Shenmue III OT - I CAN believe that it's bad!

[Nintex]

The Giant Bomb quick look on this is gold. It's basically 50 minutes of finding the thugs and they talk to every single npc in the world.
This game is bizarre, yet compelling and nothing has been streamlined or changed since the original 

[Sho Nuff]

Shenmue III looks like the Marlowe Briggs team made it

[Himu]

The Giant Bomb quick look on this is gold. It's basically 50 minutes of finding the thugs and they talk to every single npc in the world.
This game is bizarre, yet compelling and nothing has been streamlined or changed since the original 

It's actually much worse.

It regressed.

Shenmue II was far more streamlined than 1. You would ask NPCs for directions and they would give long descriptions after pointing in the overall direction like,"keep going straight up there and turn left when you see the fountain."

There was even a feature where NPCs would guide you to the local and you would follow them.

Shenmue III is in every sense of the word a step beck and whether it was conscious of because of lack of resources.

[thisismyusername]

Shenmue III looks like the Marlowe Briggs team made it

I won't stand for this slander to Marlowe Briggs' team.

[Don Rumata]

My copy is still nowhere to be found.  :'(
Game is even already cracked on PC, so i would've played it first if i had pirated it.   

I really hope it's just very late and not lost in the shuffle, but no tracking on a 100€ pledge will never not be a bum move.
Good luck with a Shenmue 4 crowdfunding, boys. 

[Don Rumata]

The Giant Bomb quick look on this is gold. It's basically 50 minutes of finding the thugs and they talk to every single npc in the world.
This game is bizarre, yet compelling and nothing has been streamlined or changed since the original 

It's actually much worse.

It regressed.

Shenmue II was far more streamlined than 1. You would ask NPCs for directions and they would give long descriptions after pointing in the overall direction like,"keep going straight up there and turn left when you see the fountain."

There was even a feature where NPCs would guide you to the local and you would follow them.

Shenmue III is in every sense of the word a step beck and whether it was conscious of because of lack of resources.

But like, in Shenmue 1 was cool having to look for family names on the sign outside of houses, instead of being guided immediately to a destination.
It wasn't a flawless system, since it was all new stuff they were making up as they went along, but going further in that direction, instead of streamlining it just to get you to the next plot point, would've been more interesting; although Shenmue 2 did have more plot to go through, so i understand why they did it.





Also fuck Shenmue 2 for not letting you phone home, what kind of a cunt is Ryo, that gets off the ship, and doesn't even call back to Fukuhara, Ine-san or Nozomi (although she was in Canada, but still he must've had a number)?

[Himu]

Doesn't change that it's a regression.

[Sho Nuff]

The Giant Bomb quick look on this is gold. It's basically 50 minutes of finding the thugs and they talk to every single npc in the world.
This game is bizarre, yet compelling and nothing has been streamlined or changed since the original 

It's actually much worse.

It regressed.

Shenmue II was far more streamlined than 1. You would ask NPCs for directions and they would give long descriptions after pointing in the overall direction like,"keep going straight up there and turn left when you see the fountain."

There was even a feature where NPCs would guide you to the local and you would follow them.

Shenmue III is in every sense of the word a step beck and whether it was conscious of because of lack of resources.

I worked on Shenmue II's loc. The amount of text/voice/resources for that NPC guidance feature was utter insanity. I'd spend days translating different ways to get to Man Mo Temple. It's etched into my brain forever. There were so many cheaper ways they could have done that feature but goddamn they went for it.

I'm at the point where

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I got my ass kicked by the guy with the scar on his face.

[close]

I'm not sure when things are supposed to pick up, nor do I have any idea of how big the map is or what kind of scale the world has

[Himu]

Speaking of phone calls, the phone calls Ryo can make to old friends is really cool and nostslgic.

Chatting with Nozomi after so long feels amazing. Like a long lost friend

[TVC15]

Going to start DLing this on my PC. I might just jump right into the game without doing any catch-up work or watching the vids. Will I be super confused or do they ease you into the ongoing narrative?

