Shenmue 3 (Kickstarter)

[Happenstance]

Not surprising but just had a backer email confirming Shenmue 3's release date has been pushed back to 2019.

[Julius]

39 minutes ago, Happenstance said:

Not surprising but just had a backer email confirming Shenmue 3's release date has been pushed back to 2019.

Man, that blows.

On the upside, it will hopefully give people (myself included) enough time to become well acquainted with the first two and enjoy the third game as much as longtime fans surely will  

[killthenet]

Can't say I'm surprised or even that disappointed, Shenmue should be an ambitious game so I'm willing to allow Ys Net some leeway with the release. If it gets delayed beyond 2019 I'll start to worry a bit but at the moment I don't mind waiting a little while longer, we've already waited over a decade for another entry and the remasters will satiate my appetite for the time being.

[Happenstance]

Shenmue 3 PC specs:

Minimum requirements:

OS: Windows 7x64, Windows 8x64, Windows 10x64 (64-bit OS Required)

Processor: Intel Core i5-4460 (3.40 GHz) or better; Quad-core or better

Memory: 4 GB RAM

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti or better (DirectX 11 card & VRAM 2GB Required)

DirectX: Version 11

Network: Broadband internet connection

Storage: 100 GB available space

Sound card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

Additional Info: Requires Steam Client to activate. Game is currently in development so system requirements may change without notice. We thank you for your understanding.

100gb storage is surprising amount

[Ashley]

All those sailors are surprisingly large.

[Hero-of-Time]

Quote

Hello Backers,

We have some breaking news about gamescom 2018!　　　　　　　　

There is a Shenmue III announcement planned for the opening day of gamescom, Tuesday the 21st, at 11:00~13:00 CEST (17:00~19:00 JST).　　　　　　　　　　　　

Yu Suzuki will not be in attendance, but we have put a video together for the announcement that we are currently putting the final touches to. So, please hold on until Tuesday!

 
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

The gamescom events will be live streamed, which you can also watch at the link below.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

gamescom official website　　　　　　　　　　　　

We will of course have a follow-up here in the updates.

Thank you as always for your support!

 

[Ashley]

They're going to announce another delay 😋

[Julius]

48 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

 

Not that surprising, given that we got our first teaser at Gamescom last year. Actually, I think the first teaser came out around this time last year — maybe even on August 21st? I was just thinking yesterday that it’s a bit odd that Shenmue I & II releases on Tuesday, the same day that Gamescom starts, so I had a sneaking suspicion. 

Probably our first “real” trailer, if not a better look at gameplay...probably a short demonstration?  I have a feeling that the game will look much better than it did last year, at the very least. Hopefully we get a release date, but I won’t hold my breath  

Edited August 20, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Hero-of-Time]

Release date.

 

[Julius]

3 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Release date.

 

That Lan Di staredown 

It’s a while off, but it gives everyone an abundance of time in which to catch up with the first two (like myself) or replay them, and gives the team plenty of time to polish the game. The environments already look spectacular, and the music as always is brilliant  

[Fierce_LiNk]

It's a pretty "safe" release date, isn't it? I expect that it'll get delayed, maybe not by a huge amount of time, but maybe just a little to put the finishing touches onto it. I wonder how it's shaping up because we don't seem to have had many gameplay trailers, have we?

[Dcubed]

This isn’t releasing next year; and probably not on PS4 either.

It’ll be a PS5 title in 2020.

[S.C.G]

Excellent news!

(Also, I found a cleaner version of just the trailer, no cut-off at the end)

Beautiful... just beautiful.

A real "chills down the back of the spine" trailer there, especially from the music.

So, a year away then? Excellent, that should give me time to finish Shenmue I&II again.

[Hero-of-Time]

14 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

This isn’t releasing next year; and probably not on PS4 either.

It’ll be a PS5 title in 2020.

Agreed. I'd be very surprised if it releases next year. It still looks pretty rough.

[Ronnie]

33 minutes ago, Dcubed said:

This isn’t releasing next year; and probably not on PS4 either.

It’ll be a PS5 title in 2020.

5 years after its E3 reveal

[killthenet]

Don't understand all the negativity, Kickstarter projects seem to always suffer delays (look at Bloodstained) and they'd already said it was going to release in 2019 so August doesn't seem too bad to me. I'm excited to have been given a specific release date, it obviously means Yu and Ys Net are feeling pretty confident about realising their vision within the next 12 months. 

I haven't watched the trailer yet, going to play through 1 & 2 again before I do but glad to hear its spine tingling @S.C.G!!

[Hero-of-Time]

19 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

5 years after its E3 reveal

It's a Kickstarter. It's not uncommon for them to take ages. Just look at Bloodstained. That got delayed yet again and that isn't half as ambitious as this. 

EDIT: @killthenet also used Bloodstained as an example seconds before me  

Edited August 21, 2018 by Hero-of-Time

[Goafer]

2 hours ago, Ronnie said:

5 years after its E3 reveal

You do realise E3 is for showing what companies are working on and not a "Here's what we're definitely releasing before the next E3" right?

