Yu's comments on the feedback were pretty reasonable, IMO. Quite correctly he doesn't want to strip Shenmue of its character or make it braindead to appeal to players who don't "get" the series at the moment, but it's not going to be an easy task to find an accommodation that suits newbies and traditionalists.
It's actually heartening to hear he's moved on from pondering about adding quest markers and is thinking more deeply about what it means to reinvent Shenmue for both audiences. Read into that what you will.
I've suggested in other threads that the way forward might be to break the linearity of progression in F.R.E.E Quest portions of the game and allow Ryo to follow up on multiple story objectives at once, coupled with branching quest design we've seen already in parts of Shenmue II.
Combined with refined combat, beefed up RPG mechanics, a well presented story, and a deep, activity-rich game world, the best things about Shenmue will surely shine. It's a big ask from a content creation perspective, though.
Just making a Shenmue-skinned Yakuza would be terrible, as even that series hasn't really gotten over its "Point A to Point B to Point C"-itis. If there was literally one thing I'd take from Yakuza, it's the concept from some of the later titles where you could accrue different types of XP doing ordinary things and engaging with the game world.
As for the "no comment" and what lead into that interview cul-de-sac, lol. No smoke without fire, I say.
It's actually heartening to hear he's moved on from pondering about adding quest markers and is thinking more deeply about what it means to reinvent Shenmue for both audiences. Read into that what you will.
I've suggested in other threads that the way forward might be to break the linearity of progression in F.R.E.E Quest portions of the game and allow Ryo to follow up on multiple story objectives at once, coupled with branching quest design we've seen already in parts of Shenmue II.
Combined with refined combat, beefed up RPG mechanics, a well presented story, and a deep, activity-rich game world, the best things about Shenmue will surely shine. It's a big ask from a content creation perspective, though.
Just making a Shenmue-skinned Yakuza would be terrible, as even that series hasn't really gotten over its "Point A to Point B to Point C"-itis. If there was literally one thing I'd take from Yakuza, it's the concept from some of the later titles where you could accrue different types of XP doing ordinary things and engaging with the game world.
As for the "no comment" and what lead into that interview cul-de-sac, lol. No smoke without fire, I say.