[Himu]

Given that the game is a pointless retread of plot points already made in II.you should be fine

[TVC15]

This is like sub-community college-level UX design. It’s also way poly-starved. Haven’t had to break that one out in a few generations. There are some nice textures but the environments and characters are so paltry in any polygonal detail.

[TVC15]

WHY DO THEY KEEP REPEATING THEMSELVES

[TVC15]

This is so poorly localized. They really captured the original. I’m like 20 minutes in and there have already been several complete non-sequitors that a child would notice.

[TVC15]

Holy shit, what is the combat? Didn’t Yu Suzuki have something to do with VF? This is terrible  He lost what little Shenmue had going for it.

[Chooky]

Also fuck Shenmue 2 for not letting you phone home, what kind of a cunt is Ryo, that gets off the ship, and doesn't even call back to Fukuhara, Ine-san or Nozomi (although she was in Canada, but still he must've had a number)?

i mean, it would have been neat, but do you remember trying to make international calls back in the day? that shit was a nightmare.

[CatsCatsCats]

So, we can believe it’s real now?

[Don Rumata]

So you think there'll be a IV or is it gonna permadie now.

It certainly wouldn't have the propulsion this one had.
Announcing a Shenmue 4 on the E3 stage, wouldn't turn heads like 3 did.

That said, it could probably happen if they can keep it super low budget and reuse assets from 3, just to continue the story for the hardcore fans.

Who else but hardcore fans are buying a kickstarter 20 years later sequel to a niche franchise from a niche console that flopped? Shenmue doesn't have casual fans by default.

Not in this state, but Yakuza does and it's a similar base template.
With their current production values i agree, only nostalgia ridden fans will care.

[Himu]

They said they wouldnt do a Kickstarter for a 4 anyways so this is a pointless discussion.

[BIONIC]

So, we can believe it’s real now?

Yeah, real shit

[Kara]

My copy is still nowhere to be found.  :'(
Game is even already cracked on PC, so i would've played it first if i had pirated it.   

I really hope it's just very late and not lost in the shuffle, but no tracking on a 100€ pledge will never not be a bum move.
Good luck with a Shenmue 4 crowdfunding, boys. 

Been too busy to play anyway but it's not even like they want me to play the game when it comes to redeeming my digital download code.

[Sho Nuff]

Can ANYONE explain to me this seemingly piece of shit combat system?

It keeps popping up QTE's mid-battle. I can't figure out if I'm supposed to hit the buttons immediately after they appear, or on the beat (X-X-A , X-X-A). It seems totally random and there's no explanation.

[thetylerrob]

I know that 6 million isn't a lot in the grand scheme of 3d games development and this has probably been discussed to death, but is there a generally agreed reason that this game turned out so rough looking? Has anyone written an in depth article about the troubled development or is that coming later?

[Himu]

Can ANYONE explain to me this seemingly piece of shit combat system?

It keeps popping up QTE's mid-battle. I can't figure out if I'm supposed to hit the buttons immediately after they appear, or on the beat (X-X-A , X-X-A). It seems totally random and there's no explanation.

Those are qte's for sparring to build a move you have equipped so you can get it to master level. The qte is the moves command.

Buy spin kick and ground kick from the store where you chop wood. Spar with monks and master the moves. Sparring is good because it increases the attack power of moves while also leveling Kung Fu.

Then turn the game on easy mode because normal is dog shit and incredibly unfun.

Btw expect to never hit a qte the first time in this game. Game is trash.

[Himu]

I know that 6 million isn't a lot in the grand scheme of 3d games development and this has probably been discussed to death, but is there a generally agreed reason that this game turned out so rough looking? Has anyone written an in depth article about the troubled development or is that coming later?

7 million and four publishers actually. So back deal money. Idk you ask me. The game doesn't even have the affinity systen which was a KS tier at like 4 million.

[I'm a Puppy!]

