New Ryo & Shenhua models from press release

[Yokosuka]

I have an interesting theory which may be complete crap but here it goes.
Toshihiro Nagashi( creator of Yakuza series and one of SEGA's most important people) has said that 26th August they will anounnce a new game. 26th of August is within the Gamescon timeline so assuming there have been talks between Yu Suzuki and SEGA, I predict that Toshihiro will announce a fully Shenmue remake under his team. If i'm not mistaken, Toshiro was involved in the production of Shenmue.
Further, with the recent Deep Silver partnership( the same publisher for Yakuza Kiwami), I believe something is in the works regarding Shenmue HD but it's probably just wishful thinking.

Interesting thought but producing a Shenmue would be a regression for him. He surely wants to create his own IP or continue his Yakuza franchise instead. Remakes are also a very boring task for developers since it allows them no freedom so I don't believe it at all. Nagoshi or not, the most realistic we can wish is polished HD remasters.

[Shenmue_Legend]

Good, but not perfect. Ryo (and Shenhua too in the first image) should look like this http://i.imgur.com/kjW1BnE.jpg or this http://i.imgur.com/JIThlIf.jpg and Shenhua should look like this http://i.imgur.com/wmpbeDH.jpg Is this too much to ask for? There should be NO exceptions. If they don't look like this, then I will be very disappointed.

[Verderame]

Good, but not perfect. Ryo (and Shenhua too in the first image) should look like this http://i.imgur.com/kjW1BnE.jpg or this http://i.imgur.com/JIThlIf.jpg and Shenhua should look like this http://i.imgur.com/wmpbeDH.jpg Is this too much to ask for? There should be NO exceptions. If they don't look like this, then I will be very disappointed.

The exact same yesterday's Ryo model with just some fixed hairstyle is going to look exactly like your first example
I don't know about Shenhua tho, we all love that amazing cg artwork but it's also very cartoonish and probably not suited for an actual ingame use.
There are so much radically different looking version of her out there that i wonder what they're basing ther new model on.

[Amir]

Dunno if this is relevant or not but when I saved the press release photo to my iPhone, it was saved under "28th July". I guess that must have been when the image was first created. Weird that a new logo was created less than 30 days from the update that announced the last logo (30th June).

[JPZ]

I don't think the current character models are that great, Ryo looks alright, but Shenhua looks like a different person, an older mature women instead of a teenager with a soft face and expression.

I don't think they should change the original designs from the Dreamcast games, but rather keep the same design, in terms of measurements and structure, but upgraded in detail, which would look incredible, considering how good they already looked on Dreamcast in 1999.

[Shenmue_Legend]

Good, but not perfect. Ryo (and Shenhua too in the first image) should look like this http://i.imgur.com/kjW1BnE.jpg or this http://i.imgur.com/JIThlIf.jpg and Shenhua should look like this http://i.imgur.com/wmpbeDH.jpg Is this too much to ask for? There should be NO exceptions. If they don't look like this, then I will be very disappointed.

The exact same yesterday's Ryo model with just some fixed hairstyle is going to look exactly like your first example
I don't know about Shenhua tho, we all love that amazing cg artwork but it's also very cartoonish and probably not suited for an actual ingame use.
There are so much radically different looking version of her out there that i wonder what they're basing ther new model on.

Ok, but the Shenmue Online Ryo should be the one that they must aim for. That is THE Ryo, it's perfect. It doesn't seem like the current Ryo looks anything like that, yet. Also, I don't think Shenhua looking "cartoonish" is a bad thing at all (even though I don't think she does, but whatever!) because the main point is that this version of Shenhua looks amazing. Just like with Ryo, they should definitely try to replicate this because it is THE Shenhua!

[KidMarine]

Good, but not perfect. Ryo (and Shenhua too in the first image) should look like this http://i.imgur.com/kjW1BnE.jpg or this http://i.imgur.com/JIThlIf.jpg and Shenhua should look like this http://i.imgur.com/wmpbeDH.jpg Is this too much to ask for? There should be NO exceptions. If they don't look like this, then I will be very disappointed.

The exact same yesterday's Ryo model with just some fixed hairstyle is going to look exactly like your first example
I don't know about Shenhua tho, we all love that amazing cg artwork but it's also very cartoonish and probably not suited for an actual ingame use.
There are so much radically different looking version of her out there that i wonder what they're basing ther new model on.

