WE DID IT.

WE DESERVE THIS.

YU DESERVES THIS.

This is a translation of an article that was published in the September 2001 edition of the Dorimaga magazine. In it, Yu Suzuki and some of the Japanese voice actors talk about the completion of Shenmue II (released for the Dreamcast in Japan during the month this article was published) including some of the content that had to be cut from the release, and reflect back on their experiences over the previous 5 years they spent on the Shenmue project.

Part of this article (about Chapter 2) was translated by Kiyuu and discussed back in 2003. Also a short manga version of the Chapter 2 boat scenario is included as unlockable content on the Xbox version of Shenmue II.

http://i.imgur.com/FoGm3IDt.png

Special Interview: Looking Back on Shenmue

http://i.imgur.com/PAaSTUg.png

Yu Suzuki – Executive Producer
Masaya Matsukaze – Japanese voice & motion actor for Ryo
Hazuki Ishigaki – Japanese voice & motion actress for Shenhua
Takumi Hagiwara – Japanese voice & motion actor for Ren

Compared to the previous episode, “Chapter One - Yokosuka”, the townsfolk of Shenmue II seem friendlier. The game gives the impression that it has been made to address some of the areas that had room for improvement in the first game, as if to acknowledge that some may find it off-putting if everyone were to give you the cold shoulder like in Shenmue I. Some people may already have completed Shenmue II in its entirety, but this interview covers a range of topics, including things that people who have finished the game will also want to hear about.

TV Commercials

Q: The first topic is about the commercials for Shenmue II that are currently being shown on TV.

Shenmue II Commercial #1: "Pork"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cdJMDayC4o Shenmue II Commercial #2: "Kung Fu"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVGozf4zCRs Shenmue II Commercial #3: "Beautiful Woman"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jv1cgLsQAk
Suzuki: To film those TV commercials we went over to Shanghai, although in the near future we plan to show commercials that will feature actual screens from the game. I think showing some of the gameplay will help attract ordinary members of the public to the game.

Matsukaze: You know, Hagiwara-san and I actually appear in one of those commercials, but probably no one’s noticed. (laughs) And we're really acting, too!

http://i.imgur.com/WV2O5Qr.png
Left & bottom-right: the set of the Hong Kong street at the Shanghai Film Park. The first photo was actually taken by Yu Suzuki. In the “Beautiful Woman” version of the commercial, look for Masaya Matsukaze (Ryo), and Takumi Hagiwara (Ren), showing their “real acting" (!) in the background.
Top-right: two giant pig carcasses containing a machine gun were chopped up on location. The set crew took the innards home for dinner.



Hagiwara: Right. People who have played Shenmue II are sure to recognize that we’re acting the bit where we lie in wait for Yuan. There are several different episode variations of the commercial, and they’re fun to watch. In the one with the old man, he was pretty shaky on his feet, so we had to film using a high-speed camera to make it look as though he was standing steadily. Gee, that old man was wobbling all over the place. (laughs)


Release of Shenmue II

Q: With Shenmue II going on sale soon, how do you all feel about that? You've been involved with Shenmue for a really long period of time.

Suzuki: We’ve been through a lot to get here, but for me I think the main thing is to have created something that will be loved by the people who play the game. Recently that’s all I’ve been thinking about. So I’m extremely keen to hear everyone’s comments. Right now it’s the only thing on my mind. (laughs)

Matsukaze: For me, I started my “countdown” about a month ago. It hasn’t felt that long, but I’ve been willing it to get here faster. (laughs)

Suzuki: I think the way the game has been put together is pretty unusual these days. For example, the shop interiors have been created down to the last inch. I don’t think any other game pays such ridiculous attention to detail. “Shenmue: The Movie”, which is playing right now, has that same flavor.

Q: It really has been a long project, hasn’t it. The voice actors have also been involved for ages; how long has it been?

Matsukaze: I’ve been playing the role of Ryo since the days of the Saturn. All up, I’ve been acting the part for just over 5 years.

http://i.imgur.com/LRomR4A.png
Matsukaze has been playing as Ryo for over 5 years.

Q: Did those 5 years feel long?

Hagiwara: It felt long! For one thing, an enormous amount of time was spent on filming, but it also took a long time for it to be incorporated into the actual game. We captured an endless amount of motion footage, and even after the voice recordings had been done, the creation of the game still had to be done. It seemed like the release day would never be reached.

