http://i.imgur.com/QlFp7M5.jpg

A new software hack allows access to all areas of the Shenmue Passport disc without need for a dial-up connection. Until now, a Dreamcast with internet connection has been required for access.

Read the full report & Instructions for applying the patch at Phantom River Stone:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/08/shenmue-passport-unlocked-hack-to-skip.html

The new logo is intriguing, given the recent logo announcement.

Also liked this second piece of art from the release.

I think I've also found Ryo in the "Great Wall" image.

Deep Silver own the Dead Island IP I believe, which is why they could do what they did by passing Dead Island 2 to another developer when their first contracted dev weren't providing the desired results. That would be impossible for Shenmue III, for obvious reasons.

Either way, they're coming on two years after the project went into action, with maybe just one more year left before theoretical release. I'd like to think Deep Silver know what they're publishing, with no real intention to request major changes. I don't really think Yu would enter in a partnership if those kind of compromises were on the table anyway.

As for why Sony and Shibuya Productions are no longer publishing, there could be a few reasons, but none of them are alarming based on what we know.

So first of all, Sony doesn't seem out of the picture. The press release confirmed console exclusivity and the title still appears to be under the supervision of Sony's 3rd Party Production team. I would not be surprised if Sony is still involved in marketing.

Shibuya stepping back is more interesting than Sony, because Shibuya has a multi-million investment in Shenmue III. So the PC port, IMO, now has a better chance of being a higher quality because of this move. Deep Silver has connections and networks with studios that could either assist YSnet with the port, or port the game in its entirety. Shibuya, who were previously in charge of the PC version (which would have included porting I guess), doesn't have that. They may have been able to find a good studio to do it, but Deep Silver is more suited to that kind of thing. Shibuya may have stepped back for this reason, to allow a more established game publisher do the work for the good of the game.

So are Deep Silver providing development funding for the game? That bit is unclear, but looking at the lineage of having a year+ delay and a new publisher announced within months of each other, they could be the ones footing the bill to get the game over the finish line, but we won't know for sure without confirmation.

Spaghetti, find of the year!

The hunt is on for a tiny Ren!

I should know better, but I'm bored.

Truthfully, I think there needs to at least be a push back on shit like "Sony dropped it", because we know that's not true from the press release, and that narrative needs to be killed stone dead before idiots who refuse to read more than a sentence start parroting it.

We finally have it confirmed as a PS4 console exclusive, so Sony probably still has a marketing deal in place for the game, and the comments by a rep from Sony's third party production team are highly complimentary and warm towards Shenmue III and Yu Suzuki. I've already used the example several times of what Sony said when they dropped Rime. It's night and day.

I hope there's some good news, I can't believe Gamescom is almost here. I hope there's some footage that unites us all and people like whatever footage they show.

Glad Yu's getting a bit of leisure time.

Now, the logo... Not sure how I feel about it. Not as bad as I initially thought, but I don't get the design intent.

It could very well be a Deep Silver decision.

This is one of the reasons why I wasn't happy with the partnership with them inparticular.
They probably thought, like Yu, that people can't read cursive, so they may have demanded it to be replaced with this cheap looking logo.

It's hard to come up with words right now. Trying to post news, upload video, make screenshots and whatnot.

First discovery! Look who's back at Shenhua's house (in the lower left corner).

Sony have just released the first real Shenmue III teaser on their YouTube channel, giving a glimpse at some breathtaking enviroments, new character models and fighting animations.

Links: Slacker Backer Campaign - Forum Discussion

I'm down to analyze later, but for now, I just want to rejoice. That cave scene alone was a box of pent up emotions just ready to explode, words can not describe the feeling. Everything to follow was an immediate bonus. This is why anyone who has seen has kept the faith and now everyone else should as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Apart from a few new added scenes with new characters... Finally I can talk about what my eyes saw when my jaw hit the floor!!!!

SWEET RELEASE!!! THE FUCKING CAVE IN GLORUOUS 1080P

Ah so Pete if you have seen the majority of this first teaser trailer at the backer dinner in Sept 16 then that must go to prove that the majority of this footage is almost a year old. So I deduce from that development Must actually way further ahead in many aspects which will probably be shown in a second trailer released a short time in the future. So to those negative haters I say "do one".