Ok, but the Shenmue Online Ryo should be the one that they must aim for. That is THE Ryo, it's perfect. It doesn't seem like the current Ryo looks anything like that, yet. Also, I don't think Shenhua looking "cartoonish" is a bad thing at all (even though I don't think she does, but whatever!) because the main point is that this version of Shenhua looks amazing. Just like with Ryo, they should definitely try to replicate this because it is THE Shenhua!

The Ryo from an unreleased MMO is the real Ryo? Not the one we went through two games with?

[Shenmue_Legend]

Good, but not perfect. Ryo (and Shenhua too in the first image) should look like this http://i.imgur.com/kjW1BnE.jpg or this http://i.imgur.com/JIThlIf.jpg and Shenhua should look like this http://i.imgur.com/wmpbeDH.jpg Is this too much to ask for? There should be NO exceptions. If they don't look like this, then I will be very disappointed.

The exact same yesterday's Ryo model with just some fixed hairstyle is going to look exactly like your first example
I don't know about Shenhua tho, we all love that amazing cg artwork but it's also very cartoonish and probably not suited for an actual ingame use.
There are so much radically different looking version of her out there that i wonder what they're basing ther new model on.

Ok, but the Shenmue Online Ryo should be the one that they must aim for. That is THE Ryo, it's perfect. It doesn't seem like the current Ryo looks anything like that, yet. Also, I don't think Shenhua looking "cartoonish" is a bad thing at all (even though I don't think she does, but whatever!) because the main point is that this version of Shenhua looks amazing. Just like with Ryo, they should definitely try to replicate this because it is THE Shenhua!

The Ryo from an unreleased MMO is the real Ryo? Not the one we went through two games with?

Well it is the same Ryo, except he's more refined and detailed. The perfect choice for sure.

[Axm]

Apply better clothing textures, ship it...

[Suzuki Yu]

well well i was here since yesterday reading all the debates going on with specifically the models and i will cite my opinion on the matter..

first of all both of the new models are on track and vastly improved upon and far away from being bad or unfaithful to the concept designs available from the past. they only and only need some small tweaking (which is to be expected since there is about 1.5 years left at least before release)
and maybe i will be first to say it here but i am more pleased with Shenhua's new Model than Ryo... yes you heard that right!

Shenhua has never had a consistent model artwork.
the one they choose to go for here is clearly something more akin to these 3D renders






i always adored those back in the day and i feel they are going to a similar direction here.
now don't get me wrong i absolutely love the original design used in SI and Shenmue Passport, the thing is and i might be one of the few to say this but i don't like how she looked like in SII at all.

so going from this


to this



is a step up in art direction IMO.

again those new models are not perfect but still very close from some of designs used in past materials.

i will not talk about the location seen in the picture (which is looking gorgeous BTW!) but damn i wasn't expecting the great wall at all! the events in this game are supposed to take place far from it!

as for the logos i don't know but i find them both great unlike the shitty one used from before, it's not a big matter anyway.

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

Much like xiuying, which also had a beta model. People more of less aren't blind and agree the final model was better but you could also argue the beta was more similar to the OG concept art.

[mjq jazz bar]

Hopefully next week provides more answers than questions. The logo change is puzzling, but I'l live with it. I just want some stability!

[John Doom]

Not convinced by Ryo's look yet, I think there's something off in his eyes and his cheecks, though I'm not sure what it is.
It may still be too early to judge, anyway and these may be older assets too: just look at how they're using a new logo, even though they they recently said they were going to use the original one (I doubt they could've changed their mind ).

P.S.: I'd love to know if Ryo and Shenhua's models already looked something like this at the time of the backer's dinner.

[darksniper]

The environments look absolutely beautiful. Astonishing. I think this is going to be the main draw to the game.

Ryo's model is 95% on point. Maybe the hair could be thinned out and his jawline less rounded. Other than that this is the best Ryo Hazuki we've seen since the Dreamcast.

Shenhua. No.

Overall I think this is a great time to be optimistic about what this game is going to look like going forward. I'm not going to be super critical about anything until I see more.

In terms of character models, I'm not really concerned with Ryo and Shenhua. I'm confident they'll nail it by the time of release. For me these two are the benchmark of the quality of the character modeling. I really want to see what these two are going to look like in Shenmue III.

[JohnBlack]

Well we have some real discussion here!

But dont forget its just a pieces, we can discuss it but the game is a complete product. So we can judge models but not the game itself. Since this models can be soo different with proper light, animation, textures etc.