Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

高野和泉 said:
Yu wants a traditional publisher becuase he needs a stable funding source so he can know what he can and can't do right out the gate instead of months after the fact. I hope, Epic or Sega and Deepsilver green-light it asap.
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According to Cedric Biscay; it seems DeepSilver are out of the equation; on the other I believe that Sega as shown interest in the series in recent times.
The fact that Yu Suzuki will be working close with them as a consultant in the development of the new Virtua Fighter game is also a good sign for the Shenmue franshise.
Sony has also aquired recently Crunchyroll where the Shenmue Anime is going to be streamed; so that is also a good sign as well.
As for a deal with Epic; it would be amazing because they have tons of money to spare.
A joint deal with Sega/Sony for a Ps5 version of Shenmue 4 and Sega/Epic for the Pc version would be perfect.
A budget of 10M from Sega + 10M from Sony and 10M from Epic would give Shenmue 4 a total budget of 30M wich would be perfect.
Let us hope for the best and keep on pushing the series forward.
 
Revan said:
Every day I log in here to see if Shenmue 4 has been announced yet and every day it bloody well hasn't been. :(
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Well, take it in stride. We are living a time period that hasn't been seen in over 100 years since the Flu pandemic of 1918.

It has flipped the world upside down and even with vaccinations readily available, the likelihood of 2021 returning to any semblance of normalcy before the end of the year is very scant.

What I mean by that is it will continue to affect things such as gaming, wherein MANY games will be pushed back or their announcement even delayed.

That being said--we have a myriad of reasons to be hopeful. Shenmue III became a reality due to our own perseverance as a community, being classified as "satisfactory" in performance by Deep Silver.

With it's release on Steam, a new group will be exposed. We continue to draw attention to when it is on sale and push for a fourth entry on the 4th of every month.

In addition, the sheer success of the Kickstarter and the vocalization of the fans also culminated in Shenmue I and II being revived for a new generation to experience. One could infer that Sega is well aware of the series' potential now.

The anime series is a huge indication that the series will not fade away. I'm a firm believer that Shenmue IV exists already, but is currently looking for a publisher which may be difficult to find in the current climate with all the restrictions in place, not to mention smaller developers are working slower due to probably working from home.

An example of this is The Division 2, which has an upcoming Resident Evil crossover apparel event. The original plan was to have an area of the game(Kenly College) be a full scale PvE event replete with zombies, etc.

But the pandemic effects prohibited it, so its just a standard event of getting skins.
 
Valascaziel said:
Well, take it in stride. We are living a time period that hasn't been seen in over 100 years since the Flu pandemic of 1918.

It has flipped the world upside down and even with vaccinations readily available, the likelihood of 2021 returning to any semblance of normalcy before the end of the year is very scant.

What I mean by that is it will continue to affect things such as gaming, wherein MANY games will be pushed back or their announcement even delayed.

That being said--we have a myriad of reasons to be hopeful. Shenmue III became a reality due to our own perseverance as a community, being classified as "satisfactory" in performance by Deep Silver.

With it's release on Steam, a new group will be exposed. We continue to draw attention to when it is on sale and push for a fourth entry on the 4th of every month.

In addition, the sheer success of the Kickstarter and the vocalization of the fans also culminated in Shenmue I and II being revived for a new generation to experience. One could infer that Sega is well aware of the series' potential now.

The anime series is a huge indication that the series will not fade away. I'm a firm believer that Shenmue IV exists already, but is currently looking for a publisher which may be difficult to find in the current climate with all the restrictions in place, not to mention smaller developers are working slower due to probably working from home.

An example of this is The Division 2, which has an upcoming Resident Evil crossover apparel event. The original plan was to have an area of the game(Kenly College) be a full scale PvE event replete with zombies, etc.