I must have rewatched that trailer about 15 times, it gives me goosebumps every time. The motion capture for those fight sequence is amazing, so fluid and smooth. I literally cannot wait for more.

http://ift.tt/2wiBzGg

Kotaku with the first dagger. Prepare for a lot of this. I truly feel bad for Yu Suzuki, but I think he'll pull it off in the end.

I vowed a couple years ago (or something like that) to stop giving Kotaku clicks. They're only out for the clicks these days, just like all the other worthless media.

Anyone who thinks that trailer looked like 'ass', is, quite frankly, off their rocker, or had the most unrealistic expectations. It's really looking promising and looking like Shenmue.

Hello PlayStation fans! This is Yu Suzuki, director of Shenmue III.

It’s hard to believe so much time has passed since we debuted the game at Sony’s E3 2015 press conference. Since then, the team has been extremely busy developing the game in Tokyo, but now it’s time to come up for air.

To coincide with Gamescom 2017, we are happy to share the news that we have inked a publishing partnership with Deep Silver! From the early days on the project, the team at Deep Silver really impressed me with their deep passion for the series and their desire to work with us to deliver a proper sequel that all fans will love.

To celebrate the news, I would like to share with you a teaser video built from a small slice of an in-development build of the game . As you will see, the latest chapter in Ryo and Shenhua’s journey begins with a beautiful set piece in China. You’ll also see that we’re aiming to significantly upgrade the game’s visuals , and you may also notice a new character during that quick glimpse of our new battle gameplay…

I’m pleased to be able to offer a small peek into what we’ve been building thus far, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to show you more as we get closer to our 2018 release.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all those who have supported me and the team. I will continue to work hard to deliver the best possible realization of Shenmue III.

Yu Suzuki


https://blog.us.playstation.com/2017/08/21/shenmue-iii-the-first-teaser/

http://i.imgur.com/g5yUqjb.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ufpkE9s.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/AbrZoIT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/6aBGfXn.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QcbflbL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WalDXEv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/YLvset1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/2HG6rvv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LMB9IsH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OJWDQyo.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aB0cIOJ.jpg

Ryo & Shenhua Character Models (High Resolutions)

http://i.imgur.com/TAjc0zl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/XxbTunF.jpg

Iyapol pretty much said what I was going to say.

There's no point getting indignant about it, code I name. Yu soliciting for opinions is not "welp the cursive logo is dead fuck everything", so don't behave like it. Yu could do whatever the fuck he wants with the logo, but he at least has the humility to reach out to fans to see if they're won over by his attempt, or want to switch back to cursive.

Cursive is going to win out. It did before, and it will again. Cool your jets.

Wow.

Seems there will be dlc for S3. Starting to feel a bit uncomfortable because of this. Hope they will keep the dlc down to a minimum and not do any microtransactions.

It was kind of already clear that there would be DLC because in the Kickstarter we already have the International Phone Card download, Ryo jacket skin change and I seem to recall stuff like Capsule Toy tickets and move scrolls.

Hopefully it won't be too over the top though and spoil the money system, i'm normally completely against DLC, but i'm actually all onboard for the game to earn extra funding for Shenmue 4 and hopefully 5 aswell :)...now the series is back I want it to go all the way again!

I've been playing Shenmue II for about fourteen years, and I just noticed the poem in the Thousand White Church. I took a photo with my phone, here's the poem:

A happy new year
Today is fine
Gone with window
A happy new year
Today is fine
Gone with window
Refining the vegetables
Refining the vegetables


http://i.imgur.com/TBtRElI.jpg

At the end of the day, maybe being obsessive fans is kind of a weakness. We're too fragile and freak out too easily.

Like for example, the fact that Ryo and Shenhua's models aren't done. I've seen people say "WHAT?! AFTER NEARLY TWO YEARS THEY'RE NOT DONEEEEE?!?!?!", but if I was in the position of making a game with a limited budget and limited time, and a modeler came to me with something improved but unfinished with another another load of characters to be created, I'd probably say "good enough, we'll get back to it later, start working on the next thing" too. That's not even accounting for the fact other areas need to be focused on to make a game.

