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Shenmue III |OT| Our Destiny Since Ancient Times

Acquiescence

Acquiescence

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,257
Lake Titicaca
The stamina system I loathed at first. And then per someone's advice, I started improving my endurance one level at a time each day, and it became much less of a problem. And then I moved on to Niaowu and hated it again because the area was so large and my health would deplete like nobody's business.

It's definitely a misfire. I get what Yu was going for, but it's just too much of a chore to pay off in any real way. Imagine exploring Kowloon in the second game, all the while you've got to keep eating food so you can run. Yeah, it's a grisly thought isn't it.
 
bell wood's jet cola

bell wood's jet cola

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,147
Descendant said:
I mean...some of the reviews didnt seem fair to me. I dont think it's ok to compare this game to other AAA open world games. This game is really good as far as low budget indie titles go to me. This game is like 10% the budget of the original Shenmue games.

It obviously has flaws, but for a game of its size and with the limited budget I think they did a great job. Shenmue III's story telling has always been about Ryo's journey and the small bits of story and lore he finds on the way. I wish I got more answers in Shenmue III as well, but it's not unlike Shenmue to do that.
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I'm saying there's a lot of truth in those reviews and I'd hate to see him make some of the same game design mistakes he made in 3 because he seems so resistant to outside feedback. I'm definitely not saying the game is bad or that he needs to give up.
 
SpitztheGreat

SpitztheGreat

Member
May 16, 2019
2,877
Yeah, I too will stress that I like Shenmue III and my criticisms are only intended to strengthen the series, not tear down Suzuki. I'm just frustrated that so many of the game's issues are self inflicted by questionable design choices. Scope and scale-wise, they nailed it considering the budget. But if the story is as thin as others make it seem, that's a pretty big error by Suzuki and one that shouldn't have been hindered by budget.
 
BadAss2961

BadAss2961

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,069
Stamina isn't much of a problem anymore once you max out. About 2-5 caterpillar fungus' should get you through the day depending on what you're doing. You should be given the opportunity to eat before each battle though.

The story doesn't pace itself towards the finish well, but I thoroughly enjoyed the game overall. Shenmue 3 had so much groundwork to cover on a limited budget. I'm optimistic that a potential IV could really flesh this out and then some.
 

Jingo

Banned
Dec 10, 2017
1,219
SpitztheGreat said:
Yeah, I too will stress that I like Shenmue III and my criticisms are only intended to strengthen the series, not tear down Suzuki. I'm just frustrated that so many of the game's issues are self inflicted by questionable design choices. Scope and scale-wise, they nailed it considering the budget. But if the story is as thin as others make it seem, that's a pretty big error by Suzuki and one that shouldn't have been hindered by budget.
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Problem is, it doesnt have budget price.
 
Augemitbutter

Augemitbutter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,290
kind of forgot that
chai was actually in the game. He did his thing by appearing and disappearing throughout the game but there was no mystery left about all of this and for some reason he strapped a crate to his back. There was no proper fight with him. Probably would've been too hard to animate and his stance is so low that could have caused some issues.
 
AmirMoosavi

AmirMoosavi

Member
Dec 10, 2018
2,024
RoninStrife said:
Wish they would have been a skip dialogue option, every game should have it. For multiple playthroughs sake.
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This is really painful now on my second playthrough. It also discourages you from trying to speak to multiple NPCs, because you don't want to get bogged down listening to boring responses. There's a lot of great dialogue that will never be heard by most players because it's such a chore to go through so much boring dialogue.
 
