shenmue 4. ryo's father needs reintroducing to the story.

[red]

i just want to see if anyone feels the same way? i will try to get to the point and not ramble too much lol

basically i strongly believe ryo hazuki's father, Iwao Hazuki, needs to be reintroduced into shenmue 4. be that in a flashback or dream sequence.. because ryos quest for revenge is starting to lose its significance.

in that i mean, shenmue 1 showed the player, ryo's fathers murder and in the same game, several flashbacks to when he was a child. which was excellent in laying an emotional foundation for the player to understand the motive for ryo's quest for revenge.

shenmue 2 lacked these elements but that was not important as many of us who played both games on the dreamcast, did so back to back, with S1 fresh in our memory.

i don't know if anyone will agree but for me, shenmue 3 lacked any strong emotion or emphasis on why ryo was seeking revenge and that hurt the game. that's why i think it's important they reintroduce ryo's father to the story. to re-establish the emotional foundation of shenmue and re-establish why ryo is seeking revenge. it would also be pretty powerful to have ryo and his father reconnected in some manner.

 

[~ ひかり ~]

In Shenmue III we have some scenes where Iwao is mentioned in the story.

Ryo saw what Iwao did on that tree and this was the moment Ryo remembered the time where his father trained him when he was a kid.










Then in Man Yuan Temple Ryo received what his father did for Akane, Ryo's mother.





In my opinion the story of Shenmue is interesting so i wished for more but we have some moments where Iwao is mentioned in Shenmue III. In the night conversations with Shenhua and even in Niaowu we can see Ryo remembering about Iwao.

I don't agree that the quest for revenge is starting to lose its significance but i agree that more scenes about Iwao would be good for the story, not just about Iwao but Sunming Zhao as well, a flashback with Iwao and Sunming Zhao would have been nice in Bailu Village.

 

[the_phoenix_mirror]

I haven't played through III since 2019, but when did Ryo get that item in III? I don't remember him getting that letter Iwao wrote. Was it optional?

 

[orient]

I think it's important to remind players (and Ryo) of Iwao in IV, but I didn't think it was a problem in III. There was plenty of stuff about Iwao in there.

 

[danielmann861]

His presence is still there in SIII...I mean if you really let it in then you come to realize you're training on the same ground as your father once did and that's kind of cool. The masters in Bailu do make note of him. His presence still lingers in Bailu. I do wish there was a bit more...either people in Bailu remembering more about him or such, but I do think his presence is still felt in SIII...moreso than it was in SII...that's for sure. SII really doesn't have much of Iwao at all.

I still think IV needs to be more about the Chi You Men personally...it's time to learn more about that organization and what they actually want...especially considering they have both mirrors in their possession now.

 

[Vivi-gamer]

Iwao's presence in Bailu should have been more noted - But I put the blame on the writing around Master Feng more than anything. There should have been a lot more scenes with him telling Ryo of Iwao's time here - Even if it was as simple as having a similar conversation structure like with Shenhua at night, or have him train there and after sparring offer that conversation time.

I really felt that Bailu was an important time in Iwao's life, especially since Ryo's mother is from there... it was the ideal time to expand more on both of them and we got nothing. I don't really see how they can do that as well in the next area...

by the title you meant raise Iwao from the dead No.. just no

 

[JCJ]

I love that moment in Shenmue II's 2nd disc when, after a lot of tribulations to get there (reaching HK, meeting Xiuying, passing the four Wude test and such) you can finally go around Wan Chai simply asking everyone "What do you know about Yuanda Zhu?"

And I would have hoped a similar opportunity would have arised in Bailu Village to ask everyone what did they know about Iwao. Of course many people would have known little to nothing, but hearing from the Grandmasters and from the elder people at Hermit's Nest would have been wonderful.

I think the perfect opportunity to do that in Shenmue III's plot would have been at the very beginning of the game. From his letter at the cave, it looks like Shenhua's father departed voluntarily, and it also looks like he knew Ryo was coming beforehand (as he tells her to "go with the one who holds the Phoenix"). So, the obvious clue to follow is why would Shenhua's father know about Ryo, and Ryo's obvious and only possible connection to Bailu Village and Shenhua's father is Iwao.

That would have been a wonderful opening arc IMO, to pump up the nostalgia of former players, and to introduce newcomers to the key motivation for Ryo's journey. And it would have also given the player the chance to experience a quiet and ordinary Bailu Village (theone that Shenhua describes at the end of Shenmue II), just before it's revealed to be actually under attack from outsiders and villagers change their habits (and work together, just like Shenhua also described int that journey).