Random Shenmue III Thoughts

Yokosuka said:
Never thought about the analogy but since you said it, the similarities with Shenmue appear crystal clear. The magic weather, the clock time feature, the massive and eclectic soundtrack composed by one man, with late 80's vibes and some rock'n'roll tunes.

Even the "Heartland" track sounds a bit like the music played over the "Early Shenmue Dreamcast Trailer". Pretty sure Richard Jacques composed both tracks as the latter remains uncredited.


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The trailer certainly shows how polished the final rendition of Shenmue I & II became from its initial showing.
 
was there any confirmation that the 15min e3 demo's fighting was set to easy or not? i know Ys talked about a easy and normal setting. might make sense why so many reviewers were not happy with the feel of in game fighting?
 
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I don't know but you can indeed suppose a fair number of mitigating factors:
  • easy mode
  • "Automatic Transmission" mode set
  • Ryo's stats at zero
  • they have yet to tweak the hit timing because it may be the last thing to do when you're balancing a fight system
 
red said:
was there any confirmation that the 15min e3 demo's fighting was set to easy or not? i know Ys talked about a easy and normal setting. might make sense why so many reviewers were not happy with the feel of in game fighting?
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The common complaint I hear from critics is that hits don’t have any impact or oomph. That there doesn’t seem to be any realistic reaction from enemies being hit or a lack of “physics” if you will. I guess that’s what happens when you’re used to games like Ryu Ga Gotoku which really puts an emphasis on the impact of a blow. I really can’t wait to get my hands on the final copy of the game to see if the IGN footage was actually B-Roll or not. I wonder what these last five months of polish will achieve. Personally I’ll reserve judgment for the combat till then.
 
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If the whole game's economy feeds back into move scrolls (and levelling them up), and if thematically the whole game is about becoming a better martial artist, it only makes sense that you feel kinda weak and limited at the beginning. I know that completely nerfing the player character at the beginning of a game isn't really acceptable from a fighting game point of view, but from an RPG point of view it makes more sense.
 
orient said:
If the whole game's economy feeds back into move scrolls (and levelling them up), and if thematically the whole game is about becoming a better martial artist, it only makes sense that you feel kinda weak and limited at the beginning. I know that completely nerfing the player character at the beginning of a game isn't really acceptable from a fighting game point of view, but from an RPG point of view it makes more sense.
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It does make sense indeed. But does it change the way combats feel ? That remains to be seen. That B-Roll footage honestly didn't look hot when it came to combat. And some stuff seemed to be unrelated to levelling.

- The hit reaction from the opponent body looks cheap and unrealistic. In that regard, Shenmue I-II worked better. (Isn't the game supposed to have an "advanced ragdoll system" ??)

- The visual effects from hits also looks weird... Almost cartoonish ???

And well the movements really felt floaty. Now, the Magic 2019 trailer had better looking combat imo.
 
GhostTrick said:
It does make sense indeed. But does it change the way combats feel ? That remains to be seen. That B-Roll footage honestly didn't look hot when it came to combat. And some stuff seemed to be unrelated to levelling.

- The hit reaction from the opponent body looks cheap and unrealistic. In that regard, Shenmue I-II worked better. (Isn't the game supposed to have an "advanced ragdoll system" ??)

- The visual effects from hits also looks weird... Almost cartoonish ???

And well the movements really felt floaty. Now, the Magic 2019 trailer had better looking combat imo.
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I originally thought your overall "kung fu" level might improve hidden stats, but now I think it may just be a mechanism to unlock higher level scrolls. However, I'm pretty sure I read recently that levelling individual moves will make them easier to execute, which to me sounds like the "feel" of the combat (impact, response time etc.) might improve on a per-move basis. Then there's the possibility of "endurance" and "strength" affecting hidden stats, as opposed to just improving your health bar and attack power. Ultimately, we just don't know right now.

Maybe hit reactions change based on your strength or the level of your move? The "ragdoll" could be turned way down for weak moves and turned up for stronger ones. I'm pretty sure there's been mention of ragdoll physics when opponents are defeated.

I'm fine with the visual effects. They don't seem out of place to me.
 
Do you think these two bald guys might be the same dude?
 

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Yeah this seems to be (at least and early version of) the area where they flee to.

