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Shenmue 4 will be ‘easier’ to make happen if 3 sells well, says Suzuki.

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman

However, the designer told VGC in an interview that the future of the series will be more dependent on which partners he can secure.

“If Shenmue 3 sells well it will make things easier [with Shenmue 4],” he said. “But I think it will rely more on what kind of partners we will be able to secure.”

Asked by VGC if he plans to finish the entire Shenmue story in his lifetime, Suzuki said: “If I get the occasion, yes!”
 
Yeah I remember that. Bad fucking decision

He won’t be able to do it...

I agree
Nothing wrong in planning even 100 games, but you as a developer should adapt to circumstances
20 years waiting for a chance to do the third game would scare the hell out of me, If I were in Suzuki's place I'd go all in with 3

Assuming this Won't be the case, Hope he'll decide to end the story with 4, putting all plot points and efforts in it
 

vkbest

Member
I agree
Nothing wrong in planning even 100 games, but you as a developer should adapt to circumstances
20 years waiting for a chance to do the third game would scare the hell out of me, If I were in Suzuki's place I'd go all in with 3

Assuming this Won't be the case, Hope he'll decide to end the story with 4, putting all plot points and efforts in it

I prefer unfinished story to rushed ending. The first could fixed years after exactly as Shenmue 3 is happening when people though was death series.

The last would be unfixable
 
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cireza

Banned
Looking into the future to the point of maybe failing at their only chance to make a decent new entry to begin with.
 
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Starhowl

Member
LOL seriously?? Since when did legendary developers start to shout out these whiny messages to the gaming community?

They simply produced a hit while barely communicating with the outside world, dropped the AAA-bomb and then they were done with it - what a wuss!
 

The Snake

Member
Wait people thought it would end in this game? lol

I LOVE the responses in these kinds of topics every time this is brought up. The dude spent nearly 2 decades holding out on finishing all of the games. He didn't release a novel, he didn't have someone adapt it into a series of comics, he didn't throw it together as a visual novel. Nearly twenty years of holding off until he could continue with the series. Twenty years of him saying "I'll make the rest of them someday!" never dumbing it down or lessening his own artistic integrity.

"Whaaat? Shenmue 3 isn't the last oooone?!"

lmao yeah, after two decades let's just rush the 12-part story into one final game. People will love that.
 

CJY

Banned
This game will sell well, but at the same time, I fear it will come in far below expectations.

The cries of it looking graphically like it's from another era is a strange one... considering the spate of 2D Indie games we've been getting over the last decade where many have done exceedingly well. I think it looks really good personally.
 

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
LOL seriously?? Since when did legendary developers start to shout out these whiny messages to the gaming community?

They simply produced a hit while barely communicating with the outside world, dropped the AAA-bomb and then they were done with it - what a wuss!
To me Suzuki-san can say whatever the hell he wants.

Did you know that Ken Kutaragi was inspired by Virtua Fighter? And it didn't end there. Yu Suzuki's work has sparkled a revolution.
 

kassj0peja

Neo Member
What numbers does it need to be considered sold well? I hope over time Deep Silver will put it not only on Steam but also on GOG and even on Switch. That deal will definately hurt the numbers but maybe it was necessary to get the game we will get. It was mentioned that it is bigger than planned and I think at the beginning they aimed for a 40 or 50 dollars game, and not for a 60 dollars game.

Did Suzuki get the permission to create only Shenmue III or all the remaining storyline from Sega? Maybe if it sells very well Sega will want to develop and publish the last few chapters.
 
I think that shenmue 3 should have resolved ryos story. The problem is that if it doesn’t sell well we won’t get to the end.
 

Ikutachi

Member
LE1hEHe.png



AMA post.
 

Lucumo

Member
I remember reading he was planning like 6 games from the beginning, iirc
That's a loooong way to see Ryo's story ending
You mean 16 chapters. It did start off with that, the first game was literally called "chapter 1" after all. They saw that they wouldn't make it though, so chapter 2 never happened as a game and chapter 3-5 became Shenmue II.
 
So he isn’t even planning to finish the story in 3? For gods sake Suzuki haven’t you learned anything all this time?!

That was never the plan. No. Yu Suzuki originally wanted Shenmue to span like... 6 or 7 games originally. To be honest, Shenmue IV would be much easier for him and his team to make, now that they have the development work flow and tools down. They can repurpose a lot of what they used for Shenmue 3 in Shenmue 4.
 

