Swearing in Shenmue III?

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Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Abraham_1 » Tue Nov 21, 2017 10:47 am

Hey,

As you can tell, I don't usually post here, but I've been thinking of an interesting topic. As you may be aware, in the original Shenmue, there's some level of swearing. Nothing like 'Fuck', but if I'm not mistaken, the following words are said in the game:

Shit (multiple times)
Bastard
Piss off
Goddamn (although, it's not that bad)
Hell (as in 'What the hell' - very mild, but I'll explain myself below)

An interesting thing I've noticed is that Shenmue II doesn't have any of the swears in both the Xbox dub and the English subtitled EU version. Now, you could argue that for the Dreamcast version, Japanese words like 'Kso' could be translated as 'shit'; however, the subtitles use the word 'Damn'. Even the word 'Hell' isn't really used in the same context as Shenmue I; instead, Ryo says 'What the heck?' It's like they gave the game PG-level swearing so the age rating could stay low: 7+ in the UK's Xbox version; I'm sure it's similar in other countries.

I know this seems minor, but I honestly prefer a little bit of swearing. Not simply for the sake of profanity, and certainly nowhere near to the extent of GTA games, but somewhere around Shenmue I's level so it could add a layer of authenticity when you're fighting thugs and gangsters. Shenmue II's lack of swearing almost makes the game comical at times, i.e. especially with Dou Niu ''Damn you! You rats etc'' and can take away from the realism. Although, making Dou Niu comical may have been a deliberate choice idk (I mean we are talking about some huge, bald, sumo-wrestler-looking guy here), but there could have been some swearing with the other thugs you meet.

So, I guess I'm wondering, would anyone like some level of swearing to be in Shenmue III, preferably as rare and mild as it was in Shenmue I? I honestly don't think, in this day and age, and especially with the fact that most Shenmue fans are over 18 years old, there's a need to refrain from any swearing for the sake of reducing the age rating. Even people younger than 18 are accustomed to swearing in videogames everywhere.

I think this could also make for an interesting interview question to ask Yu Suzuki; I don't see any reason why he wouldn't answer it haha.

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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby sutoji » Tue Nov 21, 2017 12:16 pm

Brilliant post you made there. Personally I think swearing should be kept to a minimum but still take place. Absolutely no use of the word "fuck" or "shit" but instead "damn" and "bastard" just like the previous games (mainly Shenmue 1)

Yu Suzuki would never include swearing in any game he makes to be honest. The Shenmue series is light in tone and only represents the dark side in the form of Martial Arts or illegal characters like Ren haha.

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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby BlueMue » Tue Nov 21, 2017 3:19 pm

It should have some. It doesn't need any f-bombs but the occasional outburst of medium swear words just makes the dialogues feel more natural.

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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby MiTT3NZ » Tue Nov 21, 2017 4:43 pm

It'd be a bit out of place in the back arse of Niao Weir, China.

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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Abraham_1 » Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:00 am

sutoji wrote: Brilliant post you made there. Personally I think swearing should be kept to a minimum but still take place. Absolutely no use of the word "fuck" or "shit" but instead "damn" and "bastard" just like the previous games (mainly Shenmue 1)


Thank you!

But I don't think the word 'shit' would be that bad. It was used quite a few times in Shenmue 1 and felt especially authentic, for example, when that biker guy is like 'Talks like a goodie goodie, little shit'. I think if it's used sparingly like that it'd be authentic. We're talking about thugs here; people who've grown up around people who swear all the time. From the Yakuza games to Goodfellas; it's widely accepted that gangsters are foul mouthed.
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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Abraham_1 » Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:04 am

BlueMue wrote: It should have some. It doesn't need any f-bombs but the occasional outburst of medium swear words just makes the dialogues feel more natural.



Yeah agreed. Hearing someone drop the f-bomb in a Shenmue game would be like including guns and drugs in the game; it's out of place in a Shenmue game. If I'm also not mistaken, Shenmue is based off Chinese cinema and most Chinese martial arts films dubbed or subbed in English don't have swears so that may be another reason why Yu Suzuki hasn't included many swears.
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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Abraham_1 » Wed Nov 22, 2017 9:07 am

MiTT3NZ wrote: It'd be a bit out of place in the back arse of Niao Weir, China.


Yeah but Ryo will be fighting Chiyoumen members I'm sure, judging by the screenshots. And most Chiyoumen I'd assume are city folk.
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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Centrale » Wed Nov 22, 2017 12:47 pm

Abraham_1 wrote:Yeah agreed. Hearing someone drop the f-bomb in a Shenmue game would be like including guns and drugs in the game; it's out of place in a Shenmue game.


I agree with what you're saying about profanity, as I wouldn't want it to be used in the hamfisted way that a developer like Ubisoft uses it. (I played the Division demo and it sounded like the dialog was written by an 11-year-old trying out swearing for the first time - i.e., completely over-used.)

