and such...it just has long getting to know you conversations with Shenhua instead so it maybe exposes the shortcomings.
 
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Can we just not learn from 3 faults and errors and hope for the best with a potential 4? Shenmue 3 is here. Nothing about it is going to change now. It's time to look forward to what might be coming and if rumours are true a bigger project with a bigger budget. It might do it justice...not everyone is going to agree with the same points. Everyone has a different view, perspective and preferences on the game but that's what life is, we don't always see eye to eye. The future is brighter than ever for shenmue right now let's just hope for the best and whatever errors were made with 3 will undoubtedly be in the feedback for 4's growth. :)
 
danielmann861 said:
See I'm the opposite, I fucking love Yakuza 3. I still think Yakuza 3 might be my favourite of the series. Not necessarily for the story (the story is not entirely my favourite - it's fine but not my favourite - I actually think Y6 may be my favourite story of the series) but I really love Okinawa in that game and there is just something about that game I keep going back to.

But whatever, different strokes. But I do hear you. I mean even with all these Shenmue IV rumours, I was surprised by how many are still bringing up their dislike of Shenmue III as a means of pessimism for the continuation of the series based on their dislike for SIII.

I mean, sure, you have every right to dislike SIII. I'm not saying that you must like the game. But am I in the same community that once never gave up for the future of Shenmue for 15 odd years while everyone laughed in their faces telling them it would never happen? Or did I enter the twilight zone?
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Might revisit it at some point. I might appreciate it more now that I'm older. I originally played Yakuza 3 during the PS3 era.

I played Yakuza 7 not too long ago. That was a god-level game. I personally give it a 10/10. Loved it.

Jobi14119 said:
Can we just not learn from 3 faults and errors and hope for the best with a potential 4? Shenmue 3 is here. Nothing about it is going to change now. It's time to look forward to what might be coming and if rumours are true a bigger project with a bigger budget. It might do it justice...not everyone is going to agree with the same points. Everyone has a different view, perspective and preferences on the game but that's what life is, we don't always see eye to eye. The future is brighter than ever for shenmue right now let's just hope for the best and whatever errors were made with 3 will undoubtedly be in the feedback for 4's growth. :)
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You're right. Let's move the thread on people. If you want to discuss Shenmue 3's strengths and weaknesses, let's use the appropriate threads for that.

This one is about Shenmue 4 and 110
 
Jobi14119 said:
Can we just not learn from 3 faults and errors and hope for the best with a potential 4? Shenmue 3 is here. Nothing about it is going to change now. It's time to look forward to what might be coming and if rumours are true a bigger project with a bigger budget. It might do it justice...not everyone is going to agree with the same points. Everyone has a different view, perspective and preferences on the game but that's what life is, we don't always see eye to eye. The future is brighter than ever for shenmue right now let's just hope for the best and whatever errors were made with 3 will undoubtedly be in the feedback for 4's growth. :)
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That's the right attitude, my man. All arguments and debates aside...I think that's what we all really want. Learn from the mistakes of SIII and make a better game all together.

BTW, I don't mean to come across as apologist or argumentative for the sake of being argumentative with anyone here...I think I just fall into that camp that doesn't seem to have as many of the same issues with SIII that most others had...but yeah, maybe we should all just move back to being hyped about Shenmue IV potential.
 
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I think the complaint that nothing happens in 3 is more or less getting lost in what people myself included actually might mean, which is its not that nothing literally happens its more nothing that happens really had the impact it needed to feel like it progressed things along. Which honestly is probably alot more brutal a criticism than nothing happening.

I think the other bigger issue with this discourse is its not to say straight up nothing happened as easy as that is to write out. Its that it didnt progress as far as people really wanted to and it got caught in that bad middle ground where the settings felt half fleshed out to justify a stagnated slow pace like you would see in say a Legend of the heroes/kiseki game and it didn't move far enough to feel like an adventure where alot of progress was made.

tl;dr different strokes different folks
 
ShenSun said:
You're right. Let's move the thread on people. If you want to discuss Shenmue 3's strengths and weaknesses, let's use the appropriate threads for that.

This one is about Shenmue 4 and 110
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Exactly. It's all good to debate but sometimes it just gets out of hand, silly and petty. There's plenty of other threads to exchange our opinions and thoughts on that particular subject. Lets keep this one about the potential possible future. :) This week will be an interesting one. One to keep our eyes on 110 and see if another tease, hint, like or nod is dropped.
 
danielmann861 said:
That's the right attitude, my man. All arguments and debates aside...I think that's what we all really want.

BTW, I don't mean to come across as apologist or argumentative for the sake of being argumentative with anyone here...but yeah, maybe we should all just move back to being hyped about Shenmue IV potential.
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That's it my friend. 👍 Let's keep our eyes on the horizon and on what might be dawning. :) We are an amazing fandom who've achieved so much together over 20 years let's not let a minor setback cause a ripple in our ocean.
 
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