I’m curious what exactly you’re taking issue with here.
If it’s regarding the game selling ‘relatively poorly’, this is a little more than an opinion.
Even taking the 4,463 Japanese backers into account and assuming that Shenmue 3 has been one sale shy of charting in Japan every week since it fell out of the charts, Shenmue 3 would have sold less physical copies in its opening 16 weeks on sale in Japan than the HD collection did in its opening two (according to Dengeki / Famitsu / Media Create sales figures). The absolute best case scenario is that Shenmue 3 has sold 37,790 physical copies over here and in all likelihood that figure is significantly lower.
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To have been outsold by some bad ports of some 20 year old games is, I think it’s fair to say, ‘relatively poor’.
If it’s regarding Yu thinking that Shenmue 3 is mediocre, the word mediocre means ‘of average quality’. He himself rated the game a 5/6 out of ten. This is an average score both in terms of mean and median.
If it’s regarding the majority of the fan base being underwhelmed or disappointed by Shenmue 3, take a look at the threads on this forum and the general lines of discussion...
Is there enough enthusiasm for a Shenmue 4? - Do fans still care?
Shenmue’s Relevance In Modern Times - How can we make the game relevant?
How much fan-service should be in Shenmue IV? - Yu shouldn’t have put so much fan service into the game.
SegaSammy should take back Shenmue. - Sega would do a better job but probably want nothing more to do with Shenmue.
How to 'modernize' Shenmue IV without losing the essence of Shenmue? - The series is dated and needs to be modernized.
Story Centric Shenmue - The story in S3 was lacking and YS should consider focusing more on the story moving forwards.
Were you happier with no Shenmue III? Or do you prefer living in a post-Shenmue III world? - Speaks for itself.
Shenhua Affinity System Was Not Cut From Shenmue III - Feature that a lot of people assumed was cut because it was barely noticeable was actually in the game.
How do you feel about the rewards distribution? - Rewards distribution has been poorly handled.
What Shenmue 3 Universe would you rather be in? - Only one person voted for the one we are in.
Should S3 be remade for the DC? - Should we remake a game that hasn’t even been out for four months?
Shenmue 3 Improvements/Keeps For Shenmue 4 - Considerably more ‘improvements’ than ‘keeps’.
Do these seem like the topics of conversation that a mostly happy fan base would be having? Even the positive threads like
Shenmue 3 is really amazing end up becoming discussions about the game’s flaws.
As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the Dojo is actually a lot more positive than the 500k Facebook group and the Shenmue Reddit. It’s like a hoard of wild Ghost Trick’s swarmed their sites.
Suzuki has stated multiple times that this game was made for the fans and a large portion of the fan base was left disappointed. There’s no escaping that. I’d be very surprised if he set out to make a mediocre game and so in this regard, I don’t think it’s unfair to suggest that he failed to meet his own high standards either.