Shenmue 4. The possible abrupt ending to the series?

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kaliskonig91

Joined
Oct 3, 2019
I don't want it to happen but I don't see us getting 6 games EVER. A lot of future story beats we know of have no bearing in-game yet and with how Shenmue 3 was handled there is really no need to introduce them. In fact it seems as if some stuff might already be scrapped and if it's not it could be without the established narrative being compromised...

4 branch heads of the Chi You Men No Longer happening?(Shenmue 3 spoilers obviously):

- Niao Sun: tries to kill Lan-Di and she assumes she is successful. Following up with these words "Lan Di that fool. The Chi You Men belong to me now." This implies that Lan-Di is the only head and the 4 branch leaders idea is scraped... Or Lan-Di is the successor to Tentei and Niao Sun would have been next in line had Lan Di died or failed. Niao Sun was originally supposed to have a huge role in Shenmue 3 and be a fleshed out character. Likely setting up the 4 branch story line. On top of that Shenmue 3 was supposed to have another major villain appear. A person who prefers not to fight but is cunning and a master tactician...this is the same description we have of one of the would be unknown branch leaders. All of this being cut may have been a decision based on Yu deciding to end the series prematurely. Not just because of time and budget. He seemed so sure that Niao Sun would have a huge role and that this tactical villain would appear but again no telling. This all could simply be a matter of budget and other dev issues(speculation)

Plot threads left opened after Shenmue 1-3:
- What/where is the treasure (Money, the rights to forgotten lands/titles, Information on the royal bloodline, forgotten martial arts and artifacts?)
- Sunming Zhao's Death (we pretty much can call it now. Chi You Men/Tentei likely had some involvement.)
- Why Niao Sun wants full control of the Chi You Men (Assuming its not just for the sake of pull/power)
- The Prophecy
- Shenhua's true powers (hoping this doesn't get written off as a gag that never gets revealed.)
- Ziming and his involvement with the Chi You Men (We know he is not one of the leaders. Is he still trying to get revenge or did he fully commit to the organization for some reason and if so, why?)

Am I forgetting anything? because as is these are all things that could be answered in a single game. If there is no hope for the series telling its complete story there is no need to introduce any more plot points. And we know for a fact that Shenmue 3 has saw some cuts in regards to its story based on what Yu has said in interviews. How would you feel if this happens? I would be bummed but like I said, I doubt we get three more games in a timely manner so maybe its for the best at this point.

The Chi You Men hierarchy has not been discussed at all in-game. Niao Sun is just some lady in the Chi You Men who wants to overthrow Lan-Di from what we can tell based on her minor role in Shenmue 3. We only know the intended reality thanks to planned story points and concepts from the post mortem, Virtua Fighter RPG origins, and interviews. There is nothing pointing towards there being 4 leaders or even a bigger boss yet in the actual games so Yu really doesn't have to go that route.

- There was supposed to be another major villain in Shenmue 3. The character could be cut entirely or reworked as a none Branch leader and follower of Niao Sun.
 
kaliskonig91 said:
- What/where is the treasure (Money, the rights to forgotten lands/titles, Information on the royal bloodline, forgotten martial arts and artifacts?)
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From what I can gather the scroll you get in tower in Bailu, the last image includes a mountain cliff, where we are told the hidden treasure is likely buried. The last scene with Yuan he says Chi You Men have taken over temple there, I assume that’s where Ryo and company are traveling right at the end?

I’m sure the detail of the Dragon being the emperor and Phoenix as the empress will have some significance too.

Given how rushed the whole last segment was and that Niao Sun was barley in this, I can only assume any other leaders were cut from this because they simply didn’t have time to properly introduce them.
 
code l name said:
From what I can gather the scroll you get in tower in Bailu, the last image includes a mountain cliff, where we are told the hidden treasure is likely buried. The last scene with Yuan he says Chi You Men have taken over temple there, I assume that’s where Ryo and company are traveling right at the end?
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I have literally just finished the game and was majorly confused by the Chi You Men apparently going to the temple in the cliff and Ryo saying "Thats where we found the scroll". So, what? Are we heading back to Bailu? Why would they need to climb the Great Wall when we didn't see it before...because apparently Ryo has been there? I don't remember that.
"That's what we SAW on the scroll?" Perhaps?


Maybe it's me? Am I missing something? Maybe I'm suffering from amnesia after Shenmue just consuming my life for the last 72hours.
 
Quiksylver said:
I have literally just finished the game and was majorly confused by the Chi You Men apparently going to the temple in the cliff and Ryo saying "Thats where we found the scroll". So, what? Are we heading back to Bailu? Why would they need to climb the Great Wall when we didn't see it before...because apparently Ryo has been there? I don't remember that.
"That's what we SAW on the scroll?" Perhaps?


Maybe it's me? Am I missing something? Maybe I'm suffering from amnesia after Shenmue just consuming my life for the last 72hours.
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Yeah I was confused here too. I took it as either a bad translation or just further evidence of an intended segment that was cut. The great wall was in screenshots. So wth did they put it in screenshots if it was never a location we visit? Just screams "Oh we had to cut that out" to me.
 
kaliskonig91 said:
Yeah I was confused here too. I took it as either a bad translation or just further evidence of an intended segment that was cut. The great wall was in screenshots. So wth did they put it in screenshots if it was never a location we visit? Just screams "Oh we had to cut that out" to me.
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Well I'm glad it wasn't just me. If it's something we are missing that's fine, but if it's a mistake on their part I kinda think we need to know about it. I'll assume for now it was on the scroll itself. Or yeah like you said, a part cut from the game and they forgot they actually cut it or missed out on deleting or rewriting that sentence.

