I think it would be a good idea to redo the end of Shenmue II as a tutorial. Albeit truncated so it doesn't take forever to get back to where we left the story.

Not only so we have a point of reference to see all of the lovely graphical and gameplay improvements over the original, but as a starting point for newcomers.

If I could decide how to start the game, I'd go with...
...the very first cutscene of Shenmue I, redone in UE4 to get every newcomer up to speed on Ryo's motivations and send nostalgic chills down the spines of old fans. Then Ryo would wake up from his flashback/nightmare in the first cave to Shenhua singing.

They'd then head off to her house, briefly talking about why Ryo needs to go to Bailu on the way. Introduce basic gameplay like walking/climbing in this 1st interactive segment. At the house, reveal the Shenmue tree via cutscene. Reveal the importance of the Phoenix mirror again via Shenhua's father's drawing (2nd interactive segment, exploring rooms), and they'd make their way to the cave with some tutorial QTEs on the way (3rd interactive segment).

Then, after the cliffhanger ending, it will fade to black and say, again, "The story goes on...". And then personally I'd love to (as someone pointed out above) have it fade back in to Japan, at Ryo's house when Ryo is a kid or something. Nice, peaceful music plays after the dramatic music in the cave. He gets a life lesson from Iwao that's relevant to what's going on in the cave. You get a brief chance to explore Ryo's house again in UE4. And then it returns to China with Ryo and Shenhua on their way to the village (maybe inside the entrance to the cave so you get that satifaction of walking out of it, with the light being ridiculously bright as you walk toward it).

Shenmue is not mainstream. It doesn't matter how many people bought the game on a stillborn system 15 years ago. More people bought a PS2 around that time because the PS1 was a more popular system. So the number of DC users is relatively negligible in that regard, let alone counting that 1 out of 10 bought this game (where ever that figure comes from).

Talk to the average person about Mario, Sonic, Final Fantasy, Uncharted, Halo, Street Fighter, Call of Cuty, ect and most likely people know what you're talking about.

Talk to the average person about Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, ICO, Grim Fandango, ect and they'll likely tilt their heads and look at you funny. Those games I just mentioned have their huge fanbases for sure...but not on the level of the former titles. Be it as it may, the Shenmue fanbase has proven before the Kickstarter that they are ADAMANT and this proves that. The fact it's currently the second most crowdfunded videogame ever is very impressive among other records it broke.

But to expect it to be on the level of Oculus Rift and Pebble Watch in terms of financing is a bit too unrealistic. That's what the $10 million goal is with crowdfunding alone, we might see up to $6 million at most (and that's stretching it).

And my argument is NOT that it WON'T sell on a mainstream platform, it's that it's NO big deal that it's currently hovering around the $5 million mark. People don't realize that PayPal and outside investing are options, they're too caught up on the fact Yu can't get his ten millioz without the fanbase. BS, the fact it's one of the biggest kickstarters in quite awhile is enough for investors who won't know any better to open their wallets and cash in on what they think will be a nice return in investment. Or banks handing out loans.

Just a few things to add.

Out of the 1 million people how many liked Shenmue? Outside of this forum I've seen many say they hated it.

Out of how many liked it, how many actually look at video game news and know this Kickstarter is happening? The majority of people who buy games don't know a game exists until they see an ad or the game on a shelf.

Then there is also the people who just don't play games anymore. Most teenagers play video games but grow out of them as they grow older. I'd be surprised if a lot of people who bought Shenmue have picked up a controller in 10 years.

I'm sure the things I've written apply to a lot of the 1 million people who bought Shenmue which rules them out of donating.