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KickStarter Shenmue 3

Irata

Scholar
Joined
Mar 14, 2018
Messages
304
It's probably the most faithful to its source of all the Kickstarters that relied on nostalgia. It looks and plays exactly like the Dreamcast games from what I've seen. Which I give them credit for. They're not my type of games though. "Excuse me. Do you know where I can find sailors?"

That Thimbleweed LucasArts guy kept the same style as well. Unlike the other LucasArts guy...
 

ZoddGuts

Augur
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
213
So far a bunch of people who have been playing it at 4ch*n have stated that they like it, surpassing their initial expectations since it looked a bit wonky in in the old previews. if you enjoyed the first two games then you'll enjoy this game as well. Graphically looks good on PC too and runs well. Plan on getting this later.
 

abnaxus

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Dec 31, 2010
Messages
10,849
Location
Fiernes
There's a trainer already to skip all that grindy bullcrap.

But I'm severely dissapoint
you don't even get to fight the evil Xiuying
 

bertram_tung

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2012
Messages
1,254
Location
Sunco Gasoline Facility
Insert Title Here
they never ended up honoring my refund for pc version, but they let me change my order to PS4 version at least, so i dont have to touch epic game store shit
i need to play 1 and 2, i dont think i finished them, so it will be a while before i even start it

thanks for reading this blog post
 

Punch

aaaaaa
Patron
Joined
Jan 1, 2018
Messages
132
Grab the Codex by the pussy
they never ended up honoring my refund for pc version, but they let me change my order to PS4 version at least, so i dont have to touch epic game store shit

Just play the Epic-free version with the cool installer bgm. "Go on lad..."
 

bertram_tung

Arcane
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Messages
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Location
Sunco Gasoline Facility
Insert Title Here
they never ended up honoring my refund for pc version, but they let me change my order to PS4 version at least, so i dont have to touch epic game store shit

Just play the Epic-free version with the cool installer bgm. "Go on lad..."
i already backed the damn thing with money a few years back, no point in pirating, i might as well play the ps4 one
 

Barbarian

Arcane
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
7,307
The game is great as a nostalgia trip for me. And yes, it is quite faithful to the originals. In the matter of fact maybe a bit too much. Some comments from me a few hours in:

- Susuki san has not learned his lesson about pacing it seems. I have been vaguely searching for clues and questionind villagers with "have you seem a couple of thugs?" for hours now, in a boring deja vu very reminiscent of "do you know a place where sailors hang out?" or "have you seem a black car?". First few hours of the game seem like ambiance + filler + mini games... just like I remember the first few hours in Shenmue 1.
- Combat really is quite inferior to how it was in the originals. None of that Virtua Fighter style goodness. Very streamlined and very simple.
- The food mechanic is annoying as hell. In the original game the "job" mini-games were mostly kind of optional, whereas here you have to do it quite frequently in order to buy food and keep your health gauge filled up.
- No Sega toy capsules. No Sega arcade games. Fucking nü Sega man, traitors to the cause it seems. I did have a bad feeling when I didn't see the Sega logo on startup anywhere. Saw a Virtua Fighter 1 poster ingame and that is it so far. Feels bad when you realize all the sega stuff featured in the originals was created by Suzuki himself. Either they didn't allowed the stuff to be featured or charged too much money, either way a very dick move.
- Lol even Ryo's watch was changed from that Timex expedition analog alarm featured in the original. WTF? Did they actually have to pay Timex to feature that watch in the original? Why didn't they allow it again?
 

taxalot

I'm a spicy fellow.
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Codex 2013 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
It's everything you wanted from Shenmue EXCEPT the combat. Yu really dropped the ball here which is understandable given the budget. Everything is based on whether or not you grinded that stupid one inch punch traning thing, I was underleveled and I literally replayed the "fight with the two guys" at the beginning 30+ times and it felt like only my strength/attack levels mattered, alongside how quick I could perform different moves over and over. I miss throws and counters.

I do not know what you are talking about. I was able to complete basically any Shenmue 1 & 2 fight by mashing the buttons randomly.

At least combat Shenmue 3 forced me to think just a tiny bit about timing.
 

taxalot

I'm a spicy fellow.
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Codex 2013 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
I have finished it.

It is hard to know what to think about it. On one hand, most of the game went exactly as expected. The odd gameplay quirks I could stand, the slow pace of the game also since it is part of what makes the Shenmue appeal.
However, the game still has plenty of issues. Other issues.

