Would you be happy if Shenmue 4 was the final game?

[Revan]

I'm in the camp that would actually prefer if Shenmue 4 served as the final instalment.

There was a comment Yu Suzuki made in an interview on the previous Dojo in 2014 where he said that while Shenmue spans 4-5 games and he would ideally like a fifth to include the entirety of his vision, he felt that it "might be a bit much" and so he would try to wrap things up in 3 & 4 instead. It was only during the Kickstarter when fans showed their support and the Kickstarter smashed records that Yu has started talking more about Shenmue 5 and has even stumbled into Shenmue 6 talk if a comment by Corey Marshall is to be believed.

Given how gruelling it has been to get Shenmue 3 made to the point its only hope was a crowdfunding initiative now coupled with the mixed responses it has received from critics and sales which presumably have not exactly set the world on fire, I feel that there's got to be some sort of compromise made here if we want to witness the end of this story. If this is the reaction Shenmue 3 is getting, its only going to get worse come Shenmue 4 as that game will not have all the "20-years in the making!" hype behind it like Shenmue 3 had which would have helped drive some extra sales.

Using the profit earned from Shenmue 3 to make a large-scale, 30 or even 60-hour long Shenmue 4 that adapts the cream of the remaining story to ensure the story is safely concluded for the fans who waited 20-years for a resolution is the most sensible thing YS Net and Shibuya can do in my opinion. To play with fire and risk another potential shelving by setting up more sequels ala Assassin's Creed in a franchise that continues to be underappreciated just sounds incredibly risky to me. We captured lightning in a bottle with the Kickstarter revival, and it's either now or never that Yu gets to finish his story and I think he should end it as soon as he can rather than delaying things for the sake of having more sequels.

What do you all think?

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

I want 5; 4 is too short, 6 is too long, 5 is a good compromise :).

 

[hmjohnny]

Suzuki only started talking about how many games would be in the series in the last few years, and he always seemed to lean towards 5 games.

Given the original chapter structure there would be 6 chapters left in the story. Could it be done in 2 more games? Possibly if there were 3 chapters per game and it was focused enough. However, it would require Shenmue 4/5 have bigger budgets than 3, and that doesn't seem likely. As many have said Shenmue 3 is meandering in its plot advancements and it shows that a lot of content was cut or changed in the final product, likely to budget constraints. Given that the hype of a revival carried the Kickstarter to its heights, not to mention all the controversy around the game with EGS and mixed reviews it's looking more and more likely that Shenmue 4 won't have a bigger budget than Shenmue 3.

If Suzuki can't realize his vision with the budget he had for 3, then it's likely he won't be able to in 4. I've been a fan since the first game was released, nothing would make me happier than having his full vision realized without constraint; it just doesn't seem likely at this point unfortunately. I think the best bet would be to try and wrap it up in a 4th game if he gets the chance to make it, it may be his last chance.

 

[jasonorme666]

Given how the Chi You Men went down... I'd say that's a few chapters cut right there.

 

[Rikitatsu]

4, but should be the biggest Shenmue to date in terms of volume.

 

[mjqjazzbar]

He needs to figure out how to move the story along without compromising the essence of Shenmue, but not going overboard on throwing the kitchen sink at the game.

 

[iknifaugood]

If Suzuki can't realize his vision with the budget he had for 3, then it's likely he won't be able to in 4.

He's also painted himself into a corner for S4. How can the game continue such a languid pace when S3 literally ends with our 3 heroes walking along the great wall to go face the Chi You Men in the cliff temple where Sunming Zhao found the mirrors? But then again I thought S2's ending pretty clearly set up some unavoidable revelations in Bailu village that never materialized so who knows? Maybe S4 will just start with the three of them chilling in a small town asking random locals about shady guys hanging near cliffs...

If all the plot revelations that are left are: what really happened between Sunming and Iwao, what do the mirrors actually do, what is the treasure, who are Shenhua's parents, and what happens between Ryo and Lan Di, then I see no reason why that can't be completed in one game.

 

[DarksideHazuki]

No, not at all. I want 6 Shenmue games. There's too much of the story left to tell just to cram it into a single game. I'd rather get nothing more than a premature end.

 

[Hermit]

No, not at all. I want 6 Shenmue games. There's too much of the story left to tell just to cram it into a single game. I'd rather get nothing more than a premature end.

I think that is pushing things a bit. Yu Suzuki isn't getting any younger, he's 61. It could take another 15 years to develop 3 more games, and that is if everything runs smoothly. I doubt he will still want to be in this business in his mid 70's, he will probably want to retire soon.

If he can't secure, develop and release the 4th game in the next 4 years, then I think he's going to have to come up with new ways to tell the rest of the story. If it's through gaming, then a Visual Novel would be the best thing.

