What a disappointment

Maybe it was because I had real low expectations to begin with that I actually like Shenmue III more than I expected I would. To be honest, the moment they announced it would be a kickstarted game, I worried the lack of budget would ham string them. The moment I saw the first trailer, I thought it looked rough as all hell and that worried me. To put it simply, my expectations were kind of low and yet the game kind of surpassed them in a way I was not expecting.

By no means is it perfect, it’s rough around the edges, but I’m genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed Shenmue III and how much I enjoyed the fact that the ambition is still here. I appreciated the effort poured in . It’s heart is still in the right place.

Sure, it doesn’t have a WUDE moment or it doesn’t have Masters that have the same gravitas as someone like Xiuying...but it’s colourful cast of characters still feel like they belong in this universe. The story does give who, why, when and where of the mirrors creation. The story does introduce us to Niao Sun and a power struggle in the Chi You Men. And the game does drop some vital plot points in the end that do set the stage for what is to come.

Could it have developed some of this stuff better? Probably, but still, there is a story being told here and it still worked for me.

If you had grand expectations going into it then I would see why the disappointment but for me, I was kind of the opposite, I had unsure expectations...and they were surpassed in most accounts,
 
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DynamiteCop! said:
I've got to say that after 17 years I did enjoy this game as a novelty but I think my taste and care has simply elevated to bigger and better things. Even if the production value of this game was off the charts and it had a huge budget I can't see myself caring anymore. After playing Death Stranding and then this it's just shocking how dated and irrelevant this series feels now especially in such close proximity to something else which is lofty in its goals and targets a tedium niche.

I'm not even necessarily disappointed in it as a whole even though there are many disappointing aspects to the game, it's more that even when it was 'good' I still found myself wandering and mentally distracted wanting it to be over. It's different and tries some new things but many are not great, and it tries to be intentionally archaic to a fault and self limiting to target dated function and mechanics.

The game feels like fanservice, and while fanservice can be nice as a "Oh cool look at this" kind of moment; when nearly the entire game is leveraged as it and intentionally limiting itself to pander as fanservice you know it had already reached its apex. I see this as a valiant effort to give people a somewhat Shenmue experience again and as a means to an end rather than a stepping stone for more.

After beating it I actually gained my closure, I feel that I gained the ability to move on from it out of my own free will rather than being left in the dark due to the lack of another game.

I view this like getting back together with an ex-girlfriend from long in the past which there was no closure to your breakup so you're left wanting. Not until you enter the situation again do you come to realize it's not something you want anymore. You were in love with the idea, the prospect of it all but reality had different results. That's where I'm at, ready to move on being done with Shenmue.

For context I'd give Shenmue a 9/10, Shenmue 2 a 9.5 out of 10 and Shenmue 3 a 6.5/10.

Where do you all stand?
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Death Stranding is trash
This game is better
 
gladias9 said:
I was never okay with the idea of the series being dead.. Until Shenmue 3. Now I'm almost indifferent.

I love this series but I didn't wait 20 years just to play with capsule toys or marvel Shenhua's flat voice actor (though intentional).

We'll see if Shenmue 4 can pick things up (if 3 didn't sink the series again) but my interest has lowered simply because I question Yu Suzuki's judgment after his intentional storytelling decisions this time around.
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This game is a miracle it was even made with the paltry budget it has. It has 1/10th the budget of the average AAA game.
People put way too high expectations for that. What we got was great regardless which shows how much talent Yu Suzuki has to squeeze quality out of such a small budget. Imagine, The Last of Us, Death Stranding, Red Dead Redemption 2, Star Wars, Horizon, Uncharted 4, God of War, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy VII Remake, hell, even Detroit with a 10 million budget. Shit is ridiculous. We're talking probably Japanese Visual Novel static 2D budgets here.
 
