I just realized that Shenmue 3 is out next month, and I'm pretty excited about it. Based on the available demo, this seems very much like the past Shenmue games of the past, but with some quality-of-life improvements. I know the Yakuza series is basically a much-improved version of Shenmue. While I do enjoy their brand of weirdness, Shenmue has its brand of oddity in design and delivery that I think is undeniably charming (especially for how much of an idiot Hazuki is). But I'm also excited for the release because I'm hoping this may spark interest with the Beast Coast to do an Endurance Run with the second chapter, or something similar, as the original Shenmue endurance run is some of the best entertainment on this site (IMO).

Anyone here also looking forward to Shenmue 3, or hoping GBE will revisit the Shenmue series in a similar fashion to an endurance run?

Here is a no-commentary playthrough of the demo if you're interested in checking out.

I like Shenmue 1 but I've only played a bit of Shenmue 2 so I'm looking to do that before S3. I know it's considered a much better game but I wish the entire series took place in Japan. That's really what I like about the 1st first game most, seeing a pretty mundane piece of Japan.

I'm a huge Shenmue fan and definitely looking forward to checking it out, i don't expect a whole lot considering the massive difference in budget and manpower between the originals and this, and early footage was questionable at best, but it's looking much better now and i'm glad it exists.
However i'm a Steam user so, i'll be avoiding it as best i can for another year.

@cikame: I think it's coming to PS4 as well if you have one.

Still waiting for that Shenmue 2 playthrough by the east coast! :)

The Shenmue ER is one of my favorite series this site has ever done, but I've never played either the first or second one. I've been meaning to pick up that remastered collection that came out a while back, and would want to finish that first since you're pretty much coming to these games for the story only.

You know I really loved those games when they came out, there wasn't anything quite like them at the time. Looking at this footage though, I'm wondering if this game is about 15 years too late lol. WIth yakuzas popularity I could see an updated version of this story and gameplay doing really well with a good team. but this really looks like the Shenmue 3 you'd expect on the dreamcast lol.

I will probably check it out though, just for nostalgia's sake

@oursin_360: There aren't a lot of games out there anymore where the animation is brick-stiff, and where the player has to hit a button to continue a conversation every time the main character says "Um." Those are wins in my book.

lol, well shenmue is definitely a trailblazer in that regard.

Shenmue 2 ER, thank you.

Yes please. The ER of 1 is one of the best things on this site. I get that it was tough for them to get through though lol.

I think 2 is a much better game in a lot of ways.

It has its dips in tedium, and the city can be confusing to navigate, but I agree. In fact, I bet they can finish it faster than the first Shenmue.

Dude been looking forward to Shenmue 3 since the day I finish 2 back in "01 Or whatever.

Yeah i'm on board, while the Yakuza series filled the void and could be considered better in many ways I'd still like to see the series reach it's conclusion. Although Yu Suzuki said it wouldnt be the end even though many parts of the saga were combined in 3. While I apreciate the honesty I'm worried the game wont sell due to tepid reviews and only the die-hard fans will buy it, which has me wondering if we'll ever see the end of the series.

@ghost_cat: I backed the Steam version, which might be a contender for a GOTY bait and switch award.

I loved 1 & 2 way back when they were new...

...buuuut...I can’t fathom more Shenmue being a good thing. Not if it plays similarly to the previous games.

I liked Shenmue II just fine, but that was sixteen years ago and everything about it I enjoyed I got out of the Yakuza games - and then some. I just don't see the relevance of Shenmue in a modern age. I'd love to be proven wrong, though.

@sparky_buzzsaw: I was going to say that Yakuza is the new Shenmue, and as much as I enjoyed those first two Shenmue games, that would be selling Yakuza short.

“and then some” is probably a pretty good way to put it.

The same could be said about Deadly Premonition 2, and there seems to be a good deal of excitement for the sequel (myself included).

@ghost_cat: Deadly Premonition, aside from the media it's based on, is still a relatively unique experience. Shenmue and Yakuza have a ton of parallels. Like I say, I'd love to be proven wrong and see Shenmue III really distinguish itself, but I don't know from the screenshots and brief clips I've seen if that's going to be the case.

I dunno, after seeing gameplay. I'm all for slow games where you explore a city and goof off (the start of Yakuza 3 was my favourite part of that game and the part that sold me on the franchise to begin with), but this one looks like it's going to have all the jank and clunk of a rushed Dreamcast game, except in 2019.

I also don't think much of the director saying he still wants to make like 5 more games to finish the story. That sentiment killed the new God of War franchise for me, and it's not helping here either.

I enjoyed the first game for the time but I do not understand why people hole this game to such a high standard. The game is very dated and just really doesn't hold up all that well, not just because it's old but just because the controls, the mechanics, the story and just a lot of the game is clunky and slow. In this day we have moved well past the type of game the first 2 games were. Unless this game is fundamentally more different than what I've seen I have little to no interest in this game.