QTEs in 2019

[TVC15]

QTEs in 2019

How dare you insult Shenmue's legacy. Shenmue invented the QTE! Nobody shits on MC Hammer for playing Can't Touch This in 2019

[demi]

So do you get to kill Lan Di yet? The one chance to finish the story and they probably are leaving it yet again at a cliffhanger lmao

[thisismyusername]

We can't do that until Shamu 18, Demi-san.

[demi]

Just jettison Ryo to the moon to hang out with Mega Man

[bluemax]

Just jettison Ryo to the moon to hang out with Mega Man

Mega Man is about to make his epic come back by appearing in Nintendo's gacha phone game.

I mean the Kickstarter made them money. Depending on how hardcore fans like Himu perceive this one (Himu hating it, others liking it?), I could see them getting enough kickstarter money (1million? I guess?) to reuse assets to the finish line, maybe. As highly unlikely as it would be, the "hard" part of getting an engine and getting assets is over.

1 million ain't gonna get it done unless they hire like 3 kids from Digipen Taiwan to do it.

Engine is UE4, so that was free in the first place.
Shenmue was supposed to be what, 12, 9 parts? I doubt they could wrap it up in 4 anyway.

Costs money for support and they take a cut of whatever you make.

[Bebpo]

So it sounds like this game is as bad as it looked?

Why didn't they re-use the virtua fighter combat which made the combat good in the originals (because VF is the bestest). Did Yu Suzuki not remember how to make the VF engine?

[Sho Nuff]

Can ANYONE explain to me this seemingly piece of shit combat system?

It keeps popping up QTE's mid-battle. I can't figure out if I'm supposed to hit the buttons immediately after they appear, or on the beat (X-X-A , X-X-A). It seems totally random and there's no explanation.

Those are qte's for sparring to build a move you have equipped so you can get it to master level. The qte is the moves command.

Buy spin kick and ground kick from the store where you chop wood. Spar with monks and master the moves. Sparring is good because it increases the attack power of moves while also leveling Kung Fu.

Then turn the game on easy mode because normal is dog shit and incredibly unfun.

Btw expect to never hit a qte the first time in this game. Game is trash.

THANK YOU BRO. Knocked it down to easy and now it's not awful. My moves are all at level 10 now but I don't know what in the fuck is going on with the button assignments. This IS completely different to the first game, right? Are there even throws!? It's been ages since I played 1&2 (literally on the DC when they first came out) but it feels wrong.

[Himu]

Can ANYONE explain to me this seemingly piece of shit combat system?

It keeps popping up QTE's mid-battle. I can't figure out if I'm supposed to hit the buttons immediately after they appear, or on the beat (X-X-A , X-X-A). It seems totally random and there's no explanation.

Those are qte's for sparring to build a move you have equipped so you can get it to master level. The qte is the moves command.

Buy spin kick and ground kick from the store where you chop wood. Spar with monks and master the moves. Sparring is good because it increases the attack power of moves while also leveling Kung Fu.

Then turn the game on easy mode because normal is dog shit and incredibly unfun.

Btw expect to never hit a qte the first time in this game. Game is trash.

THANK YOU BRO. Knocked it down to easy and now it's not awful. My moves are all at level 10 now but I don't know what in the fuck is going on with the button assignments. This IS completely different to the first game, right? Are there even throws!? It's been ages since I played 1&2 (literally on the DC when they first came out) but it feels wrong.

Shenmue 1 and 2 have an assigned button for combat.

punch, kick, evade, throw.

Shenmue 3 does not have throws and there's no evade/dodge button.

The moves in Shenmue were logical. Pit blow is the first move you learn. You step forward and take a punch so the command is forward + P.

Later on you learn a move in a park by an old man where you can step forward at the same time as moving your hands for a powerful blow. It's called Double Blow. The command is forward + P + K at the same time because that's literally what Ryo is doing: moving his feet and making a hand blow at the same time.