LiS Matt

LiS Matt

Member
Jan 19, 2018
1,095
AmirMoosavi said:
This is really painful now on my second playthrough. It also discourages you from trying to speak to multiple NPCs, because you don't want to get bogged down listening to boring responses. There's a lot of great dialogue that will never be heard by most players because it's such a chore to go through so much boring dialogue.
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I wouldn't've minded just an "exit conversation" type button like the originals had , or the ability to just walk away
 
SpitztheGreat

SpitztheGreat

Member
May 16, 2019
2,877
Suzuki Yu said:
Subquests deadline depends on story progression.
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Ok good, that was my assumption but the way the posts were worded it sounded like there was an actual time limit. My approach to side quests in Shenmue is to knock them out as quickly as possible- Shenmue has always been very sensitive to where you are in the story, so it's best not to do anything to advance it until you've done all you want to do.
 
CyrilFiggis

CyrilFiggis

Member
Nov 3, 2017
939
Pennsylvania
Speaking of that, for anyone trying to complete the Medicine Delivery side quest in Bailu, be sure to deliver the herbs before starting the final showdown with the thugs in the Hermit's Nest. Because after that mission your next stop is Elder Yeh but you won't have a chance to deliver the herbs then because it auto-starts a scene. But after that, when you have to go up the watch tower - and the game specifically tells you to finish everything in Bailu before doing so - Yeh's doors are shut and there's no way to speak with her. This happened to me, and at the time I wasn't keeping multiple saves :(

I hope the reward (the Amber Amulet) doesn't cause me to miss a scene I'd like to see. I've read that you can give it to Shenhua.
 
Augemitbutter

Augemitbutter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,290
have they said anything about possible patches? I wonder if they're reading feedback or just going straight for dlc sales.
 
shadowman16

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,990
Augemitbutter said:
have they said anything about possible patches? I wonder if they're reading feedback or just going straight for dlc sales.
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January I think is when a patch is coming, but I've no idea what it'll include. Hopefully it'll have some QoL stuff that people have requested, and really despite me not having many issues with them, they really gotta make the QTE timer more lenient as its insanely tight.
 
Augemitbutter

Augemitbutter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,290
shadowman16 said:
January I think is when a patch is coming, but I've no idea what it'll include. Hopefully it'll have some QoL stuff that people have requested, and really despite me not having many issues with them, they really gotta make the QTE timer more lenient as its insanely tight.
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i think the chicken are brutal. Rest fluctuates between doable and ghost hall building top (have to memorize). Yea, things can get pretty savage.
 
SpitztheGreat

SpitztheGreat

Member
May 16, 2019
2,877
Ghost Hall? Is that from Shenmue 2? Is that the building where you had to cross the gaps on the beams of wood? I found that incredibly difficult.
 
SpitztheGreat

SpitztheGreat

Member
May 16, 2019
2,877
Oh definitely. The timer gets real short and the camera angle is more severe as it rises above Ryo's head gradually and looks down. It was actually a really well done set piece but was too long, too hard, and too unforgiving.
 
shadowman16

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,990
Augemitbutter said:
i think the chicken are brutal. Rest fluctuates between doable and ghost hall building top (have to memorize). Yea, things can get pretty savage.
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Chicken's are actually pretty doable when you recognise the pattern - first run only has you use circle and square for the QTEs with the second and third runs adding in one further button to the QTE. And the other time only uses circle and square again. Trick is to hold the pad so you have the stick in one hand and different fingers hovering over each face button to respond as quick as possible. This worked perfectly for me to do it all first time no problems, but yeah those QTEs are darn fast!
 
The Unsent

The Unsent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,438
For a patch I would like, of course, skippable dialogue, maybe reduce some of the money grinds, make QTEs easier.

My ideal patch would be some content to build up the supporting cast more in the second half of the game but maybe they probably can't afford that, it would be wonderful if you get some kind of reward for defeating some of the "unbeatable" bosses", lowering their health to zero, because they was kind of insulting to the player, lol. Even just the boss saying "I didn't expect that... where did a kid like you learn those crazy moves? but I'm done holding back." That would probably make the game an 8/10 for me.
 
