Where exactly are we in the story?

[Spaghetti]

I wouldn't be too disappointed. Like I said earlier, there's a chance parts of these chapters got spliced and repurposed into what we actually got in the end. We've likely experienced the highlights in some form, and I trust Yu & co to know what to keep and what to get rid of.

[Amir]

There are two "chapter structures": the original 11-chapter arc with the concept art that was written down in novel form, and then the expanded 16-chapter story that grew along with Suzuki's ambitions during development of Shenmue.

If we look at the original 11-chapter arc, then:
- Shenmue = Chapter 1
- Shenmue II = Chapter 2, plus the beginning of Chapter 5
Chapters 3 and 4, set on a train in Shanghai and fighting 4 martial artists including possibly Lan Di in Suzhou, were skipped, though elements may be reused for a future Shenmue IV or V.

If we go by the 16-chapter arc, then:
- Shenmue = Chapter 1
- Chapter 2 = Boat (which I don't think featured at all in original 11-chapter arc)
- Shenmue II = Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6 as shown on the whiteboard, though Chapter 5 may have been a deleted chapter on the Li River
- Shenmue III - Would start at Chapter 7 as shown on the whiteboard.

At this point I think it is worth ditching any idea of the 16-chapter arc entirely, though Suzuki said during one of the Twitter Q&As there is more room for more chapters if the story branches out/has multiple paths in future games (though an individual player would still experience 11 chapters in sequence).

[Sonoshee]

People are usually mixing the two story sources. There is 1. the novel Yu wrote that has 11 chapters and is set since Virtua fighter quest RPG (around 1994), and then 2. the 16-chapters Shenmue scripts that were written by Kenji Miyakami & co. as Shenmue games were under development. Yu is always refering to the original 1994 11-chapters novel and his employees (Shin Ishikawa) did talk in 2003 about 16 chapters of the Shenmue scripts.

16 chapters = 11 main chapters + 5 transition chapters

Not really... Because the interview was held in 2003, after Shenmue 2 was released. And at that time, Yu Suzuki had already decided to drop the chapters 3&4 off the original 11-chapters novel (Shanghai & Suzhou). So Shin Ishikawa couldn't have counted those chapters from the 11-chapters novel in the 16-chapters Shenmue script story...

Spaghetti noted a mistake on the 2003 interview board

. And indeed, Shenmue is only 3 chapters (off the 16-chapters count). But we know Bailu village was worked on during Shenmue 2's development and as Kenji Miyakami said in a 2015 video : cut in the end. Maybe Shin Ishikawa forgot that this part was taken off Shenmue 2... Which would give in the 16 chapters story :
Chapter 1 : Yokosuka
Chapter 2 : The boat (canceled)
Chapter 3 : Hong-Kong
Chapter 4 : Kowloon
Chapter 5 : Guilin
Chapter 6 : Bailu village
We can assume those 6 first chapters cover the following chapters from the 11-chapters novel : 1 : Yokosuka, 2 : Hong-Kong, 3&4 were dropped, and a part of chapter 5 in Guilin, which makes 6 or 7 chapters remaining from Yu's novel (depending on if he did count Guilin as totally finished with Bailu or in another chapter). So we have those 6 Shenmue script chapters + 6 or 7 remaining chapters from the novel, which makes 12 or 13. From the total of 16, that makes 3 or 4 chapters we have no clue about. If Ishikawa did count right, I wonder what story those 3 or 4 additional chapters cover.

BTW, We should not complain about the Suzhou & Shanghai chapters cancellation for it's been decided before Shenmue 2's development (or I guess they would have counted unused chapters as they did for the boat and Guilin would have been numbered 6 or 7 in Shenmue2 since the Suzhou & Shanghai take place between Hong-Kong and Guilin).

Since the Project Berkley video is older than Shenmue Saturn, it would be interesting to know if chapter 3&4 were developed until some point for the Saturn...
And I really hope Yu will make those chapters available as flashbacks in the future games...playing scenes or even video only...

[Yokosuka]

Here the theory I'm finding the most consistent so far (mainly based on precious sshen1127's and Chinese fans community researches) :

16 chapters = 11 main chapters + 5 transition chapters (including the cancelled boat chapter and the cancelled train chapter)

Chapter 1 : Yokosuka
Chapter 2 : Hong Kong (downtown+Kowloon)
Chapter 3 : Su Zhou (cancelled)
Chapter 4 : Shanghai (cancelled)
Chapter 5 : Bailu Village and the forest surroundings (including the maybe-recent invention of Choubu, an authentic Shenmue-like fantasy city to fill the gap of 14 years of waiting)
Chapter 6 : Baisha

If that is true, then it is very sad, that we had lost two main chapters with No. 3 and No. 4 ...

Not lost but postponed in Shenmue Reboot just before you die. Stay tuned.

[shengoro86]

Even though it is confirmed that "The Boat" is no longer its own chapter, I still like to interpret the story like this in my head.

Chapter 1 - Shenmue 1: Chapter 1 Yokosuka
Chapter 2 - Cut Chapter "The Boat"
Chapter 3 - Shenmue 2 Hong Kong
Chapter 4 - Shenmue 2 Kowloon
Chapter 5 - End of Shenmue 2, Start of Shenmue 3 - Guilin/Bailu Village
Chapter 6 - Shenmue 3 - Baisha/Choubu
Chapter 7 - 11 - Shenmue 4 and Shenmue 5

I still think that the changes in the story structure do not take away from the original 11 chapter plan.

[Reprise]

Man, someone really needs to ask Yu Suzuki to clearly outline each chapter in the story so far, so we can finally put this debate to rest

I've never understood the chapters and as others have pointed out, they have changed, evolved and moved around over time. Some have been cut and some have been altered.

What I never understood though, was why some cut chapters seem to be considered canon and some don't. Like the apparent chapter 2 in Shenmue 2, which was cut (the boat segment, where there was supposed to be another fight with Chai). Surely if a chapter is cut, then it is cut and no longer canon and part of the plot? So is that still a chapter? Some believe so, some don't.

And wasn't Shenmue 2 actually labelled as Chapters 2, 3 and then part of 4 in the game (with the boat section being cut and Ryo arriving in Hong Kong being chapter 2)? So if that is what is written in black and white in the game, shouldn't that just be accepted as the chapters and Shenmue 3 should just pick up from chapter 4?

[johnvivant]

yeah, everyone always ignores the chapter numbers that are actually given in the game itself ;

1.Yokosuka
2.Hong Kong
3.Kowloon
4. Guilin

i never liked these though. always preferred the 16 chapter idea. oh well, its ultimately whatever Yu says it is. its his creation to chop up and rearrange as he see's fit.

btw, i just booted up shen 2 gd4 and listening to the notebook music. majestic. i will never tire of this game. its been 16 years and i love it now more than ever. i really hope shenmue 3 can capture the 'je ne sais quoi' of the originals.