Is it so hard to understand that it makes no sense as fans to suggest to Yu Suzuki how Ryo, Shenhua and the other characters should look?
What if every single Shenmue fan gives advices on how the characters should look? Or the colors, the artistic direction, the story?

How could this be of any help to Yu Suzuki and his team?

Yu knows what he has to do and more importantly, he knows what he wants to do. It's his creation, his story, his vision.
Not ours. We loved and love the Shenmue Series because of the vision he sticked to.

If our opinion is asked (like for the "new" logo) I'll say, fine, give your opinion.
In any other case, can we just support the Team and leave them create Shenmue 3 in the best possible conditions?
Isn't it enough to know that +74'000 backers will feel sooner or later that Yu Suzuki owns them a say on the artistic, technical or whatever choice he has to make because it's my money he is using for creating the game?

Damn! Where is this "Leave Britney alone!!!" when you need it...!?!

Downside to Kickstarter. Everybody thinks they own a piece.

https://www.gamekult.com/actualite/yu-suzuki-le-plus-difficile-est-de-creer-de-bons-personnages-3050797909.html

Interview context: Gamekult is shown an extended version of the trailer with additional scenes and QTEs with "work in progress" mark. Then the interview begins with Suzuki and his English translator.

https://i.imgur.com/jseQm8Q.jpg

Gamekult: First of all, I would like to know why you decided to publicly publish a short version of what you just showed us privately? Is it for marketing purpose or a future backer exclusivity?

(Suzuki begins to talk to his translator who is also in charge of the business side of YSnet. The latter takes the floor.)

YSnet businessman: That's a good question! Honestly, there's no specific reason but some people think showing the extended version is too early. The idea behind the trailer was to announce our partnership with Deep Silver. We aimed to reveal that we got a better financial support. We have been silent for too long so it was important to show something at Gamescom while it's not a real marketing strategy.

Yu Suzuki: We may create an improved and longer version of the video for the end of the year. A true promotional trailer.

GK: After watching the video, I now wonder how you proceed with animation in Shenmue 3. Do you use motion capture, handmade animation or both? Are you working with an outsourcing studio or do you have your own motion capture studio?

YS: We use motion capture as working base then we make adjustments. Everything is captured internally although we do not have a true motion capture studio. We're using a magnetic capture tool because it needs less space to work so we can easily proceed in an open space. However, we are certainly going to use a real motion capture studio for the most important action scenes.

GK: Are you working with outsourcing studios? For instance, TOSE or Virtuous.

YS: We have our own team where people from various companies are working. In general, everything is made internally. The goal is to avoid outsourcing.

GK: How many people are working in the team?

YS: Sorry but I can't tell you any figure.

GK: How will your partnership with Deep Silver benefit Shenmue III? Is the original project going to evolve?

YS: To be honest, we just signed the contract. We have yet to know what Deep Silver can bring us exactly but we hope it's significant (laughs). From a business point of view, we should take advantage of their international network and their communication expertise since they have a great record with Japanese studios.

GK: How will you proceed to make the game interesting for the fans as much for the newcomers? Can we start Shenmue III without having played the previous episodes?

YS: We plan to insert images and videos from previous episodes in ingame situations, something like memories. One of the ideas consists of inserting visuals when you're phoning characters from Shenmue I & II.

GK: Yakuza 3 proceeded differently with cinematic buildups to summarize the story of Yakuza 1&2. I wonder if Shenmue 3 can proceed the same way but the visual contrast between cinematics and the gameplay would be obviously significant.

YS: I still don't know how it may look on screen but it's a possibility. Anyway, we'll decide our own way to proceed.

GK: What will the Shenmue III main themes be? Storywise, is there any particular event or topic you're willing to set up?

YS: It's faster to show you. (Suzuki starts his PC and launches a slideshow) Here we go, the three key points of the game are romance, characters' life and martial arts. Then my main goal is to use the latest advancements in technologies to express feelings through gaming situation. Today there are even more ways of expression but also more challenge with the modern tools. With Unreal Engine 4, the most challenging part is to create good characters.

