Then maybe you quoted the wrong quote because the quote you posted in relation to a book and not the ending.
No, I quoted the right quote: He has the complete story mapped out and
could've finished it years ago. He didn't want to because it would "spoil the story." Now that he has a chance with Shenmue 3 to finish the story, he then says in another question "please buy Shenmue 3 and have it be successful so I can do a Shenmue 4."
If he has that complete story mapped out, why
wouldn't he finish it with Shenmue 3 thereby saving himself the agony of praying that a "Shenmue 4" will happen to allow him to complete the story? Double so: If he had that story completely done and could've done it years ago,
why wouldn't he? People begged him for a Shenmue 3, at that point he could've done a novel and washed his hands of it.
Basically, Himu my problem is this: It feels like he's going to pull another Shenmue 2 ending and leave 3 on a "to be continued" in the hopes of being able to do a 4 and thereby leaving fans in a lurch of praying for a Shenmue 4 if 3 fails (I'm not calling that yet, it's wayyy to early to say given dev costs/etc. not there yet). Meanwhile, he has the complete story mapped out and could EASILY have given fans what they wanted, a conclusion to the story. It may not have been interactive or graphical/"movie"-like, but it would've been
better than nothing for all these years. Now he's doing the same thing again that Shenmue 2's "to-be-continued" with 3. Why wouldn't you call that out as a "uh... why?" move.