In the past few years Suzuki-san has been quite active in writing the story:
“There are a total of 11 chapters that make up the whole story. Over the past 14 years I originally planned for there to 4 or five games to the series. If at all possible, I would still like to realize the full story of 11 chapters.”
He also explained what “Shenmue” means.
“It is more like a cherry blossom tree, that blooms its flowers in the springtime. It is actually a tree I made up for the story.”
Day/night cycle and weather will return in the new game:
“Of course!”
Practicing moves and the free battle system may also make a comeback:
“I want to do it yes!”
Suzuki-san isnt happy yet with the Ryos face. He also added afterwards that hes considering an option to remove the band-aid.
“I am not happy with Ryos face. It will be the face I have in my mind in the end.”
Hes also planning to improve the usability of the UI:
“As for III, I would like to make a less stressful user interface, that will feature more usability. From now on, I will make that a focus.”
At some point he considered to tell the rest of the story in a book, but of course it wasnt the ideal solution:
“Yes, I have but if I did do that, it would give away the end of the story, and I thought that would be a big minus.”
Suzuki also explained what inspired the
Shenmue series:
“When I was making Virtua Fighter, I went location hunting in China. I was very inspired by Chinese martial arts. That very well may have been the beginning.”
Hes considering to include both Japanese and English voice overs in the game:
“I am thinking about that, yes. However it is not for sure.”
Suzuki-san hopes to see the console market flourish again in Japan:
“I see the share of mobile games increasing, the budgets of games decreasing. It will be harder to express a games vision.I would hope the console and PC markets gain more popularity.”
He would like to have a bike powered by a single HP in the new game.
“There is a 60 horsepower bike in Shenmue 1. For Shenmue, 3 I was thinking about something with 1 horsepower.”
Suzuki-san explained that he has a good idea on how to do character polls without compromising his vision:
“I really want to get everyones opinion on the characters. I have something in mind that wont break the world immersion.”
Asked if there could be co-op or a multiplayer component, Suzuki-san gave an interesting answer:
“I am thinking about something that would resemble that.”
He then explained what the “character perspective system” and the “rapport system” included in the stretch goals are.
“They are new systems, so naturally they need new names. The Rapport System will govern changes in Shenhuas actions depending on your conversations with or actions towards her. The “Character Perspective System” will highlight different characters personalities as they go through the story.”
We even get some information on Choubu and Bailu village, with the mention that all the villages will be in the game even if the stretch goals arent reached, but they will get a “power up” with the stretch goals.
Choubu is a riverside village with lots of shops, souvenir stores, hotels and temples. The quests in this village should be very enjoyable, I think.
Bailu is the village where Shenhua was raised and also a place that Ryos father, Iwao, had visited when he was younger. Here as well the quests will play an important role as Ryo and Shenhua start their journey.
Suzuki-san also mentioned that there will be part-time jobs to earn money in the game.
“There will be part time jobs that will be indicative of those you would find in China. In the Stretch goals there will also be the old favorites.”
Interestingly, he then promised that at 10 million dollars in pledges the game will truly have all the features of an open world title:
“I will say this: if we reach the $5 mil mark, one of the things I really want to do with Shenmue 3 will become a reality.
At $10 million, it will truly have the features of an open world.”
Suzuki-san also explained why he set the series in the 1980s instead of the present day.
“I wanted put forward the differences in culture and values between the two periods.”
We also hear whats his favorite piece of the
Shenmue soundtrack:
“Of course I love both the Shenmue and Shenhua themes, and all of them really, but the one that really sticks with me is the Tomato Mart.”
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