GK: You mean, using your own engine when you're working on Shenmue I&II was easier than using a foreign third-party engine?

YS: Yes, absolutely!

GK: So far, have you programmed with your own hands?

YS: I created some algorithms and little prototypes but I'm not working at the heart of coding. I worked on an artist's AI who appears in the game, NPC behaviors and some combat scenes. But my main job is research. The final code is written by people who are more skilled than me.

GK: About visuals, how far do you think you are from the final state?

YS: First of all, I confirm that everything related to the characters is temporary. Then I would like to say that, in order to reach the best possible result from a technical point of view, we need a lot of resources, way more than we currently have today. That's why I'm trying to find a balance between visual quality and the other key points of the game, especially what makes the gameplay singular and different from the other productions.

GK: About environment size and interaction volume, how would you rate Shenmue 3 compared to the Dreamcast episodes?

YS: I would say that the game is as wide and dense as Shenmue 1&2... On further consideration, it will even be richer. The time of play is more difficult to estimate since each player has his own pace and may progress differently with all the side quests available. I think more than 20 hours will be needed.

GK: In order to make Shenmue 1&2, you traveled several times in China. Did you travel again for Shenmue III or are you using mainly archives and memories?

YS: I went back to China two years ago, when the project did start. (Suzuki is searching his PC folders to find photos of mountain landscapes, old buildings and busy streets) As you can see, we reproduced some roofs of tiles in the last video. I really would like to display as much characters as those you can see in these photos! (laughs)

GK: If you were going to leave Japan to live in another country, would you choose China?

YS: Not China, no. (laughs)

END OF INTERVIEW

A lot of people seem to miss that you can just go there whenever you want. You can also go on the balcony through a door one floor higher. Not much to see there but still cool.

Another intesting fact about this area is that they censored the statue. In the Japanese version it's holding a baby, likely portraying Mary and Jesus.

I found some unused audio while looking through the scene file of the tape listening scene.

There are some unfinished / alternate takes on conversations as well as very curious other inclusions.
I really wonder what they were thinking with these. My guess is that they were just trying things out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZrU0OC19hY

YSnet doesn't consider it a promotional effort, so I can't fathom why we keep going in circles about it supposedly being an "ad". Their word is the end of it. They know what they made.

YSnet's own language on the Kickstarter is that it's a progress video. Even the Playstation YouTube video (which apparently was meant to launch at the same time as the KS video) hedges its bets as "1st teaser" and a video description of "The first teaser of Shenmue III is built from a small slice of an in-development build of the game, and it delivers small peeks in new look of main characters, new characters, and feels of Shenmue world."

It doesn't even say what year the game is supposed to release FFS.

Trying to convince people that something that clearly wasn't an ad was an ad, and should have looked like an ad, but in the same breath making excuses for people who won't read a video description barely over 35 words... just... what?

-----

I did write this as a reply to Riku Rose, but I guess I'll squeeze you in too, South Carmain.

Ah, the old "realist" chestnut.

Who sounds more like a realist; the fan who acknowledges the project still has a ways to go but sees progress in a progress video , or the fan who thinks this was an unmitigated disaster because it didn't fit the definition of a type of video it wasn't meant to be in the first place? Do realists even exist with subjective events and media? (spoilers, this'll be covered later)

The fact it ended up on the Playstation YouTube means absolutely zero. It doesn't magically change YSnet's intent with the video, how they described it themselves, or even how the video description (with over 35, long, difficult, dreadfully hard words like "the") goes out of its way to put emphasis on being a heavily in-development build. These are the only absolute truths about the aim of the video. The YouTube channel debate is an entirely flimsy way to justify completely unrealistic expectations, reactions, and definitions you're ascribing to the progress video.

For an attempt to return this thread to Earth, let's take a look at the video on the Playstation YouTube itself: There are around 750,000 views on the progress video on the PS YouTube channel. There are just under 3000 comments, with no real idea of how many are negative or positive or how those numbers compare. There are 3000 dislikes, and 9000 likes. 3:1. 3 in 4 people who cared to vote on the video liked what they saw.

