- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
At the end of S3 they are literally on their way to the cliff temple. They know where it is because of the "map" that they have which only shows Niaowu (for some completely unknown reason) and the cliff temple, so where would they be going in between that? Furthermore, every time Ryo sets off for a new location (Hong Kong, Kowloon, Guilin, Bailu Village, and Niaowu), he arrives there in basically the very next scene, so why would this be any different? Also, how do we know there are warring factions? Niao Sun seems pretty confident that she's the new "leader" and everyone in the castle seemed pretty cool with burning Lan Di alive. Don't get me wrong, that's where I assumed the plot was heading as well and something that should definitely have been set up in S3 instead of playing Lan Di's bodyguards for jokes.
The great wall of china is pretty big. The "map" they have is just a drawing. There's all sorts of settlements and towns, encounters etc. that could be on the way. Why would they just teleport to the location that literally all the main characters are on course for a climactic showdown at, at the very start of the game? That would be so bizarre.
I took the ending to be setting up Lan Di vs. Niao Sun, one has the dragon mirror, the other the phoenix, and there now being a clear power struggle in the Chi You Men.
Why? Was it bizarre for Ryo to end up in Guilin when he said he was going to Guilin?
You mean how he said he was headed to Bailu village, left Kowloon, got on a boat, arrived in Langhuishan, asked around for directions to Bailu, met Shenhua and then spent 2 days traversing mountains to get to Bailu? Yeah, if Ryo had said "I'm heading to Bailu," and then teleported to Bailu village, it would have been weird as fuck.
Presumably because whatever happens at the cliff temple will reveal something cool and heretofore unknowable about the mirrors, the treasure, the Chi You Men, Shenhua, or any of the other mysteries that will raise the stakes and alter the trajectory of Ryo's journey in some meaningful way (and why it should DEFINITELY have been where S3 ended). If it's literally just map room-treasure and some Ziming and Sunming sprinkles, I don't see how that's 60% of the story.
I don't think Yu Suzuki is in any rush to reveal the secrets of the mirrors. How you can simultaneously complain about how little story is in Shenmue III, and also expect Yu to zip us immediately to these enormous plot reveals is really puzzling to me. He's clearly setting a slow pace, why would you expect him to suddenly shift gears and go 100mph? Even Shenmue II, which is a lot more fast-paced than Shenmue and Shenmue III, starts off pretty slowly. It'd be like if Shenmue II teleported us to Lishao Tao at the start or something, it'd be so weird and jarring.
I would say the fact that they don't show it is less important than the fact that they don't address it, and the fact that nothing "magical" really happens in S3. I mean, Ryo talks to Shenhua about her "powers" but that's basically it. If I saw a sword float in the air and deflect a laser beam, I'd certainly have some questions for the person who built that. The person that we spend the whole game looking for. We literally learn more about the mirrors from Master Chen and Yuanda Zhu than from the person who has the blueprints in his house and is the direct descendant of the man who built them! This is what leads me to believe that what we know about the mirrors is essentially it; they're a map, which is fine but not exactly something we needed to go all the way to Guilin to have confirmed for us.
I mean again, the sword is pretty clearly not retconned (beyond appearence) as Shenhua has it. The mirror still shot out a laser beam that set the rope on fire. Shenhua can talk to animals and does some crazy mind-torture shit on Yanglang. There absolutely is still the element of magic and mystery.
We don't know what the mirrors are for, and again, I don't think Yu's keen to let us know any time soon. I don't think they're just a map to treasure. Maybe we'll find that out in Shenmue IV, maybe we won't. I guess I'm just not dying to know the answers to these questions as you seem to be. I'm for sure in it for the long haul, and wouldn't mind as many games as Yu needs.