Magic Monaco Press Conference March 9th Part 3 More Reaction

mjqjazzbar said:
I really like Yakuza--spent over 80 hours playing Yakuza 0 recently--but is anyone else tired of running around the same tiny city yet? I know they pack the city full of activities, but it feels like all those other open world games where you're just checking boxes. The seams really show if you just follow the storylines and ignore the side content.

What is it that makes people lose their critical faculties when it comes to Yakuza?
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Speaking as someone who has been playing Yakuza since it's PS2 days...yeah, the fatigue has set in a little for me. I've played almost every Yakuza game (with exception of Ishin and Kenzan) and I have to admit, I've gone through bouts of fatigue with it. Recently before starting Judge Eyes, I was a little bummed that we were back in Kamurocho and thought "wouldn't it be more interesting if they at least changed the city."

But then there are other times where spending time around Kamurocho doesn't bother me. Probably because any time I'm in Japan (which has been a lot lately) I usually find myself hanging out around Kabukicho area so it gives me a nice little feeling to be hanging around Kamurocho in that sense.

I'd slightly disagree with you on the checking boxes thing though as I do feel like Kamurocho has more personality than most open world games that goes a long way to cover up the fact that you are just checking boxes in an open space. The sub stories (especially in later games) have been nothing but a joy to do. The fact that Judge Eyes is dabbling more in the idea of friendships is kind of cool. I always enjoyed spending time in Host clubs as I usually found that the girls have a ton of personality and you actually do kind of get to know them a little the more time you spend with them.

I think Kamurocho has a ton of personality about it that goes a long way in keeping my interest.

As for people losing their critical faculties? I think for a lot of people Yakuza is still fresh. Considering Yakuza 0 was the big break in point for newcomers, I think it's all still fresh for them. Personally speaking, I have felt fatigue with the series every now and then. Yakuza 4 and 5 were the peak of my fatigue at one point. I really didn't care as much for either of those games and I do kind of think it was because of the fatigue I had with the series. Yet Yakuza 0 went a long way in rejuvenating the series for me.

I think newcomers will eventually go through this as well the more they play. I can see mainstream press who fell head over heels for Yakuza 0 eventually getting to that point where they realize it is more of the same with every iteration. It's just gonna take them some time because it's still all fresh to them.

Given the short development cycles of these games, I do at least give my hand to the team behind them for at least managing to draw some new blood with it in every iteration.
 
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Reprise said:
I disagree with that guy completely, particularly because he says the combat looks similar to the first two games, which he also describes as 'terrible'.

Also, Virtua Fighter is a god-tier fighting game, so the combat being inspired by and based on that series is great. Is it no longer cool to like Virtua Fighter or what?
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I'd even add that it potentially can surpass the current gen of 3D fighters(Tekken/DOA/Etc.) and VF5 once Yu polishes up the animation and improve a-bit more on the camera works+add some more bells and whistles to the presentation. That snippet of the defensive game is lit. Fast+smooth close quarter evasion and per motion parry/blocking for each high/low/mid attack smells of immersive Next-Gen 3D fighters man. SEGA better take notes and adopt it for Virtua Fighter 6 before Harada snatches it for Tekken since we all know he's a huge Suzuki fan and always following his works. This can be the big break they need to reclaim the throne for 3D fighters after balancing & fleshing it out. Give it a 60fps output as well then watch the money roll in. Oh and don't forget to cut Yu a check as thanks. Maybe even fund Shenmue 4 with the money? ;););)
 
LAWXIU said:
Can we compare it to pikmin 2 now? I'm bored of yakuza comparisons.
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Eat your damn banana and shut up!
LOl haha just kidding.
The opinion of some people is so biased that even if you compare shenmue 3 to Tetris, Tetris would have better graphics LOL
Shenmue seems to be one of those things that attract a lot of hateful nerds. Maybe because the people who love it really love it to death.
 
Van Joel Sandwich said:
Eat your damn banana and shut up!
Shenmue seems one of those things that attract a lot of hateful nerds. Maybe because the people who love it really love it to death.
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I think a lot of it just stems from people trying to get a rise out of others. I don't really understand where half of the hate for Shenmue came from considering most of its haters probably never played it to begin with. So the only answer I have is that they took the opinions (namely someone like Jeff Gerstmann) of others and ran with it or they're just looking to get a rise out of the most hardcore of the fanbase.

Anyways....not really worth the time paying attention to.
 
As someone that got into Yakuza starting with the first game I got tired of Yakuza after 3. Same city, rehashed main character, zero plot progression. I love the series but it has changed so little and rehashes so much content that I’m consistently shocked people fawn over it. How many times can you go through Kamurocho? I consider it the Japanese Assassin’s Creed at this point which sucks because when 1, 2, and Kenzan came out the series was a refreshing revelation. It has since settled into its coffers and Nagoshi and co. use the series to fund their lavish vacations to get sun tans. As much as I’m happy for the series to finally take off in the West I truly wonder how long it’ll take for people to realize how rehashed the series is after playing so many games in a sequence.

But that’s got nothing to do with III and we might be in trouble for talking off topic now.

And yeah, I really miss Virtua Fighter.
 
danielmann861 said:
Speaking as someone who has been playing Yakuza since its PS2 days...yeah, the fatigue has set in a little for me. I've played almost every Yakuza game (with exception of Ishin and Kenzan) and I have to admit, I've gone through bouts of fatigue with it. Recently before starting Judge Eyes, I was a little bummed that we were back in Kamurocho and thought "wouldn't it be more interesting if they at least changed the city."

But then there are other times where spending time around Kamurocho doesn't bother me. Probably because any time I'm in Japan (which has been a lot lately) I usually find myself hanging out around the Kabukicho area so it gives me a nice little feeling to be hanging around Kamurocho in that sense.

