Random Shenmue IV Thoughts.

mjqjazzbar said:
Yakuza 0 was the big breakthrough and IIIRC it definitely didn't feature an English dub. The first game did, however. In fact, they hired known Hollywood actors, including Luke Skywalker himself! It flopped. A good game is the priority, imo. I'd take text if it meant a better game. I remember the excitement I had for Yakuza and then the crushing disappointment when I realized I was getting into another big budget Shenmue-esque flop. Glad I was wrong, but the dub certainly didn't help anything.
Click to expand...
The first Yakuza game isn’t really the best example, as although it did have an English dub, it was arguably worse than the one found in the first two Shenmue games. It also didn’t help that many people saw the game as a knock-off Japanese GTA at the time of its release either.

Yakuza 0 wasn’t radically different from the earlier games though, which, if anything, goes to show how long it took for the reputation of the series to grow in the West. I dare say that it being numbered 0 also helped a lot with sales, as it provided new players with a viable entry point into the series without having to replay the older titles first to understand what was going on.

That Sega has reverted to adding English dubs into the games (Judgement and Yakuza 7) suggests that they too know that not having an English dub was costing them sales and that Western sales of Y7 exceeded their expectations suggests that the English dub had a far greater impact on sales than they were expecting.

Sadly we don’t have the exact figures, but as far as I can tell, Judgement and Y7 are responsible for more than 20% of the series’ total sales despite there being nearly twenty Yakuza games in total (including spin offs now). Yakuza 0 (a game that didn’t carry the burden of being a true numbered entry) probably accounts for another 10%.
 
If it's released in English, that's fine too. I think the English dub/localization needs to be completely re-envisioned if we go that route, but what can ya do? Maybe they've got a plan with the anime coming out.
 
orient said:
That's the main issue I see with this approach. The writing and VO budget literally doubles with two quests on the go, triples with three, etc.

The only way around it, I can see, would be to have dramatically fewer NPCs, or go to a more generic open-world format where the majority of NPCs spout generic lines, and only a small % have "quest" dialogue. Who knows, maybe fewer NPCs would make sense in S4's locations, but I think there's potential for disappointment if the game has no built-up areas. Maybe it could be a mix of the two.
Click to expand...
Mm. Although it depends on factors like NPC density as you said, plus just the overall length of the quests and the game itself, the investigation gameplay of Shenmue is a fairly integral component but also the one that could benefit the most from reinterpreting. So hopefully it would be something they would see as worthwhile to devote extra resources towards.
 
Personally, I'd be happy with them dropping the English dub -- I still haven't played S3 in English, and the chances of them delivering a great English dub is very slim (hasn't happened so far in three games).

However, there would definitely be backlash. There would be news articles, "Shenmue 4 loses its series trademark English voices" and the like, but would it actually impact sales at all? It all comes back to the quality of the game itself. If S4 is a big improvement over S3 (in the eyes of fans, at the very least) then I can't imagine any fan passing it up. If the game hasn't improved over S3, people would use the missing dub as just another reason not to play it, because that's how the internet works :p
 
English dub is pretty important to me. I bought an Xbox to play Shenmue 2 in the English dub. To me, Corey is Ryo... It just won't be the same without him.

Hopefully if there is something to be cut from a potential S4, the English dub won't be it.
 
orient said:
Personally, I'd be happy with them dropping the English dub -- I still haven't played S3 in English, and the chances of them delivering a great English dub is very slim (hasn't happened so far in three games).

However, there would definitely be backlash. There would be news articles, "Shenmue 4 loses its series trademark English voices" and the like, but would it actually impact sales at all? It all comes back to the quality of the game itself. If S4 is a big improvement over S3 (in the eyes of fans, at the very least) then I can't imagine any fan passing it up. If the game hasn't improved over S3, people would use the missing dub as just another reason not to play it, because that's how the internet works :p
Click to expand...
I can't speak on how widespread this is, but I do know of people who refuse to play undubbed games.
Aris (Avoidingthepuddle) is one of them, the fact that he plays Shenmue and never touches Yakuza is due to the undubbed nature of the latter. Despite his fanbase begging him to do so.

Some people just like to listen instead of read.
 
Rikitatsu said:
I can't speak on how widespread this is, but I do know of people who refuse to play undubbed games.
Aris (Avoidingthepuddle) is one of them, the fact that he plays Shenmue and never touches Yakuza is due to the undubbed nature of the latter. Despite his fanbase begging him to do so.

Some people just like to listen instead of read.
Click to expand...
I know that's a thing and I respect it, but the fact Yakuza Zero became a "Greatest Hits" game on PS4 tells me it's not a barrier for most people if the game quality is there.
 
orient said:
… but would it actually impact sales at all?
Click to expand...
I’d be surprised if there were too many long time Shenmue fans who wouldn’t buy a fourth game just because there was no longer an English dub, but you could ask the same question about the Japanese dub and the answer would be the same.