- While I never expected Shenmue 3 to bring the story to a fitting conclusion, the game also fails in basic storytelling and developments. Ryo gets opportunities to ask questions he SHOULD be asking about so that we get long expected answers since Shenmue 2. He doesn't. He just kinds of forgets about it. The final hours of the second act are awkwardly similar to the final hours of the first act, which were themselves reminiscent of earlier Shenmue games. And worse offence, since the last part of the game was apparently cut and reworked as a short sequence for the ending, there are some absolutely unsufferable tricks to make the games longer : mandatory grinding, and mandatory jobs for harvesting insane amounts of money. Except grinding and jobs are not fun. At all.
- Stamina uses the same bar as hunger and health points ? Who thought this was a good idea ? Probably the same ones who thought it woud be interesting to make you grind. I guess it could be an interesting mechanic providing the game forces you to explore its other interesting aspects.... But the side games in Shenmue 3 are absolutely terrible.

All in all, Shenmue 3 basically forced me to use a trainer in the final parts of the game. Not because I felt it was difficult, but because the grinding is literrally going some place, and push the same controller button for hours to get enough money.

... Still...

It's not an unmitigated disaster. While the final hours of the game left a very sour taste in my mouth, there were other numerous and far longer beautiful moments. Shenmue 3 is still doing the Shenmue thing, making you feel like you are on a trip somewhere and encouraging you to take your time. It has a sensibility the Yakuza series never managed to grasp. Shenmue 3 was not a masterpiece, but it was what it promised to be (save for those last hours), and that something is something that simply can't be found elsewhere. It's the game that makes me feel the most like I am on a journey.

Despite the frustration and all those annoyances, I am likely to back Shenmue 4 the minute it is announced.
 

Tehdagah

Arcane
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
9,236
So far a bunch of people who have been playing it at 4ch*n have stated that they like it, surpassing their initial expectations since it looked a bit wonky in in the old previews. if you enjoyed the first two games then you'll enjoy this game as well. Graphically looks good on PC too and runs well. Plan on getting this later.
Never a good sign.
 

Ivan

Arcane
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
7,474
Location
California
So Shenmu 1 almost broke me. I made it to the docks, did my first race. I hear Shenmu 2 fixes my main gripe w the game by allowing you to skip time at will. Is Shenmu 1 worth suffering thru to get to Shenmu 2?

I enjoy that the game encourages you learn the playspace (i.e. no objective markets) but I fuckign loathe the "come back tomorrow" to progress the plot mission design.
 

Jinn

Arcane
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
4,930
So Shenmu 1 almost broke me. I made it to the docks, did my first race. I hear Shenmu 2 fixes my main gripe w the game by allowing you to skip time at will. Is Shenmu 1 worth suffering thru to get to Shenmu 2?

You're only a few hours from the end at that point (maybe 4-ish?), and if waiting or going to find other things to do while you wait was the biggest problem for you, then Shenmue 2 should alleviate that almost entirely.
 

Ivan

Arcane
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
7,474
Location
California
Some thoughts after completion:

-it captures the "small town' feel better than any game I've ever played. Handcrafted interactions with every NPC helps out immensely, giving the player a tiny slice of info that makes them unique

-the story follows the "day in the life" approach and I think that's why many of the minigames worked for me. I found the forklift minigame to be pretty therapeutic and grounded the experience nicely.

-my biggest gripe was that the game didn't allow me to enjoy its story at my pace, it forces you to spend time repeating minigames until you can rest and begin again. Thankfully nowadays I can just alt tab to skip that. Also, I disliked at the fake hints the game gives for story progression. NPCs will give you nice hints as to what you should do (specificaly in the Harbor chapter) but for the most part your actions don't move the plot forward, they just hint at what cutscenes will play when the game sees fit

-As a fan of Shenmue, here's what I'd like to see in 2 and 3: I like the idea of QTEs and minigames to ground the experience, but I wish more of that was tied with NPC interaction. It was neat being able to slightly interact with Mimi the kitten, but I think the game would have a lot more flavor if Ryo COULD say YES to the NPC who invite him to do things (play with kids, go out for a bite to eat, etc). I think this could be a really cool direction for the future of Shenmue (4?!). I plan on starting Shenmue 2 soon and am very excited to see how the devs decided to mold the gameplay/template

tldr extremely charming life sim that sure takes its damn sweet time to move the plot forward. eager for more. onwards to Shenmue 2!

best npc ever
 

Ivan

Arcane
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
7,474
Location
California
Shenmue 2

Pretty disappointed with this. I don't think anything of value was gained trading the small town feel captured so well in the first with the bustling, multi-area mess that is Hong Kong in this entry. Introducing more interior sections made the tank controls more egregious as you fuddle to get Ryo in position to clear doorways. I felt like much of the charm and fun of talking to NPCs was gone, since most times Ryo just asks for directions. Combat is the same as before, the less said about it the better. I can't end this without mentioning the horrible epilogue the game slowly shits out. It turns into a confusing escort/Kojima cutscene infested mess. I also really hate how Ryo asks rhetorical questions whenever someone mentions something he's not familiar with. The games turns to the fantastical/spiritual later on, I don't mind it but it didn't set it up well enough for it to mean anything.