Thaedolus

Member
With that EGS money they should at least be able to break even here right? If that gets us Shenmue IV then it's worth the angst over that.
 
Reminds me of the Thursday Next series at this point, but those are still being made! (8 books iirc and they swapped the MC with another MC)

Feels like he really wants to go to 6 games before he finishes but most games end at 3 since a Trilogy is easier to digest than a Hexalogy..
 

If you want to go back to the original concept of Shenmue, when it was called Virtua Fighter RPG and starring Akira. I think the original plan was to follow the life of Akira from being a teenager to his first tournament in Virtua Fighter 1. I think the idea was to start Akrira as a teenager in 1986 and end the series sometimes in the early 1990's when he is in his 20's. The idea was to simulate 6 or 7 years of uninterrupted game time as Akira. As opposed to just a simple origins story as the character.

But the Virtua Fighter connection was thrown out, and replaced with Ryo and an original storyline.

I don't know how long Suzuki planned on making the Ryo storyline go on for. Shenmue 1's start date is December 1st 1986, and it's end date is April 15th 1987, which is 135 playable days total. Shenmue II's default start date is February 23rd 1987, and its end date is June 31st 1987, which is 157 playable days total. Though Shenmue II's start date can change depending on player save data carry over from the first game. Shenmue II can start as early as January 16th 1987, if you speedrun through Shenmue 1. The latest date Shenmue Ii can start on is April 19th 1987, four days after the events of the end date in Shenmue 1. The boat trip takes four days total from Japan to China.

Shenmue III does not carry over from Shenmue II sadly, given the different engine and technology being used. So it will have a fixed start date. My guess is probably July 1987? The game probably ends in 1988. Shenmue IV would probably go from 1988 to 1989. Or something?
 
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Breakage

Member
Not surprised at talk of a fourth entry if all goes well with Shenmue 3.
Shenmue was originally planned as a project spanning multiple games with each entry covering several chapters.
 
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Dthomp

Member
Not going to happen, this game will not sell well I fear. The general public doesn't give a fuck about shenmue and the graphics and the gameplay itself seem to be from another time.

People have just finally learned and moved onto the significantly better Shenmue in Yakuza series.
 

Azurro

Banned
I agree
Nothing wrong in planning even 100 games, but you as a developer should adapt to circumstances
20 years waiting for a chance to do the third game would scare the hell out of me, If I were in Suzuki's place I'd go all in with 3

Assuming this Won't be the case, Hope he'll decide to end the story with 4, putting all plot points and efforts in it

Yeah, that sounds good in theory, until you watch the final two seasons of Game of Thrones, what a shit show. He should take all the games and time he needs to make a decent finish to his story.
 
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Yoda

Member
Wasn't expecting it to end with 3. I can see why the game may have trouble selling though. I've only played a few hours and you can tell it's unabashedly sticking to its old formula (which some games get away with to a fault, like pokemon). I feel the dialogue could've been redone, having options on how to engage people as opposed to always asking questions would've been a nice change. It was a mind-blowing level of immersion in 1990, but it feels very date nowadays. I'm very invested in the story, but if I weren't I'd probably struggle to keep playing it.
 
I swear, if sega doesnt publish this time, they are fucking cowards. Own up to your own legacy. The hard work, at this point, is done for you.

Maybe if you please suzuki, youll get an outrun 3 or new virtua fighter kicked down to you in the process lol.

Seriously though, I can't believe sega cut Suzuki loose for shenmue. Just...crazy to me, after what that man did for them.
 
I swear, if sega doesnt publish this time, they are fucking cowards. Own up to your own legacy. The hard work, at this point, is done for you.

Maybe if you please suzuki, youll get an outrun 3 or new virtua fighter kicked down to you in the process lol.

Seriously though, I can't believe sega cut Suzuki loose for shenmue. Just...crazy to me, after what that man did for them.

SEGA has tended to have a horrible record in retaining top talent. Not just Suzuki, either. Ishi (the guy who'd go on to make Tekken), Naka, Mark Cerny, Tom Kalinski, Futugashi (the Panzer Dragoon guy), etc. If there wasn't so much turmoil on the business and management side, all of these guys would've remained there to this day.

But that being said, I'd kill for a new Outrun or Virtua Fighter xD
 
Shenmue is so overrated that it might as well have been developed by Kojima.
The difference between Suzuki and Kojima is that Suzuki's story makes sense. Have a crying baby see the ghosts of Canada which were past Republicans that revived from the ghosts of Ronaldo Weasley.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
 
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