In 3 the commands are random. Double blow is now L2+Square+Cross. Except that makes no sense and is hard af to remember because there's no dedicated kick or punch button.

I'm a Shenmue vet that has nearly every move memorized in my head across both games and I can't be assed to know more than 5 move commands in Shenmue 3.

Even worse, this went over to the QTE's as well. In a QTE, if Ryo punches you're going to press X (the punch button). Is he going to dodge and then kick? You're doing to hit left/right/up/down and then Kick (B). Things had a flow and made logical sense which is why Shenmue's qte's were so satisfying. That? That's detail. Now they're just random button prompts.

For a game made "for the fans" Shenmue III does not understand Shenmue.

[Don Rumata]

Engine is UE4, so that was free in the first place.
Shenmue was supposed to be what, 12, 9 parts? I doubt they could wrap it up in 4 anyway.

Costs money for support and they take a cut of whatever you make.

I know they take a cut of the profits, but it's still not an upfront cost.
In theory they could start Shenmue 4 in a garage "for free", is what i'm saying.

[Sho Nuff]

Ahh, lemme weigh in on this. If you're starting a UE4 project at any degree of scale, you absolutely want to cut a deal with Epic ahead of time and make sure you've got a plan so you are eligible for official support on UDN (the private one -- NOT the public-facing forums that anyone can access). You -could- start a UE4 game in your garage, but definitely not if you were Square or something.

[thisismyusername]

So it sounds like this game is as bad as it looked?

Why didn't they re-use the virtua fighter combat which made the combat good in the originals (because VF is the bestest). Did Yu Suzuki not remember how to make the VF engine?

Probably not licensed by Sega (the actual owners of that).

[Bebpo]

Dead or Alive isn't licensed either. There's nothing stopping Yu and the team from doing combat similar to VF unless they just don't remember  or have the skillset to do it anymore.

[Don Rumata]

Ahh, lemme weigh in on this. If you're starting a UE4 project at any degree of scale, you absolutely want to cut a deal with Epic ahead of time and make sure you've got a plan so you are eligible for official support on UDN (the private one -- NOT the public-facing forums that anyone can access). You -could- start a UE4 game in your garage, but definitely not if you were Square or something.

Maybe i had it wrong, but didn't they hire some modder that redid the Hazuki residence in UE4, as one of their modelers? I'm not sure they're running the biggest operation.
Then again, with all the external investors they got, maybe they did grow significantly bigger than i think.

EDIT: Officially 2 weeks since they allegedly shipped the copy, i'm starting to lose hope. 

[Sho Nuff]

This game fucking sucks
How many times do I need to bring liquor and buns to this old drunk fuck

Also ARE THERE UNBEATABLE BOSS FIGHTS? I had one health left on that big asshole who was beating up the old people and I THINK I got cutscened but I'm not sure

Oh great, while I was typing this and watching the cutscene the old drunk fuck just asked me for me to go get him some more liquor, when does this fucking game stop being endless fetch quests and start doing something interesting

[Sho Nuff]

oh jesus fucking christ the puzzle is literally LOOK THROUGH A BILLION SHELVES TO FIND THE RIGHT LIQUOR

this game can fucking suck it

[Sho Nuff]

Oh wait no that's a red herring, the answer is you have to buy it for 2000 yuan from another shop

I have 8 yuan now and get 40 yuan from jobs

I think I know the solution for this puzzle: uninstall the game or google for some Cheat Engine tables

BE RIGHT BACK

edit: 999,999 yuan is mine, 42 year olds dont have time to grind stupid bullshit

[Svejk]

edit: 999,999 yuan is mine, 42 year olds dont have time to grind stupid bullshit

And can whatever method be done on the PS4 version possibly?  I plan on tackling this game next and ain't got time for grinds either.

