Random Shenmue III Thoughts

One of the reasons why i love Shenmue III is because the game have a simple, sweet, calm and peaceful vibe, especially in Bailu Village, i like Niaowu but in my opinion Bailu Village is better. I love this simple, sweet and peaceful details about the game, now i will imagine one day/night in Bailu Village to explain better what i'm talking about.

After many conversations the bond between Ryo and Shenhua got stronger, Shenhua enter in the room and wake up Ryo.

1631634713025.png


After that Ryo (the player) picks up the banana and the apple in the kitchen, Ryo talks a little bit with Shenhua and open the door to get out of the house, we can see a beautiful morning in Guilin, we can see the beautiful Shenmue tree.

Shenhua open the door and say "See you later" then Ryo says "Yeah. See you soon."


We can see a beautiful view, we can see that Ryo is in such a simple, sweet and peaceful place.

1631635170272.png1631635498333.png1631635701817.png

The road to get to the main part of the Village is wonderful, in this road we can find the Martial Hall, we can train alone or with other characters, it is so peaceful training there.

Ryo (The Player) trained a little bit and decided to go to the main part of the village, every morning we can see the kids training, we can see other characters training as well, it is such a different lifestyle.

1631636242608.png

After that Ryo (The Player) played some mini games in HI TECH LAND PANDA. Ryo talked with some characters and got to know more about them and got interesting informations, after that Ryo decided to work choping wood with Tao-san, after that Ryo decided to pick some herbs, he enjoyed walking in Bailu Village like this.

Ryo was tired and hungry so he decided to eat, he went to the Panda Market and bought Fried Dumplings, it was delicious.

1631637139248.png






Ryo then decided to go to the Man Yuan temple, he wanted a peaceful place to stay and train a little bit more, this was the perfect place, the temple is so beautiful, calm and peaceful, it was just him training there at that time.

1631637272640.png

After that Ryo stopped training and decided to end his day and come back to Shenhua's house, it was getting late, he saw a beautiful moon in the road back to Shenhua's house, the road is so beautiful, it was such a peaceful moment, then Ryo arrived at Shenhua's house.

Ryo's life at that moment was so different, he was living in a peaceful, simple and calm place with Shenhua, at that moment he reminded of his home in Yokosuka, it was a peaceful feeling.

1631637718633.png1631637861860.png



He open the door and enter in the house, Shenhua was there, they decided to talk, in this talk Ryo told Shenhua that he don't remember his mother, she died not long after he was born so Ine-san is the closest thing he got to a mother, they talked a lot and then decided to play a game called Face off. They laughed a lot, it was so fun, a sweet moment.

1631638447120.png
1631638600948.png
1631638621385.png
1631638651233.png
1631638703410.png

It was getting late so they decided to stop playing, Ryo felt that the bond between him and Shenhua was getting stronger everyday, Ryo now cares a lot about Shenhua, she is a important person to him now.

Ryo decided to go to the room and sleep but after that he reflected a lot about how his life changed, he is now living in a simple, peaceful and calm place with Shenhua, he thought about this calm things and then fell asleep...

1631639028865.png


This was a little story to explain more one of the reasons why i love Shenmue III. The peaceful, sweet and calm vibe and feeling of this game, it is the simplest things that make this game so beautiful in my opinion, it is wonderful, we can even say that Shenmue III have a Shenmue one vibe and i love that.

I think it would have been better if we saw more things that Iwao did in Bailu Village, we saw some things and it was nice but it would be interesting if we saw more, would be interesting if Chengxu Feng had more scenes, he knew Iwao and Sunming Zhao, but maybe Yu Suzuki want to show more this things in another way in the story.

I think just one character in Bailu Village that we can't talk, the one that trains every morning near the kids, we can clearly see the routine of the characters, we can see that the characters have different routines and much more.

Bailu Village was a wonderful experience to me, i like Niaowu but Bailu Village is better in my opinion, it is so beautiful, sweet, calm and peaceful, one of my favorite places in the Shenmue World. I need more games with this vibe in the game industry.

Now i want to play Shenmue III again...
 