None of this is particularly scientific, but the only verifiable metric of the positive or negative impact of the progress video (unless you want to literally read every YouTube comment, Twitter post, video game forum, etc and weigh it against studies on views vs comments, likes vs comments, are people more likely to post if they have a negative opinion, general negativity bias in psychology, etc) are the likes and dislikes. And likes won, three times over.

The obsession over the perception of the progress video because of incredibly flimsy justifications like one of the YouTube channels it happened to appear on, or that 35 words of context is too much for the average viewer, is actually kind of crazy. Everything else going on, and that is the main preoccupation of some of you in this thread? Give me a fucking break. Realist? There is literally no such fucking thing here, and probably anywhere else.

Yu Suzuki is returning to Japan with a bigger budget, slightly larger dev team, an aim to expand the game significantly, and the ability to personally devote more time from his workday to actual development.

At least I decide to base my optimism (and yes, I'm not afraid to call my opinions what they actually are, unlike the pessimists pretending to be realists) on what we found out from Gamescom and where the project is going next.

I've translated a early design diagram for Shenmue II into English. It's quite fascinating to compare some of the early ideas they were considering for the story. (The diagram can be found in the Shenmue art book).

In particular:

- The little girl who Ryo saved from Chai in the boat chapter side-story & her mother were originally going to help Ryo more, assisting him with finding Xiuying / Master Tao.
- There was going to be more interaction with the "two butchers" who always argue with each other, as part of the main story.

Here are the first 3 sections of the diagram:
https://i.imgur.com/3dLAGu5l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1ztPXFkl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1Al2nkZl.jpg

Analysis & the rest of the diagram can be found at the blog:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/09/ryos-arrival-in-hong-kong-shenmue-ii.html

So I randomly woke up at 3am and decided to log back in.

Read-Only Memory are Kickstarting a new Dreamcast book that not only has interviews with people who worked on Shenmue, but a nice Shenmue bookmark. There's also a limited Shenmue (and JSR and PSO) special edition of the book. Anyone interested? I have the Mega Drive book they did, it's really cool.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darrenwall/sega-dreamcast-collected-works

This post is overly long and not really a big deal, but I believe it's possible that there was a section of FREE exploration cut (or at least significantly reduced) towards the end of the game. So when Ryo gets fired from his job, it's around 10.45am and from the Alpha Trading Office you can either choose to wander around for a very short time, or go directly to meet Tom, before auto-jumping to meeting the Mad Angels at 10pm that night. Meeting Tom will trigger the point of no return, in the sense that you're on a linear path of move instructions, battles and cutscenes to the end credits. If you choose not to walk towards Tom, Ryo's watch will sound at around 12.30pm or 1pm, and you'll go there automatically. So that gives you barely 10 real-time minutes of final FREE gameplay.

I do find it strange that there's no kind of menu prompt informing you of this, the way there was in Shenmue II (At the end of Disc 2, you're informed that saying goodbye to Xiuying will trigger Ryo's departure for Kowloon, as well as the option to have one final day of free time before infiltrating the Yellow Head Building.) But what's also strange is that during that short window between getting fired and meeting Tom, you can have a significant amount of unique conversations with NPCs relevant only to that point in the game, with it even being possible to travel back to Dobuita and do the same. Even the fortune teller has a unique reading for Ryo, foreseeing his eventual meeting with Shenhua. You can have a specific conversation with Ine-san at that point too, but have to make a bit of a speedy dash to the Hazuki Residence in time to get it. In a moment uncharacteristic of Shenmue, you have so little time that you have to pick and choose where you're going to go/who you're going to speak with.

I think it's possible that after learning the Tornado Kick/saying goodbye to Tom, FREE gameplay was intended at one point to resume until 10pm that night, giving you a more natural and relaxed pace to explore/train/speak with people one last time, as opposed to jumping straight to the Mad Angels meeting. Perhaps the team felt that the slower pace would've killed the building momentum of the story at that stage, or they wanted to include the scene of Ryo watching the airplane from the harbour in a more essential way. I dunno. But it's interesting that after being fired, Ryo's notes inform us that he "should check with everybody", yet the game barely gives us ten minutes to do so.