But the pandemic effects prohibited it, so its just a standard event of getting skins.
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It does exist. It's being readied to pitch to publishers :)
 
spud1897 said:
It does exist. It's being readied to pitch to publishers :)
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I don't know why but this post gave me Adam Doree vibes. :sick:


But I agree with the sentiment that Shenmue IV has a lot of assets completed. Same way we got Shenmue III character models and demos all the way back on the DC. (Niao Sun)

We're in a much better place now than we've ever been despite the lack of news. The fact that we have a Shenmue anime that was backed and funded by Sega themselves speaks volumes in their treatment of the IP.
 
darksniper said:
I don't know why but this post gave me Adam Doree vibes. :sick:


But I agree with the sentiment that Shenmue IV has a lot of assets completed. Same way we got Shenmue III character models and demos all the way back on the DC. (Niao Sun)

We're in a much better place now than we've ever been despite the lack of news. The fact that we have a Shenmue anime that was backed and funded by Sega themselves speaks volumes in their treatment of the IP.
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Tbf it comes from Cedric so just repeating what he said in the interview I did :)
 
spud1897 said:
Tbf it comes from Cedric so just repeating what he said in the interview I did :)
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If it came from Cedric then that holds a lot of weight tbh. When I heard the words "Shenmue, ready for release, and just needs a publisher" I immediately got triggered back into 2005 by accident. Even though the eventual release of Shenmue III made this story an easier pill to swallow, I was angry at Doree for years for that false article.

Sorry if I came off rude :)
 
darksniper said:
If it came from Cedric then that holds a lot of weight tbh. When I heard the words "Shenmue, ready for release, and just needs a publisher" I immediately got triggered back into 2005 by accident. Even though the eventual release of Shenmue III made this story an easier pill to swallow, I was angry at Doree for years for that false article.

Sorry if I came off rude :)
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Not to worry. We have it from Cedric so it definitely carries weight. Let's hope the pitches are successful :)
 
I had a dream last night that shenmue 4 had chibi-styled graphics and was a beat 'em up mobile game... And Yu said the games budget was "$35,000". I was so glad to wake up from that NIGHTMARE :tearsofjoy: :tearsofjoy:
 
The only thing that really concerns me about this is what if Cedric struggle's to find a publisher? What I'm afraid of and what I feel is likely the most likely scenario is that for Shenmue IV to happen, it's going to boil down to him having one real option for a publishing deal and the one that really makes the most sense.

Sega. :(
 
darksniper said:
The only thing that really concerns me about this is what if Cedric struggle's to find a publisher? What I'm afraid of and what I feel is likely the most likely scenario is that for Shenmue IV to happen, it's going to boil down to him having one real option for a publishing deal and the one that really makes the most sense.

Sega. :(
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I’d be interested to know if they’re entertaining (or even receiving) counter offers. I’d be (pleasantly) surprised if they’re able to find a publisher willing to give them the $30+ million they’re looking for, but you’d like to think that some may be willing to offer between ten and fifteen. Considering a lot of the elements needed for another Shenmue game are already in place, that should be more than enough to make a better game than Shenmue 3 and in spite of the limited size of the fan base, seems a fairly achievable sales target. With that in mind, I pray that they’re not burning bridges by demanding all or nothing from interested investors.
 
The Chi You Men seem to be opposed to the ruling CCP (Chinese Communist Party). There have been hints of the ruling government in Shenmue 3, but I don't think Yu Suzuki would dare to be political in the fourth game. It might affect his acquiring the source material, you know?

They seem to be radical conservatives. That's all I'll say for now.
 
Yu Suzuki believes Shenmue 4 will happen and wants it to appeal to a broader audience | VGC (videogameschronicle.com)

I don't know if anyone has posted this here, this is from may 2020 but i want to comment on some nice things that Yu Suzuki said.

1. Suzuki conceded that as an independent company, YSnet would need to make Shenmue IV appeal to a broader audience in future if it happens. “With Shenmue III I created a game for the fans, but if I have the opportunity to make Shenmue IV – and I think I will – I know how to satisfy casual users, so I want to make a game that everyone can be satisfied with,”

In my opinion this means that another kickstarter will not happen, maybe for Shenmue V if Yu Suzuki don't have any other option and i think Shenmue V will be the last Shenmue game. If Yu Suzuki has to satisfy casual players he will know how to do this without breaking the Shenmue feel. Yu Suzuki is positive about making Shenmue IV, he thinks he will be able to make the game, all of this is really nice.