I moving all of these "I hate/dislike shenmue 3 etc threads" into one place. You're free to discuss all of that here in this thread

Do NOT keep making threads about the same subject all over the forum. And do NOT post such threads in the general Shenmue 3 forums. Others are still playing the game fresh and don't need that kind of stuff rubbed in their face which may affect their 1st playthrough of the game. People who continue to make these threads all over the forum will have appropriate action taken against them.

Also, although i hear and understand some of your concerns about the story and other elements, some of the behavior ive seen on this forum over the last few days has been disgusting and extremely toxic. This will not be a forum of outrage and hysteria. Try and keep the hyperbolic comments in check and be civil in your discussions.

Thanks
 
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stillsense said:
I'm going to get absolutely blown for this but I feel like I need to let it out. I'm a relatively new member to this forum so I'm 100% certain nobody gives a crap about what I've got to say. I'm simply just a fan turned rogue.

I waited years for a Shenmue 3 announcement and never thought it was going to be possible just like all of you. Every single day I would be thinking about how it's finally going to come out, delay after delay left me even more impatient and the memories of Shenmue 1&2 were always with me with it's charming story, characters, soundtrack and setting. Never did a day go by where I never had Shenmue on my mind. Keep in mind I'm one of the more younger Shenmue fans that actually experienced the games on Dreamcast.

I finally beat Shenmue 3 exactly a week after it's release and I'm left shocked... absolutely shocked and I decide to leave it for a few days trying to recover from what I just witnessed but now I have to make a decision, I will not be supporting a Shenmue 4.

My issue lies mainly with the story, I actually have no issues with the gameplay at all besides the absoutely abhorrent and unfaithful QTE they decided to go ahead with and I'm sure that most of you who've beat it by now would agree that was poor effort all round. For a story possibly written and completed years back that is simply unacceptable and it doesn't even feel that way, it feels rushed, meaningless and downright bad. The amount of plot progression we've got and the events that take place are all not memorable at all. The story has suddenly tried to become funny in all the wrong ways. Shenmue's events are definitely supposed to be pretty realistic and don't get me wrong there were silly moments in 1&2 like Ryo crossing Ghost Hall Building's planks but some things in Shenmue 3 make no sense at all.

The open world and minigames are a complete joke, Yu Suzuki has decided that players should take the time to try and collect a bunch of meaningless items to waste time and find enjoyment. There is no way that any of this is a good idea BESIDES collecting herbs and selling them which is nice and unlocking more skill books is also great but having over roughly 5000+ items to collect by exchanging tokens at the Prize Exchange is just pointless and in no way fun. As soon as I got into Niaowu and so all these shops "I thought wow they really just want the player to collect so much pointless crap"

I get that they tried to make it a throwback to how 1&2 were with the retro style graphics and character models but as some others have stated here budget is NOT an excuse. It's using Unreal Engine 4, the very same that games of much higher graphical fidelity use so they could have easily made a much more modern and impressive looking Shenmue game that'd actually discredit mainstream gamers and reviewers to stop criticising it's outdated and ancient looking style.

And with this giant essay I'm out. Everytime I hear about Shenmue I am going to be sad and as far as I'm concerned this series is dead, it would make absolutely no sense for this dedicated fanbase to fight for a 4th and 5th game after that. Yu Suzuki still wants to fight for more Shenmue games? Does he understand that this series gains absolutely no traction at all? Does he understand he is getting old and may never finish the series in his lifetime? Does he get that Shenmue 3 has completely tarnished any respect he deserves? It is the first game that has had bad review scores and controversies under his name. Don't be suprised when people talk negatively about the series anymore. Please respect my opinion instead of going insane and understand that not every fan is currently happy with what they've got.
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You have a right to not enjoy the game, but I would try to hang in there as best as possible and see how things turn out with Shenmue 4. I think a lot of the dev time was spent creating the game systems in Shenmue 3 and a lot more time can be spent on the content in Shenmue 4. That's just how it felt to me when I was playing the game. I know everyone thinks cutscenes come before tech and gameplay systems, but that's not how it works.