Augemitbutter

Augemitbutter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,290
shadowman16 said:
Chicken's are actually pretty doable when you recognise the pattern - first run only has you use circle and square for the QTEs with the second and third runs adding in one further button to the QTE. And the other time only uses circle and square again. Trick is to hold the pad so you have the stick in one hand and different fingers hovering over each face button to respond as quick as possible. This worked perfectly for me to do it all first time no problems, but yeah those QTEs are darn fast!
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that's a good trick. I saw some of the patterns but yea, that's pattern recognition and not player reactions. Maybe that was the point of chicken training all along.
 
shadowman16

shadowman16

Member
Oct 25, 2017
31,990
Augemitbutter said:
that's a good trick. I saw some of the patterns but yea, that's pattern recognition and not player reactions. Maybe that was the point of chicken training all along.
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Yeah, pattern recognition is definitely something I can say I'm good with, all those years of Mega Man I think! Plus the QTE Title Champion mini game has me holding my pad in a similar way as the chickens, so I quickly acclimated to it.
 
Sumio Mondo

Sumio Mondo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,935
United Kingdom
bell wood's jet cola said:
If you look at the game's credits, they didn't even appear to have anyone dedicated to music on the staff. The sound director, however, has quite a few credits. Strange all around.

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Talented guy. Weird how jarring the music is when Nakamura is so good (look at the games he composed for). So makes it all the stranger that they didn't let series vet Ryuji Iuchi do the music then.
 
bell wood's jet cola

bell wood's jet cola

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,147
The weirdest credits are the writing credits. The lead writer has no other credits to their name, at least according to Moby Games, while one of the sub-writers worked on the first two Shenmue games. I'm sure the lead writer has credits Moby Games didn't capture, but I can't find them.
 
Virtua King

Virtua King

Member
Dec 29, 2017
3,975
I finally finished the campaign, and while I liked it, there''s no denying that Shenmue III is by far the worst game in the series. Number one, the combat absolutely sucks, and secondly, the story for both regions boils down to:
fight a group of thugs and lose twice, go train with a poor old man, win the third fight, and then a plot element unfolds. As epic as it was to finally face off against Lan Di, that whole last area just felt lacking, as if they had ran out of money by that point, because it's nothing compared to the building raid in Shenmue II. Maybe the third area that was stripped was supposed to cover this portion of the story, but regardless, what we were left with had the impact of a wet blanket. I also agree with everyone that thinks Ryo's development as a fighter was all over the place, because for a large portion of the story he can't even defeat noname thugs anymore, and by the end, Ryo AND Ren were one-shottng Lan Di's entourage. Then there's smaller issues of like why Chai was even there, because we don't even get to fight him.

As for other criticisms, none of the new characters were memorable, the side quests themselves were uninteresting, the constant energy drain was absolutely pointless, and most importantly, Yu Suzuki desperately has to hire an editor for next time, because there's no way he needs 5 or 6 games to finish the story if he thinks Shenmue III's pacing was appropriate.

Again, despite the issues I had with the game, I did like it a lot, but I also think it's important to note that while it's easy to point a finger at the small budget for Shenmue III's shortcoming, I believe this game suffers from many poor design choices as well.
 

Elios83

Member
Oct 28, 2017
976
I'm past mid-game in Niaowu, I must say that I'm loving it and I didn't expect it.
The game is a sequel absolutely worthy of the originals, big scope, tons of mini games and activities to do, beatutiful vistas and locations, obviously many improvements in terms of camera and controls.
Honestly the early trailers (not even that early....until last year) scared me a lot, it seemed like they barely had animations in the game and the budget was really small, I feared that this was going to be a disaster, instead Suzuki did it!
Obviously the game isn't trying to innovate anything, it's the same old formula which is not going to win more fans in 2019.....(actually I can't even imagine new generations used to play things like Fortnite approaching a game that teaches you that you have to work in the game to get the money you need to reach your goals...) but as a fan the game is pretty much what I wanted.
I don't know what is going to happen to the series, sales have not been huge but it's a niche game with a small budget that was covered in big part by backers so who knows, maybe it's going to turn a profit....Yu Suzuki deserves to make a new game, this time focusing on new gameplay mechanics with a proper budget....but that is unlikely to happen. Knowing this he should have put more story in this game but hopefully there will be a Shenmue 4 in some way.
 
