New Interview with Yu Suzuki - Chinese translation

[bell wood's jet cola]

Credit to the great Shenmue fan Spaghetti, who posted this over at Shenmue Dojo. I think it's time the Shenmue fans get a little positive news, especially with the latest 'bad news' thread of the day. This interview is machine translated, so perhaps some concepts were lost in translation.

Chinese martial art Xing Yi Quan will be in the game, but not in Ryo's skill set.

Yu describes the new combat as "very varied, richer, and more playable". Takeuchi-san elaborates that the goal is to create a combat system that welcomes players of different skill levels, and that a lot of consideration of design and balance went into making combat feel fun for all players. He finishes saying a lot of effort went into the combat. Yu's ambitions are to show a lifelike representation of Chinese martial arts.

Some mini-games from the original won't return, but there are new ones included that they feel are more interesting. Old mini-games confirmed to return are Lucky Hit, Excite QTE, capsule toys, and yes, forklifts.

Mini-games will hold greater impact and influence over the wider game because of better integration, and there will be surprises after playing for a while. Takeuchi-san is looking forward to player reactions on this aspect.

Yu's comments in 2017 about Shenmue III being a 70/30 split between old and new ideas has changed thanks to development advancing, and now stands at 50/50.

Side quests and the main story will have better integration, and form a better closed loop. A better translation might be able to elaborate on this, as machine translation threw up the word "branch" and might be related to Yu talking about quests that could have branching outcomes. Side quests will no longer be isolated from the main plot. This was apparently considered for the originals, but couldn't be achieved at the time.

Yu says Shenmue III is more of a hardcore game than the originals because of elements of playability and increased degree of freedom, it seems to be implied Shenmue III may take longer to complete than the originals (Yu says I & II are single week games, III is a multi-week game). Also seems to infer players can interact, or not interact, with content how they choose. Not completely clear on what this means.

Yu implies there is post-game content once the main story has wrapped up, other storylines to explore and systems to play. Sounds to go beyond just the mini-game and combat collection Shenmue II had once you cleared the game.

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Main Highlights:

1. (Yu says I & II are single week games, III is a multi-week game). Also seems to infer players can interact, or not interact, with content how they choose.
2. Yu implies there is post-game content once the main story has wrapped up, other storylines to explore and systems to play. Sounds to go beyond just the mini-game and combat collection Shenmue II had once you cleared the game. Side quests and the main story will have better integration, and form a better closed loop.
3. Yu's comments in 2017 about Shenmue III being a 70/30 split between old and new ideas has changed thanks to development advancing, and now stands at 50/50.

This interview seems to suggest we are truly getting the full Shenmue experience and not a stripped-down budget experience.

Faith in Yu Suzuki is the best faith of all... When the man that created the greatest 3D fighting game and possibly the genre describes the game's "new combat as "very varied, richer, and more playable" I get a little bit excited.

 

[DiK4]

Sounds great, looks like I will have to pick up a PS4 rather soon.

 

[Gulduur]

Sounds good. Hopefully this is settles the naysayers down a bit, but we'll have to wait and see. I'm happy to return to the world of Shenmue.

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

I don't think anything'll settle the naysayers, but it certainly gave me a bit of a morale boost, especially considering there's been a near-complete dearth of information about the actual game since it was announced.

 

[JayBee]

This all sounds fantastic

 

[ianpm31]

March can't come soon enough. I really think that's when the official blowout begins.

 

[Spaghetti]

Oh damn, I just made an alteration to the Dojo post about the post-game content comment.

Here's the amended version that's a little more cautious with that phrase:

Yu implies once the main story has wrapped up, there are other storylines to explore and systems to play. Sounds to go beyond just the mini-game and combat collection Shenmue II had once you cleared the game, and implies possibly being able to mop that extra content up without having to start a new save.

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[bell wood's jet cola]

Sorry to pre-empt you, Spaghetti, but the 100 GB thread and the parade of negativity/concern trolling really bothered me. I don't think the OP had negative intentions, but the deluge of negativity has to end! I wish I'd titled this thread with "Shenmue 3 gameplay details," but I rushed myself.

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

Oh damn, I just made an alteration to the Dojo post about the post-game content comment.

Here's the amended version that's a little more cautious with that phrase:

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Seems to be along the lines of how I interpreted it, so that's good. Still sounds great.

 

[Spaghetti]

Sorry to pre-empt you, Spaghetti, but the 100 GB thread and the parade of negativity/concern trolling really bothered me. I don't think the OP had negative intentions, but the deluge of negativity has to end! I wish I'd titled this thread with "Shenmue 3 gameplay details," but I rushed myself.

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Nah it's okay. Outlets like Gameblog have already started picking up and reporting on these interviews, so it was only a matter of time before it showed up here too.

One way or another, this new information should start shutting people up when it comes to trying to spin things negatively on Shenmue III.

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

Oh wow, didn't know it hit any mainstream press yet. Think they read your thread?

