- Joined
- Nov 23, 2019
I was thinking about how it'd be possible to fix Shenmue 3's story (from the perspective of someone who didn't like it) without changing any of the "plot" information. The more I think about the story to S3, the more I think my issues with it are not necessarily the story per se but rather how it's told. Obviously I wish we learned more about the mirrors, CYM, poem etc. but I think the deeper problems with S3 are with its premise, its breadcrumb trail, and its tone. So here's part 1 of my little thought experiment, the opening sequence:
Rules:
Attempted Fixes:
Ryo and Shenhua are rattled by what they discover in the cave and they race to Bailu Village to find out what happened to Shenhua’s father. They discover that the CYM have raided the village: Yanglang is interrogating the stone masons and Niao Sun is also there demanding the mirror. The stone masons are kneeling in a line, Niao Sun has ordered them to be killed one by one until the location of the mirror is revealed. Suddenly, Yuan speaks up and says that the mirror is hidden (buried under the Shenmue tree?).
Yanglang hands Niao Sun the mirror which is a perfect replica and she takes Yuan with her and as she’s leaving she orders the rest of the stone masons killed and the village burned. Ryo runs in to save him and we get our first bit of gameplay as Ryo dispatches some CYM grunts and confronts Yanglang. The fight is unwinnable but as Yanglang is laying a beatdown on Ryo, Grandmaster Feng appears and fights him off. Ryo is KO'd.
Ryo awakens to find much of Bailu village destroyed and Shenhua’s father missing. Because of the damage caused by the fire, this gives Shenhua things to do during the day as the villagers all work together to rebuild the town. But the biggest change is that the threat has been neutralized so there are no more thugs in Bailu (for now) and Ryo now has a few objectives: 1. Investigate the mysterious woman. 2. Find out where they took Yuan. 3. Speak with Grandmaster Feng.
This intro fixes a few of my biggest problems with S3: we start things off with a bang, we’re introduced to Niao Sun and immediately establish that she means business and is more sadistic than Lan Di, we establish the replica mirror (I hate that Ren just buys one at a gift shop so much I literally can’t even), the Grandmaster of Bailu is able to be useful, and it feels like a more natural continuation of S2 (Shenhua’s premonition of bad things happening and the dire tone of the note).
Rules:
- No additional gameplay (the systems are what they are; things can be removed but not added)
- No new story development (things can be remixed but nothing pertaining to the over arching narrative can be added)
- Same story beats and same ending (ie: Yuan is kidnapped, Niao Sun and Lan Di end up with the mirrors)
Attempted Fixes:
- Start things off with more of a bang.
- Make the goals and boundaries more logical
- Prioritize set ups and pay offs
- Focus on more frequent character interactions and clarifications
- Shenmue 3 is too long imo, so as a general rule I would shoot for around a 10 hour game with this amount of content.
Ryo and Shenhua are rattled by what they discover in the cave and they race to Bailu Village to find out what happened to Shenhua’s father. They discover that the CYM have raided the village: Yanglang is interrogating the stone masons and Niao Sun is also there demanding the mirror. The stone masons are kneeling in a line, Niao Sun has ordered them to be killed one by one until the location of the mirror is revealed. Suddenly, Yuan speaks up and says that the mirror is hidden (buried under the Shenmue tree?).
Yanglang hands Niao Sun the mirror which is a perfect replica and she takes Yuan with her and as she’s leaving she orders the rest of the stone masons killed and the village burned. Ryo runs in to save him and we get our first bit of gameplay as Ryo dispatches some CYM grunts and confronts Yanglang. The fight is unwinnable but as Yanglang is laying a beatdown on Ryo, Grandmaster Feng appears and fights him off. Ryo is KO'd.
Ryo awakens to find much of Bailu village destroyed and Shenhua’s father missing. Because of the damage caused by the fire, this gives Shenhua things to do during the day as the villagers all work together to rebuild the town. But the biggest change is that the threat has been neutralized so there are no more thugs in Bailu (for now) and Ryo now has a few objectives: 1. Investigate the mysterious woman. 2. Find out where they took Yuan. 3. Speak with Grandmaster Feng.
This intro fixes a few of my biggest problems with S3: we start things off with a bang, we’re introduced to Niao Sun and immediately establish that she means business and is more sadistic than Lan Di, we establish the replica mirror (I hate that Ren just buys one at a gift shop so much I literally can’t even), the Grandmaster of Bailu is able to be useful, and it feels like a more natural continuation of S2 (Shenhua’s premonition of bad things happening and the dire tone of the note).
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