It's kind of unfair and hyperbolic to say Yu Suzuki "completely tarnished his respect" - he put his neck on the line to continue a series for the fans with very limited resources. All in all the games not perfect but it's a solid showing all things considered.

I just don't see the benefit of these overly dramatic posts. I'm all for honest discussion, but do you want the series to fail now because the game didn't reach your expectations? What if Shenmue 4 becomes everything you hoped 3 would be? It's a lot of work to build a new team, customize UE4 as needed, get a publisher, work out deals with external partners, etc. Shenmue 4 can be a much smoother ride, so just stay positive and don't spread negativity all over the place.
 
stillsense said:
I'm going to get absolutely blown for this but I feel like I need to let it out. I'm a relatively new member to this forum so I'm 100% certain nobody gives a crap about what I've got to say. I'm simply just a fan turned rogue.

I waited years for a Shenmue 3 announcement and never thought it was going to be possible just like all of you. Every single day I would be thinking about how it's finally going to come out, delay after delay left me even more impatient and the memories of Shenmue 1&2 were always with me with it's charming story, characters, soundtrack and setting. Never did a day go by where I never had Shenmue on my mind. Keep in mind I'm one of the more younger Shenmue fans that actually experienced the games on Dreamcast.

I finally beat Shenmue 3 exactly a week after it's release and I'm left shocked... absolutely shocked and I decide to leave it for a few days trying to recover from what I just witnessed but now I have to make a decision, I will not be supporting a Shenmue 4.

My issue lies mainly with the story, I actually have no issues with the gameplay at all besides the absoutely abhorrent and unfaithful QTE they decided to go ahead with and I'm sure that most of you who've beat it by now would agree that was poor effort all round. For a story possibly written and completed years back that is simply unacceptable and it doesn't even feel that way, it feels rushed, meaningless and downright bad. The amount of plot progression we've got and the events that take place are all not memorable at all. The story has suddenly tried to become funny in all the wrong ways. Shenmue's events are definitely supposed to be pretty realistic and don't get me wrong there were silly moments in 1&2 like Ryo crossing Ghost Hall Building's planks but some things in Shenmue 3 make no sense at all.

The open world and minigames are a complete joke, Yu Suzuki has decided that players should take the time to try and collect a bunch of meaningless items to waste time and find enjoyment. There is no way that any of this is a good idea BESIDES collecting herbs and selling them which is nice and unlocking more skill books is also great but having over roughly 5000+ items to collect by exchanging tokens at the Prize Exchange is just pointless and in no way fun. As soon as I got into Niaowu and so all these shops "I thought wow they really just want the player to collect so much pointless crap"

I get that they tried to make it a throwback to how 1&2 were with the retro style graphics and character models but as some others have stated here budget is NOT an excuse. It's using Unreal Engine 4, the very same that games of much higher graphical fidelity use so they could have easily made a much more modern and impressive looking Shenmue game that'd actually discredit mainstream gamers and reviewers to stop criticising it's outdated and ancient looking style.

And with this giant essay I'm out. Everytime I hear about Shenmue I am going to be sad and as far as I'm concerned this series is dead, it would make absolutely no sense for this dedicated fanbase to fight for a 4th and 5th game after that. Yu Suzuki still wants to fight for more Shenmue games? Does he understand that this series gains absolutely no traction at all? Does he understand he is getting old and may never finish the series in his lifetime? Does he get that Shenmue 3 has completely tarnished any respect he deserves? It is the first game that has had bad review scores and controversies under his name. Don't be suprised when people talk negatively about the series anymore. Please respect my opinion instead of going insane and understand that not every fan is currently happy with what they've got.
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It was made on a tight budget with a small staff, many of whom didn’t work on prior Shenmue games. It’s unfortunate Yu Suzuki was meant to make the game of your dreams after being pressured for two decades and with none of the resources he had to make the first two games, but I’m not entirely certain what some of you expected to happen after seeing Shenmue 3 would be Kickstarted and developed by a completely new team. I think most of you should’ve just checked out four years ago.