I'd slightly disagree with you on the checking boxes thing though as I do feel like Kamurocho has more personality than most open-world games that go a long way to cover up the fact that you are just checking boxes in an open space. The sub-stories (especially in later games) have been nothing but a joy to do. The fact that Judge Eyes is dabbling more in the idea of friendships is kind of cool. I always enjoyed spending time in Host clubs as I usually found that the girls have a ton of personality and you do kind of get to know them a little the more time you spend with them.

I think Kamurocho has a ton of personality about it that goes a long way in keeping my interest.

As for people losing their critical faculties? I think for a lot of people Yakuza is still fresh. Considering Yakuza 0 was the big break-in point for newcomers, I think it's all still fresh for them. Personally speaking, I have felt fatigued with the series now and then. Yakuza 4 and 5 were the peak of my fatigue at one point. I didn't care as much for either of those games and I do kind of think it was because of the fatigue I had with the series. Yet Yakuza 0 went a long way in rejuvenating the series for me.

I think newcomers will eventually go through this as well the more they play. I can see mainstream press who fell head over heels for Yakuza 0 eventually getting to that point where they realize it is more of the same with every iteration. It's just gonna take them some time because it's still all fresh to them.

Given the short development cycles of these games, I do at least give my hand to the team behind them for at least managing to draw some new blood with it in every iteration.
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As someone who has known about the Ryu Ga Gotoku franchise since the PlayStation II days, I can confirm this. I first remember reading about the game in Electronic Gaming Magazine focusing on the infamous English dub that was littered with F-bombs.

Anyways I didn't start playing till the third game on the Playstation III. So for me, my peak interest in the series hit at the fifth game (did not care for four that much) and then tapered off after Kenzan. Ryu ga Gotoku Six renewed my interest in the series due to its amazing story and production values, but it was more of the same.

I've barely lifted a finger for Kiwami I & II and have not even gone near Zero. After seeing the gameplay of Judgement, my reaction was just "meh" it looks like more of the same, but with a new protagonist. I think what keeps me coming back is that SEGA keeps tweaking the formula enough (in terms of gameplay) and having great stories to keep them fresh.

So yeah, I can see where you are coming from.

P.S. People seem to forget about Dead Souls which killed the franchise outside Japan.
 
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More of the same doesn't necessarily bother me too much when it comes to Yakuza. I do really love the franchise and even if I was feeling fatigue with 4 and 5, I still admit to enjoying them none the less. For me, Kamurocho does have a certain charm but like I said before, I think it's because I spend so much time in it's real life counterpart Kabukicho.

Kiryu easily stands as one of my favorite protagonists in gaming and I think it's maybe a little unfair to say there hasn't been plot progression because there was something of a long arch for Kiryu over the 7 games he lead. For me, the heart of the series was always Kiryu and Haruka and I think that's what kept me coming back year after year to it. It was kind of cool to watch Haruka grow from a little kid into an independent young woman. I think that's partially why 4 and 5 didn't click as much for me as well, because 4 and 5 removed the focus so much from Kiryu and Haruka and placed it on some real hit and miss characters (I love Akiyama, yet I found Saejima to be an absolute bore)

Yakuza is essentially Sega playing it safe and I understand why they do it too...it was one of their biggest money earners (in Japan at least) for a long time. The Assassins Creed comparison is actually a good one, although, I personally can't stand Assassins Creed yet I absolutely love Yakuza...go figure.

But yeah, that comparison is perfectly apt. It is Sega's Annual Franchise.

I think my major problem with Judge Eyes is that I really wanted it to be something that wasn't just Yakuza with a new hat. As much as I advocate for Judge Eyes (I do think it is a good game), I still just really wanted it to be something new all together.

I do kind of miss the Sega of old that was willing to take risks with exciting new IPs.

Anyways, enough of this...back to Shenmue III
 
Yeah, this is getting a little off topic.

I guess now we're waiting for community interviews and the press previews to drop then?
 
People saying the game won't improve at all in models and animation with 5 months left(if not more) are fools.
 
Spaghetti said:
Yeah, this is getting a little off topic.

I guess now we're waiting for community interviews and the press previews to drop then?
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Yeah, the topics are pretty exhausted at this point. The next thing on the radar to wait for are press interviews from the behind doors game demo. Which quite honestly warrants its own thread.
 
Space Lion said:
Yeah, the topics are pretty exhausted at this point. The next thing on the radar to wait for are press interviews from the behind doors game demo. Which quite honestly warrants its own thread.
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Definitely. A new thread for these would be awesome and is much needed.

VG247's preview is dropping soon (couple of days?) and then there'll be a plethora of other previews from journalists and press outlets that were there around the same time. Then there's interviews from the event which will also be exciting.

It'd be super interesting to see what the press thinks, given they would have seen much more than us. Hopefully the general vibe is positive and optimistic, to help the game in its final stretch before release.

After that? We're probably looking at E3, if Deep Silver want to promote Shenmue 3 there.
 
Kingdom Come Deliverance and Metro Exodus had trailers and gameplay presentations at and around E3.
other DS games like Pathfinder Kingmaker were playable at E3.

but all the interviews and presentations are always with the developers only.
so a trailer for E3 is possible because thats Deep Silvers decision,
everything else only if Yu Suzuki or some other guy of the development / management team
is interested in presenting the game or rather if they have the chance to do it.
(live gameplay, Q&A at IGN or whatever and so on)
 
Am I the only one who thinks the mouth animations aren't half bad? Besides Ryo letting out that "AUghHHGH" in the beginning when he is beaten up, and the big muscle guy, the rest of the mouth animations seemed good to me. Especially Shenhua's, hers looked very polished.
 
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