Yu Suzuki Discussing Which Chapters Will Be In Shenmue IV

[darksniper]

In this interview done in 2016, Yu Suzuki was specifically asked about the VFRPG concept art and the order of which the cards are presented. The first 3 cards are presented in sequential order in the Shenmue games, it skips chapters 3 and 4 and goes to 5 which is the Guilin part at the end of Shenmue II. Yu Suzuki was asked flat out about the missing Chapters 3 and 4 and he answered that he's thinking about using them in Shenmue IV.

What can we speculate from this? Were only 2 of the cards used for Shenmue III?(Chapter 5 and 6)

The ending to Shenmue III sets up for chapter 7 already. So it safe to assume that Shenmue IV will be chapters 3,4,7?

Skip to 10:06 to listen to where he starts talking about Shenmue IV.

 

[TwiceFriedRice]

That's interesting, because chapter 3 is the card in which Ren is most prominently pictured in, outside of the 2nd (which is Shenmue 2). It's still not certain if he's even pictured in the latter cards at all, although it's been theorized. My point is, since we know Ren will be a main character in Shenmue IV, then it makes sense that the story will be rearranged so that the game includes chapter 3 (unless, again, the theories on Ren are proven correct and he actually is featured on the 6-11 cards).

Then again, I could also be reading way too much into what's shown on those cards.

 

[TwiceFriedRice]

That also makes me extremely curious, if they did skip over cards 3 and 4, where exactly Ryo and Ren were supposed to go. I mean, they take care of Kowloon and rescure Zhu, so now he doesn't point them toward Guilin to learn about the mirrors? Seems weird.

 

[darksniper]

That's interesting, because chapter 3 is the card in which Ren is most prominently pictured in, outside of the 2nd (which is Shenmue 2). It's still not certain if he's even pictured in the latter cards at all, although it's been theorized. My point is, since we know Ren will be a main character in Shenmue IV, then it makes sense that the story will be rearranged so that the game includes chapter 3 (unless, again, the theories on Ren are proven correct and he actually is featured on the 6-11 cards).

Then again, I could also be reading way too much into what's shown on those cards.

Maybe I'm looking too deep into this too, but is it possible that Ren will actually be playable in Shenmue IV? I know Suzuki has mentioned in the past about Ren and Shenhua being playable, but if that was implemented in Shenmue III, it may have taken longer for it to release. So I understand why that was cut.

This makes Shenmue IV gameplay extremely interesting, because it gives Suzuki much more room to try different gameplay mechanics by making a seperate arc for Ren. Fleshing his character would be good for the series as it could entice new gamers to try Shenmue for characters other than Ryo. Allowing much more flexibility in writing and not having to rely on Ryo's stilted dialogue to carry the entire game.

Shenmue IV might just be taking a page out of the Yakuza games by allowing multiple characters to be played. Personally I believe that it's the other way around. Nagoshi is a brilliant developer and a brilliant mind in his own right, but I believe he's taken more from the Yu Suzuki playbook than we think. I truly think that format was conceptualized long before Yakuza was even around.

This might be a crazy and bold statement, but I'm almost certain that Ren will be playable in Shenmue IV. This will be his claim to fame and he will attract a fanbase of his own. He basically will be the Goro Majima of the Shenmue franchise.

 

[24Nathan]

Remember, Yu has also hinted that Zhu can tell some convenient lies to cover for his friends in an older Shenmue Master interview, long before the announcement of III. If Zhao Sunming died under such mysterious circumstances, could it be Zhu that helped the Chiyoumen manipulate Lan Di into believing Iwao killed his father? Master Chen tells us that Zhu and Iwao brought the mirrors to Japan, while Zhu simply says Iwao brought them to Japan.

 

[bèlinho]

Perfect. Just mix the chapters a bit more. I'm honestly getting mad. What vision does he really have for the series if after 20 years he's still not sure how future (good luck) installments are planned. That's why we ended up with 3 like it did. Seems nothing is really planned, then everything falls apart.

And good luck finding budget to implement the characer perspective, which couldn't be done with 3s budget, and even more locations. I highly doubt if he gets funding for 4, will be even similar to 3s.

 

[Revan]

Yu has since said in July 2019 that Shenmue 3 was expanded to adapt material from Chapters 3, 4, 5 & 6.

"My problem is, of those 11 chapters, how much do I want to put into Shenmue III? In other words, it's not the end of the story; it will continue. It's still going. Shenmue III comes out of chapters three to six."

- https://www.gameinformer.com/preview/2019/07/07/all-the-ways-i-killed-time

I'm guessing chapter 4 is mostly The Rose Garden tournaments looking at the concept art of the 4th chapter card, but I'm completely stumped on where material from chapter 3 (Train) is unless it only adapted a few characters and events.

Possibly more chapter 3 content will appear in the upcoming DLC?

 

[OceanGroupGamer]

Having completed 3 i get the feeling that the games goals were to basically get Ryo out of the cave and set the story up for Shenmue IV. Given that there will be DLC it would be a big mistake to not make story DLC set after the events of Shenmue III.Also remember Baisha village from the kickstarter goals? It was originally suppose to be the 3rd arc of the game and i feel adding this as the first part of story DLC would be a great start.