TLDR: Shenmue 2 trades in the small, humble locations and cast from the first, for a sprawling, bustling town and introduces a few villains and allies with cookiecutter personalities. Perhaps one of the most disappointing sequels I've ever played. What a shame.


Q about Shenmue 3: Since I have strong conflicting opionions about both games, how faithful is the third entry to the principles of the first versus the second? Does it go for a smaller scale setting with better defined NPCs or does it go with 2's approach of more breadth but less depth? Also, I felt like the 2nd (especially in the ridiculous epilogue) railroaded you into cutscene after cutscene.
 

Vaarna_Aarne

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Jun 1, 2008
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MCA Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2
Two things I think Shenmue could have benefited from: A real time clock instead of a speeded up one with time skip function (simply put, I prefer static time of day to a one hour day/night cycle every single time in any game), and secondly an option to automate the QTEs because they're only an annoyance due to how long they go (also on kb they're hell).

I've got nothing but scorn for the Virtua Fighter combat system it has (I'd much prefer something like the MUCHO MACHO MANLY combat of Yakuza, especially given how often you fight multiple dudes), but that I can accept as just being something for some folks so that doesn't get the critical issues list.
 

Jugashvili

管官的官
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Aug 20, 2013
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Georgia, Asia
Codex 2013
Man, Shenmue III is so bad. Apart from the awful pacing and writing, in the final act of the second game they set you up for this ultra-remote mountain town in buttfuck nowhere, but in fact Bailu turns out to be a silly place



Honestly, now it's some kind of sooper-popular martial arts hub / entertainment district, it doesn't feel like eighties rural China in the least, and it's full of out-of-place recycled assets (loaves of bread? cheese wheels? canned chili con carne?!?). It's like the first game was grounded, the second started to veer off into the realms of fantasy and the third has gone full clown shoes.

Oh, and the characters used to be autistic, now they're just retarded. "Gee, some thugs were in the village." "Someone's house was trashed" *hours of investigation later* "Maybe the THUGS trashed this guy's HOUSE!" WOW, NO SHIT SHERLOCK
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
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Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,236
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/3006812

Steam Release Announcement

Hello Everyone,

Yes, it is official, Shenmue III will be released on Steam this November 19th.

Game and in-game rewards codes will be available for PC version backers who manually selected the Steam opt-in through the survey during the September/October 2019 survey resend period. Applicable backers will be able to claim their codes through the “Downloads and Download Codes” section of your survey. Fangamer will send out email notices when the codes are ready a few days prior to release.

As a reminder, you can go to the Survey Resender if you need your survey resent:

Survey Support and Survey Resender


With the Steam release, we hope even more people will journey to Guilin and the world of Shenmue III again or for the first time.
---------- General Information ----------


Need your survey resent?

Please complete your survey in order to receive your rewards. Get your survey anytime here:

Survey Support and Survey Resender


Inquires


Kickstarter Campaign Inquiries

For inquiries regarding the Kickstarter Campaign, please email us at info(at)shenmue.link.

*Please replace (at) with @.


General Game Information & Retail Inquiries

For game information or inquiries regarding general sales, please see our FAQ page. For other inquiries please visit Deep Silver customer support.


PC Version System Requirements


Minimum:

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 store client to activate.


Recommended:

OS: Windows 10 (64-bit OS Required)

Processor: Intel Core i7-7700 (3.60 GHz)

Memory: 16GB RAM

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070

DirectX: Version 11

Network: Broadband internet connection

Storage: 100 GB available space

Sound card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

Additional Info: Requires store client to activate.


Fangamer and Third Party Use of Personal Information

YS NET has a written contract with Fangamer to carry out the backer surveys. Fangamer is a formal representative of YS NET to help process and fulfill all backer's orders through the surveys. Personal information is handed over and treated in accordance with the privacy policies of both companies for the purposes of conducting the surveys and reward delivery only. We thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

YS NET Privacy Policy

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Official Links

Kickstarter

Shenmue Link

S3 Facebook

S3 Twitter
 

Punch

aaaaaa
Patron
Joined
Jan 1, 2018
Messages
132
Grab the Codex by the pussy
Man Shenmue III still hurts my soul. We're not getting 4 are we.

I bought the PS4 version a bit after playing the PC version and I still haven't been assed to play it. I know 'kickstarter' and 'poor project management' goes hand to hand but I still expected more than a filler episode which has the same feeling of a paper that was done the day before it was due, story and even gameplay wise. At least the ~classique~ status of Shenmue 1 and 2 is much more clear to see with 3 actually existing in its current form, the previous games were so much more well crafted, to the point where in hindsight it might have been too unrealistic to expect the same level of consistent quality (I'm not talking about graphics or tech here!!!) in a game with a hundreth of the budget and no one to keep Yu in check
 

taxalot

I'm a spicy fellow.
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Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
9,613
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Your wallet.
Codex 2013 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
We're totally getting Shenmue 4. It's a given at this point.
 

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