Random Shenmue III Thoughts

WildManofBorneo said:
GDC? :unsure:
Click to expand...

GDC generally focuses on awards for the prior year, postmortems of finished games, and technical showcases demonstrating how developers tackled various design challenges. It's not really an event where new games are announced and promoted to the public.
 
danielmann861 said:
They say that...but are they really gonna let the competition have the limelight during a week that does garner at least some mainstream press? I just don't buy that they won't do something. Even if it isn't a direct/stream and just releasing trailers online or announcing dates for certain games....I just don't really buy that they'd give that week up for their competition to take the lime light, I don't see the business sense in that (although they're clear in the lead this gen so maybe they don't have to do anything)...but that's just me.

Even if they don't do it...still, where does Shenmue III show up? (if anywhere during E3)

E3's gonna be weird this year....to say the least.
Click to expand...

They say.it because they arent doing it. They might have an event planned a few months before E3 or a few months after. The Playstation 5 has to be announced sometime. Or maybe they will do that at the end of the year at a PSX or Playstation meeting like event. Also, Sony not being at E3 or doing any Direct kinda thing doesnt mean they wont put trailers on their youtube channel around then.

But yeah, I dont know when we will see more Shenmue 3. Hopefully sooner than later.
 
Kodama said:
I wonder how important that guy is that beats up Ryo at the beginning of the most recent trailer. He's on one of those chapter cards we've seen artwork of...

View attachment 2352
Click to expand...
I take it the woman is meant to be Niao Sun? While it may make more sense that the old dude is the master, I always thought it could be Chai, because of his weird stance and the fact that there's screens of Niawou with a shadowy version of Chai lurking over the moon. Oh wait, never mind, I forgot about the guy in the prophecy trailer. It's him D:

Chai has the potential to have a really interesting role in this story. The mere fact that the Chiyoumen are ransacking Bailu village in search of the Phoenix mirror tells us that they still don't know who's in possession of it. But Chai does. He's the only person in the story with an affiliation to the chiyou who has the knowledge that Ryo has the mirror in his possession.

One thing I'm really looking forward to is seeing what exactly Chai's role will be. He could be involved in a simple way, like in a flashback sequence, or he could have a much larger role. I initially thought the former, but I've started to change my mind.
 
Last edited:
What gets me is no matter how many times I watch the trailer, a part of me still wants to call bullshit. No way it is a real thing. Fan-made fantasy, but well done.

None of this is meant to be derogatory. We pined for years; this is a game oft dreamed of, but was such an impossible reality for so long that it is still hard to imagine playing it in 5 months.
 
I've had a couple of random thoughts about III regarding that old chapter concept art image:
2374

  1. Though YS has vacillated on chapters and content included/cut, how many of these do you think we'll see in III? Given the hints at a somewhat condensed plot, I could see chs 3-6 if not 7 (given the characters shown), with IV covering the rest.
  2. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but I'm wondering if something happens to Ren in this game (self-sacrifice, etc.) He's clearly in ch 3, but the last potential sighting is in the orange sphere in 6 (if that). Moreover, ch 11 only Shenhua and Xiuying with Ryo. It's not like I expected them to draw Ine-San and Wong in there, but it's curious that he drops off...
 
Nigel said:
I've had a couple of random thoughts about III regarding that old chapter concept art image:
View attachment 2374

  1. Though YS has vacillated on chapters and content included/cut, how many of these do you think we'll see in III? Given the hints at a somewhat condensed plot, I could see chs 3-6 if not 7 (given the characters shown), with IV covering the rest.
  2. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but I'm wondering if something happens to Ren in this game (self-sacrifice, etc.) He's clearly in ch 3, but the last potential sighting is in the orange sphere in 6 (if that). Moreover, ch 11 only Shenhua and Xiuying with Ryo. It's not like I expected them to draw Ine-San and Wong in there, but it's curious that he drops off...
Click to expand...

I think you're on to something. It might be a little wild but I think there's a chance Ryo will kill Ren. I'll explain why.

The story of why Lan Di's father died is unexplained and if Lan Di is to be believed, Iwao killed him. Shenhua mentions that in ancient times, people fought for the mirrors to unlock their secrets and this ultimately led to deaths. Zhu has already stated that when the mirrors are paired together, they form a key to a 'treasure'. This is what motivated Ren, a man driven by his love of money, to follow Ryo to Guilin. The whole reason Ren even bothered to help Ryo in the first place was because he was charmed by the mirror and the mystery behind it.

