Favorite Shenmue 3 NPCS?

[ShenSun]

Shenmue 3 has a wide range of characters. While many prefer the NPCS in Shenmue 1 and 2, i thought it would be good to have a dedicated thread for the newest batch of NPCs. Who are favorites and why?

(Side note: Do not use this thread to compare these characters to Shenmue 1 and 2 NPCS)
(Side note: Ren, Shenhua, Niaosun, Lan Di and Chai are not included in this topic)

Lin

Zixiong

MeiMei

Mr Tao

Master Feng

Wei Zen

Master Sun

Hotel Lady

Shrine Maiden Shillin

Master Bei

Master Hsu

Hello & Welcome NPC

Yanglang

Mr Muscles

Wenxu Su

Elder Ye

Mingyang

Need Some Tokens Npc

Feel free to mention any other NPCS that i missed.

Who are your favorites and why?

 

[Nigel]

To my mind, one of the redeeming qualities of S3 is its increased sense of humor (I wonder what added to this: a new script director, YS getting older-- it really does seem to soften people-- and so on). Similarly, it seems like the team was willing to play on more contemporary attitudes/stereotypes, and I think that actually helped the game. To that end:

-I laugh at anyone with an exaggerated thirst (women and men alike) for Ryo; there's little subtlety. Also, a shout out to Wei Zen's over the top frustration in that side quest. The English voice actor nailed the "whaaat?"s.

-I'm all about the lucky hit guy on the bridge between the arcade and Hotel Niaowu. Maybe it's also his English voice actor nailing it, but his quivering fearful voice is both tragic and hilarious.

-That fat kid in the DLC is now far more important than the side quest about that Japanese teenager seeking revenge.

-There's some woman (CC, if memory serves?) who keeps coming up with increasingly obtuse ideas of who Ryo is (incl. the hotel lady), which confuses him to no end.


That being said, I don't understand why YS is so fond of the hotel lady (didn't he say she's his new favorite character?) Maybe he experienced someone like her during his Chinese travels? I don't dislike her, and many of us know someone eccentric/quirky like that, but I don't get it.

 

[code l name]

I wouldn’t call Yanlang or Ge NPC’s. With that said my favourites are Wei Zhen, Wenxu Su (although I failed entire sidequest loved listening to his tale tale tales) and Master Sun.

 

[ShenSun]

Really liking the npcs more and more. More so the bailu characters

 

[Thomasina]

I didn't like any of them. None of them had any personality or anything interesting to say, imo.

The only one who had potential to be interesting was the martial artist on the boat, Master Bei, but he had such a minor role that there wasn't much of an opportunity to get to know him, or get to know anything about him.

The other one who had me excited was the grey haired guy with Landi at the end but nothing was done with him other than comic relief.

 

[Sonoshee]

Shiling was great. She was really spunky lol

 

[Thomasina]

I don't believe that any of these characters are fully realized. I think they've all been cut short of their stories and personality just to meet a deadline and stay within budget.

 

[code l name]

None of them had any personality or anything interesting to say, imo.

I strongly disagree, Mr. Sun I thought was a pretty realized character. Hearing the towns people talk about his drunken behaviour and hearing variants of how miserly he was and how he didn’t his tab at various vendors was brilliant. Then his whole training section along with his dedicated sidequest did a nice job of fleshing his personality out.

Now to mention Wenxu Su tall tales which was probably my favourite sidequest and each of his outlandish tales were very humorous despite he reciting them to you without a hint of irony.

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

Master Xianzi Bei would probably be my favorite NPC in Shenmue III. I enjoy his no-nonsense personality and the scene where you first meet him is great. I made my meeting with him take place during the evening so it would be more atmospheric.


To be honest, I wish he played a larger role, but I enjoyed his character nonetheless.

 

[spud1897]

I don't believe that any of these characters are fully realized. I think they've all been cut short of their stories and personality just to meet a deadline and stay within budget.

But apparently budget wasnt an issue......

 

[hyo_razuki]

If I had to pick one, it would have to be old Su who is at least mildly interesting with his "true stories" but I don't think I'd really consider him a great NPC. Sun was also kind of charming as a Drunken Master /Mr Miyagi style Kung Fu movie trope but ultimately he was underdeveloped. Nobody else, really. There's a bunch of characters who could have been or should have been great which makes it even more frustrating.

Niao Sun should have been the NPC in S3 if you consider villains NPCs but ultimately her following Ryo around town did little for her character and kidnapping Shenhua made no sense as she was already the one controlling the Red Snakes as a Chiyoumen subcontractor and the Red Snakes had old Yuan held hostage. And then Niao Sun's introduction /reveal was botched for some reason. In the end, Niao Sun was a wasted opportunity as a character. Also Yuan, Master Bei and Masters Sun and Feng should have been interesting but unfortunately character and plot development were S3's biggest flaws in my opinion.

 

[Arcadio]

I like this girl at the Niaowu pharmacy. When Ryo asks her questions, she mistakenly assumes he's asking about aphrodisiac drugs. Then she'll whisper to Ryo that she'll keep it a secret. I think she's cute.

 

[Rydeen]

Shiling was great. She was really spunky lol

I was talking with her recently about making money--when I first got to that point in the story, I was already Mr. Moneybags, so I just bought the scroll right away without thinking--and she was getting kind of flustered when he said he needed money for a big purchase, because she jumped to, 'He's buying something for a girlfriend.' Then after telling him about working down at the docks, she predictably lectured him about not going out and gambling. (Sorry, Shiling. Gambling is my bread and butter.)