@mrgreenman: I don't if people hold Shenmue in high regard to technical quality and innovation. I always thought that people, like myself, liked the Shenmue games kind of the same way people like certain types of bad movies (i.e., technically bad but with a certain level of charm).

I'm going to try and rent it for sure. But if i'm being honest I think this game will be bad.

I played Shenmue when ist came out on Dreamcast, and I can say I did like it back then - finished it twice. I played Shemeue 2 on Xbox but only got 1/2 of teh way through before I just stopped playing - I likely got stuck.

So, I backed the KickStarter and didn't honestly think the game woudl come out! I backed it as a "well, sure I'll give you money for this crazy idea." On the bright side, since it ist coming out, I don't have really super expectations for it. If it comes out playable and has some interesting sections I will feel rewarded enough. Yet, sure, I'm a bit exited to see what they make. I classify Shenmue 3, as I do Death Stranding - thank god stupid ideas still get made. I propose sometimes stupid stuffg has to be made. I do not mean, stupid, as in the decipetive stuff like Todd Howard, Sean Murray, Peter Molyneux, and Randy Pichford make. I mean the weirdos who actually want to make something interesting, but don't understand they are Pablo Picasso crazy.

The Yakuza games exist. I'm cool.

I'm excited at the slim prospect of getting some closure on the story eventually. Kinda gutted that it won't happen with 3 and there's no fucking way it sells well so little to no hope of getting a 4+. Really wish he'd wrap shit up after keeping people waiting sooooo bloody long (ugh that "ending" to 2...)

Yakuza is great and better in most ways but they are very different games and Yakuza has done nothing to progress Ryo's quest of revenge. I'm glad it's being made and I can't wait to play it but I don't wanna trade one non-conclusion + decades of waiting for another. Damn Yu.

Sounds like it's about as good as anybody could've possibly hoped for?

Shenmue 2 & 3 Mega Endurance Run PLEASE!

The game is a scam. They raised $7,000,000 for it. It has the quality of a game that was made on a $50,000 budget, if that. Yu Suzuki is a genius scammer. Can't wait for the Endurance Run. Excited for it? HEEEEEEEEEEEEELL no.

@yagami: I have no idea how expensive it is to develope games but the original Shenmue cost around 70 million dollars to make, obviously times have changed and they're not building an engine from scratch with this one but I doubt you could make an open world game with as much detail as Shenmue 3 for 50 grand. I agree that the character models in 3 look funky though.

I re-played Shenmue 2 recently since it was on gamepass and I could see that game driving GBE crazy, for different reasons than the first game. (the game does skip time forward whenever you're required to wait though, which is nice) Theres some shitty padding in the second half of the game which I completely forgot about, thankfully it is easier to deal with in the remaster thanks to save scumming but it's still quite rough. The first half of the game is pretty good though, better than the beginning to the original game, which i'm not sure is a very high bar.

@boozak: I have fond memories of the climactic fight in Shenmue 2 and the epilogue segment with Shenhua afterwards. Seeing that Shenmue 3 picks up right from there is pretty neat, though I'm still on the fence about buying it.

Shenmue III is absolutely ridiculous and exactly what I would have expected if it had come out in 2003. The dialog and acting are so incredibly awkward and bad, there is almost no way that it wasn’t intentionality made this way. It is truly a cursed thing to behold.

@fram: I enjoyed that too, it's a lot of the busy work in Kowloon leading up to it which is very tedious. One of the things I hope they get rid of in Shenmue 3 is the dial-a-qte bits which I always found awkward. To be clear i'm fine with the regular quicktime events.

I'll get Shenmue 3 eventually but it does look like a budget game by todays standards so I dont feel like paying full price for it.

@octaslash: I think it's fair and easy to see the stiffness and corny nature of Shenmue to be bad, but I find those things as uniquely charming and a huge plus. I don't have a console or PC to play it, but I can't wait to play it when I do have one.

Question, which i'm posting here because i'm not sure where i'd send it for the developers/publishers.
I backed the Steam version of the game which doesn't exist for another year, and as a stubborn consumer i refuse to use the Epic code they sent me. They'll be sending Steam codes in a year's time so do you reckon there's any issue in giving my Epic code to a friend? I don't see that there would be any problem doing that, do you?

I only played the original on Dreamcast back in the day and while I have some nostalgic feelings for it I never really was a major fan. It was just a novel and exotic game from a design point of view and it was unique enough that it stood out from anything else I had played at the time. Maybe I will finally play the second one and this at some point in the future but right now I can't really say I am hyped for it.

@fauxical: Yeah, I don't imagine a good chunk of people getting hyped for the game. Shenmue 3 seems to be made purely for the fans who still love Shenmue and all of its stilted goofiness.

The fact that this game actually came out does give some credence to the gag in Yakuza 0 about Yu Suzuki being a cult leader.