what does everyone want from shenmue 4 ?

I honestly don't see a 5th happening. Suzuki needs to go all in on a 4th and end the series or we aren't going to get an ending. As others have stated we need focus on...
- Story/Plot momentum
- Use the S3 engine.
- Make as big as S2 scale wise
- Keep mini games
- Better combat
- Remove stamina gage
- Finish. The. Story
- Release on PS4/5 and PC
 
Telekill said:
- Release on PS4/5 and PC
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I couldn’t disagree more. While it makes sense that Sony with its large exclusives in next year or two aren’t going to ignore its large user base, I speculate best case scenario Shenmue 4 won’t be released until 2024/2025. By then the PS4 will be 11-12 years old and the Jaguar wasn’t exactly cutting edge at the time.

While Shenmue 4 is unlikely to be the most visually demanding game it couldn’t even run at a stable frame rate on the pro machines. I would hate if the game was further hamstrung not being able to use SSD to stream assets seamlessly if they are still having to develop for base machines. I think by that point big majority of gamers would have moved on by that point.
 
Sergeynest said:
I personally want them to reuse what they have already made with Shenmue 3 and improve all the areas that felt less polished in the game:

QTE's - I think that the best approach would be to implement a good balance between Branching and Non - Branching QTE's in Shenmue 4 since the budget may not allow the team to create only Branching QTE's.
They could make Branching QTE's for the Story and the Non Branching ones for world exploration per example.

Combat - Polish the existing Combat System and add-in the Throw Moves.

Character Development - Make the Main and Side Characters Memorable with emotional and dramatic unforgetable moments.

Story - Probably the most dificult one to implement if Shenmue 4 becomes the final game in the series; but the most essential one in this list.
If Shenmue 4 does not pick up on the story seriously; I really doubt we will ever see the series complete.

Mystical Elements - Keep original elements whitout going too much over the top.

Keep the Positive features of Shenmue 3 - Herb Gathering; Wood Cutting; Fishing mini games. Add in some new mini game Jobs. Keep and improve Martial Training and leveling system.

Improve Health/Stamina system - Make it well balanced without forcing the player to be constantly engaging in side activities he doesnt want to perform giving it a little bit more freedom to explore the world the way he wants to.

On a more personal level I would really like for Ryo to train and live in a Shaolin Temple.
I think that Yu Suzuki could really capture the essence of what it would be like for Ryo to live and train in a Shaolin Temple.
I believe it could be a very positive highlight for Shenmue 4 and a memorable experience that Shenmue fans would never forget.
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I have the exact same opinion so i think there is no need for me to repeat all of this, i just want to add more thoughts about it.

1. QTE's - Shenmue III QTE's scenes were nice and really well done, if they keep this style in IV will be ok to me.

2. Combat - I agree, maintain the combat system but improve and add-in throw moves.

3. Character Development - i agree 100%, this was one of the few things that i disliked in Shenmue III, the lack of more character development and more scenes for some of the side characters like Shiling Lin and Qiu Hsu. I think it would be cool for Shenmue IV new characters with more development, and of course development fo Ryo, Shenhua and Ren.

4. Story - I really feel Shenmue IV will have similar things with Shenmue II, i think IV will advance the story a lot 40% - 70% of Ryo's Journey.

Like i said in another thread i think Shenmue IV will be the Chi You Men arc, i think we will see all the leaders and other members of The Chi You Men. Ryo is not alone anymore, Shenhua and Ren are with him so i feel Shenmue IV will be a mix of slow moments and fast paced/action moments, with a lot of fights and emotional moments that will progress the story. Shenmue IV have the potential to be a intense and emotional game, i really feel that this will happen.

5. Mystical Elements - I agree, at this point i hope the mystical elements continue with the mirrors, Shenhua, the prophecy and the Shenmue tree.

6. Keep the Positive features of Shenmue 3 - I agree, keep all the jobs, mini games, herb gathering, the option to change clothes and much more, and add new jobs and other things if possible, also i hope we can have something similar to Chobu-chan in Shenmue IV, was really fun and creative what they did about this in Shenmue III, i really enjoyed.

Yes, keep and improve the training and level system, i love the training in this game, when i train in the game i can really feel Ryo getting stronger.

7. Improve Health/Stamina system - I feel the same way, i love this system i just think this system needs improvements, this way players can have more freedom to do what they want in the game, one way to do this is with the difficulty options, for example if the player choose to play the game in easy mode then he will not have to eat in the game, normal mode he will have to eat just one time everyday, hard mode 2 times or more and very hard mode a lot of times, this way the player can choose what is best for them, is one way to do it.

8. I feel the same away about Ryo training and living in a Shaolin Temple, i have a feeling this will happen in Shenmue IV in the city Luoyang.

- About Shenmue ending in IV or V

One time Yu Suzuki said that Shenmue III got us to only 40% of Ryo’s journey, not even half of the story. I feel that Yu Suzuki will only decide to end in IV if he really feels that this is his last opportunity to make a Shenmue game, in my opinion deciding about ending in IV it will not be a decision that he will enjoy to make, it will be a hard decision.

A hard decision because if he decides to end in IV he will probably have to cut out a lot of places and characters, he will probably need to rush the story, answer all the questions and end the story quickly.

I think in the current situation his plan now is to end in Shenmue V, to me in V we can have a much better and satistyfing ending, but if he decides to end in IV i will completely understand his reasons for this, i hope he can make a deal to develop IV and V together, we don’t know what is happening behind the scenes so maybe Yu Suzuki already know how will be the future of Shenmue.

A Shenmue VI i think will never happen but Shenmue V is not impossible, maybe I'm being too optimistic but I think it's possible. Shenmue will probably end in IV or in V.

At the end of the day Shenmue is Yu Suzuki story, in my opinion i hope he can have a opportunity to end Shenmue in a way that will be good and satisfying for him.
 
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I subscribe 95% of all that has been said in this thread, which is the sensible approach for a fourth game.

But I'll be a bit more outlandish, and I'd say I'd hope for Shenmue IV to drop voice acting completely (or limit it to cutscenes only). And, in exchange, it gives us 10x the content (side quests, character development, dialogue branches, etc.). If, for that, they need to distinguish between a couple of main cutscenes, and a big lot of other "secondary" ones, with worse animations and cinematography, then do it. More or less like, for example, Yakuza 0 does.

With good environments (to the level of Shenmue III), and a good sound design, I'm sure that downgrade would bother us much less than we now think.
 
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I don't agree with dropping voice acting. I wouldn't mind if they got rid of the sidequest list like in 3, and focused on finishing the main story, but all the different NPCs still have voices. Immersion is really important to me, Shenmue has always had clumsy dialogue and delivery but it has a consistent sense of immersion, such as it all being voiced.
 
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