Maybe the whole temple has already been made and they will use it for Shenmue 4.

Regardless, I need to know why the apparent error.
 
kaliskonig91 said:
Right that too. Smh. Especially since it has a twin.
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It doesn't have a twin? The one in Ternary Spring is just a standard cherry tree, like the one at Ryo's house. There's no reason to suspect there's anything special about it.
 
I'm pretty sure Ryo cslls the tree Iwao trained with "Shenmue" in his notebook or in a dialogue with Shenhua or something like that. There are definitely at least two Shenmue trees in Bailu.
 
DarksideHazuki said:
No, that is 100% another Shenmue tree. There's conversations about it and Ryo mentions it in the notebook.
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I'm clearly not far enough in the game to hear the conversations and haven't paid much attention to the notebook.

So far it's only been mentioned a few times and every time it's just as a "cherry tree".
 
DigitalDuck said:
I'm clearly not far enough in the game to hear the conversations and haven't paid much attention to the notebook.

So far it's only been mentioned a few times and every time it's just as a "cherry tree".
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Check your notebook it literally says shenmue tree after the first scene that tree is in.
 
DarksideHazuki said:
The entry is made in the notebook the moment the very first scene with it finishes, and the conversation regarding it happens that night too.
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Try Asking Sumiya San said:
Check your notebook it literally says shenmue tree after the first scene that tree is in.
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I talked to her that night and she didn't say anything about a Shenmue tree.

As I said, I haven't paid much attention to the notebook.
 
Does anyone have a link to the dialogue at night? It definitely says Shenmue tree in the notebook but I always assumed that was a translation error since I remember them talking at night and he calls it Sakura tree like the one in his house. I might have to play it again though to see what was actually said
 
DarksideHazuki said:
The entry is made in the notebook the moment the very first scene with it finishes, and the conversation regarding it happens that night too.
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I can confirm that the notebook says it's a Shenmue tree. I mean, what's left to say? I would have thought that there being more than one Shenmue tree would be a huge deal but if the game doesn't care to make a big deal about it, I guess it's not a big deal? It's just the title of the fucking series?
 
DigitalDuck said:
I talked to her that night and she didn't say anything about a Shenmue tree.

As I said, I haven't paid much attention to the notebook.
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You must not have built your relationship with her enough at that point or something. There's definitely conversations about it, and it's clearly mentioned in the notebook.

iknifaugood said:
I can confirm that the notebook says it's a Shenmue tree. I mean, what's left to say? I would have thought that there being more than one Shenmue tree would be a huge deal but if the game doesn't care to make a big deal about it, I guess it's not a big deal? It's just the title of the fucking series?
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I think it's pretty clear that we can take from this that the Shenmue tree by Shenhua's house protects her, and the Shenmue tree that Iwao trained on protects Ryo; they're twin trees that symbolise Ryo & Shenhua's relationship. I'm glad they didn't state the obvious and slap us in the face with exposition tbh.
 
DarksideHazuki said:
You must not have built your relationship with her enough at that point or something. There's definitely conversations about it, and it's clearly mentioned in the notebook.
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I'd been talking to her every night, and definitely had built up a relationship with her - like hmjohnny says, they refer to it as a cherry/sakura tree.

And yes, it's clearly mentioned in the notebook, and I've gone to specifically look for it to check. But for the third time, I haven't been paying attention to the notebook and it appears to be the only place it's ever mentioned so 🤷‍♂️

Not only that, but I've made it to Niaowu now and had more conversations; they've once again mentioned "the Shenmue tree" unambiguously referring to the one outside of Shenhua's house, and I've heard zero about the one at Ternary Spring since.

I genuinely believe you guys are making a mystery out of nothing - it just seems to be a notebook error more than anything else.
 
DigitalDuck said:
I'd been talking to her every night, and definitely had built up a relationship with her - like hmjohnny says, they refer to it as a cherry/sakura tree.

And yes, it's clearly mentioned in the notebook, and I've gone to specifically look for it to check. But for the third time, I haven't been paying attention to the notebook and it appears to be the only place it's ever mentioned so 🤷‍♂️

Not only that, but I've made it to Niaowu now and had more conversations; they've once again mentioned "the Shenmue tree" unambiguously referring to the one outside of Shenhua's house, and I've heard zero about the one at Ternary Spring since.

I genuinely believe you guys are making a mystery out of nothing - it just seems to be a notebook error more than anything else.
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I'm not really sure of the point you're trying to make mate. It is a second Shenmue tree. You were wrong about it just being a cherry tree. You not paying attention to the game telling you this doesn't make it untrue.

I mean, it's clearly mentioned in the notebook, and it is absolutely mentioned in a conversation at some point. It's also pretty clearly another Shenmue tree, just looking at it. The moment I saw it I immediately clocked that it was another Shenmue tree. It's almost identical to the one by Shenhua's house, both the in-game model and its depiction on the map. I don't really know what else to tell you.

Upon replay I'll find all of the mentions of it being a Shenmue tree that are in the game and post them here.
 
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