But the Japanese title screen for Shenmue 3 is subtitled Chapter 3: Guilin. It's as if Yu Suzuki forgot that they numbered Chapter's 2, 3 and 4 in Ryo's notebook in Shenmue 2. That title screen was from a year ago though, maybe it's changed again. Shenmue Dojo doesn't like talking about the chapters anymore because there are basically 4 different numbering systems now and it's so confusing: The 14 chapters that some people said the original script had before it was re-worked to better fit a game, the reworked 11 chapters shown in Yu Suzuki's postmortem presentation in 2012, the numbering via Shenmue 2, and now the condensed numbering from Shenmue 3. Known cuts include the "Boat chapter" between Shenmue 1 and 2, and the "Train chapter" which was supposed to be at some point between Hong Kong and Guilin and shown in CGI during the original Project Berkley trailer. Also, Shenmue ending with Shenmue IV is also not definite either. It sounds like they can do it in 4 games, but given success it could also be 5 games. My interpretation was that it's similar to the situation they've had thus far, where there's stuff they can cut (like the boat) and other stuff that they don't want to, so if it's successful enough they can do 5 total but if they need to can cut it to 4. On a related note, the Japanese release of Shenmue I & II is not until November 22nd. But Japan is also getting a special edition that includes a 2-disc 40 track soundtrack. I double dipped and ordered a copy, because it's the first time they're releasing tracks from Shenmue 2 on an official soundtrack. After currency conversion, it comes to just under $60 USD, which is normal price for a non-budget release anyway.
I didn't know about the Shenmue III title screen. I guess we have yet another numbering system then. And I agree, I don't really like talking about the chapter numbers either - in this case, it was merely as a guide to working out how many more games we'll get. That's pretty much what I meant. Shenmue IV will finish the story if the games continue the same pace that Shenmue II had, and a couple of chapters have been cut. Did the same. Worth noting that the special edition is a PS4 exclusive (partly because it's not releasing on Xbox One in Japan).
A shop in France broke street date for Shenmue I & II and there are copies in the wild. (Official release is less than 6 days away though) Maybe worthy of it's own thread now, but maybe not? I watched a couple of the streams, and it looks really good to me. Better than I was expecting. Mouseover for minor spoilers below but they're just technical ones + - Loading is very fast and the new menus look fine. I've said in the past that based on the price it seemed like the level of effort was consistent with the other Dreamcast ports from the 360/PS3 era, but there is a bit more to it than that. Everything menu / HUD related is completely replaced. In Shenmue 1's case, the 4x3 black borders only appear during cutscenes, not QTE so the majority of time everything is full 16x9. + - Sadly, this was not the case. Based on some online streams of the game, they're actually playing the sequenced music which is impressive that they put the effort into doing that. But also DSP effects are broken, which is extremely evident when you listen to Master Chen's theme and the strings part is completely missing the pitch changes. Some of the fan sites are flipping out about the leaks and saying don't judge the game based on those leaks because there will be a day-one patch on Tuesday. Hopefully this is one of the things they fix. Another bug I've noticed from the videos also happens when you're playing the Dreamcast version with widescreen patches, so they're not alone in introducing this bug. When the camera turns, the skybox moves nearly twice as fast as the scenery moving around you. Going back and looking at the original, the skybox was always kind of weird, but it still moved at roughly the same speed as the camera. It's one of those things that you probably wouldn't have noticed unless I pointed it out. It will be interesting to see if they caught it and if it's fixed in the day one patch. Overall though, nothing seems terribly wrong, the ports look pretty reasonable and I'm looking forward to playing them next week. I took a half day just to be home when the mail arrives on Tuesday. Also very pleased by this: Denuvo has been removed from the Steam store page for Shenmue I & II. I've got a copy of the PC version pre-ordered too now and I'm going to see if I can repurpose MainMemory's mod loader code for this.