Suzuki: Well, the software implementation side was tough too! After writing the software there was a huge checklist to be run through – I wish I had it here to show everyone! (laughs) There was a line chart that showed the number of check items decreasing; there were more than 10,000 items to check and it seemed endless.

Q: By the way, how many times larger is Shenmue II compared to Shenmue I?

Suzuki: I don’t know exactly, but I'd say easily 3 or 4 times the size of Shenmue I. But a lot of scenes got left out, because right as we neared the end of development I added a whole lot of extra content. Even using the best compression techniques of the time, there was too much for it all to fit. Even so, at the end we increased the content by about an extra 30% of the total game, for the area of Guilin where Shenhua appears.

Matsukaze: I heard a lot about that near the end of the development. People were saying that too much had been made and it wouldn’t all fit in.


The Cutting Room Floor

Q: I’ve heard that there was going to be a “Chapter 2 – The Boat” between Shenmue I and Shenmue II, but Shenmue II starts with Ryo disembarking from the boat, doesn’t it. And the mother of a little girl makes reference to something about that. (laughs)

Suzuki: That’s right. “Chapter 2 – The Boat” from the original scenario was dropped completely.

Matsukaze: Oh yeah, the boat! Actually Chai shows up there. It turns out that Chai survives being cast into Yokosuka harbor, and he shows up on the boat where Ryo fights against this unseen enemy. That was how the scenario was going to run.

Q: Were the scenes filmed?

Matsukaze: Yes, they were. They were filmed in a really over-the-top style. (laughs) Several of the people involved in the story on the boat were to then appear again in a later scenario. They would say something along the lines of “Oh, it’s you from that time on the boat...”, connecting the plot together. That was the plan for the scenario.

Suzuki: The confrontation with Chai would have made a nice situation. We had completed the designs for the boat interior, with everything detailed - from the escape routes and deck heights to the length of the handrails. The plan was that it would develop into a large-scale action scene.

Matsukaze: We completed filming of all the motion capture too. It started with opening the cabin door, and events developed spectacularly from there.

Q: So as you were working on making Shenmue II, you reluctantly had to cut it?

Suzuki: Well, it didn’t trouble me too much. I was like “It’s impossible, it won’t fit – cut it!”. (laughs)

Q: I’m guessing that there were a lot of other scenes cut from the final version, and motion capture that wasn’t included? In particular, I think Ren’s movements are really well done and I was impressed; but I kind of wish we could see more of them.

Hagiwara: Well, if the motion capture was kept for all the detailed actions, it would make a huge amount. We shot a ton of fight scenes as well. Quite a lot has been cut.

http://i.imgur.com/ppqn5We.png
On asking Yu Suzuki, “What happened to Niao Sun, who was shown at the premiere?”, he replies “I haven’t been able to use her yet, since she appears later in terms of the scenarios.” Masaya Matsukaze, who plays Ryo, hints at things to come: “When it’s time for Niao Sun to make an appearance in Shenmue, the story will have reached an amazing point!”


Q: Which was more difficult to carry out: dubbing voices to the actions, or the motion capture?

Suzuki: Firstly, these weren’t carried out by different people – the actor’s own acting is the source of the motion capture. Also, when an opponent is hit in the game he cries out; so by actually hitting him, his cry will be the cry of someone who has really been hit. (laughs) It may sound like tough work, but I think it was the perfect set-up.

There was a lot of trial and error at the beginning, but by the time we got to Shenmue II, at last we had found ways to manage things more efficiently.

Q: By the way, Shenmue is your first RPG-style game, isn’t it. Would it be correct to say that one of the main factors that sparked you to develop it is one that is commonly cited, namely the arrival of Final Fantasy VII during the era of the Saturn and PlayStation?

Suzuki: To be honest, part of it was because I found myself in a position of having “no place to go next”. The reason that the Sega Saturn lost popularity wasn't because it was beaten in terms of Sega vs Sony software titles, but because of a completely separate shift in power. And around that time I definitely had a kind of feeling of not having a place to go. As well as that, up until now I had been competing in the 3-minute world of arcade games, and I had been wanting to try my hand at creating something without such a time limit. So you can say that these two points are why I decided to move from arcades to try my hand on the home console.

http://i.imgur.com/9JQjld9.png
“At first Shenhua wears plain clothing, but I planned to have her wear various different clothes later on” says Suzuki. “I’m looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds” comments Hazuki Ishigaki, who plays the role of Shenhua.



