Shenmue 3 Forklift-All

Get ready to be irrationally assaulted by your colleagues on your dinner break at your simple forklift driving job again, as Shenmue 3 is finally (touch wood) happening! The kickstarter is here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3?ref=category

It has already met the $2m target goal in less than 12 hours and is now aiming towards $4m. Have we got any backers? Come one, which 3 of you on here have given $10k to have dinner with Yu Suzuki?

Shenmue 1 is probably in my 3 favourite games of all time, with Shenmue 2 also being up there (although I preferred the setting in Japan.) I know a lot of people are a bit miffed at why Sony are going about announcing it on their stage when it's a Kickstarter, but who cares! We're finally getting Shenmue 3! I'm really hoping there is a re-release of the original 2 to get a bit more interest going in the games, as it's really make or break now for this amazing series.

Squeeee!

I still have my VMU save from the Dreamcast versions. I'll be able to import it, right?

Original voice actor.

These are probably the worst games that I've loved this much.

I know this series gets a lot of crap, but the original Shenmue is one of my favorite games ever. I know it's flawed. I know the English voice acting is largely laughably bad to terrible. I know the control scheme really makes no sense. I remember mostly holding down the left trigger and using the D-Pad to control Ryo like a tank.

All that said, I still love the series, and was really excited to see it show up at Sony's press conference, even if it is a Kickstarter. I actually don't mind Sony's approach for this. It's a series that's been quiet for almost 15 years, and it's a love it or hate it game. Obviously Shenmue 3 had more funding than the 2 million Kickstarter goal, but it was a good way to test interest for the game. Thankfully I'm not the only one excited, as it was funded in about 9 hours. I backed the project too.

Shenmue 1 is my favorite so far. I loved exploring Ryo's home town in Japan. I know open worlds are common today, but back then, Shenmue's interactivity blew my mind. I probably played through the first game 3 times the first year it was out, just trying to find everything.

Shenmue 2 was good, and I'm glad we got the English dub on Xbox. I didn't mind the first area, but really didn't care for the huge tower area for the second half of the game as much.

I also am seriously hoping the developers can get the rights to, or have Sega release a Shenmue 1 and 2 collection for PC prior to Shenmue 3's release. I really want to play the first game again, but haven't dug my Dreamcast out of the closet yet. It would be a great way to catch new players up with the story too.

Shenmue 3 is finally coming, eventually!!!

BGFH wrote:

I know this series gets a lot of crap, but the original Shenmue is one of my favorite games ever. I know it's flawed. I know the English voice acting is largely laughably bad to terrible. I know the control scheme really makes no sense. I remember mostly holding down the left trigger and using the D-Pad to control Ryo like a tank.

All that said, I still love the series, and was really excited to see it show up at Sony's press conference, even if it is a Kickstarter. I actually don't mind Sony's approach for this. It's a series that's been quiet for almost 15 years, and it's a love it or hate it game. Obviously Shenmue 3 had more funding than the 2 million Kickstarter goal, but it was a good way to test interest for the game. Thankfully I'm not the only one excited, as it was funded in about 9 hours. I backed the project too.

Shenmue 1 is my favorite so far. I loved exploring Ryo's home town in Japan. I know open worlds are common today, but back then, Shenmue's interactivity blew my mind. I probably played through the first game 3 times the first year it was out, just trying to find everything.

Shenmue 2 was good, and I'm glad we got the English dub on Xbox. I didn't mind the first area, but really didn't care for the huge tower area for the second half of the game as much.

I also am seriously hoping the developers can get the rights to, or have Sega release a Shenmue 1 and 2 collection for PC prior to Shenmue 3's release. I really want to play the first game again, but haven't dug my Dreamcast out of the closet yet. It would be a great way to catch new players up with the story too.

Shenmue 3 is finally coming, eventually!!!

I'd like a HD package of 1 & 2, and surely there will be some talk of it due to the popularity of the Kickstarter, although I wonder if they're able to get it out well in advance of 3.

I actually got the import of Shenmue 2 for DC just because I wanted the Japanese voice actors.

Extra shame:

Spoiler:

I wound up with 2 copies because I was so nervous I was going to lose the first auction I bid on another.

Shenmue is awesome in a "why am I still playing this and having fun?" sort of way.

Gotta say…. I've owned Shenmue since it was originally released, but only last year did I fire up my Dreamcast and finish it. After the in your face hand-holdiness of modern games, I fell completely in love with it. Keeping in mind what it was trying to do in the time period it was trying to do it, most of it's idiosyncrasies didn't bother me one bit.

*Legion* wrote:

Shenmue is awesome in a "why am I still playing this and having fun?" sort of way.

Exactly. I absolutely loved this game, all of it, and have no idea why. Including the forklift portion and the searching for sailors part. When I explain it to people it just sounds ridiculous.

Warriorpoet897 wrote:

Gotta say…. I've owned Shenmue since it was originally released, but only last year did I fire up my Dreamcast and finish it. After the in your face hand-holdiness of modern games, I fell completely in love with it. Keeping in mind what it was trying to do in the time period it was trying to do it, most of it's idiosyncrasies didn't bother me one bit.

Wow, I was pretty sure you were going to say it's terrible. Always figured this was one of those games that in no way held up. I've stayed away from it since beating it when it came out.

Looking forward to Shenmue 3 and happy it's coming to PC.

I've finally put in my pledge, went for the $60 PS4 physical copy, so that'll be a nice surprise in 2 or 3 years when it comes!