Last edited:
This is probably Akira in Bailu Village, this to me shows that Yu Suzuki will continue to put some things in Shenmue that he wrote in the VF RPG The Legend Of Akira days/concept arts.

Yu Suzuki didn't changed the fact that Ryo learn Akira moves, Ryo learned Akira moves in Shenmue III.

This art shows exactly the vibe of Shenmue III to me that i talked about in my other post, Shenmue III is the training/peaceful chapter in Ryo's Journey in my opinion. Shenmue III did not needed to be like Shenmue II, Shenmue III have a Shenmue Chapter one vibe, it is a different game and that's okay.



1631665817829.png

Yu Suzuki just changed the name of the character and some things in the design like the clothes for example, but the journey of Akira and what the character learn throughout the journey Yu Suzuki didn't changed in my opinion.

In a Shenmue III video he even talked about the game with a Legend Of Akira script in his hands, pointing at the script he said... "This is Shenmue III."

I'm not saying that everything is the same as it was in the VF RPG Days, i'm not saying he didn't changed anything, he changed some things and that's okay, in Shenmue III he even changed some things in Shenhua's design, all i'm saying is that Yu Suzuki will probably continue to use some old things he did at that time, and that content looks beautiful.

I remember when i saw one Virtua Bros video. One part of the video is like this...

This is not a story about how Ryo avenge his father by defeating Lan Di.This is a story about how Akira Yuki learned all of the bajiquan martial art moves that made him the most popular character in Virtua Fighter series and the champion of the second world fighting tournament.

Everytime Ryo learns a new bajiquan move he is becoming more like his matured Virtua Fighter counterpart. The progression of Shenmue story is in Ryo's progression as a martial artist, in Shenmue III by learning more bajiquan techniques the story does progress significantly - Virtua Bros

I agree with Virtua Bros that the progression of the Shenmue story is in Ryo's progression as a martial artist but it is not everything about the story, Shenmue story is more than that, the progression of the story is more than that.

Is more than that because in the Shenmue story we have the mirrors, The Shenmue tree, The prophecy, what happened between Iwao and Sunming Zhao, what happened between Xiuying and Ziming, we will probably discover more things about Shenhua, The Chi You Men, Yuanda Zhu and much more.

Another thing about the story is Ryo trying to find a path in his life, Ryo is not just progressing as a martial artist, Ryo is progressing as a character as well and this is beautiful, i think the ending of this epic saga will be so beautiful and emotional, i have hope that one day we will see Shenmue story complete.
 
Everytime Ryo learns a new bajiquan move he is becoming more like his matured Virtua Fighter counterpart. The progression of Shenmue story is in Ryo's progression as a martial artist, in Shenmue III by learning more bajiquan techniques the story does progress significantly - Virtua Bros
It wasn't until Dunkey's recent Virtua Fighter 1 video that I realised the move Ryo learns in Shenmue III, the (Reverse) Body Check, was in Akira's moveset from the very beginning...and it looks pretty much identical. I'm sure most people already knew that, but pretty cool.
 
In my recent posts here i talked about some things that i love about Shenmue III, now i will talk about the things i dislike.

I dislike just a few things in Shenmue III

1. The side characters in Niaowu lack character development, so the goodbye part was not super emotional like it was with the other characters in Shenmue I and II. The training with Master Sun was more intense and much more, Bailu Village is so much better about the character development and other things in my opinion.

I wish Shilin Ling and Qiu Hsu had more development and scenes with Ryo, Grandmaster Bei had a little more than them because he trained Ryo.

There are a lot of NPCs in Niaowu that we can't talk to them, maybe everything about this was a budget problem or something like this, why i say that? in my opinion Shenmue III didn't turn out exactly the way Yu Suzuki really wanted.

I will never forget when the interviewer asked Yu Suzuki... "In a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you love Shenmue III?" Yu Suzuki responded... "Hm... probably 7.5" then he said "5, 4, 5, 6." Then the interviewer said... "You're going down"

In a kickstarter video Yu Suzuki said "Baisha will show off what Shenmue III is all about" so i always ask myself... Why Baisha is not in the game? we will see Baisha in Shenmue IV or we will never see this place in game format?