Looking Back

Q: And so, now that at last Shenmue II has been completed, how do you feel now looking back on it? After the Shenmue Premiere event (December 20, 1998), I guess that the plan was to release it within a year, but it has turned out to have taken right up until now... Is that somewhere near the mark?

Suzuki: It’s true that it didn’t turn out quite as I had initially planned. As more people became involved things grew more and more complicated, not just by a factor of a few times, but exponentially. And with everyone being a developer, if the person next to them developed something impressive, then they would feel compelled to outdo it. This resulted in a kind of chain reaction where everyone would strive to improve their output quality. But it’s hard for me to tell people not to increase quality! It was really challenging to find the right balance.

However there is one thing I think turned out well. In some ways Shenmue shares similarities with fighting-based games, but in the last half of the game in Guilin, where Shenhua appears, there’s no fighting at all. So I feel that I’ve been able to bring out the true Shenmue spirit there.

With Shenmue the graphics are all generated in real time, and ordinarily an attempt to make a game like this would be abandoned in frustration. (laughs) Game developers simply don’t go to the extremes we did. To tell you the truth, I don’t think we could go through it all again.

The Future

Q: So you won’t be making another Shenmue?

Suzuki: The first thing I want to do is take some vacation (laughs), and the staff too. I don’t think we could put ourselves through such tough times again as we did with Chapter One. However, even so, I’ve now learned a lot about how to make this type of game and so I’m confident that we’ll be able to make the next one more efficiently and with less of a burden. We’ll be able to make a similar kind of game, and it’s something I want to do. But... I feel like taking a bit of a break first. (laughs)

Q: Hypothetically speaking, if there was the possibility again in the future, what would be your choice of hardware? Ah, before asking that - is there any potential for a port?

Suzuki: Porting Shenmue I and II across to other hardware wouldn’t be impossible, but due to the sheer size it would materially be a tough job to take on. The easiest and most likely option would be the PC, in a year or two. That’s because the PC has, in a sense, the ability to handle anything and has few constraints.

Q: What thoughts do you actors have about that?

Hagiwara: I’m already raring to go! (laughs) Bring it on!

http://i.imgur.com/CrmKdVM.png
We really hope to see more acting from Takumi Hagiwara, who plays Ren. “Just say the word and I definitely will!” he says.


Q: I would have liked to have seen Ren take part in more scenes, to be honest!

Hagiwara: I know, right? There are still heaps of interesting stories connected to the scenarios made so far. Things like “Why is Ren present?” and “Why did Shenhua make an appearance?” It all gets explained later on.

Ishigaki: My wish for a port is that it starts properly from the very first disk of the series (laughs).

Matsukaze: Yeah, I agree.

Q: Yu-san, going back to the point you mentioned about the feeling you had of “nowhere to go”, have you satisfied this to some extent for the future?

Suzuki: In a way... not completely though. Conversely, now things have turned into a kind of hardware war, so it has become kind of pointless, right? Life is full of variety, for better or worse. But for me, the creation process is enjoyable, and therefore I want to create a product that people will enjoy. I think that’s been the lesson I’ve learned.

Matsukaze: A lot of female characters appear in Shenmue II, but actually people like Fangmei have some really detailed parameters associated with them such as her level of intimacy. And to reflect these parameters, her spoken lines were all recorded with various tones of voice! I hope everyone can appreciate the amazing attention to detail that fills every corner of the game.

Suzuki: For me, I don’t consider that “Shenmue” came to an end with the demise of the Dreamcast. I have an emotional attachment to the game. And so, I hope to meet up with you all again one day.

Matsukaze: Let’s meet next time for “Shenmue Returns”. (laughs)

Hagiwara: Absolutely. I hope we can.

http://i.imgur.com/Xn9zNAj.png
Matsukaze, Ishigaki, Suzuki and Hagiwara. For now, the long long project that was Shenmue has come to an end. Will we meet everyone again in the next episode? Or perhaps in a different project... if one is in the works? We’ll be watching for the next release from Yu Suzuki!

Despite losing her parents, Fangmei lives life with joy and thinks of its pure possibilities. Ryo, however, has become hellbent on revenge and has distanced himself from everyone he has ever loved.

I thought she was hiding the fact she's sad according to this video around 4:10:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3xg4ylJ8k0

Unless this fortune teller is so crazy she's lying about Fangmei.

Hiding the fact you're sad and acting on that sadness to go on a journey of murder and revenge are two different things.

