New Yu Suzuki interviews from G-Fusion Tour in China

Yes thanks a lot for the Translation @yuc02 . But it is still impressive that the machine translation was quite on point after all.
 
The timing is not that important as Shenmue I&II were already slowed down a bit. It might even be better than VS games because it will not feature their unrealistic (and sometimes frustrating) ground bounces. What is important is that there's still a challenge in the way the moves require a good positioning and we can suppose that "AI assist" might influence that.
 
The timing is not that important as Shenmue I&II were already slowed down a bit. It might even be better than VS games because it will not feature their unrealistic (and sometimes frustrating) ground bounces. What is important is that there's still a challenge in the way the moves require a good positioning and we can suppose that "AI assist" might influence that.
Sure, that makes sense.

Though to be honest I didn't think there would ever be a lack of challenge. Yu talking about simplified inputs just spooked people into thinking the worst. The challenge in Shenmue III's combat sounded more in using tactics and the environment initially, but talk about replay value and finding a balance for all players makes me think now that the challenge is multi-faceted - which probably includes tougher moment-to-moment combat in certain fights.

Yu talking about better integration regarding side-activities and items makes me wonder about the importance of move scrolls and the Skill Tree System in that wider context. Changing Ryo's moveset in the originals didn't make the most enormous difference, but now it sounds like it could be a fairly key component.

50/50 vs 70/30 isn't worse, theres simply more overall. Still every one of the old favorite mechanics as always intended, but with more time and money came more ideas to implement which couldn't be done on Dreamcast or wouldn't be done with only Kickstarter/Shibuya funds.
This is roughly my read on it too. The 70/30 to 50/50 split probably isn't because they decided to drop 20% of old ideas, but rather that the percentage of new stuff grew since Summer 2017.

It's very exciting, honestly. I'm really looking forward to the comforting feel of familiar Shenmue mechanics, but it'd be such a missed opportunity if Yu Suzuki couldn't stretch his creative legs. 50/50 is quite literally a perfect balance, I feel.
 
I just don't think the combat's going to play like a traditional fighting game.

A stronger focus on positioning, distance and timing makes more sense than memorising combos in a "realistic" 3D combat system in my opinion.
 
It's the one aspect and change I am really intrigued about. I just can't imagine Shenmue without the Virtua Fighter engine. Not that I think change is a bad thing, I'm just really interested to see what the fighting style gameplay will play like.
 
Q: Shenmue 1 and 2 already had a great battle system, with many moves being faithful representations of real martial arts. So how will Shenmue 3’s system improve on this?

YS: Shenmue 1 and 2’s battle system used data from the Virtua Fighter series. However the battle system of an RPG such as Shenmue was still quite different to that of a pure fighting game. Pure fighting games require precise timing and reactions, but for Shenmue we used a more basic system than Virtua Fighter, such that the controls were not too difficult, which was more suited to a story-driven game.

For Shenmue 3 we have moved away from that system, and have created a brand-new battle engine. The system is very different; richer and more playable than before.

HT: The battle system is completely different. For fighting games (such as Virtua Fighter), satisfying hardcore gamers very proficient in reactive control can be achieved simply by setting the controls' difficulty to a particular narrow range. However for games that are aimed at a broader player base (such as Shenmue 3), this difficulty range has to be widened, such that experts as well as more novice players can enjoy the gameplay. This aspect requires much care and balance during design, and we have spent a lot of effort on this.

Q: Previously it has been said that Shenmue will include “Advanced AI Battling”; how will this system handle the difficulty during a particularly-tough boss battle for example? Will this system aid those who are not very good at fighting games in order to defeat this boss?

YS: As we have said, the previous battle system could only satisfy players of a particular proficiency, because the difficulty was set to a certain range. With this new AI assistance, more players will be able to match this difficulty level, so even those who are not good at fighting games can succeed.
I won't call it a confirmation, but I think it's fair to say AI Battling is an option rather than something imposed on all players if it's purpose is to assist those who can't match up against the default difficulty. I don't think they've dramatically toned down the difficulty compared to the originals either, as Takeuchi-san's "difficulty range" analogy is more about Virtua Fighter to Shenmue, rather than Shenmue/Shenmue II to Shenmue III.
 
To me I think the fighting should be just as if not more fun as before, as Yu said they've been focussing on a richer and more playable experience for a broader audience. Whether it's more or less difficult I think is less important.

Perhaps the AI assist doesn't kick in until the player has lost once or twice on a particular fight? And although he wanted to distance himself with Virtua Fighter, I remembered that as early as Saturn VF2 his team had developed an AI system for the computer to learn the player's behaviour, and make the fights harder, so the technology shouldn't be difficult
 
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I think you're right @yuc02 -- AI Assist sounds like a dynamic difficulty level that adjusts based on player performance. This is pretty common nowadays but most gamers were exposed to the idea via Resident Evil 4, which does things like spawns less enemies if you die. When dynamic difficulty is done well, players don't even notice it happening, so I'd probably be inclined to leave it on. I don't really play Shenmue for the challenge.

The translation basically puts to rest any hope the battle system will be VF-like.
 
Hopefully an upcoming trailer or demo video will further show what this AI assist is. As a fighting game veteran, I’ll probably play without them but I’m going to assume it may be like the Batman Arkham games, but I’ll admit I can be wrong about these things.

He wants to make a system that realistically depicts Chinese martial arts and I really like to see what he means by that. Hopefully, something akin to a Hong Kong flick which would be awesome. As a life long martial artist and enthusiast, the quality to Shenmue was what always attracted me to it and I’m glad it still has that appeal for the third installment, but with a new sense of presentation.

But I feel some older moves and inputs such as forward, forward, punch for the elbow assault need to stay IMHO.
 
Hopefully an upcoming trailer or demo video will further show what this AI assist is. As a fighting game veteran, I’ll probably play without them but I’m going to assume it may be like the Batman Arkham games, but I’ll admit I can be wrong about these things.

He wants to make a system that realistically depicts Chinese martial arts and I really like to see what he means by that. Hopefully, something akin to a Hong Kong flick which would be awesome. As a life long martial artist and enthusiast, the quality to Shenmue was what always attracted me to it and I’m glad it still has that appeal for the third installment, but with a new sense of presentation.

But I feel some older moves and inputs such as forward, forward, punch for the elbow assault need to stay IMHO.
I think certain moves need to stay such as counter elbow assault which played quite a significant role in the story. However the inputs could change if needed.

I'm hoping that they maintain the difficulty in the combat. Like you @RyoHazuki84 I quite enjoy fighters and the level of challenge. It sounds like it will be system that anyone can pick up and play but difficult to master.
 
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