Anyone else who has backed the game getting a little sick of the constant updates? Every day I'm getting 2 or 3 emails telling me "you can spend $2000 if you want some more stuff".

Yeah, I'm kind of annoyed by it. I just got two updates within like an hour of each other. I just ended up turning off the notifications for it. I can check in on the project directly from Kickstarter.

Just pretend it's part of the game. At least he's not constantly texting you about sailors and sailor-related paraphernalia he's been finding.

I'll take the double-double-double-double.

IMAGE(https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRooezJPZ8dNj8dkdSM39sWNQS5vqHdkcglDEyXHnSTpEPuSeMx)

Clusks wrote:

Anyone else who has backed the game getting a little sick of the constant updates? Every day I'm getting 2 or 3 emails telling me "you can spend $2000 if you want some more stuff".

I unsubscribed after the first day.

Been trying to play through Shenmue 2 on Dreamcast for the first time (Barely made it through the first game last month, but finished it with only a bit of occasional stress). I really appreciate that this game has reminded me what it truly means to hate a game from the bottom of my heart. I probably haven't been truly angry at a video game in about 8-10 years. I am in constant rage every second I play I interact with it, I literally hate almost every aspect of it. That said, I already kickstarted 3, so I'll be damned if I don't finish it!

Has anyone else played these recently? Curious if this franchise is pure nostalgia, or if folks think they still hold up? I also openly admit that I effing suck at it. I think I only got by in 1 because I got to practice my moves so often. It was repetitive, but I did get good at it. Removing that aspect in 2 leaves me to get the stuffing kicked out of me in just about every fight. Also, the library books? Why Yu, why?!

I remember playing Shenmue 2 on the Xbox years after the Dreamcast & hated the opening. It felt like there were invisible walls everywhere around the docks & markets. The first one felt fresh & exciting, I wouldn't go back just incase it tainted my memories of it.

I found 2 to be a step back but I don't remembering it being that bad. It's been a while since I've played them but I can definitely seei the shenmue games falling into the 'doesn't hold up' category. A lot ground breaking stuff but I'm sure it's all been better done by more recent games.

I've actually completed Shenmue 2 twice. I've only completed the first one once, even though I think it's much the better game. I think it had something to do with the fact I sold Shenmue 1 to fund a purchase of Shenmue 2 (but I've since bought Shenmue 1 from eBay which I did after getting my first full-time job, guess I was just a bit too excited at seeing all that money roll in.)

After watching Funhaus play it recently though, I think the tank controls would be too frustrating. It's a shame how many games age badly.

I made it all the way through Shenmue and 1/3 through Shenmue 2 before eventually discovering the menu save option. That has single handedly turned this into a positive experience. Let it be known there is a king of duck racing, he who holds the big gold medal, and he walks among you.

Now if only I could pawn the medal and get all the money back.

I loved both Shenmues, though I admit 1 was better than 2. Shenmue 1 is probably in my top 10 or 20 favorite games of all-time. It's a game that was so different from everything out there at the time that I put it up there with Civilization, Star Control 2, Ultima IV, XCom, and so on as being a wonderful experience. That said, I probably played them 15 years ago, so who knows how well they've aged. Chances of my playing Shenmue 3 eventually are very high.

I knew I made a thread for Shenmue 3!

Looks like the game is coming out August 2019. In the mean time, Shenmue 1 and 2 have been re-released, is anyone else picking them up? Reviews suggest that theyve been made well enough so you won’t have to drag yourself through them on nostalgia alone.

Clusks wrote:

In the mean time, Shenmue 1 and 2 have been re-released, is anyone else picking them up?

Absolutely once they are discounted during a Steam sale. At $20 I'll pull the trigger.

Not being capped at 30fps would have made me more willing to pay the full price.

I picked them up. Camera is still bad by modern standards but the load times are significantly improved. Shenmue's recreation of a Japanese town is still one of my favorite settings in gaming. I haven't found any sailors yet though.

Did I just imagine this, or did they say that the controls would be improved for the remastered? Ryo still seems to control horribly; having to line yourself up to get up steps is still frustrating. It’s been years since I played the originals, but did they have even worse controls?

I think all they did was make it controllable by M+K and added the second thumbstick for looking (which is horribly implemented and I stopped using almost immediately). Ryu is still a tank.

This is more a GOG version of Shenmue than a real remaster, though there have certainly been worse rereleases.

They did mention improved controls somewhere along the line but that isn't the case. They are pretty close to the original's. It's definitely not a remaster but just a rerelease.

If you are playing the PC version there are some graphical mods available already.

I’m getting quite a few cutscene errors where the camera gets stuck in the scenery. I’d also totally for that

Spoiler:

Gollum is in this game...

He's a precious element of the story! I haven't seen the cutscene errors but I'm in S1.

Speaking of which -- if you're a purist like me there are already mods to put the coke machines back to their original Japanese branding rather than the generic overseas versions.

Shenmue 3 was announced as an Epic Games Store exclusive at the E3 PC gaming show. Did anyone back the game on PC?

Clusks wrote:

Shenmue 3 was announced as an Epic Games Store exclusive at the E3 PC gaming show. Did anyone back the game on PC?

I backed it, although I wasn’t really decided on a platform yet.

I think it’s pretty funny how mad people get any time something becomes an Epic exclusive though, like it’s some kind of life-altering hardship to use a different launcher occasionally.

It’s easily worth the trade-off to me for smaller games to get some financial ease, and for Steam to feel a little competitive squeeze.