PeakPointMatrix

PeakPointMatrix

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,105
Niaowu is massive!! Wow.

So many damn shops. I've stopped progressing in the story and have been searching for those little ducks for hours.

send help
 
shaneo632

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,010
Wrexham, Wales
How far am I from the end?

just gone to the duck mountain place to find the guy who knows about the thugs

Also a bit miffed the game makes you go through all the steps to finding a person even if you stumble upon the answer yourself :\
 
bell wood's jet cola

bell wood's jet cola

Member
Oct 30, 2017
3,147
Elios83 said:
I'm past mid-game in Niaowu, I must say that I'm loving it and I didn't expect it.
The game is a sequel absolutely worthy of the originals, big scope, tons of mini games and activities to do, beatutiful vistas and locations, obviously many improvements in terms of camera and controls.
Honestly the early trailers (not even that early....until last year) scared me a lot, it seemed like they barely had animations in the game and the budget was really small, I feared that this was going to be a disaster, instead Suzuki did it!
Obviously the game isn't trying to innovate anything, it's the same old formula which is not going to win more fans in 2019.....(actually I can't even imagine new generations used to play things like Fortnite approaching a game that teaches you that you have to work in the game to get the money you need to reach your goals...) but as a fan the game is pretty much what I wanted.
I don't know what is going to happen to the series, sales have not been huge but it's a niche game with a small budget that was covered in big part by backers so who knows, maybe it's going to turn a profit....Yu Suzuki deserves to make a new game, this time focusing on new gameplay mechanics with a proper budget....but that is unlikely to happen. Knowing this he should have put more story in this game but hopefully there will be a Shenmue 4 in some way.
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I could handle similar graphics as well as the stamina system and "newer" combat, provided they don't force Ryo to magically fall down to level 1 and spend 80% of the game training his way up to beat generic tough guys all over again. That's just not a compelling Shenmue plotline three or four games into the series. I'd also like throws and much better animations during combat. Otherwise, they're on the right path and I think they've proven they're halfway there.

I also personally think it'd be wise of Yu Suzuki to reconsider the English dub given its reception beyond anyone but the most hardcore of Corey Marshall fans. A better localization and script would be much more useful to the series. If you're making a game with this much dialogue and have a tight budget, I just don't see the value of a bad English dub.
 
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PeakPointMatrix

PeakPointMatrix

Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,105
shaneo632 said:
Also a bit miffed the game makes you go through all the steps to finding a person even if you stumble upon the answer yourself :\
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Wasn't the first Shenmue like this? You couldn't just cut straight ahead in most cases until Ryo had knowledge of what he was looking for/wrote in journal. (Like cutting straight ahead to Tom for example, before you knew he had a run in with the black car)
 
shaneo632

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,010
Wrexham, Wales
PeakPointMatrix said:
Wasn't the first Shenmue like this? You couldn't just cut straight ahead in most cases until Ryo had knowledge of what he was looking for/wrote in journal. (Like cutting straight ahead to Tom for example, before you knew he had a run in with the black car)
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I might be misremembering but I thought outside of extreme scripted elements the game actually allowed you to progress organically more often than not.
 
SpitztheGreat

SpitztheGreat

Member
May 16, 2019
2,877
Yeah, Shenmue allowed you multiple ways to progress the story. In fact, it was incredibly difficult to fill out your notebook completely because the path always revealed itself in pretty straightforward ways. Often the only way to fill out the notebook was to talk to people that logically didn't make much sense because there were many others who were more obvious hat would give you the info you needed.
 
YuSuzzune

YuSuzzune

Member
Nov 21, 2018
4,864
What's the fast way to get 500000 tokens? I got 60k by using the fortune teller trick but I got bored and I still need 440k.
 
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