Fangmei has plenty of friends and support. I think the fortune teller lies due to jealousy. In no way was Fangmei ever a burden.

Also, the fact Fangmei hides her sadness is still ultimately a foil to Ryo, who doesn't know what to do with his sadness. The entire point, I feel, is to show how many characters react to sadness and loneliness to contrast with Ryo and the many paths he can take. Ine-san deals with her depression by cleaning all day and making sure the Hazuki residence operates as Iwao wished it. Fuku deals with his depression by funneling his sadness into his martial arts and practicing everyday to be the student Iwao wished him to be. Fangmei lost her parents and was placed in an orphanage. She honors the caretaker that adopted her every day by showing her gratitude to her temple and her faith. Wong and Ren are also orphans; both turned to crime to deal with their lack of needs. Xiuying not only had her parents murdered, but she lost her brother as he was driven to revenge. Instead of lashing out and going with him, she turned to religion and martial arts as a manner of dealing with her demons. Shenhua never knew her original parents, and has a stepdad. She deals with life knowing the only way she knows how and is pretty happy. Lan Di let his anger stew for decades to exact his revenge. His father was murdered, and he turned to crime and martial arts.

Mostly every character of import has their own demons that are relatable to Ryo's struggle for vengeance. The important thing to grasp is that they've all gone in their own ways of handling death and sadness. Shenmue is a story about Ryo Hazuki and the "potential that could either destroy him or realize his will." Mostly every character is there as a foil to show THEY handle their own personal demons to help Ryo along his path.

Expect Ling Ling to be another foil

Ultimately, how Fangmei feels isn't important - it's what she DOES - that's important for Ryo to learn a lesson from.

No problem !

Just finished japanese version 1 hour ago. Sent it to Yu Suzuki and waiting for his approval to publish it.

1AM here. Time to get some rest. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Have a nice day guys.

Marshall's return disclosed as 5,2 million $ unlocked stretch goal.



source : official Shenmue 3 twitter

I recently found out how to make the game play each sub track of the music files that hold more then just one tune. While I was at it, I recorded all the other unused music tracks that haven't been uploaded yet and bunched them all up into one video. It's crazy how much unused music they left in Shenmue II.

https://youtu.be/Pp6KnpKDD38

You don't have played Shenmue II, do you?

Disgusting.

Not sure if it's readable but what is written about Steven Spielberg and multi CPU usage on the powerpoint ?
https://i.imgur.com/cH2ms7H.jpg
Quite a few words were too blurred to be legible but here's a summary based on what I could make out or guess.

As you said, it looks like this slide was part of the talk event by Yu (& Takeuchi) in March 2015 on the topic of being a game developer.

"Open World: breaking new ground / Steven Spielberg"

Steven Spielberg once visited Sega and AM2, around the period when he was preparing to launch GameWorks. During the visit, Spielberg asked me for his autograph since his son Max was a fan of Virtua Fighter. One thing Spielberg said, rather sheepishly, that particularly left an impression on me was, "Kids prefer games to movies!".

Games should be designed so that children can play them time and again without growing bored. Interactivity plays an important part in this. Having characters/monsters moving in predictable patterns should be avoided.

Recently, games have much larger game fields through the use of external servers and databases. This will greatly expand the potential of open-world games even further. They will allow a huge number of people to be supported, even more than with MMOs, and who can participate from anywhere, at anytime. It will allow for more realistic worlds to be created. It will open up a new world of entertainment. If there are 100,000 players participating then effectively you have a 100,000 multi-CPU game.

People take that 10 million figure too seriously anyway. They think it is all or nothing in game development, when it totally isn't. It is one of the most scalable creative mediums out there because you're almost entirely working on digital platforms, and making digital assets to be strung together in a workable way by algebraic mathematics on computers.

If Shenmue 3 was a film and it got $3-4 million less than the ideal vision, then the project would suffer in a more tangible way. Sequences would get cut extensively, or if they remained be done for much cheaper at a lower quality.

What you're paying for in game development is effectively just hours worked for the staff to create the digital pieces of the game and then putting it together, if you really boil it down to the very basics. You're not building sets, creating costumes, or props for fifty extras or whatever. Money can go very far with games, especially in the case of Shenmue 3 when you're using a robust and versatile licenced game engine like UE4 and not making your own tools from scratch. Yu has already said as much that UE4 has proven so efficient they think they can take the money further than anticipated.