 

[Budgiecat]

Having completed 3 i get the feeling that the games goals were to basically get Ryo out of the cave and set the story up for Shenmue IV. Given that there will be DLC it would be a big mistake to not make story DLC set after the events of Shenmue III.Also remember Baisha village from the kickstarter goals? It was originally suppose to be the 3rd arc of the game and i feel adding this as the first part of story DLC would be a great start.

In 2010, Yu Suzuki did an interview with 1Up where he said the main focus of Shenmue 3 was going to be an inward look at the developing relationship of Ryo and Shenhua, particularly in how they communicate with one another. We saw hints of that at the end of Shenmue 2 after all..
He said in Shenmue 1 and 2, 80% of the story dialogue was from NPC's while 20% was from Ryo. This is what he described as an 'outward' way of storytelling for those 2 games. So he said for Shenmue III, his plans were to reverse that; make 80% of the story dialogue come from Ryo and Shenhua's relationship building, and 20% from NPC's. Make it 'inward'.
I guess thats why a lot of people think this game is light on plot.

Baisha village, while cut, feels like a tall order for $15 season pass which already has three different sections with their own trophies (Story Quest Pack, Big Merry Cruise, and Battle Rally) so basically broken down, thats $5 a chapter. $5 feels kinds small for including a whole village that was cut.

 

[Nigel]

It'll be interesting to see how much plot is included in the DLC. Obviously potential spoliers, but the trophies offer some suggestions: https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/9996-shenmue-iii

Moreover (esp. in the battle rally), one wonders if a certain trophy set suggests that time constraints were indeed as troubling as many here have suggested.

 

[hmjohnny]

Perfect. Just mix the chapters a bit more. I'm honestly getting mad. What vision does he really have for the series if after 20 years he's still not sure how future (good luck) installments are planned. That's why we ended up with 3 like it did. Seems nothing is really planned, then everything falls apart.

And good luck finding budget to implement the characer perspective, which couldn't be done with 3s budget, and even more locations. I highly doubt if he gets funding for 4, will be even similar to 3s.

At this point it just seems that he's rewritten so much I don't even know what is left of the original story or if the rest that we get (if there even is a S4) will align to any kind of "vision". I get that in 20 years your ideas will change, and maybe that's what we got with Shenmue 3.

When it's all said and done I just want Suzuki to release the original script for the VFRPG. I personally want to have the closure to know whether Shenmue ended up like it was because it was mired by many compromises along the way, or if it sadly never was as good as I had imagined from the beginning.

 

[Budgiecat]

At this point it just seems that he's rewritten so much I don't even know what is left of the original story or if the rest that we get (if there even is a S4) will align to any kind of "vision". I get that in 20 years your ideas will change, and maybe that's what we got with Shenmue 3.

When it's all said and done I just want Suzuki to release the original script for the VFRPG. I personally want to have the closure to know whether Shenmue ended up like it was because it was mired by many compromises along the way, or if it sadly never was as good as I had imagined from the beginning.

You know I keep forgetting to ask this:

Since there's so much meta self acknowledging 4th wall breaking in this series ever since the original Shenmue (ex: Shenhua potato chips in Shenmue 1), would it be totally out of left field to....actually have the Virtua Fighter characters show up in these games? I mean now we have t-shirts, buildings and capsule toys with Ryo and the gang in them so...why not? lol

I mean they dont even need to be story related (although that'd be kinda cool); they could just be opponents you face in some arena battles or whatever.
Besides, do we even know if the rest of the VF cast was supposed to show up in the original VFRPG novelizations?

Of course this would mean more negotiations with SEGA, but if they were willing to allow VF posters, Sega Saturn models, Astro City cabinet models, Space Harrier posters, and hang on models in this game, then that leads me to believe SEGA is a bit more open to ideas lately. I did remember hearing about them being at some of the recent press events Yu had before this game launched, plus he did say he is still a consultant with them and still talks to them (hence his comment about wanting to eventually help make either a new Outrun or VF)

 

[Truck_1_0_1_]

Sara = Chunyan
Wolf = Greg More
Jeffry = Rod Stunt
Lau = Lan Di
Ryo = Akira
Lion = Chai

I know you mean the ACTUAL characters, but I think it would be unnecessary.

Now if you went Fighting Vipers Characters...

 

[Budgiecat]

Sara = Chunyan
Wolf = Greg More
Jeffry = Rod Stunt
Lau = Lan Di
Ryo = Akira
Lion = Chai

I know you mean the ACTUAL characters, but I think it would be unnecessary.

Now if you went Fighting Vipers Characters...

nah I would not want those. (I do like Fighting Vipers though)


...maybe Pepsiman.....lol j/k


plus there's the newer ones (Aoi, Eileen, Goh, Vanessa, Lei-Fei, Taka-Arashi, El-Blaze, Jean, THE BRAD SHOW)

 

[darksniper]

nah I would not want those. (I do like Fighting Vipers though)


...maybe Pepsiman.....lol j/k


plus there's the newer ones (Aoi, Eileen, Goh, Vanessa, Lei-Fei, Taka-Arashi, El-Blaze, Jean, THE BRAD SHOW)

This is just another reason why Sega needs to do a Fighter's Megamix 2 before a Virtua Fighter 6