The latest post on Phantom River Stone looks into the difference in the naming of certain characters between the first and second Shenmue games when playing the English versions, and how these relate to the native ordering in Japan & China.

https://i.imgur.com/DrOwE3pl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wfgJtU0l.jpg

Read the analysis here:

http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/09/zhu-yuan-da-or-yuanda-zhu-characters.html

On the screen on the right. Looks like Ryo in town, talking to a new NPC?

Enlargement:

Sonoshee wrote:

TwiceFriedRice wrote: The game sucks so bad it's even putting its developers to sleep!

Lol, thanks for stating that before the cavalry arrive

It couldn't possibly be because they are working all hours God sends

The camera probably just caught him blinking.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Tsubasa wrote:

MiTT3NZ wrote: No. She's Nozomi 2.0 on the annoying scale. I'd probably push her off that prologue cliff if I could.

My hero!!!

Shenhua --> most borring character ever

Not even close. She's one of the best actually.

Sleeping on the job is quasi-encouraged in Japanese work culture. It implies you've worked hard and exhausted yourself to your best potential. Seeing people sleeping at their desks, or sleeping over the entire night is not really an uncommon occurrence in Japan.

Shenmue III's dev team gives us an insight on the work on facial animations in the newest Kickstarter update.

Links: Facial Animations (Video) | Kickstarter Update #75 | Forum Discussion

Anyone interested in what the subtitles say in 0:11 ?? I am curious :D

Here you go!
https://i.imgur.com/5ks0U9dl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/i8wj36el.jpg

Full set & blog article here:
http://www.phantomriverstone.com/2017/09/kickstarter-update-75-face-animations.html

^ Thank you.
I get it. Shenmue I and II were cutting edge when they came out. Shenmue III probably won't be. It only exists in the form it exists because no one wanted to take a chance on it and the fans had to push it over the finish line. Now the fans are turning their backs on the team and crying about every little piece of information the team shares with us. It's distressing and counterproductive, and I hope Ys Net doesn't spend much time reacting to the feedback that's all over the internet (I doubt they are).

If you can't accept the fact that Shenmue III isn't a game with a $100-million budget and that it's still deep in development, just give up. There's no hope for you.

I, on the other hand, can't wait to play it. Maybe it's not the game I dreamed of, but I'm sure it'll be close. It's certainly better than a game that would've never existed.

It is distressing. Just a few years ago, Shenmue III didn't exist. Now it does. Then many were questioning the game's development because YS Net wasn't showing anything. Now they are, and people are STILL complaining.

I get it too. Blind fanboy-faith won't get anyone anywhere. But it just seems that many are really just LOOKING for a reason to hate on a game that has a fraction of the budget that the previous games in the series did, and is still clearly in development. It's like they're judging a book before it's even been fucking written, let alone its cover. People will find a reason to hate on anything if they try hard enough.

I for one have been really happy with the development so far. If this game was scheduled to be released next month, then I'd be worried. But since it still has like, more than a year to go, then it's all good.

I get it too. Blind fanboy-faith won't get anyone anywhere.

I may end lynched for what I'm going to say, but I don't agree on that. Not fully at least.

I personally think that, as the Shenmue fanbase, we should be a little bit fanboys.

There is more than enough people jumping on every single occasion to bash Shenmue or Yu Suzuki for many various reasons. There is more than enough people wanting Shenmue to fail for many various reasons.

I don't say we need to be blinded by our passion for the Shenmue Series but we need to be united and put things in perspective when a mere 53 seconds video update for Kickstarter backers is enough to see wagons of people use it to bash Shenmue 3 or insult Yu Suzuki's talent.

it's a crowdfunded project, we get to see steps of the development we usually never see. I can agree that the communication around the project is not good, but that doesn't mean that the game won't be good in the end.