[Sho Nuff]

According to the internet you can use the fortuneteller to cheese some of the minigames. Game's still a friggin slog every step of the way

[Sho Nuff]

The amount of bullshit this videogame's characters make you go through is so hateful

[thisismyusername]

Dead or Alive isn't licensed either. There's nothing stopping Yu and the team from doing combat similar to VF unless they just don't remember  or have the skillset to do it anymore.

Sure. But DoA didn't literally rip out VF's engine, put it in another title and then run with it. That's where I'm going with this, Yu took the combat engine of VF into Shenmue IIRC, which might be the problem. If he redid it himself, it wouldn't be a problem but probably expensive.

edit: 999,999 yuan is mine, 42 year olds dont have time to grind stupid bullshit

And can whatever method be done on the PS4 version possibly?  I plan on tackling this game next and ain't got time for grinds either.

It's Cheat Engine, so... no.

[Svejk]

Ah ok.  I wasn't familiar with Cheat Engine, so that's good to know... for when I actually get around to playing something on my PC. 

[Himu]

I want to emphasize how bad the game is. 2000 yuan it takes to get the liquor for Sun.

I had like 1200 yuan and wanted to complete a capsule toy set that sells for 1000 yuan. I put in 600 BUCKS in that machine and didn't get this one particular Emerald toy. This game makes one specific toy for every machine rare as all fuck. They are essentially deliberately limiting your cash flow. The entire game is a grind.

Meanwhile, in Shenmue II you can sell the starter incomplete Virtua Fighter Kids toys collection which comes with Ryo at the beginning of the game for 400 HK. It's so easy to make cash in Shenmue II and these nutjobs went and fucked it.

Shonuff how long did it take you find Sun?

The shitty ass game kept saying,"oh he's at the market at specific times" and I talked to everyone, everyone except this one particular old lady. No one gave a damn answer on where the fucker was. It took DAYS to find him. Then I finally talked to her and she's like "oh he's at the abandoned temple". I went to the temple earlier and saw jack.

Game sucks shit, Yu Suzuki should retire, and Shenmue fans deserve to cry knowing there will never be a Shenmue IV.

[Himu]

AND YES THERE'S UNBEATEABLE BOSS FIGHTS. I BEAT THAT STUPID UGLY RED FUCK and this scrub aired out Ryo fucking HAZUKI (the same dude that took on 70 dudes at the harbor and beat Dou Niu) like a goddam BUM that was out for TWO DAYS  from a SINGLE. PUNCH. because I don't have the right move.

Fuck this game. I've been in Niaowu for days and have been playing Dark Souls instead. Dark Souls is less infuriating.

[Svejk]

Well shit... I may hold off to see if some balancing gets patched up before embarking on it..  fuck grinding.. If I waited 15 years for this, I can certainly wait longer.... I need to get back to BB anyway. 

[Don Rumata]

Cindi you seem to be going back and forth on the game.

[Himu]

Cindi you seem to be going back and forth on the game.

How so?

When I first posted about it I liked it because I was thinking of the positive, but I have been overwhelmingly negative in my impressions. I've also held back my opinions in full. One post full of negative impressions was deleted. 

Back and forth how?

Shenmue III is a bad game. It's also a bad Shenmue game, which is a totally separate thing.

There are are only two things I suggest Shenmue fans experience with the game (Shenhua chats at night and phone calls to friends in Niaowu). Both of which can be experienced by watching a Let's Play.

Don't buy Shenmue III. It's trash.

[Himu]

Imagine waiting for 10+ years for a story you've wanted continuation of.

The story is at 40% at the end of Shenmue II according to Yu Suzuki. Shenmue III might as well have moved the story from 40% to 41%. That's how little anything happens. Game is booty cheeks. If anything, I'm holding back on the mother fucker.

Yu Suzuki really tried to shop this POS game for over ten years only to give his fans fetch quests. It is the most pointless video game sequel ever made. Yearly Madden games have more merit.

[Occam]

That sucks, I feel sorry for the fans, and now am glad I never got into this. I played the first game for about an hour back on Dreamcast and then stopped because I found it boring.
Maybe Suzuki never had any real plan how to continue the story.