We know that Shenhua has some kind of connection to the ancient times where the mirrors had to be protected from those driven by their worst desires. Personally, I think Ryo and Shenhua are connected by the fact that they are ancient guardians of the mirrors and the modern versions of them are mere reincarnations. What's happening in the present is the same as what happened in ancient times, you have guardians of the mirrors secrets (Ryo, Shenhua, Iwao) and those who have the less noble goal of unearthing its secrets at all costs (Lan Di, Ren, Chai?).

It's plausible that Iwao had to kill Sunming Zhao because of his desire to obtain both mirrors and unlock the secrets of chiyou. We know that the pair were friends at some point, much like Ren and Ryo are now. Ren succumbing to his greed and betraying Ryo may lead to a parallel between Zhao and Iwao's relationship. When you look back at Iwao's final words: 'Keep those you love...close to you' it begins to sound more and more like regret. Perhaps he failed to see that Zhao was becoming more and more corrupt.
 
I called up my local Gamstop yesterday to see if their system updated for Shenmue 3 pre-orders. Unfortunately, I only called to kill time when I was early for my shift, so I had to wait until today to put the reservation in at the store......

The EDGE preview, IGN Japan preview and MAGIC trailer were exciting, but not until now am i truly feeling the giddy hype.

Next week I'm making another pre-order at my first Funcoland from where I was born. In either late April or early May I'm going to reserve another copy at the EB games of my hometown. Then, in June or July, I'll do one last Gamestop pre-order at another location near my childhood home (moved from a fairly densely populated Chicagoland area to a rural town near Wisconsin, so there's three shops there alone, and only one in the next town over from me nowadays haha).

Three retail copies and one kickstarter copy (slightly regretting not also doing a slacker backer copy, especially if they'll have unique covers). Most likely in late August I'll grab another copy at a different Gamestop for the off-the-shelf experience; much like I did for I+II HD.
 
Nigel said:
I've had a couple of random thoughts about III regarding that old chapter concept art image:
View attachment 2374

  1. Though YS has vacillated on chapters and content included/cut, how many of these do you think we'll see in III? Given the hints at a somewhat condensed plot, I could see chs 3-6 if not 7 (given the characters shown), with IV covering the rest.
  2. Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but I'm wondering if something happens to Ren in this game (self-sacrifice, etc.) He's clearly in ch 3, but the last potential sighting is in the orange sphere in 6 (if that). Moreover, ch 11 only Shenhua and Xiuying with Ryo. It's not like I expected them to draw Ine-San and Wong in there, but it's curious that he drops off...
Click to expand...

I also think something will happen to Ren. You see him in that orange sphere in that mountain costume and then after Ryo has his white head band and Ren is gone ? I think it's a sacrifice, possibly after a betrayal of sorts (Ren style guilt tripping himself into doing something good after being bad).
 
I think it's time they stop relying on events for marketing. Yes, by all means have a big trailer at E3 or whatever, but the game is five months away, it's time to ramp up marketing.

What I'd suggest is a big gameplay exclusive with one or a few of the major retail outlets. Like they did with Edge, but this time show off gameplay in the form of screenshots and very short clips.

Next I think they should begin a drip feed release strategy of short teasers (perhaps 40-80 seconds long each) that show off key aspects of the gameplay.

At some point, the demo should be released to backers and Youtubers should be given permission to discuss it on their channels. Maybe some of the mainstream gaming media too, I'm not sure how literally the development team will take the idea of the demo being "backer exclusive" if it even says those words... (part of me wonders if what Edge and what the media saw at Magic is part of the demo or if it will be something entirely different like What's Shenmue).

I'd also love to see a video of Yu Suzuki talking through parts of the game he's most proud of (with no spoilers) and showing off the game.

A big trailer should be shown off around E3.
 
I agree. It is time to start the marketing soon. Working together with some retailers would be a good idea. I would also suggest to work together with other gaming outlets. A game informer collaboration could be nice for example. They make excellent specials about upcoming games. And game informer is working with gamestop too, so they could work together to promote the game. gaming media and retail working together could have quite a impact.
 
ShenSun said:
They really should ramp up online advertisement. The amount of people you can reach at super low costs via ads on facebook, youtube, etc is crazy. Much more than if you created a typical tv advertisement
Click to expand...

Another good idea. They should probably feature some adverts with a list of pre-order links and ramp up promotion a month or two before release.
 
I'd rest easy. With Yu's development method, they'll spend the next couple of months doing improvements to models, animations, environments, sound, engine, etc.

I expect the advertisement portion to pick up in May. That is also when I expect the demo to show up.

Remember--5 months is damn near half a year to polish the final product for August. That's a big chunk of time if, indeed, the game is complete.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top