2. The veteran creator revealed he has already been researching other open-world games to come up with improvements for the potential fourth game, and said he feels he will be able to make changes without compromising Shenmue’s distinct personality. “I have ideas for how we can improve and incorporate [improvements] without breaking the feel of Shenmue,” he said. “There are various things, such as adding quest markers, enhancing fast travel and time-skip functions, and making the user interface easier to understand,” he said.

“I would like to have quest markers to identify the main quests and side quests, where you can exchange money, or where you can battle. In order to be able to skip the time more freely, I’d also like to be able to sit on a bench to advance time more freely.”

He added: “I would like to deliver a smoother experience overall to those who want to progress more quickly through the story. If the amount of content is the same as that of Shenmue III, then players would be able to proceed at about 1.5 times the speed.”

This is really interesting, he wants to do new things but without breaking the Shenmue essence and feel. I don't have a problem of waiting in Shenmue games, i prefer to play Shenmue games in a slow way but i really love his idea to sit on a bench to advance time more freely, other ways he could do that is Ryo meditating or practicing Tai Chi. With this Yu Suzuki is really thinking in all types of players but without breaking the feel of Shenmue, this is really nice in my opinion.

The idea about quest markers he can do that without breaking the feel of Shenmue, just putting an option on or off will resolve this, with this it can fit to all styles of players. One of the things i love about Shenmue is that it is a investigation type of game, it is a game where we need to ask characters so we can know how to do next, another thing i love is that Ryo have a notebook and writes everything there, i hope the investigation part and the notebook stays in all Shenmue games.

3. The designer revealed he’s already reviewed the feedback of those who did not enjoy Shenmue III. In my opinion Yu Suzuki is aware about the negative things and will make improvements and a lot of cool new things.

Yu Suzuki and the team did Shenmue III from scratch and the result was really amazing, i really like Shenmue III, i'm not saying the game is perfect, all i'm saying is really hard to make a game from scratch, they did a beautiful job in creating the world, the characters and all of this. Now they have a lot of things they can use on Shenmue IV, this is a positive thing.

To end this i just want to say that in my opinion the future is bright for Shenmue, we will have a anime and i really think Shenmue IV will happen 😊
 
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I'm not sure chasing a broader audience is a wise move, the ship has sailed on that, no one is gonna jump on Shenmue 4 if the previous games didn't make him a fan...

At the same time, I felt there was too much fan service in Shenmue 3 to the detriment of the game, like Chai's pointless return

Hopefully if he makes IV, he makes it according to his vision and not "what would the fans/non-fans like?"
 
I feel like at this point, I'll trust Suzuki quite a lot in delivering a great Shenmue experience, because I feel like he has precisely in mind what I value in a Shenmue game, which is an insanely well-built world with multiple ways of interacting with people and their reactions, a precision that nobody else would have in regards to tiny details everywhere. In Shenmue 3, that came at the detriment of several other aspects of the game, mainly those focused on pleasing an audience who weren't interested in Yu Suzuki's brand of delivering specifically what he promised, the training arc of a kung fu story where the protagonist discovers his weakness.

The problem with Shenmue 3 is that you can't look at it without comparing what is essentially an attempt to make a megalomaniac-level detailed universe on the level of what made 1 and 2 legendary, with what amounts to an indie team/budget. Shenmue 4 may be just as divisive, but Suzuki can add specific gameplay elements that can turn the experience into something more palatable for the typical audience, which could have beeb easily done with 3 without sacrificing the main experience.

Remember that Shenmue 1 and 2 aged perfectly, but if you just want to "play" them linearly, you end up experiencing less than 10% of what their world have to offer.
 
Sergeynest said:
Unreal Engine Metahuman is the solution to improve Shenmue IV'S facial expressions; Check this video out:
Now they can record the facial expressions directly from the voice actors to the NPC's.

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This seems like something great to save up on studio time and money modelling/mocapping. But it does concern me that a lot of games will suddenly have the same type of aesthetic in character designs.

Still, we can't be picky. I remember when the Mafia City ad man appeared on Deadly Premonition 2 because so much of that game is cheap asset-flipping.
 
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