I find the display of the energy bar more interesting. Ryo has 15 orbs, while the E3 footage he has only 9. The amount that opponents have is also different. While evolving amounts of health are nothing new to the series, it is nice to get a visual representation of it.
 
I've been hearing mainly positive things about Shenmue 3 gameplay footage. From what I hear it's pretty much the Shenmue game we would expect. From the footage you guys and gals have seen do you think this can appeal to new gamers? While I want that pure Shenmue experience we do need a new audience to join the fold also.
 
BruceWayne911 said:
I've been hearing mainly positive things about Shenmue 3 gameplay footage. From what I hear it's pretty much the Shenmue game we would expect. From the footage you guys and gals have seen do you think this can appeal to new gamers? While I want that pure Shenmue experience we do need a new audience to join the fold also.
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Honestly? Yes. I don't see why not. Sure, a lot is so called "fan service" (which is an oxymoron in this situation, why wouldn't it be?).

But it looks great. Awesome, in fact.
 
To me, absolutely not. The game looks way too rough and shows nothing new in terms of gaming experience. Someone who's looking for Asian vibes, minigames and cool fights will think Yakuza is far better. Someone who likes exotism and exploration may rather look at high budgeted open worlds.

That said, it will depend to what extent the game ends in polished state and how they put forward the Shenmuish ambiance, the martial art lore and the waifu stuff in the remaining months. Everything can happen.
 
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orient said:
You may want to temper your expectations if you were hoping for a revolutionary take on the open-world genre. It's a sequel to an 18 year old game, done on a budget.
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Consumers don't really care about budget or context, they only judge what they're seeing. From what I've seen so far, I barely imagine someone getting a sincere interest for Shenmue 3 at the point of paying £46. On the social networks I usually visit, I didn't discern particular excitation for this game neither apart Shenmue fans.

No specific need of revolution but some innovations or fresh ways of play can help to attract an audience. So far, the interactive relationship between Ryo and Shenhua seems to be one of these fresh ideas. But we have yet to note the deepness people might expect from a franchise which built its reputation on mundanity depiction, interaction and sense of immersion. That's why some people were a bit shocked when they found out that the seller in Bailu had only one speech line to respond Ryo while Suzuki is no longer limited by GD-Rom storage.
 
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Yokosuka said:
Consumers don't really care about budget or context, they only judge what they're seeing. From what I've seen so far, I barely imagine someone getting a sincere interest for Shenmue 3 at the point of paying £46. On the social networks I usually visit, I didn't discern particular excitation for this game neither apart Shenmue fans.

No specific need of revolution but some innovations or fresh ways of play can help to attract an audience. So far, the interactive relationship between Ryo and Shenhua seems to be one of these fresh ideas. But we have yet to note the deepness people might expect from a franchise which built its reputation on mundanity depiction, interaction and sense of immersion. That's why some people were a bit shocked when they found out that the seller in Bailu had only one speech line to respond Ryo while Suzuki is no longer limited by GD-Rom storage.
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Thing is with the example of the shop keeper that's money on extra lines, extra animations and they just don't have it.

They do that for each shop/owner and the costs spiral. I'd rather the money goes elsewhere.
 
Yokosuka said:
Consumers don't really care about budget or context, they only judge what they're seeing. From what I've seen so far, I barely imagine someone getting a sincere interest for Shenmue 3 at the point of paying £46. On the social networks I usually visit, I didn't discern particular excitation for this game neither apart Shenmue fans.

No specific need of revolution but some innovations or fresh ways of play can help to attract an audience. So far, the interactive relationship between Ryo and Shenhua seems to be one of these fresh ideas. But we have yet to note the deepness people might expect from a franchise which build its reputation on mundanity depiction, interaction and sense of immersion. That's why some people were a bit shocked when they found out that the seller in Bailu had only one speech line to respond Ryo while Suzuki is no longer limited by GD-Rom storage.
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It's a game for the fans first and foremost. I don't know where this expectation comes from that it should be competing with big franchises and delivering graphics on par with AAA titles. The Dreamcast was a long time ago. Shenmue is not what it once was. That's just the reality of the situation.

I don't think 15 minutes is long enough for anyone to judge the depth of a game. Huber from Easy Allies specifically called out a line when you select "chop wood" that isn't in the footage, so there is some variation in there.
 
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