When it comes to attracting new fans, however, I really don’t see too many people jumping on board without prior exposure to the first three games or the anime. Given that most of those people will probably experience the series in English, I do think that the lack of an English dub would deter some of the ones who were sitting on the fence about buying S4. Unlike with longtime fans of the series, I don’t think the same would be true if there wasn’t a Japanese dub.
 
Perhaps if only one dub were to be an option, an English dub could be free DLC down the line? I think Final Fantasy XV did this with a Russian dub a few years ago. I think Corey would be crushed if he couldn't continue as Ryo, but at the same time he is such an ambassador to Shenmue, I think he would continue to support the series even if he weren't to be involved.

From what I recall, Corey and Co did Shenmue III on a much lower rate due to their love of the series. I know bills have to be paid and whatnot, but who is to say they wouldn't do it again? He could probably get more money doing the dub for the anime.
 
I voted "not fussed" for me, but I do hope it happens for those who put the effort into collecting everything. It's nice to have your time rewarded like that. The only thing I'd like to keep personally is a couple of cool jackets :cool: I really didn't experiment too much with moves -- I found one kick that seemed remarkably fast and powerful, and stuck with that for most of the game :sneaky:
 
I'm probably going to suggest 'not fussed'; it was a pretty novel idea in the first game, even though it didn't really amount to much. I think what would be a nice idea is to get a little bonus if the game recognises Shenmue I-III game data (the Yakuza series does something similar). It might be a nice cost cutting measure.

That said, it would be nice to transfer all your moves over. Which leads me to a question; if Ryo is getting stronger all the time, I wonder how Shenmue IV would deal with that? Getting beat up my lowly thugs would no longer cut it surely?
 
83% have said they want save transfers. I'm a little surprised but hey all in good fun
 
I have all of the game. Clothes, figures, movements, collectionables, etc. I think that I did complete the game more than five times to get it all, so much fun anyway, so for me, yes, is a cool option.
 
mjqjazzbar said:
Yakuza 0 was the big breakthrough and IIIRC it definitely didn't feature an English dub. The first game did, however. In fact, they hired known Hollywood actors, including Luke Skywalker himself! It flopped. A good game is the priority, imo. I'd take text if it meant a better game. I remember the excitement I had for Yakuza and then the crushing disappointment when I realized I was getting into another big budget Shenmue-esque flop. Glad I was wrong, but the dub certainly didn't help anything.
Click to expand...

tomboz said:
The first Yakuza game isn’t really the best example, as although it did have an English dub, it was arguably worse than the one found in the first two Shenmue games. It also didn’t help that many people saw the game as a knock-off Japanese GTA at the time of its release either.

Yakuza 0 wasn’t radically different from the earlier games though, which, if anything, goes to show how long it took for the reputation of the series to grow in the West. I dare say that it being numbered 0 also helped a lot with sales, as it provided new players with a viable entry point into the series without having to replay the older titles first to understand what was going on.

That Sega has reverted to adding English dubs into the games (Judgement and Yakuza 7) suggests that they too know that not having an English dub was costing them sales and that Western sales of Y7 exceeded their expectations suggests that the English dub had a far greater impact on sales than they were expecting.

Sadly we don’t have the exact figures, but as far as I can tell, Judgement and Y7 are responsible for more than 20% of the series’ total sales despite there being nearly twenty Yakuza games in total (including spin offs now). Yakuza 0 (a game that didn’t carry the burden of being a true numbered entry) probably accounts for another 10%.
Click to expand...

1 didn't flop in the slightest; it was the best-selling of all RGG titles, until the numbers got muddled around 2015 or so (hence Tomboz's numbers above).

Also, the dub is decent; it is the direction that gets laughed at, as there is a curse every third word (and it's HILARIOUS lol) and some characters are voiced super-well, but the tone and attitude is completely-opposite of the characters actual persona (Kashiwagi being the most-egregious, IMO).

Kurylo does a really good job as Kiryu, despite not being a professional actor and Dushku, Madsen, Hamill all are quite good: when multiple characters pronounce "Akemi," as, "ah-ke-me," (the proper pronunciation) and then Bill Farmer pronounces it, "uhkime," that's shitty direction; literally 10 seconds earlier, two different characters pronounce it correctly. Come on lol.
 
Last edited:
It’s been years. Yeah, the thing I remember is the thugs screaming “What the fuck!?” every five seconds between random battles.

I thought it flopped but it felt like Sega couldn’t win back in those days. Certainly felt like another doomed major franchise at the time at least. I don’t feel like the English dub really helped it out, though, and certainly Sega didn’t see any need to attempt one again ‘til recently. I don't think Yakuza 2 could've done well, though, right? (I own a copy, but I bought it used and never got to spend much time with it :() Though that sort of contradicts my point about the dub.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top