Btw, metascore is 70 at the moment...

[Bebpo]

Imagine waiting for 10+ years for a story you've wanted continuation of.

The story is at 40% at the end of Shenmue II according to Yu Suzuki. Shenmue III might as well have moved the story from 40% to 41%. That's how little anything happens. Game is booty cheeks. If anything, I'm holding back on the mother fucker.

Yu Suzuki really tried to shop this POS game for over ten years only to give his fans fetch quests. It is the most pointless video game sequel ever made. Yearly Madden games have more merit.

I fucking love Shenmue I & II but this whole kickstarter has seemed shady af and so I've never jumped in and waited to see if it surprisingly turned out decent. Forget Yu Suzuki. Games aren't made by 1 person and Ys Net? Neilo? These devs sure aren't AM2 pedigree.

This whole thing seemed like a "we don't know what we're doing but fans will give us money so let's dinker around and try to make a small budget game" bleh.

If they announced a new Suikoden with Murayama writing but developed by some random people on a shoestring budget and decided to go 3d I'd be just as hesitant. These days for kickstarters I don't care about the big name lead, I care about the dev team making it. If they've made consistent good games in a timely fashion I'll trust they can make something good with the premise. But even then you get stuff like Shadowrun Dragonfall/HK -> Battletech  :'(  So always gonna be some luck involved.

[Sho Nuff]

Shonuff how long did it take you find Sun?

I lucked out. I wound up learning about him BEFORE I got merked by that horribly rendered red fuck in the UNWINNABLE BOSS FIGHT. Then I was like "Oh I bet that's the guy with the secret sauce, he'll probably teach me a move"

That being said, I assumed the boss fight WAS winnable and I was going down a side track, but then when it kept fuckin' GOING, AND GOING, I realized oh no.

I feel like that sequence had a little bit of charm, but then it would ask you to keep doing the same fuckin' thing over and over, and the QTE's were balanced by a giant asshole so catching the chickens -- which might be fun ONCE -- is ruined by the shittiest fuckin timing windows, and I'm playing it on the PC for godsake at 60fps.

So I went to Elder Yeh's house and the game was like "FIND THE SIX TOKENS" and I was like "oh no, I'm going to have to fuck around in town to find more bullshit," but then she's like "HERE ARE ALL THE CABINETS IN MY HOUSE PLEASE FIND THE SHIT INSIDE SOME OF THEM LOL" and I was like "Ooooookay it's walkthrough time"

Nobody on their deathbed is going to say "boy I wish I spent more time playing Shenmue III"

[Sho Nuff]

One thing I'd like to mention is that Shenmue I and II had HUGE writing teams. If you look at the credits it's like two dozen people. I used to hang out with a guy who wrote the character profiles for all of the Shenmue II NPCs and his work was so nuts that they made a book that's basically a collection of all the characters and their relationships. Something tells me those folks didn't come back for #3.

It's weird, my memory fails me but I remember going out to dinner with a guy who was the Sega-side director for Shen Mue Online; he'd worked on the two games (writing or director team) and they had modeled Dou Niu after him or he'd done his motion acting for him (). Big stocky guy. Anyway, we were just gonna hang out at an izakaya, but coincidentally THAT DAY they CANCELLED THE GAME. So uh, we drank a lot more than expected.

Also my first boss in Japan had worked on Shenmue on Saturn. He made a spider for Akira to fight, and Yu Suzuki was like "what, he fights a spider?". That's all he remembered.

[Himu]

Dude I told you the QTE'S are bs

And I lost to the buff red haired dude and went immediately to Sun but you can't learn the move so you have to fucking do another dragged out fetch quest asking about fucking martial artists to train Ryo when he just met an old man that knocked his ass to the grass with one move. If you go there Sun won't be at the temple but you'll go on a stupid quest which sends you to Sun at the end anyways. Pure filler.

Shit game.

[team filler]

 

[BIONIC]

Pure filler