Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

I would like Shenmue 4 to start from the castle, if possible. I had this image of it beginning at the end of the Lan Di fight, only this time we're given an opportunity to escape from the castle via a QTE sequence. This could be a nice way of reminding us of where the story is at, in a way that thrusts us straight into the action. The QTE for the escape could be a soft tutorial for players, maybe even add a few FREE battles with Niao Sun's henchmen to introduce the player to the combat system. Then, after that, the part on the boat can be fleshed out a little more... It would be nice if we got a little bit more info from Yuan.
Proper context and following up on story is one of the biggest problems I had with the transition from Shenmue 2 to 3. The fact that 2 ends in such a grandiose reveal of Ryo's role in an enormous prophecy, and that we expect him to finally realise the thing he stepped into is bigger than it seems, even by his final sentence said in 2. Then in 3, they just act as if they never saw a gigantic temple light up and reveal their future, and just keep looking for her dad without the context of her letter.

The teaser for 4 places them walking through the Great Wall, but we don't know quite a few things, such as how they got there, or why is Shenhua still following Ryo dispite having her father back and him no longer being "The One Who Holds The Phoenix". I kinda wish the entire final section of 3 had more context to it.
 
Proper context and following up on story is one of the biggest problems I had with the transition from Shenmue 2 to 3. The fact that 2 ends in such a grandiose reveal of Ryo's role in an enormous prophecy, and that we expect him to finally realise the thing he stepped into is bigger than it seems, even by his final sentence said in 2. Then in 3, they just act as if they never saw a gigantic temple light up and reveal their future, and just keep looking for her dad without the context of her letter.

Um, maybe because they didn't see a, "temple light up?" lol
 
To be honest, the presentation was extremely mediocre by itself. I think they only had one new thing to announce overall, the rest were typical trailers.

The mediocrity of the State of Play was a testament to how this year is going to go, honestly.

It could've easily been a blog post--as it stands, it was basically State of Indie.

FF7R isn't worth $70. I'll get the PS+ version and call it a day. It didn't look significantly visually enhanced(just slightly) and Yuffie DLC is a premium purchase even IF you have a physical copy for free upgrade.

The only solace is with the significant Yuffie DLC and the title "Integrade", one can extrapolate that Episode II probably isn't as far off as people think, but probably still Spring 2022.

The revelations of Gran Turismo being 2022 and Kena pushed into August is how this year is going to go, with the pandemic still affecting everything severely(hence why I expect silence on Shenmue IV for now).

The pandemic isn't the only thing causing these delays--the Cyberpunk debacle caused shockwaves throughout the industry about the dangers of crunch, rushing to meet dates and releasing a sub par product. No one wants to be the next CDPR, as it was an unmitigated disaster and severely tarnished their reputation.

I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being another light year for AAA games for months.
 
The mediocrity of the State of Play was a testament to how this year is going to go, honestly.

It could've easily been a blog post--as it stands, it was basically State of Indie.

FF7R isn't worth $70. I'll get the PS+ version and call it a day. It didn't look significantly visually enhanced(just slightly) and Yuffie DLC is a premium purchase even IF you have a physical copy for free upgrade.

The only solace is with the significant Yuffie DLC and the title "Integrade", one can extrapolate that Episode II probably isn't as far off as people think, but probably still Spring 2022.

The revelations of Gran Turismo being 2022 and Kena pushed into August is how this year is going to go, with the pandemic still affecting everything severely(hence why I expect silence on Shenmue IV for now).

The pandemic isn't the only thing causing these delays--the Cyberpunk debacle caused shockwaves throughout the industry about the dangers of crunch, rushing to meet dates and releasing a sub par product. No one wants to be the next CDPR, as it was an unmitigated disaster and severely tarnished their reputation.

I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being another light year for AAA games for months.
I honestly don't mind it, gives me more time to catch up on plenty of games from better generations that I've left untouched for years, and I've already decided against getting a PS5 anyway.

When Shenmue IV comes out, I'll be well-rested and ready. I just want it to come out. Meanwhile, the games of this generation can take their sweet time, because as much as I've been addicted to playing everything I can get my hands on in previous gens, game design hasn't really evolved all that much in the last decade or so. I prefer to keep at things I know will entertain me.
 
This will probably never happen, but I'd like to see in the final battle in Shenmue for Ryo to don a black hakama emblazoned with the Hazuki crest. Not only that, but I'd like to have him wield the family katana equipped with the sword handguard. Seeing how the Hazuki family are warriors originating from the Sengoku Era, it would make sense.

I have always seen Ryo as a modern-day samurai who is as honorable as he is stoic.a4a2d551fe18cfc3dac3ffe6db3a9424.jpg
 
I watched Batman Soul of the Dragon recently. I could imagine the ending of Shenmue being something like this.
 
I was just thinking of what would continue from 3-4 in terms of features. In particular the games difficulty settings.

It wasn’t something that fundamentally changed the experience but I suppose more options are also welcome. Hopefully with an improved combat system with more depth, playing on harder difficulty settings could replicate experience of fighting Baihu on highest level in Shenmue 2.
 
I know this probably won't happen, but I would love to see Ryo ride a motorcycle again. The only difference is that this time Shenhua is riding behind Ryo instead of Nozomi. The motorcycle segment in Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka was just so cool.
 
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