Kazza
Member
IGN Japan’s Esra Krabbe has kindly provided a summary of his interview with Yu Suzuki from their livestream at this year’s Tokyo Games Show event. Whilst it’s possible we might have a full translation of the livestream in the future, here are the key points from the man himself:
Courtesy of the Shenme Dojo.
- The arcade machines you bring into the harbour with the forklift are Sega's Astro City machines, which really existed in the past. However, the games themselves are new original games
- The arcade games won't just be games like whack a mole or QTE Title but there are some actual video games in there as well.
- Arcades in Shenmue are called “High-Tech Land”, an homage to Sega because their arcades were called like that in Japan in the old days and some still are to this day.
- In regards the telephone conversations Ryo can make, non-backers can make calls too, but backers get more variations. You can buy a telephone card for 5 yuan, and will be fully voiced with flashbacks playing from those characters while playing.
- Takahiro Sakurai will reprise his role as the voice of Lan-Di (and Goro!) for the Japanese version of the release.
- You can buy and drink juices from vending machines just as you could in the old games, however there will be no lifting or drinking animation.
- Yu Suzuki thinks there are over 1500 items within the game.
- You can examine each object that you have in your inventory, just as you could do in the old games, but you cannot zoom in.
- There will be DLC in the future, and they will offer the player new rewards such as costumes etc.
Yu Suzuki mentioned 3 DLC he is preparing: one action-oriented, one story DLC, and one that is “like a casino”. - There will be fishing tournaments, with prizes such as t-shirts with the face of the fishing shop owner on it.
- There's also a stamp paper for fishing and you can get new stamps by fishing new fish at different locations, and there are many different types of fishing rods you can obtain/purchase. Some can be cheap, but others can be expensive, such as a “carbon rod”.
- The small character we have seen in previous Kickstarter Updates, as well as on the phone card is called “Choubu-chan”, and there is one of these characters hidden in each of the 140+ stores in Niaowu. If you find one, you get an original card from the store, offering a collection of over 140 cards to obtain. The Choubu-can will sometimes be difficult to find, changing in size, colour etc.
- Around 50% of the stores and shops will have items you can purchase, with prices varying on items as time goes on.
- Shenmue 3 has a very long script, of which a huge part consists of conversations with Shenhua. Talking with Shenhua can lead to some funny situations, for example, Ryo saying something inappropriate. Just like in Shenmue II, there will be many multiple-choice questions for the player to ask Shenhua, or answer questions from her. Depending on all of the choices you make, your relationship with Shenhua will evolve in different ways. To hear every conversation, you would probably need to play the game 20-30 times.
- The different outcomes of conversations with Shenhua are not big, but small differences so it won't affect the main story in any big way or anything. Yu Suzuki just wants you to enjoy the small differences.
- He names the lady from the guest house as his favourite NPC, saying that she's very rough and careless, but actually has a nice heart.
- Older characters were easier to make look realistic compared to younger people with better skin. He also says that he's added more beautiful women and kids in this game because Shenmue was always called a game with only old people.
- Shenmue III will have its own “Magic Weather” with rain that affects Ryo's jacket, puddles that reflect the sunlight, you can see footprints on the ground, rain dripping from stones and roofs etc. The moon is also a physical object in the game that changes its shape in real time.
- Ryo sleeps at Shenhua's house while staying in Bailu Village, in Shenhua’s father's room. Her house has been faithfully recreated to what it was like in Shenmue II, while tweaking some parts to make it more interesting.
- In Shenmue 3, Ryo gets send back to Shenhua’s house or the Niaowu at 9PM. He can enjoy conversations with Shenhua until around 11.
- A seasoned Shenmue fan would perhaps have the best fighting experience whilst playing the game on “hard” mode, and difficulty settings will not affect the story. However, the difficulty setting a player selects, will affect not just battles, but also how easy or hard it is to obtain money in game.
- The battle system is centralised around obtaining new moves scrolls. Yu Suzuki believes that the battle system matches the story telling better.
- Besides training, Yu Suzuki thinks that fights are more common in Shenmue 3 than the previous two titles as the story is “more dense”. However, no random encounters or whatsoever.
- As for the locations, Yu Suzuki originally planned to make Bailu a rather closed area, but it has become much bigger than he originally planned, and so has Niaowu. He believes that together they are bigger than Shenmue 2.
- QTE works basically the same, but new variations have created for different situations, and timing isn’t as severe as before. Depending on how many times you fail, it gets easier as well.
- Tomato Convenience store is back, with the same nostalgic music, although you won’t be able to hear it outside near the store this time. As an example of what they sell, Yu Suzuki mentions a travel magazine called the “Niaowu Walker”.
- The Mysterious scroll from the original game is still in Ryo’s inventory, but Yu Suzuki says that players won’t find out it’s meaning in Shenmue 3.
Courtesy of the Shenme Dojo.
