Thing is though, the story doesn't really have to be sacrificed if you're making a "half-baked" game. The story, for the most part, is the writing and what happens. Not necessarily how it happens during the game.
- Who Killed Sunming Zhao and if it was Iwao, why?
- What treasure do the mirrors lead to?
- Does Ryo avenge his father?
- How are Ryo's friends doing back home?
Answer the above and I'll be satisfied. Though it had its flaws, Shenmue III proved you can make a good Shenmue game, on a modest budget and not feel that you are missing anything. The problems with Shenmue III were largely due to direction and not budget. The jokes, tone and lack of character development for me foretells a bleak Shenmue future, critically and/or commercially, if the plan is to take it beyond 4 games.
If it’s rushed and not properly fleshed out, it would make a huge difference to me. Moreover, I think there’s a lot more to wrap up than just those 4 points.
1. Who is Tentai? Who has been pulling Lan Di’s strings for all these years.
2. Who is Shenhua? What are her powers? How is she connected to the mirrors?
3. Who is the 4th CYM leader?
4. Will Ziming return to the light or was he fully corrupted by the Chi You Men? Will he reunite with his sister?
5. What is Zu Yuanda’s significance in all of this? Can he be trusted?
6. What do the mirrors do?
7. What happened in Meng Cun?
8. Will Ryo continue along the path to vengeance or will he have a change of heart?
9. Will Lan Di change when he learns that he has been manipulated or is he beyond saving? Does he want the mirrors for himself or is he only seeking them on behalf of his master?
10. What will happen to Niao Sun after her betrayal? Is she not the de facto leader of the CYM? Will we see a warring factions situation moving forwards?
11. What happened to the people that Ryo left behind? Is Tom still selling hotdogs? Does Nozomi like Canada? Is Fuku-san still a total tool? Will Goro ever make an honest woman out of Mei?
These are just some of the questions that I have off the top of my head. I’m sure if I put a bit of time into it I could think of plenty more.
Do you think they could do all of these storylines justice in a single game the length of S3 (especially considering that 80% of S3 was padding).