 

[JayBee]

Despite me funding this I was skeptic af from everything that had been said. Yu Suzuki brought the skeptecism upon himself but I also understand why. It's because he couldnt be too ambitious at the beginning perhaps didnt wanna overpromise. the man probably also had also gotten a bit rusty and during development may have found his flow back, and then there's deep silver coming into play. I think the project may have grown during development. I hope

 

[AllMight1]

my most expected video game from this year.

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

Despite me funding this I was skeptic af from everything that had been said. Yu Suzuki brought the skeptecism upon himself but I also understand why. It's because he couldnt be too ambitious at the beginning perhaps didnt wanna overpromise. the man probably also had also gotten a bit rusty and during development may have found his flow back, and then there's deep silver coming into play. I think the project may have grown during development. I hope

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I think so too, but I think we're starting to see why they kept so many details close to their chests for so long. I mean we're still a little ways away from finding out what Shenmue 3 will truly be like, but if this translation is at all accurate, and I think it is, then we're in for a treat.

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

Not surprised the thread about the game being 100GB is about three times as long as this thread.

By the way, I love the little animations they send out with the updates.

 

[Spaghetti]

Oh wow, didn't know it hit any mainstream press yet. Think they read your thread?

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Oh I'm pretty sure the Dojo thread is cited, though IMO they probably saw it here first. I saw dumb new "SHENMUE 3 100GB STORAGE REQUIREMENT" articles popping up online despite clearly being a placeholder, and also half a year old news.

I think the project may have grown during development. I hope

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It has, categorically. Talks of fairly significant expansion to the second area of the game were detailed when Deep Silver joined the project in Summer 2017.

Ys Net has just been very cagey about how much they show publicly, and to be honest, it's the right decision despite complaints and sometimes genuinely insane demands from backers. Shenmue Dojo's owner ShenmueGuru made a very salient point over on the forums that you can only reveal stuff once, then it's not a surprise anymore. When you want to keep things fresh for players when they actually get the game in their hands, let alone to make an exciting promotional cycle ahead of launch, you don't want to show your entire hand before it's time to.

Some of the scope of Shenmue III will be revealed soon. If people can just hang in there another few months, a fuller picture of what this game actually is will appear.

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

We've got another month to go before the Magic Monaco press release and then one more month 'til the show. Think we'll know about all we need to know by then provided everything's on track. I suspect it is.

 

[JayBee]

My biggest hope is that they make the world feel alive with unique npc's with their own things to say. I hope yu suzuki can manage to do that alot easier with the tools of today. I just loved that part so much about shenmue especially shenmue 2. If that wont be the case then at least let all the other things like combat be an improvement. Yu Suzuki is talking about a combat system that's balanced. I loved shenmue 1 and 2's combat system but let's be honest guys, it wasn't all that balanced. What I mean by that is that there were a lot of moves, but you could get past the games with using the 2 or 3 most effective ones. I can say this after recently having finished shenmue 1 and 2. I'm curious to see what they'll be doing with that.

 

[ParsnipForest]

Hopefully this puts to rest the idea that Shenmue III is going to be a barebones sequel done on a shoestring budget. It has clearly evolved beyond that.

Then hopefully in March we'll get the gameplay reveal we've all been waiting for. I'm confident the game will look very nice visually, and I think the variety of game types will impress as well.

 

[KillLaCam]

My body is ready

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

My biggest hope is that they make the world feel alive with unique npc's with their own things to say. I hope yu suzuki can manage to do that alot easier with the tools of today. I just loved that part so much about shenmue especially shenmue 2. If that wont be the case then at least let all the other things like combat be an improvement. Yu Suzuki is talking about a combat system that's balanced. I loved shenmue 1 and 2's combat system but let's be honest guys, it wasn't all that balanced. What I mean by that is that there were a lot of moves, but you could get past the games with using the 2 or 3 most effective ones. I can say this after recently having finished shenmue 1 and 2. I'm curious to see what they'll be doing with that.

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I have a feeling there's going to be little compromise on the items that make shenmue feel like shenmue

 

[Anthony Hopkins]

It will be amazing if they can pull it off for about $20mill

Edit: the final budget is $7.1mill!
That's tiny for a game with the scope of shenmue, I hope there publisher has helped with additional funds.

 

[Bowl0l]

Any backers got luck to set the game region different from their shipping address?
Last day to answer the fulfillment survey is 6th Jan 2019.
Didn't get any reply from [email protected]

Today i just message the Twitter handle,
https://mobile.twitter.com/ShenmueForever and sent a message through Kickstarter.
i have no idea which Twitter account is the one with connection to the Kickstarter.

Link to check backers survey:
https://fulfillment.fangamer.com/kindling/shenmue3/resend_survey

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

Any backers got luck to set the game region different from their shipping address?
Last day to answer the fulfillment survey is 6th Jan 2019.
Didn't get any reply from [email protected]

Today i just message the Twitter handle,
https://mobile.twitter.com/ShenmueForever and sent a message through Kickstarter.
i have no idea which Twitter account is the one with connection to the Kickstarter.

