Yu Suzuki's 'other ideas'--life beyond Shenmue

[mjqjazzbar]

There have been a few published through the years. This must be the most intriguing one, especially based on the descriptions provided.

Actually, I'm making what I want right now. I took all the best that was in Shenmue, all that “know-how”, dropped everything that I didn't like and was not interesting for me, and I'm making a new project. It will be a fantasy. Not China and not Japan, but a new fantasy world.

Here, I've already drawn characters for the game. I've drawn them myself. There are the protagonists, there is the sea, and there is a mountain and on the very top of it is a castle. It stands so high, to be able to see far away and watch for pirate ships that could attack the city. I like an artist Alphonse Mucha, and I decided to work in his style. Usually, designers are making all the illustrations for me, but this time I decided to draw them myself. This game already has a script, even the music.

Another member, I believe @Amir, stated they saw some concept art and it looked a bit like NiGHTS meets Panzer Dragoon Saga.

I'd be totally up for a new Ys Net IP, especially as described here.

 

[mjqjazzbar]

I like the sound of this one, but I can't imagine him working an MMORPG at this point:

Next he loads up a prototype of a massively multiplayer role-playing game called "Pure Breed," in which each player travels around as a human with an animal companion. Suzuki says he noticed a trend in Japan of dog owners who started to dress and look like their pets, and he thought it could be interesting to explore a pet/owner relationship where the two have similar tastes. The game's concept art features a Western, surrealist style with a taxi shaped like an alligator and a house floating in midair. Suzuki says he started on these ideas while working full time at Sega, but they ended up being too expensive. "I'd need to cut down the budget to make it happen," he says.

Two hours in Yu Suzuki's kitchen | Life in Japan — An 18-part look inside Japan’s game industry

An 18-part look inside Japan’s game industry: Night Cry, Scalebound, Final Fantasy 15, Street Fighter 5, Yu Suzuki, Vane, Summer Lesson and more.

www.polygon.com

 

[Amir]

That Pure Beed MMO got pretty damn far in development. There was even gameplay footage, I was shocked.

The game based on the Alphonse Mucha paintings had some great concept art and I hope he makes it one day. Just hope he changes the logo from the one he showed, did not suit the game at all. He's a genius game designer but when it comes to logos...

 

[mjqjazzbar]

Oh man, what did Pure Breed resemble??

 

[Amir]

Oh man, what did Pure Breed resemble??

Like one of those Asian 3D MMOs of the 2000s. I think it wass built on the Hero Engine? It was more fantastical than I was expecting.

 

[mjqjazzbar]

Ah, I see. How’d you get to see these games? Anything else not written about in the Polygon feature?

 

[Amir]

There was a lightgun game where you shot pirates (I can't remember if they were zombie or skeleton pirates) on a ship, and it looked pretty much done to me, though I think we only saw a level. Looked about Chihiro-board/HOTD III quality graphics-wise. Think this was another game that got canned while he was at Sega. And saw that pirates mobile game he worked on that did get released. Guess he likes pirates There was a ship theme with that Alphonse Mucha game as well. Maybe he should work on a Skies of Arcadia sequel

The man was obviously not sitting on his hands for years, he'd worked on a lot of projects, some which saw release, some which got very far, some which remained in the concept stage. The Alphonse Mucha-inspired one was at the concept stage but the one I wanted to see realised most.

 

[mjqjazzbar]

Such a shame we missed out on nearly two decades of his brilliance.

 

[Yokosuka]

Amir
How do you know all of this? I can barely find info about these games.

 

[Amir]

Amir
How do you know all of this? I can barely find info about these games.

From the Magic Monaco 2016 meetup. He was really excited to show them, but didn't want us to share too many details so I don't want to go into everything, but what I saw lined up with that Polygon article and I was impressed and saddened at the same time that these games didn't get released. I hope the Alphonse Mucha-inspired game gets made one day, I'd be more likely to throw money at that than Shenmue IV at this point.

 

[gamesbloke]

Older Gamer Rant: Sometimes you just want to play something with a quick gratification or hook rather than a huge scope epic affair.

Would love Mr Suzuki to consider making Arcade-inspired games again. I hate racing games but love Outrun. My favourite game of all time is Space Harrier. If he made a game of that ilk but on a mobile platform (or indeed any...) and it sold well. It could fund future endeavours.

Sometimes you have to balance creativity with financial stability. A sad truth.

A companion Shenmue app for mobile? You can transfer your data to/from the app aka like PSO2. Can you imagine? Would like generate a lot of revenue. Appreciate it's not all about money and In-App Purchases is a dirty phrase however if it helps keeps Ys.Net going then clearly a worthwhile endeavour.

Old man rests lol...