In my opinion, the game is solid. It’s not earth shatteringly great or bad. Some of you guys have just gone off the deep end, imo. I feel bad for Ys Net after reading some of these posts. It sounds like they just shouldn’t have bothered, but I’m actually glad they did because some of us enjoyed their efforts.

yes, you’re allowed to hate the game. No you shouldn’t be chased away. I just find the stuff some of you are saying about the developer really distasteful given the facts of the project.
 
mjqjazzbar said:
It was made on a tight budget with a small staff, many of whom didn’t work on prior Shenmue games. It’s unfortunate Yu Suzuki was meant to make the game of your dreams after being pressured for two decades and with none of the resources he had to make the first two games, but I’m not entirely certain what some of you expected to happen after seeing Shenmue 3 would be Kickstarted and developed by a completely new team. I think most of you should’ve just checked out four years ago.

In my opinion, the game is solid. It’s not earth shatteringly great or bad. Some of you guys have just gone off the deep end, imo. I feel bad for Ys Net after reading some of these posts. It sounds like they just shouldn’t have bothered, but I’m actually glad they did because some of us enjoyed their efforts.

yes, you’re allowed to hate the game. No you shouldn’t be chased away. I just find the stuff some of you are saying about the developer really distasteful given the facts of the project.
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Agreed!
 
mjqjazzbar said:
It was made on a tight budget with a small staff, many of whom didn’t work on prior Shenmue games. It’s unfortunate Yu Suzuki was meant to make the game of your dreams after being pressured for two decades and with none of the resources he had to make the first two games, but I’m not entirely certain what some of you expected to happen after seeing Shenmue 3 would be Kickstarted and developed by a completely new team. I think most of you should’ve just checked out four years ago.

In my opinion, the game is solid. It’s not earth shatteringly great or bad. Some of you guys have just gone off the deep end, imo. I feel bad for Ys Net after reading some of these posts. It sounds like they just shouldn’t have bothered, but I’m actually glad they did because some of us enjoyed their efforts.

yes, you’re allowed to hate the game. No you shouldn’t be chased away. I just find the stuff some of you are saying about the developer really distasteful given the facts of the project.
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I agree. I would never want an alternative that means no Shenmue 3 at all. The game is solid and a true Shenmue experience with some weak points. I think the ending was an abridged version of something greater that had to be trimmed down beyond YS net’s control
 
What's interesting to me is whatever faults Shenmue made in the story, fanbases of Metal Gear, Mortal Kombat, Kingdom Hearts, or Star Wars would beg for as the worst of their issues. At the end of the day the story is still mostly tracking to theories. It just moved at a slower pace or had less progression than folks anticipated. However the characters still feel like who they're meant to be. Ren feels like Ren. Shenhua despite getting prettied up and her floating sword power being retconned still feels like the same girl we met in Disc 4 of Shenmue 2. And Ryo, my goodness, we learned so much about Ryo from the nightly conversations and we see him finally showing more emotion, yet it still feels like him. He still feels stoic. Do you know how many people wish Metal Gear would stop retconning things about Snake or Big Boss? We got it so good.

That's not to say mediocrity if we feel it should be celebrated. But we really have self proclaimed fans who are done after this overall harmless installment in the grand scheme of video games/pop culture?
 
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It sounds like bringing back something that’s been gone for 15+ years is a mistake. This happens every time, no matter the fandom.. I can see why it took so long for us to get a third Shenmue. I just wish people would stop taking it out on Yu Suzuki.
 
mjqjazzbar said:
It sounds like bringing back something that’s been gone for 15+ years is a mistake. This happens every time, no matter the fandom.. I can see why it took so long for us to get a third Shenmue. I just wish people would stop taking it out on Yu Suzuki.
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People are not the same as they were 15+ years back, their personalities, likes, interests, opinions, expectations etc.