Are we missing out on anything? Maybe. We don't know what Yu can throw in or not. We don't know if anybody approached Yu or Cedric after the Kickstarter to provide additional funding (if they did, don't expect it to double the budget or nothin'). Until the PayPal is over, upgrades are sorted, and crowdfunding totally ends on Shenmue 3, the sky is the limit. Roll on 7 mil.

Hello.

Today I give you all a mirror for the files needed to play in some unplayable areas in Shenmue 2X.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwOr2HqtAhc&feature=youtu.be
------------------------------------------------------
Information:
Who deserves the credit?
Kakuzawa. He did all of the work. I am just providing a mirror in this new thread to not necropost in the old thread.
Original Thread: http://shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=41968&hilit=KSH1&start=15#p909287
------------------------------------------------------
What are these files?
These files allow you to explore some unexplorable areas in Shenmue 2X.
------------------------------------------------------
Which areas?
1. Shenhua's Flashback Area (The Shrine)
2. Ziming and Xuying's Flashback Area
3. The Ghost Town outside Kowloon (The intro to Kowloon area)
4. The Shenmue 2X version of the Hazuki Dojo.
------------------------------------------------------
Why reupload these?
The original links are dead so I am supplying them for everyone to grab.
------------------------------------------------------
How Do I Use Them?
Click above link to read Kakuzawa's original post
------------------------------------------------------
Download Link?
PM me for it. This helps keep the link alive and allows me to generate stats.

I found this weird, albeit unknown (at least to Western audiences) Shenmue-related thing while browsing through some Dreamcast Magazine Japan magazine scans, and thought you all might get a kick out of it:

http://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File%3ADCM_JP_19990326_1999-11.pdf&page=34

It's from the #1999-11 issue of the magazine, covering this exclusive Tokyo Game Show '99 Spring demo of Shenmue made, featuring a "Shenmue Shop" and a virtual Dreamcast booth/panel displaying the game and Dreamcast within the demo. Kinda reminds me of Second Life in a way...

EDIT : Huh. Looks like there was already a few threads about the "virtual tour" demo already: http://www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21138

EDIT 2 : Here, some more of the Virtual Tour thing from later 1999 Dorimaga issues:

http://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File%3ADCM_JP_19990507_1999-15.pdf&page=54
http://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:DCM_JP_19990519_1999-16.pdf&page=24

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY_gJE_rOOM

I think the Cloud Bird Trail music from Shenmue II will be the 'theme' for Bailu Village, or at least heard again in Shenmue 3 at some point.

I love how faithful those screens are compared to the source material, furniture and even some mountains are placed in the same place







I love it.

Some more translation:


The complete Shenhua & Ryo sketches from this mornings conference:

I put together some of the clips that were shared on twitter. I expect a full conference video in the coming days.

Yu Suzuki interview at MAGIC Monaco 2016 by Gameblog.fr

http://www.gameblog.fr/interview_948_shenmue-3-notre-grande-interview-de-yu-suzuki-et-cedric-bisc/page2

https://i.imgur.com/d4SH8nG.jpg

Julien : Hello Mr. Suzuki. I'm glad to meet you again today, even more in these fortunate circumstances where Shenmue III finally happens!
Yu Suzuki : Thank you very much!

What progress has been made in the development after 7 work months?
YS : Nothing has obviously been done properly. At the story writing level, I can tell you that the story is done at 95%.

You've been clear about the fact that Shenmue III will not conclude the complete story of the saga. But what will be the percentage of what remains to be told in Shenmue III ?
YS : The Shenmue story in its entirety will be normally divided, from the beginning to the end, into 11 chapters. Shenmue III will cover chapter 5 and 6.

https://i.imgur.com/ulJhKZj.jpg

Even a Shenmue 4 might not be enough to conclude the saga. Ideally, do you think a fifth or even a sixth episode would be necessary at this rate ?
YS : No, I wouldn't go that far ! Rather than going until Shenmue 6, I would like to rearrange things in order to reach the end sooner, even if it means to take some shortcuts... No I don't want to go until a sixth episode.

Five is the ideal ?
YS : I can't tell you more. Anyway I would like to especially focus on the third at the moment !

In the Kickstarter, a "trial version" has been mentioned. It's a playable demo which will be offered to the backers before the Shenmue III release. Have you an idea about when you will be able to bring it to us?
YS : This year, I fear that will be pretty complicated. It will be next year.

Can you tell us when Shenmue III will begin exactly?
YS : It will be just after the Shenmue II end.