What good can come out from joining the chorus of critics? What good can come out from telling to YsNet and Yu Suzuki that they are bad at making a game? That the artistic direction is wrong, the Ryo model is off, etc...?
They know what they are doing and are doing the best they can anyway.
Just think of the Deep Silver partnership: Suzuki San always knew he would need more budget to achieve what he has in mind for Shenmue 3 so he managed to increase the budget. For a man who never gave up on his dream to continue the Shenmue story, the least we can do is to keep our faith in him.

Until Shenmue 3 is released, the best attitude the Shenmue fan base can adopt is to be supportive of the development team efforts.

Now, let the lynching begin.

True. They should be slightly more careful with their progress reports from now on since more non-fans are keeping an eye on the game after the progress teaser. The facial animation controversy was mostly over by now but this video provoked similar comments again. Explaining better what they're doing and what the end goals are would help a bit. Stuff like this could otherwise start creating lasting negative impressions which a returning series doesn't need.

The problem is the obvious failure of some people to look at what's being released by YsNet objectively. Even if they were more careful with future progress reports, there'll still be those out there making ridiculous comments about "how bad the game looks" and "the developers don't know what they're doing."

That's the reason we have to accept that there's a group of people in the gaming sphere that (a) didn't like how Shenmue series was revived and (b) are trying to stop it from progressing to completion.

There's nothing that can be done to change the minds of these fools. The only thing we can do is to stop them from creating a disgusting bandwagon effect harmful to the series on unjustified grounds. We must do this by pointing out what's both obvious & true.

Our acceptance of this fact doesn't mean we exempt YsNet from legitimate & constructive criticism, either. IMO, Legitimate & constructive criticism will make the final product better. Isn't that what we ultimately want?

Hello Everyone,

Today we unveil a new character and introduce the production team who is giving us a hand with character production, Lakshya Digital.

New Character!!

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/019/584/904/ad198ae79124cdebb4c9689bbc204ba0_original.jpg?w=700&fit=max&v=1513151129&auto=format&q=92&s=bce7f43dbe47f093aa82ef80fd4ae6de

We gave a first look of this character earlier. You'll have to wait and see how she fits in with the temple in the background.

Introducing Lakshya Digital

Shenmue III will have a host of new, compelling characters from all walks of life.

And while we can't say just how many, it will be a lot! The game art studio Lakshya Digital will be cooperating with us to bring these great characters to life. Lakshya Digital is based in Gurgaon (one of India's financial and technology hubs) and has studios in Pune and Seattle, where production work for the game is underway.

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/019/585/000/d84cc47e9a999d6dd05eda99d5037e17_original.png?w=700&fit=max&v=1513152031&auto=format&lossless=true&s=e07129dc9f750c51b3092dd482e54ebc

That is some serious focus! That is some serious focus!

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/019/584/912/69de51c64d32d11dafc5cb8e6cef421e_original.png?w=700&fit=max&v=1513151273&auto=format&lossless=true&s=75dca5768d9a737a21fad9a6293dd44b

Strategy meeting in progress. They are in online meetings with our art team in Tokyo every week.

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/019/584/914/5b8497f348ca220fbea601bcff3f98ff_original.png?w=700&fit=max&v=1513151300&auto=format&lossless=true&s=5ac8b572fd3f48d987a7aafee2afea89

India may be hot, but Lakshya Digital brings the fire! Meet the team stoking character production. India may be hot, but Lakshya Digital brings the fire! Meet the team stoking character production.

https://ksr-ugc.imgix.net/assets/019/585/029/33a82f41a88801ce67841affebbe3b46_original.png?w=700&fit=max&v=1513152281&auto=format&lossless=true&s=4fbefa787e40227b334ccb0b8740a1af

The next dev room report is still in the works, so please look forward to it! Thank you all for your continued support.

https://shenmue.link/post_en/813/?en

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ysnet/shenmue-3/posts/2070199

New character is cute!

But already seen some bad mouthing on the KS page about outsourcing to India. As long as they get the character models on point, who cares?
The comment section on the Kickstarter page is a cesspool of fanboys, manchildren, and people with questionable mental states, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Does anyone else think the model looks kinda like Nozomi?