[Ronnie]

14 minutes ago, Goafer said:

You do realise E3 is for showing what companies are working on and not a "Here's what we're definitely releasing before the next E3" right?

I do realise that yes. Sony's conferences of the last few years have left me in no doubt about that fact.

Personally much prefer a short reveal > release schedule like Fallout, Assassin's Creed and (mostly) Nintendo first party. 

[killthenet]

33 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I do realise that yes. Sony's conferences of the last few years have left me in no doubt about that fact.

Personally much prefer a short reveal > release schedule like Fallout, Assassin's Creed and (mostly) Nintendo first party. 

Unfortunately the whole point of a Kickstarter is to announce as early as possible and gain as much media attention as possible so you can maximize investment in the game and be able to produce something in line with your vision. Yu Suzuki would have been foolish to refuse a spot in Sony's E3 press conference to announce his Kickstarter, big studios can afford to develop their games behind closed doors and have a short window from reveal to release, indie productions and especially Kickstarter funded games need time to cook and often have tiny development teams so it's naturally going to take longer. Sony's penchant for announcing games early should be no reflection on the work Ys Net are doing.

[Ronnie]

14 minutes ago, killthenet said:

Unfortunately the whole point of a Kickstarter is to announce as early as possible and gain as much media attention as possible so you can maximize investment in the game and be able to produce something in line with your vision. Yu Suzuki would have been foolish to refuse a spot in Sony's E3 press conference to announce his Kickstarter, big studios can afford to develop their games behind closed doors and have a short window from reveal to release, indie productions and especially Kickstarter funded games need time to cook and often have tiny development teams so it's naturally going to take longer. Sony's penchant for announcing games early should be no reflection on the work Ys Net are doing.

Totally agree, and I realise Kickstarter games often take 5+ years to make. I guess I just found it weird that it was on stage at E3 before work had barely begun.

[Julius]

Just a reminder that there are now less than 24 hours left on the Kickstarter’s Slacker Backer campaign, so today is the last chance to support the Kickstarter if you haven’t already, and also to upgrade your rewards/get some add-ons if you already have. I think it’s also worth mentioning that there has been no official word up to this point on the game being released physically outside of its Kickstarter campaign, so if you are interested in obtaining a physical copy of Shenmue III, there is a possibility that this is your final chance. 

The Shenmue III Slacker Backer campaign will end at 07:59 BST tomorrow (September 1st 2018).

I pre-ordered a physical PS4 copy of the game through the Kickstarter campaign yesterday, which is the first time I’ve ever backed a Kickstarter. I plan to really dig into it later in the relevant thread, but, for now, I’ll let that be the only testament to my enjoyment of Shenmue and Shenmue II. 

Also, I haven’t seen anyone mention this here yet, so...isn’t that Ren standing to the side at 0:25 of the Gamescom trailer? 

 

Edited August 31, 2018 by Julius Caesar

[Julius]

Some new screenshots:

[Julius]

 

[Julius]

A summary of the new information given by Yu Suzuki and Hiroaki Takeuchi from G-Fusion Tour 2018, courtesy of Spaghetti over on Shenmue Dojo (roughly translated from Chinese):

Quote

Chinese martial art Xing Yi Quan will be in the game, but not in Ryo's skill set.

Yu describes the new combat as "very varied, richer, and more playable". Takeuchi-san elaborates that the goal is to create a combat system that welcomes players of different skill levels, and that a lot of consideration of design and balance went into making combat feel fun for all players. He finishes saying a lot of effort went into the combat. Yu's ambitions are to show a lifelike representation of Chinese martial arts.

Some mini-games from the original won't return, but there are new ones included that they feel are more interesting. Old mini-games confirmed to return are Lucky Hit, Excite QTE, capsule toys, and yes, forklifts.

Mini-games will hold greater impact and influence over the wider game because of better integration, and there will be surprises after playing for a while. Takeuchi-san is looking forward to player reactions on this aspect.

Yu's comments in 2017 about Shenmue III being a 70/30 split between old and new ideas has changed thanks to development advancing, and now stands at 50/50.

Side quests and the main story will have better integration, and form a better closed loop. A better translation might be able to elaborate on this, as machine translation threw up the word "branch" and might be related to Yu talking about quests that could have branching outcomes. Side quests will no longer be isolated from the main plot. This was apparently considered for the originals, but couldn't be achieved at the time.

Yu says Shenmue III is more of a hardcore game than the originals because of elements of playability and increased degree of freedom, it seems to be implied Shenmue III may take longer to complete than the originals (Yu says I & II are single week games, III is a multi-week game). Also seems to infer players can interact, or not interact, with content how they choose. Not completely clear on what this means.

Yu implies there is post-game content once the main story has wrapped up, other storylines to explore and systems to play. Sounds to go beyond just the mini-game and combat collection Shenmue II had once you cleared the game.