Link to check backers survey:
https://fulfillment.fangamer.com/kindling/shenmue3/resend_survey

Click to shrink...

Shenmue Forecer is a fan account

 

[Bowl0l]

Shenmue Forecer is a fan account

Click to shrink...

Thanks for the correction.

 

[Arthands]

That's a nice article. They said the mini games will include dice and pachinko, as well mini games that were scrapped from the previous titles. Apparently these mini games will be more integrated or influence the main storyline in some way.

 

[Ghost_Messiah]

Edit: the final budget is $7.1mill!
That's tiny for a game with the scope of shenmue, I hope there publisher has helped with additional funds.

Click to shrink...

The final budget is way higher than that. Crowd funding, investors sourced from Shibuya Productions, investment from Sony (rumoured to be 500K) and likely millions from the Deep Silver publishing deal that permitted development to extend two years. The budget is north of 10 million at the very least.

We may never know the final budget but we can infer from interviews with Suzuki that he had the 10 million he needed. Or in excess of that.

 

[plausible unnatural]

Suzuki describing the combat is very interesting. I liked the VF-style combat, but I'm open to new and different things if they are better.

 

[Qvoth]

i've heard of xing yi quan but don't think i've seen how it looks like

 

[Spaghetti]

i've heard of xing yi quan but don't think i've seen how it looks like

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Here's a look at the 5 linking forms done together in an exercise. It's not hugely flashy, but it seems to be a style with strong cultural and historical significance in China. Apparently a condensed version of this was taught to Chinese soldiers during the Second Sino-Japanese War, so I wouldn't be surprised if the style is shown by an old master somewhere in Shenmue III.

 

[Iwao]

All of this is sounding very promising. Very, very excited to see the battle system in action. Yu Suzuki's class of game design is one that has always been ahead of its time, so even if he hasn't made a game by modern standards he's never stopped keeping up to date with tech and Shenmue III has the opportunity to leapfrog expectations. I think it is going to surprise a lot of people. There's going to be some wonderful innovative moments and stuff that a lot of games are dearly missing nowadays in this package, for sure. This is going to be one of the most intriguing sequels of all time, given how technology standards have changed, and how crucial the balance between classic/contemporary is going to end up being. I'm glad it's more of a 50/50 split.

 

[Spaghetti]

Yu Suzuki's class of game design is one that has always been ahead of its time, so even if he hasn't made a game by modern standards he's never stopped keeping up to date with tech and Shenmue III has the opportunity to leapfrog expectations. I think it is going to surprise a lot of people.

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Even then I think the "he hasn't made a game in X years!" stuff is kind of bullshit now Yu's been working day-in, day-out on this game for over 3 and a half years. Not to mention it completely ignores that this is not a one man operation. It was always a very weak argument. It feels like just another attempt, in a long line of others, to preemptively trash the game.

I think some people will be very surprised too when it actually comes out and is at least competent, mainly because they've heard from others that it'll be the garbage fire of the century. That is, if those people don't double down on attempting to sink the game anyway. I've already seen concern trolling over "but can it really match up to the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2?"

If the bar this game had to clear was matching up to a lavishly made, hugely expensive AAA title, made by literally hundreds, over the course of 8 years... what is the point of making 99.9% of all video games?

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

Even then I think the "he hasn't made a game in X years!" stuff is kind of bullshit now Yu's been working day-in, day-out on this game for over 3 and a half years. Not to mention it completely ignores that this is not a one man operation. It was always a very weak argument. It feels like just another attempt, in a long line of others, to preemptively trash the game.

I think some people will be very surprised too when it actually comes out and is at least competent, mainly because they've heard from others that it'll be the garbage fire of the century. That is, if those people don't double down on attempting to sink the game anyway. I've already seen concern trolling over "but can it really match up to the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2?"

If the bar this game had to clear was matching up to a lavishly made, hugely expensive AAA title, made by literally hundreds, over the course of 8 years... what is the point of making 99.9% of all video games?

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For sure. And I find it extremely unlikely he did absolutely nothing, whether learning or his own hands-on projects we know nothing about, considering his well known work ethic.

 

[Spaghetti]

For sure. And I find it extremely unlikely he did absolutely nothing, whether learning or his own hands-on projects we know nothing about, considering his well known work ethic.

Click to shrink...

From what we know, he actually did a lot of consulting, teaching, pitches, and paper prototypes. It would be foolish to think someone creative would ever just stop flat.

I guess the issue is if he'd helmed or managed a project of a certain scale in that time, but even then it's not a very strong argument because of the gradual nature of building up to full production. There was a year and a half of pre-production planning and developing a prototype, and I can't think of a better environment to get back into the swing of things.

 

[bell wood's jet cola]

 

[erlim]

I'd be very interested in hearing what martial arts or even wuxia movies Yu Suzuki likes.

 

[Bioshocker]

Sounds all good. About time we get some positive info. Just hope they'll be ready on time.

 

[Sharivan]

Man that interview is so intriguing.... Can't wait for August.