Shenmue 3 Kickstarter

[Reprise]

So today is the big Shenmue 3 conference at Magic Monaco. Who's excited? If the rumours are true, we will see gameplay in action and possibly a new teaser trailer of development so far.

Or we might get very little and people could be hyped for no reason. We'll see.

[Segata]

Here are some off-screen screenshots. https://twitter.com/shenmuelounge

You know, they finally got Ryo right. Some of the characters still look kinda funny and still reserved for the game but yeah it's clear now this is not coming out this year at all. They def got some funding elsewhere. Sony and Deep Silver?

[Reprise]

It's already been confirmed that Deep Silver have provided more funding.

Getting sick of this now... Yeah, these 'art' shots look alright and all, but show something more real and tangible for Christ's sake. At least show screenshots of real gameplay if you're not going to show it in motion. Even Elysian Shadows and the 'stuck in developmental hell' System Shock reboot have shown off gameplay.

Ah well, is what it is... Patience is a virtue. More is coming later today *please be gameplay or a trailer or anything other than art shots*

[Reprise]

So yesterday seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back... A lot of pissed off fans on Facebook in the Shenmue groups and on forums. I was quite critical myself, but it's disheartening and quite disconcerting that a lot of fans' patience seems to have run out and they're now ready to throw the game and Yu Suzuki under the bus, to save themselves any disappointed by sh*tting on everything to do with the game and the KS.

I digress though... Here's the update. Basically Magic Monaco was a non-event. Fans hyped it up and were sure that something substantial would be shown or revealed, but it wasn't. There was a Q&A with Suzuki that didn't really reveal anything we didn't already know, 4 new bits of art were revealed and they showed the full cut version of the 'teaser' development trailer that came out last year at Gamescom to announce the Deep Silver publishing deal. There's only a 'bootleg' version of that trailer floating around as they won't be releasing it officially. It was just a 'gesture' to offer audience members. The extended cut was shown at Gamescom and members of the press, but wasn't seen by the public. It features a busy market scene and a number of QTE events and adds about an extra 45 -60 seconds to the original teaser.

Here are the new shots. The models are looking better.

[BogusMeatFactory]

I am genuinely one of the most excited and fanatical shenmue can in existence. I talk about it almost daily. What i don't do, is go hard into the shenmue 3 news. I know it is a long ways away so I just intentionally lower all expectations. New stuff comes out for it, I give it a glance and go, "cool." You can have too much hype. Folks need to chill their bits because they keep expecting a final product at every single game event.

[Reprise]

I'm somewhat the same. I don't like to be too overly critical, because honestly I'm genuinely still ecstatic that the game exists and is in development. That said, criticism is warranted, even if I can't stand the kneejerk "omg this game is going to be crap and won't be out until 2025" reactions.

My main criticism has just been the following:

- All these screenshots, as nice as some of them are, are basically just concept art. Not real gameplay.
- Even the 'dodgiest' and most controversial of Kickstarters, e.g. projects like Elysian Shadows, System Shock reboot etc., have all shown some form of gameplay
- Lack of updates and transparency. Does anyone seriously think the game is coming out this year? I'm fine with it, but although I'm sure people will be disappointed, surely it's best to own up early if the release schedule has been put back to 2019?
- Seeming lack of progress and infrequent updates

The above points, to me, means that development is going much slower and has been far more problematic, with more funding issues, than Yu Suzuki and his team are letting on. Or it means that development is going okay, but they do not want to share much for whatever reason. Whether it's a concern of oversharing unfinished assets (e.g. people and the media responding negatively to what is a work in progress and not reflective of what the final product will be) or simply because Yu Suzuki is the kind of person that doesn't like showing something that is not yet finished.

Either way, I think more transparency with backers is the only answer. I mean, they literally had an update at the end of last year to say that they won't be updating much anymore. I mean, their PR really needs some work. Of course a lot of backers are going to be pissed off to wait nearly 3 months for an update, only to receive an update that tells them nothing other than... well, "you won't be getting updates from us".

That said, I really enjoyed the interview they had with Yu Suzuki at the very end of the year. So it's not like they haven't given us anything. It's just the lack of actual shots or gameplay.

That said, the key questions to ask yourself, as a fan, are:

1. Do you think the game will be terrible?
2. Do you think the game won't come out?
3. Do you think Yu Suzuki is really going to screw over fans?

My answer to all three of those questions is no and therefore I shall wait for the day we finally get our hands on the game.

I feel for Yu Suzuki to be honest. He was quoted as saying something along the lines of "my biggest worry and concern right now is I can tell fans are getting increasingly impatient". I think it's sad how quickly fanbases can implode and turn on their idols. Does no one remember the days when we said we would do "anything for a Shenmue 3"? I do. I remember when people were desperate for just a book, a story, a graphic novel or anything that would continue the story. And now here we are, with Shenmue 3 being a reality and people still aren't happy. "It needs to be AAA", "it has to look like this", "it needs to be like that", "it can't be like this", "it needs to feel modern", "it needs to feel like the originals", "it needs to be released now or there's no point", "the logo font needs to change". etc.

For crying out loud.

[Segata]

It's kinda hard to adjust from Dreamcast to modern day UE4. DC for age or style choice had a more realistic look to it in Shenmue 1. SII was more stylized and colorful and I guess III is continuing what II built. I only like II somewhat. I really really hope SEGA remakes Shenmue 1-2 in the Yakuza 6 engine but I have a feeling if they even do a Shenmue HD just be the DC games. I would still buy of course but man I want to see Yamanose in the same light as Kamurocho in Yakuza 6.

[Reprise]

You won't be getting Shenmue remakes. The best you can hope for (and I won't be complaining - the game really doesn't need remaking) is a standard HD remaster, with a few refinements (e.g. 1080p, widescreen and including features from Shenmue 2 into the first game, like the ability to save anywhere and adding skip time for events).

[Segata]

I doubt there are any refinements. SEGA has so much disdain for Shenmue they would likely just put an online ROM on a disc and charge a full $60 for it. Like when Neo Geo X was just nad emu games on a standard SD card glued to the machine. I think the Super Mario 25th disc is just the SNES game rom. Thankfully they learned from it and id a better job with Kirby 20th.

[Reprise]

No, Sega always do something - for better or for worse - with their HD remasters.

They've already said that if they were to do a HD remastered port, they would have to remove licenced assets (e.g. Ryo's watch is a Timex), so a 'rom' on a disc is not going to happen. At the least, it will be adapted into widescreen, upscaled to 1080p, cleaned up audio and, if we're lucky, both Japanese and audio tracks as options. But I bet any money they'd add the save anywhere and skip time features from Shenmue 2 into the first game. It wouldn't be strenuous and it just makes sense.