

Its literally been 14 years since Shenmue 2 made its debut and left many unanswered questions. Over the years the Shenmue fanbase has grown since more and more people have gotten a chance to try the franchise, it has reached some level of mysticism. Having this rabid fanbase, all with individual reasons as to why they like the Shenmue franchise waiting for the next evolutionary step can be daunting to a development team.

Can Ys NET and Yu Suzuki make a game that will live up to the hype? That’s this topic on this week’s Round Table.

Aki-At says:

This is an interesting question and not something I think can be answered so easily. We first have to remember what Shenmue was, it was a breakthrough in open world game design, there literally was nothing like it before it was released. Then we have the condition of the developer, AM2, who at the time was one of the most technically impressive developers in the industry. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Shenmue was the first true AAA game to be developed, costs were spiraling out of control as SEGA spared no expense on Suzuki’s masterpiece. Finally, above all else, Yu Suzuki was undeniably in his prime, just reached his 40’s with a string of hits dating back to the 1980s, he was (PUN INTENDED) at the top of his game. Looking at it like this, it’s hard to see IF Shenmue 3 is going to live up to the hype, especially with so much time that has gone past from then to now.

But then we have to keep in mind the advancements in open world hasn’t expanded on what Shenmue itself was. The challenge is not bigger is better, the challenge is having a small contained world that is living, breathing and you feel every character isn’t just an expendable NPC but their own unique character. Even though we’ve seen many advancements from the original Shenmue, it’s been mostly superficial for open world games. More cars, larger maps, more minigames but nothing to the extent of personality we saw in Shenmue (At least from the open world titles I’ve played.) this is something I feel Shenmue 3 will have to it’s advantage. Unlike in the past where the tech was needed to be developed beforehand, thanks to Unreal Engine 4 usability, Suzuki will find the tools he needs to develop a sequel already there, now it’s all about planning out the design work and programming the game logic.

It’s a tough one to answer, because there are so many variables, does Yu Suzuki still have the IT factor within himself, he hasn’t made a proper game in over half a decade. Will he bring together a team of the same capabilities as SEGA AM2? Just how much can he truly create within any further funding (It’s going to be tough to stick to budget after all) and is the Shenmue 3 Suzuki developing the same as the one everyone envisioned? But… despite all these shortcomings I feel if there is any single developer in the industry who can break expectations and regroup talented ex-AM2 developers it would be none other than Yu Suzuki. I’m firmly throwing my hat down and saying that Shenmue 3 will meet the hype and expectations of it’s fans.

nuckles87 says:

There is no way Shenmue 3 can live up to the hype. I’m not saying it’s going to be a bad game, but when a game like Shenmue achieves such a legendary status, it can be difficult for future games to live up to that status, especially when the original games haven’t aged especially well and the new one isn’t being given the sort of massive budget it will need to keep up with the best of today’s open world games.

Let’s be honest here: had the Shenmue 3 pitch video not bared the brand name “Shenmue 3” it never would have been funded to begin with. The stuff on display within it was awkward, ugly, and clearly from a stage in development few people outside of the games industry ever see.

For Shenmue 3, I am personally keeping my expectations modest: a good open world adventure game, with a few interesting ideas, and decent production values that continues a story I’ve wanted to see concluded for more than 13 years. I didn’t fund Shenmue 3 because I expect an amazing, groundbreaking open world game that does for today’s games what the first game did. Unfortunately, I suspect many others, with their nostalgia goggles firmly affixed to their faces, will expect just that.

George says:



This is a hard question to answer but I think Yu Suzuki and his Ys NET staff members will have a hard time trying to live up to the hype that Shenmue has set over the past decade since Shenmue 2 was release.

First you got to understand the amount to press and advertisement hype that Shenmue had before its release. Shenmue was probably one of the biggest hyped titles in SEGA history since the triumphant debut of Sonic the Hedgehog. SEGA tried to put a lot of money to promote Yu Suzuki’s name and convince mainstream gamers that Shenmue was the next evolution in video gaming and it really was. The game offered an organic feeling world (back in the early 2000’s) that wasn’t done until Yu Suzuki and SEGA AM2 had the grand vision for it. That’s the issue though, Shenmue had a lot of hype due to what it offered during the early 2000’s, will people be let down if Shenmue 3 doesn’t evolve the Shenmue formula far enough? It is 2015, after all…

I think we also have to consider the development team behind Shenmue was literally one of SEGA’s best teams in their history. Prior to releasing Shenmue they had 15 years of experience delivering some of the best arcade games ever released. This including the racing, fighting, rail shooters, and plenty of other genres. The massive amounts of hits they had under their belt in 15 years was ridiculous. Sure, the Shenmue 3 KickStarter announced that a handful of lead developers will be joining Ys Net in developing the 3rd entry. The issue here is that most of the development team will be new people, hired with the funding from Kickstarter and not a team that had been working for over a decade on hit after hit. For example: YS Net has officially only developed Shenmue City, which was taken offline a year after release. Not the best track record compared to what SEGA-AM2 accomplished prior to announcing the Shenmue franchise.

The last thing that worries me is that while its nice to have $6.3 million dollars for development, sadly its a far cry from SEGA’s ‘blank check’ that was put toward this project, not even close to the $40-60 million dollars rumored that SEGA spent on the franchise (without counting Shenmue Online/City). Not to mention that development has only gotten more expensive as time has gone by, having many games breaking SEGA’s ‘Most expensive game ever made’ record.

So I think that Yu Suzuki and his team will have a hard time living up to the hype that they set for themselves. But if anyone can actually overcome it, its Yu Suzuki. Good or bad, I can’t wait to finally play Shenmue 3.

Barry the Nomad says: