Before, during and after the Kickstarter, Suzuki said that Shenmue 3 would definitely
not be the final game as the story would feel rushed.
Yet Suzuki has always flip-flopped and remained undecided on 4 or 5. He's always envisioned Shenmue being "about 4-5 games long", stating the following:
- The story ending in 3 would make for a rushed, flat story.
- The story ending in 4 is possible.
- The story ending in 5 is what he would like in a perfect world.
To me, that doesn't sound like Shenmue 4 ending things would be this massive compromise that would butcher the story and hurt his vision. In fact, its still in-keeping with his vision ("Shenmue is about
4-5 games").
Would I have liked 10 Shenmue games to flesh out every last scribble Yu made in the '90s with no room for editing? Absolutely! But we're not living in a perfect world and Yu has too many factors against him if he wants more sequels: Shenmue 3's lacklustre sales and mediocre reception, clickbait journalists who hate the series, funders who might now be saying "This shit ain't worth it", Yu's approaching retirement with his family etc.
The smart thing to do would be to pack everything into one more, high-quality sequel. Heck, make it a 60-hour game if you like. But setting up more sequels irrespective of Shenmue 3's mixed reception that risks shelving the IP once more? That's incredibly risky.
And while I love Shenmue 3, as
@hyo_razuki says, some fans are mixed on the game as it was so fleshed-out it ended up not covering as much story. Shenmue 4 covering more story while still making room for FREE style exploration ala Shenmue 2 might actually be beneficial.