Very much appreciate the update sonicblur. I've been following the situation on Era but it's awesome to get your more comprehensive summary too. I'd be up for you creating a dedicated thread given the releases are imminent and we're all Dreamcast fans here so I'm sure much of Retro intends to play these. As I said on Era the ports are better than I expected. Faithful in almost every way and Shenmue looks crazily good for a Dreamcast game from 1999 - and even more wonderful in crystal clear high definition and wide screen. It does genuinely seem like D3T did a good job here so I'm very pleased for the fans that wanted these for such a long time. It's one beautiful situation where concerted fan efforts eventually paid off. Hopefully that day one patch they have planned will polish these up even more and allay any fears long time fans might have. It's just so fucking amazing a new generation will get to experience Shenmue. I'll revisit the games in due course as they were magical experiences for the time - having played both on release on the Dreamcast. Shenmue 2 remains one of the best games I've ever played. Make a dedicated thread soon - as I think many would be interested and these remasters absolutely deserve one.
Shenmue 3 announcement coming tomorrow/Tuesday for Gamescom. Presumably to coincide with Shenmue HD's release. ResetERA thread here and the original source via Shenmue 3's Kickstarter here.
Shenmue 3's release date announced at Gamescom and a new trailer here! Trailer spoilers (watch the trailer first!): Spoiler RYO VERSUS LAN DI HOLY SHIT
Wrote a short retrospective on the Shenmue III petition I created in 2003 here on the Shenmue Dojo - if anyone's interested in reading it.
That would generally be why yes. More info here but also spoilers for the end of Shenmue II: Spoiler All the mirror stuff happened at the very end of Shenmue II. There's an entire disk (the final one) designated to travelling through beautiful green Eastern scenery with Shenhua and then the game gets all philosophical and mystical at that point, ending on a massive cliffhanger. It's alluded to so heavily in the trailer because they're trying to meet fan demands for a continuation. That said (potentially even bigger spoilers from the cancelled Shenmue Online here): Spoiler Shenmue Online had crazy fantastical shit like Ryo firing fireballs and phoenixes as I recall and went full-on crazy with the mysticism. It's unclear whether those ideas were intended for Shenmue's future games as Shenmue has mostly been grounded in reality - but there's a chance that's where Yu Suzuki eventually intended for the series to go.
The Steam page for Shenmue III is now live: https://store.steampowered.com/app/878670/Shenmue_III/ I was already fine with Ryo's character model as of earlier this year, but this latest image is even better. The detail in the Excite QTE screenshot on the Steam page is also excellent.
Still not a huge fan of the new look. I'm hoping the somewhat strange transition to modern graphics is ultimately secondary to continuing and building on the overall feel of the older games.
Who's the real shitposter? The shitposter or the repost of the shitposter EDIT: To be serious, do people really do that shit on Steam? I never read any of that nonsense.
IGN Japan has indicated Shenmue 3 is their #1 most anticipated game of 2019. The hype is real folks. And Shenmue 3's release approaches.
When I saw the headline about that yesterday, I was rather surprised / skeptical and figured it was ballot box stuffers like what happens with other Sega polls. But then I read the actual article and saw it was IGN Japan's editors, so that is encouraging news. I figured it would be overshadowed by huge titles, especially Kingdom Hearts 3 & Resident Evil 2 coming out this month. Oddly enough, it's not my most anticipated right now. The problem is that we just haven't seen much of it yet, outside of the 2 trailers and 3 seconds of old gameplay from 2016. The first big showing will be at MAGIC 2019 on March 9th. My excitement will probably resume then, once there's new material to pour over. + - I'm actually looking forward to Media Molecule's PS4 Dreams the most right now, since it's basically LittleBigPlanet but 3D. Hoping for a ton of fun user created levels / games from that.
I am so worried I'm going to get the Chai toy capsule with my backed edition and I really don't want it. Any other toy capsule pls.
I pledged for the Slacker Backer campaign so a Steam key will be on the way come August. But yeah I think the hype will become more real once MAGIC happens and we hopefully finally see gameplay and thus the game in action. It is a bit unreal to think a game we waited 20 years for is due in a matter of months. I just hope it reviews well and also sells well to ensure the Shenmue 4 that Suzuki wants to make to conclude the story. It is lovely to see the hype reflected in the gaming sphere like this. I just hope the game turns out good and the fanbase at least ends up with the game they wanted.
Voice acting update chronicled at the Dojo here. Original source via the Kickstarter here. Recording is 70-80% complete. There's a note saying the promotional push is huge and imminent and the game's still on track to arrive in August. Awesome update. One of the best they've done. Makes Shenmue 3 feel real.
