Corey Marshall, the voice of Shenmue protagonist Ryo Hazuki, is returning for the recently announced third entry in the series.

"The support for Mr. Marshall to reprise his role as Ryo has been just overwhelming," developer Ys Net said on the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter page.

The developer has also announced backers that pledge $1,000 to the project can request a custom message from Ryo.

"Corey is as excited for Shenmue's return as we all are, and to help out, he has magnanimously offered his voice for a special reward," Ys says. "Do not miss this opportunity to get a very special message from Ryo himself. Maybe one those classic Ryo one-liners?"

Shenmue 3 was announced during Sony's E3 2015 press conference, when Yu Suzuki appeared on stage beside PlayStation's Adam Boyes to launch the Kickstarter for the return of the Dreamcast classic.

Development is being handled by Ys Net, a studio founded by Suzuki in 2008. Assistance is being provided by Shibuya Productions, a Monaco-based company that produces and promotes animation, games and movies.

Sony is also attached to the project, but the full extent of its involvement is unknown. Suzuki has reassured backers crowdsourced "funds are going strictly to Ys Net for development of Shenmue 3," and Sony isn't seeing any of it.

According to Suzuki, the game will be a "full-on Shenmue experience." He initially asked for $2 million in funding to start work on the project, but the project reached its funding goal within a few hours.

Suzuki has now switched his attention to promoting backer rewards, which allow him and his team to expand the scope of the game. At the time of writing it has raised more than $3,700,000, with 16 days to go.

Take a look at some of the artwork for the game in the gallery below.