Yu Suzuki is like a perfectionist when it comes to his art in my opinion, if he can't do in a way he really want than he will not like it 100% of his creation, i really understand because i'm like this with my art as well.

I hope he can have the opportunities to continue Shenmue in the way he really want and finish this beautiful saga, i have so much respect for Yu Suzuki.

2. I love the food system, i love the fact that we have so many types of foods and drinks, in Shenmue I and II the food and drinks are just a nice detail but in Shenmue III they have meaning, i really understand why Yu Suzuki did this, in my opinion he did this so the player can train and level up like an RPG, after training Ryo is able to endure more without eating but the food system need to get better in my opinion.

Some people just want to play Shenmue in a way that they will not have to worry about money to buy food all the time, about the health being low and all this things, i really understand.

Shenmue III was the first game in the series to have difficulties options, maybe someone can do a mod like this, a mod where in easy mode the player will not need to eat, then in Normal mode just one time or 2 times a day, then in hard mode and very hard mode the player will need to eat more and more, and Yu Suzuki can do this in Shenmue IV if he wants, this is one way to fix this for people that didn't enjoyed the food system.

I enjoyed the food system i just think they need to improve, the food system can get better.

3. I wished for more revelations, more things that Iwao and Sunming Zhao did in Bailu Village, more things about the Shenmue tree and much more. We had some revelations in Shenmue III but i wished for more, the ending was rushed, i think one of the reasons that this happened is because Baisha is not in the game, but overall i like the ending.

To me Shenmue III overall is a calm and beautiful experience, a true Shenmue experience.

I feel that in Shenmue IV the story will progress a lot about this things, about the mysteries of the story, i feel that Shenmue IV will be really emotional and intense.
 
Last edited:

Shenmue III mentioned here, but hard to tell if the poster is sincere or not. The tagline "In Bizarro World" suggests it's not. For what it's worth, Metro are critical of Shenmue, but in a sort of tough love way. I think they do appreciate the series for the most part, but with caveats.
 
This Shenmue III image of Ryo with Shenhua shows exactly the calm and peaceful vibe of the game that i talked in my other posts, just looking at this image i feel more calm, i'm glad Shenmue III have this peaceful vibe.


shenmue_III_wallpaper_006.jpg


The beauty of this game is in the sweet details and much more. When Ryo ( the player) wins all the fights in the Martial Hall in Bailu Village and Wu Shen Hall in Niaowu Ryo say... " I'm on 10th dan. The ultimate rank. Father... you see me?" It was something like this in english.

I remember i got this on my first Shenmue III playtrough, it is such a sweet detail.



1631982545623.png

Yu Suzuki advice before Shenmue III release was...

Yu Suzuki: It would be nice if players felt like coming back from a journey. If you hurry through the game, there is a good chance it will just stress you out. Rather, by taking your time, the experience will be one of trying all the different things the game has to offer. I would ask everyone to take your time to play and not hurry through.


I did exactly what Yu Suzuki said in this interview, i took my time with the game and Shenmue III for me is overall a beautiful experience.
 
Last edited:
Where I disagree with the detractors of Shenmue III is about Ryo's growth being regressed. I believe individual players think Shenmue's narrative should follow an orthodox type of characterization. However, I believe that true mastery of martial arts is something that can never be achieved. It is a never-ending journey of self-discovery. As long as the narrative can continue to present these elements in interesting ways which Shenmue III did, then it is fine in my opinion.

Shenmue's story since its inception had never followed a traditional narrative structure and I do not understand why it would start now. That does make Shenmue better or worse than other stories - just different. On that note, I think this is why more players are receptive to the Ryu Ga Gotoku franchise. It tells a narrative with more universal themes that more players can relate to.

Shenmue can connect to your soul but you have to have the right mindset for it.
 
Personally didn't think Ryo's growth regressed at all. Shenmue III has him at his most human, but it's all loaded into the optional content with Shenhua rather than the main story arc.

It's just repeating the mistake made in the original game where some character moments that flesh out Ryo and his life are confined to hidden events, which is fine if you play Shenmue like Shenmue, but we know that some people just don't, lol.

YsNet should foreground that stuff more like with Shenmue II next time.
 
Yeah, there were many moments in S3 -- some through general NPC dialogue, but mostly through the conversations with Shenhua -- when Ryo felt more like a "real person". Letting his guard down, showing some emotions other than anger, frustration, etc. Bailu feels like him starting to recover from the grief of his Father's death, in a way that he wasn't ready for in S2.
 
Yesterday i thought about the differences of Shenmue III, things that were one way in Shenmue I and II but in Shenmue III Yu Suzuki decided to change.

Ryo's jacket in Shenmue I and II is dark brown but in Shenmue III is a light type of brown, i don't know... it feels different to me.

1632663401251.png1632663419034.png


Shenhua's design. I remember that some people didn't like that, i don't have a problem with Shenhua's new design, i like the new design but i like the old design as well. In the cave part she is not with her old outfit, i understand that Yu Suzuki wanted to do something different this time but in my opinion in this scene would be better her with the old outfit and after that she could have changed her clothes in the house.

It would be nice a mod of the old outfit for Shenhua in Shenmue III.

1632663847993.png1632663870637.png1632663914233.png1632663950025.png


In Shenhua's House in Shenmue II we can see the picture of Luoyang, a place that i think will be really important to the story, a place where i think we will see a lot of revelations about the Shenmue tree, the mirrors, Shenhua and maybe even about her parents and what happened to them, i think in Luoyang we will see another Shenmue tree.

In Shenmue III Yu Suzuki decided to change this for a picture of Bailu Village, i always ask myself why Yu Suzuki changed this, this means that we will never see Luoyang? i think we will see Luoyang, in Shenmue III in one of the night conversations Shenhua even talked about a place that i think is Luoyang, i hope we can see Luoyang, looks really interesting.


1632664837197.png


In Switch's blog we can see more about this, in this link we can see more differences in Shenhua's house


https://www.phantomriverstone.com/2021/03/part-one-shenhuas-house-shenmue-2-vs.html

Questions for people here, what changes in the design and things like that you saw in Shenmue III? and why do you think Yu Suzuki made this changes? i think is a interesting subject.
 
Last edited:
If you look at the original replica jacket and all the other licensed jackets, they're almost all this lighter brown colour. I think Yu always imagined it to be lighter...why else would he change it?

Due to the technical limitations of the time, they had to bake dark shadows into Ryo's jacket to give the illusion of depth, creases, folds, etc. I think the DC jacket is a more exaggerated version of the real thing. If you look at the DC jacket through this lense, you can totally see how the lighter areas of the jacket are supposed to be the "base" tone.
 
Probably a lot of people here saw this pictures of what it looks like Bailu Village Dreamcast version but i just want to share my thoughts about this pictures now that we have Shenmue III.


1632750197799.png1632750211624.png1632750222734.png

In my opinion at that time Bailu Village would look even more rural without capsule toys and mini games, i don't know this for sure i'm just imagining while seeing this pictures. I don't have problems with the final version we got.

Yu Suzuki really wanted to put those things in Bailu Village? Yu Suzuki really wanted to put the forklift in Niaowu?

Yu Suzuki said he did Shenmue III for the fans, i don't have problems with this things in Bailu Village and with the forklift in Niaowu i'm just imagining if this is what Yu Suzuki really wanted to do, for Shenmue IV and V i hope he can do in a way he really want, i really hope that he will have opportunities to complete Shenmue in a way that will be satisfying for him.


In the first picture i think is the Abandoned Temple Dreamcast Version

1632751360293.png1632751509173.png1632751558853.png



And maybe this character is Master Sun Dreamcast version


1632751678073.png1632751685387.png


This pictures makes me imagine if Shenmue III was in development at that time but SEGA said to stop the development.

Would be really nice to see a Shenmue III Dreamcast version someday, i like Shenmue III but is nice to imagine a Dreamcast version.
 
I think Yu Suzuki has compromised his vision plenty of times. Shenmue 2 is a brilliant game, a masterpiece, but it feels like 2 and a half games condensed into 1 because the dreamcast' death affected the original release of the chapters/games, that's what I suspect. On that note, I'm not against Suzuki compromising his vision and making IV the last game, as long as it's good.
 
Back
Top