Gaming has evolved such a tremendous amount in the span of time since Shenmue 2 and it feels like Yu has simply ignored modern sensibilities which I find novel but also a mistake.
 
mjqjazzbar said:
It sounds like bringing back something that’s been gone for 15+ years is a mistake. This happens every time, no matter the fandom.. I can see why it took so long for us to get a third Shenmue. I just wish people would stop taking it out on Yu Suzuki.
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It wasn't a mistake. But you raise a good point. I have a question for the detractors but allow me to preface. I undoubtedly think the 18 year gap is contributing to the gut punch of the narrative not being satisfactory to some. However if you knew for a fact Shenmue IV was going to be developed and would come out within the next 3 years does that in some form lighten the disappointment?

DynamiteCop! said:
People are not the same as they were 15+ years back, their personalities, likes, interests, opinions, expectations etc.

Gaming has evolved such a tremendous amount in the span of time since Shenmue 2 and it feels like Yu has simply ignored modern sensibilities which I find novel but also a mistake.
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I disagree with this. First of all because he had to kickstart this game the developers were in a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. Its one thing if Sega decided to let Yu develop Shenmue 3 and they gave him a AA budget. Then yes if Yu made this game its disappointing he didn't innovate anything really. But he didn't have that benefit. If he tried to innovate there was greater risk he may swing and miss and then who does he please? Then the series is really dead in the water.

Instead he aimed the gameplay to appeal to the existing fanbase. And I think that was the right call considering he didn't have a budget to really take a good swing at innovating. Sure the story was not fitting to some but I think its safe to say the majority of the fanbase like the gameplay. When you have 90% of the detractors say the game was great until the castle that tells you gameplay or lack of innovation was the problem.
 
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I Got Sriracha In My DNA said:
It wasn't a mistake. But you raise a good point. I have a question for the detractors but allow me to preface. I undoubtedly think the 18 year gap is contributing to the gut punch of the narrative not being satisfactory to some. However if you knew for a fact Shenmue IV was going to be developed and would come out within the next 3 years does that in some form lighten the disappointment?
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That depends entirely on if it actually makes a real effort to drive the story forward and end it.
 
DynamiteCop! said:
That depends entirely on if it actually makes a real effort to drive the story forward and end it.
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Oy. Yes, but the point of the question is you don't know how IV will turn out. The condition my question is posing is you just know a new one for a fact will be coming. Does that make you feel a little better or are you just as ready to quit the series?

I'm thinking of this the way the Metal Gear fans would cope every installment. I remember after MGS2 a lot of people hated the story (at least at the time) but they held out hope MGS3 would right the ship. And it would just repeat until MGS5. The fact they knew a new one would come out kept them from wanting to bail then they were hopelessly toxic after MGS5 because they knew the only thing waiting for them was MG Survive. Which by the way drives me a little crazy IGN rated Shenmue 3 lower than MG Survive. But hey different strokes.
 
I Got Sriracha In My DNA said:
Oy. Yes, but the point of the question is you don't know how IV will turn out. The condition my question is posing is you just know a new one for a fact will be coming. Does that make you feel a little better or are you just as ready to quit the series?

I'm thinking of this the way the Metal Gear fans would cope every installment. I remember after MGS2 a lot of people hated the story (at least at the time) but they held out hope MGS3 would right the ship. And it would just repeat until MGS5. The fact they knew a new one would come out kept them from wanting to bail then they were hopelessly toxic after MGS5 because they knew the only thing waiting for them was MG Survive. Which by the way drives me a little crazy IGN rated Shenmue 3 lower than MG Survive. But hey different strokes.
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My honest answer would be that entirely depends on the goal.

Is it trying to end the franchise? Is it going to be an actual push for story like 2 was?

The only way I would get behind it is if BOTH of those were what was being targeted, not either independently but both.
 
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