 

[Vivi-gamer]

Not at all, simply because Shenmue III didn't bring much to the table in terms of the narrative and lore. I was fine with Bailu Village, but Niaowu should have delved much further into the Chi You Men & features than it did - Personally I'd rather have seen Niao Sun be the main focus and conflict of the area - The Red Snakes did nothing for me.

As Shenmue III didn't explore much in the grande scheme of things, it kind of means we're back to square one, I didn't want Shenmue III to conclude the series, because there is so much content planned for the series (Supposedly if them chapter pannels are a guiding point anymore...), as Shenmue III didn't push the sotry further enough, I don't think Shenmue IV can handle absolutely everything needed anymore - So I am in the camp opting for a Shenmue V.

 

[Revan]

This might seem a bit unfair as the budgets and genres for these games are vastly different when compared with Shenmue.

But just for fun, let's compare some popular contemporary game series and see how their reception progressively dwindled until the franchise was either shelved or never heard from again because the lastest instalment was underwhelming.



Now let's see how Shenmue's glorious return is faring:



Well, good fucking luck with an endless stream of Shenmue sequels at this rate!

...it may be his last chance.

Precisely.

I don't think this underappreciated series can survive another beating from the gaming press. If Yu wants to resolve things, it should be as soon as possible in my opinion.

 

[iknifaugood]

I don't think this underappreciated series can survive another beating from the gaming press. If Yu wants to resolve things, it should be as soon as possible in my opinion.

And he definitely knows this, which is why he was promising big things in S3 (3 locations, new mechanics, Niao Sun as a central antagonist with another, unnamed one to be introduced as well, an explanation of the poem). And what did we get? Two unnamed goons and 30 hours of fetch quests and grinding. He either terribly mismanaged the project, foolishly back loaded story in the hopes he'd get more money for a sequel, or he simply doesn't have the goods. Judging by the way the story we got was handled (Ryo being shocked to learn who Sunming Zhao is 3 times now, missing magic sword in the intro, the Niao Sun reveal, Lan Di's henchmen being jokes, unnamed bad guys with 0 plot relevance or menace etc.) it's looking more and more like the third option. Sad.

 

[celsowm]

With a 5 years old complex engine and framework running on Unreal Engine, it would be very stupid not releasing new games.

 

[kaliskonig91]

Nah. 4 is way to abrupt. If it ends at 4 we would likely be missing a ton of intended story content. 5 is acceptable but I hope by some miracle we all have Shenmue 6 in our hands by 2024/2025

 

[Dietsoap]

I would be happy if Shenmue 4 existed, but I REALLY want as many Shenmue games as Yu feels fit to make. 5 is really the absolute minimum to me in that regard.

 

[WuyingRen]

4 could have worked if they’d packed more of the story into 3, but at this point, I feel there’s far too much that needs to happen for the series to be wrapped up in a single game.

 

[Rikitatsu]

We're still hung up about the 11 chapter stuff, it doesn't matter in the end. Yu Suzuki is constantly adding and removing from his original vision. What matters is what we got in the end of Shenmue 3: Chiyoumen power struggle and the phoenix mirror stolen by Niao Sun.

Nothing about the other 2 Chiyoumen leaders or further Mirror mysteries needs to be settled in 4, because as far as we know these plot threads may not even exist.

Hypothetically, 4 only needs to tie up Niao Sun /Pheonix mirror plot thread, Zhao's murder, Ziming, and Lan Di. Because that's what was presented to us in-game. All the info from interviews or whatever is subject to change, and doesn't count as canon yet.

 

[Rakim]

As long as the story is told well I would be fine with it ending sooner than originally intended.

I was honestly expecting 3 to have some form of closure but with a few loose ends that could be explored and expanded on in potential sequels so I'm not against the series ending with 4.

However if Yu Suzuki would rather leave the series unfinished at the 3rd or 4th game than release a truncated version of his story then I would respect his artistic decision.

 

[Schmeman]

It wouldnt be ideal, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldnt be happy that the series is over. Just a little bit. Honestly kind of sick of the "will we get another" thing.

 

[DarksideHazuki]

I think that is pushing things a bit. Yu Suzuki isn't getting any younger, he's 61. It could take another 15 years to develop 3 more games, and that is if everything runs smoothly. I doubt he will still want to be in this business in his mid 70's, he will probably want to retire soon.

If he can't secure, develop and release the 4th game in the next 4 years, then I think he's going to have to come up with new ways to tell the rest of the story. If it's through gaming, then a Visual Novel would be the best thing.

I've always maintained, I would rather get 40%, 60%, 80% etc. however much of the story we're able to, told exactly as Yu Suzuki intended, than get 100% of a compromised vision. After 18 years of waiting, I'm not particularly attached to seeing the story end any more, I'm just enjoying the journey.