Do you mean it will begin exactly there? In the cave?
YS : All I can tell you is that I don't want to skip a chapter. For instance, it might be the day after the Shenmue II end.

You talked about a lot of stuff during the conference like the combat system but not the QTEs. How will they evolve in Shenmue III?
YS : Yes that's true, I would like to add a new system to the QTEs. I will test different things to see what happens, then I keep the best. It's difficult to tell you more before the tests end.

https://i.imgur.com/xLaRNFp.jpg

But could these new systems change our habits?
YS : No, not that far. It would rather be an "advanced" QTE system. What would be revolutionary is to create QTEs in a world where they don't exist yet. Here, they do. The idea is more about adding things to what it exists. Ideally, I would like to create revolutionary things beyond the QTEs level. But with a release planned for 2017, the time is limited. I wonder if introducing them would be possible.

Can we get some precisions about these possible new features? Are they linked with the free battle for instance?
YS : Yes it might involve the combat systems. But above all, there is a new interface system and I'm thinking a lot about it. But I'm not sure yet if I can implement it in time. So I'm unable to tell you more.

It's so mysterious and exciting ! Let's go on to another topic. Can you give us precisions about the Shenmue I & II flashbacks which will occur in Shenmue 3?
YS : For instance, these flashbacks will occur at moments when Ryo touches objects that make him thinking about some things and memories. The kind of this.

So, will these flashbacks be videos captured from the previous episodes or fresh cutscenes powered by the new engine in order to keep a visual unity?
YS : I'm not sure yet but according the time it would require to make these cutscenes with the new engine, I fear that would take too much time. Once again, the remaining development time might be problematic.

I have a pretty specific question about something I loved in Shenmue 1 and disappeared in Shenmue 2. It's about the possibility to practice alone, for instance on the parking, then see the level of each move goes up... Will we be able to do so in Shenmue III ?
YS : Hmmm...

It was awesome! You have to make this happening in Shenmue III !
YS : I'll remember this!

https://i.imgur.com/siXktSI.jpg

I also would like to know if we will find back the same pace than the two first episodes. The same progression based on investigation where you had to ask questions to that person, who told us to meet another one, etc.
YS : Yes we'll continue in that direction. However the general feel is going to change as some systems will evolve.

Will you continue the idea of giving absolutely an identity to each NPC with their own house, workplace and individual schedule ?
YS : We will see if we can make it for all of them. In any case, that's what I want, yes.

My interview deadline has already expired. Here a little bonus question: at the Shenmue I end, Guizhang told to Ryo to leave Japan without him and said he will join him later... Does it mean we'll find back this character in Shenmue III?
YS : It's not planned at the moment.

Thank you Mr. Suzuki and good luck for the future!
YS : Thank you!

Found this image in the Shenmue 500K Facebook group. These bronze mirrors belong to the British Museum, London.

http://i.imgur.com/4RzezC6.jpg

And I had this thought (which is not really new, but at least expressed differently):

" Mirrors were often given as gifts to seal friendship with neighbouring people. "
Maybe Zhao Sun Ming gave the mirrors to Iwao to seal their friendship and all that story about Iwao murdering Zhao is a fudge?

Ryo believes his father would never kill.
His father told him to keep friends close.
Perhaps Lan Di has been misled and misinformed about his father's end.
Probably a superior of Lan Di (it could be Tentei) told him lies, in order to nurture him with vengeance feelings so as to become a super strong fighter with the fixed goal of revenge, and that as a front to get the Mirrors from Iwao's hands.

I think when I was younger I would have loved to see a lot of characters return, but thinking about it now, the concept of Ryo travelling and meeting an entire fresh cast of characters with each wildly different location is very interesting. Not only do we have the concept of a man so bent on revenge he's leaving behind all the places and friends he makes, but also a concept where each entry (or chapter if you will) represents almost kind of a new "world" each time, with new people to meet inside of them.

Scrounder wrote:

Tom is scary

Haha, I just made an account just to say that is freaking hilarious. Props to you, dude.

Being a Shenmue fan is suffering lmao

Hope you guys enjoy some of it. I gave a shout out to this very forum since, really, this is THE place for Shenmue info. I'm amazed at how in-depth some folks have gone into pulling the game apart. It's awesome!

If I had time, I would have gone into more depth on emulation and, perhaps, point out more of those weird Xbox/DC differences (like all the modified signs and whatnot). Ah well.