Master Xianzi Bei would probably be my favorite NPC in Shenmue III. I enjoy his no-nonsense personality and the scene where you first meet him is great. I made my meeting with him take place during the evening so it would be more atmospheric.


To be honest, I wish he played a larger role, but I enjoyed his character nonetheless.

This is one of my favorite scenes in the game. I remember one of the trailers had parts of it, and I was specifically excited about him referencing the period of the Cultural Revolution, when martial arts were banned. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a bigger part of his teachings, but I still love how that scene plays out, and he works in a lot of philosophical lessons while Ryo is just trying his heart out, with some really incredible fight choreography. I also really like the way he's framed as a sort of stalwart, level-headed and wise practitioner, juxtaposed with Ryo's youthful, hot-headed and reckless nature. Ryo doesn't spend as much time with him as he does Xiuying, but he's very Xiuying-esque to me.

 

[Yokosuka]

The little kids are adorable, the one in red dress especially.

 

[ShenSun]

i have found talking to the npcs over and over again at different points reveal more info about them. You also get to see more of their personality

 

[Down by Law]

I liked the stonemason you see around the Panda Market. Ke. Voice fitted him perfectly.

Su's tall tales were brilliant. His delivery of '....it was me' cracks me up every time.

Grandmaster Bei has an awesome voice and his training with Ryo while telling him how Bajiquan was trained in secret is my fave scene in the game bar the ending fight. Really good stuff.

Can't forget the absolute MVP though:
"If you wanna win some, you gotta dim sum"

 

[Sergeynest]

My favourite npc's in Shenmue 3 are:

From Bailu:

Mr Tao because "If you're choppin, I'm paying"

Lin because she reminds me of Megumi from Shenmue 1.

Zixiong because he teachs tai chi to the kids and reminds me of Kung fu panda.

Grandmaster Feng because of "The memories" and he lives in the best spot in Bailu village.

Wei Zen because I liked to spar with her and I'm certain she will become a Kung fu movie star someday.

The old couple in the villages restaurant because they seem to be lovely grandparents.

Master Sun because he is just like those drunken masters from those classic chinese kung fu movies.

The kids in the sunflower grove because I loved the hide and seek quest.

Mr Su because all the stories he told always put a smile in my face.




Elder Yeh because she reminded me of those typical old ladies from the movies that know all the legends and myths from the local village.

Yanlang the leader of the thugs in Bailu village because he has a cool outfit, is style of fighting and is sense of humour.

From Niaowu:

Shillin the Shrine Maiden because of her fighting spirit and impulsive temperament.

Master Hsu because he is Kung Fu panda number 2.

Master Bei because of the Qte and fighting cutscene with Ryo.

I liked these three characters and felt that they had huge potencial but unfortunatly they were under developt.

Mr Muscles because at least he felt like a real bad guy and not a coward pussy like Terry.

Niwao Sun because I liked her role but sadly I already knew from the start that she was the hot babe in the cute dress, at least she surprised me by going against Lan Di and by having burned the castle area.

These are the characters that I enjoyed the most but sadly some of them felt under developt and deserved much more attention, I just hope that if we get Shenmue 4 that all the side characters end up having the true Shenmue treatment that they deserve.

 

[SalsaShark]

Some of my favorites are:
Bailu:
Wei Zhen - I enjoy how direct she is and her side quest was really fun! I also like how she's totally "not afraid of ghosts".

Mr. Su Wenxu - his tall tales are great, but I also like that when you ask him about other things he STILL talks about how he used to own everything ,complains about the young people, and how he won so much gambling that he drove away all the bookies.

Su Zixiong - he's a very skilled martial artist, but also talks almost as big a game as Wenxu! Also he's kind of oblivious to stuff going in the village which can be pretty funny.

Yang Lihong(kid in the blue shirt) - he's such a trouble maker it's great! From him I learned that it's not such a good idea to throw pumpkins down a hill, and to definitely not try to climb the tree outside Feng's house if you know what's good for you!

Mo Yi (lady in the blue shirt at sunflower grove)- She's the only one who hates living in Bailu, and has some good reasons for it. She even asks Ryo to take her with him when he leaves.

Kong Mei - she's a badass.

Feng and Sun - for the memories and for putting Ryo in his place when needed.

There are so many more great ones I could list(I fucking love Bailu)

Niaowu:

Ma Jialin(hotel owner) - fun personality and her presence is all over town. I wonder if she's got a thing going on with the barber...

The nouveaux riche couple-everything involving them is great. "It's only natural for you to be fascinated by me"

Li Shiling - as much as I wanted more with her, her flustered personality is fun. Also her thoughts on Ren are great lol.

Bei - the scenes with him are fantastic and make me really wish we got a training sequence with him too.

C.C.!

The girls working the Golden Goose VIP room are hilarious, especially the one who's in the haircut side quest.

The lady running the moon cake stand is often fun to talk to

Li Feng/Niao Sun - definitely wanted to see more of her, but I really liked what we did get. Finding her around town and her saying weird cryptic stuff was cool.

 

[chaikilla]

Kong Mei, Li Feng, CC and the fat kid on the boat.

 

[Dietsoap]

Sun and Master Bei were definitely the standouts for me. The fat fishing guy is legit the funniest not-story-significant npc in a game ever imo, I never knew what the fuck he was on about lmao. Also all the cute female store vendors.