However, on to the point about guns and drugs... isn't it implied that that's what criminal organizations like the Mad Angels and Chiyoumen would be largely involved in?
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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Abraham_1 » Wed Nov 22, 2017 4:35 pm

Centrale wrote: However, on to the point about guns and drugs... isn't it implied that that's what criminal organizations like the Mad Angels and Chiyoumen would be largely involved in?


Yeah, good point. Drugs are actually mentioned in Shenmue 1 by Master Chen, who says the Mad Angels are shipping in drugs to Japan. I guess I meant the use of guns and drugs becoming central to the game, GTA-style.

Or, for example, guns playing a role in combat. Even if guns were used in the same style as Yakuza, where they don't really affect the fighting system, it would feel out of place in the realistic Shenmue world. I guess I wouldn't mind a boss wielding a gun or a gun being used in a cutscene or something, but it does take away from the martial arts feel of Shenmue imho.
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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby BigTuna » Thu Nov 23, 2017 6:49 am

While I don't usually care about language. There's a few exceptions that I believe shouldn't cross into that territory. I would absolutely hate it if they went a Beyond Good And Evil 2 route with this series. I love the first BG&E, but that trailer completely shut my interest down. Then again, I'd also be very surprised if that game ever gets a release.

I'm pretty certain though, as others have said, that Yu wouldn't do that to Shenmue. Like you pointed out. Shenmue 2 had no swearing. That's not even something I've ever noticed I think. So I am pretty sure it may be safe to assume Shenmue 3 will follow that trend.
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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby nskachu » Thu Nov 23, 2017 8:07 am

Well, in Shenmue 1 we had a guy whose name was literally FuckU-San

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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Hyo Razuki » Thu Nov 23, 2017 10:36 am

Doesn't Ren swear from time to time in the Japanese DC version of S2? Also Yuan's gender was changed in the Europaean DC version and the Xbox versions. I remember reading about Ren talking about Yuan saying something like "Talks like a woman, dresses like a woman, has a dick." in the Japanese DC version. Don't speak Japanese though, so I can't check if it's true.

I would like a little bit of swearing[ during fight scenes for instance. But don't let it get to Yakuza levels. More like S1 level would be ok.

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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Abraham_1 » Thu Nov 23, 2017 8:55 pm

Hyo Razuki wrote: Doesn't Ren swear from time to time in the Japanese DC version of S2? Also Yuan's gender was changed in the Europaean DC version and the Xbox versions. I remember reading about Ren talking about Yuan saying something like "Talks like a woman, dresses like a woman, has a dick." in the Japanese DC version. Don't speak Japanese though, so I can't check if it's true.


I don't know about that 'has a dick' part either, but I think translating swears from another language can be ambiguous. For example, Ryo says 'Kso' a lot in the English version, but it translates it as 'Damn'. Some Japanese would call it 'Shit' and I've seen it translated like that in another Japanese game I think.

There are loads of things that were censored for Shenmue II's non-Japan release: viewtopic.php?t=47285

I just think it'd be a shame to censor anything again or for Yu Suzuki to feel the need to cater to supposedly younger audiences (although, I do recognise there was controversy with Shenmue II, that was mostly due to the specific time it was released). Stuff like the cassette tape change didn't need to be taken out, but it was to keep a lower age rating and cater to a broader audience. We don't need that anymore though imo.

Yeah, Shenmue I level swearing is perfect for III.
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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Abraham_1 » Thu Nov 23, 2017 9:03 pm

BigTuna wrote: While I don't usually care about language. There's a few exceptions that I believe shouldn't cross into that territory. I would absolutely hate it if they went a Beyond Good And Evil 2 route with this series. I love the first BG&E, but that trailer completely shut my interest down. Then again, I'd also be very surprised if that game ever gets a release.


Hehe, I really liked the Beyond Good and Evil 2 trailer, but I can totally see where you're coming from. Ubisoft fell into the trap of thinking, ''Well it's been a very long time since the last Beyond Good and Evil and I'm sure everyone is old enough now, so let's make this a mature game!'' Having also enjoyed the original game myself, I have to admit, a sequel does not need any profanity; i.e. Pey'j's humour in the original was relatively PG but still funny imo.

But Shenmue is different since the original game had some swearing, which was taken out in the sequel. If anything, it'd be more faithful to the original if there was similar swearing in III.
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Re: Swearing in Shenmue III?

Postby Cyberman » Sat Nov 25, 2017 10:54 am

Abraham_1 wrote: Hey,

As you can tell, I don't usually post here, but I've been thinking of an interesting topic. As you may be aware, in the original Shenmue, there's some level of swearing. Nothing like 'Fuck', but if I'm not mistaken, the following words are said in the game:

Shit (multiple times)
Bastard
Piss off
Goddamn (although, it's not that bad)
Hell (as in 'What the hell' - very mild, but I'll explain myself below)

An interesting thing I've noticed is that Shenmue II doesn't have any of the swears in both the Xbox dub and the English subtitled EU version. Now, you could argue that for the Dreamcast version, Japanese words like 'Kso' could be translated as 'shit'; however, the subtitles use the word 'Damn'. Even the word 'Hell' isn't really used in the same context as Shenmue I; instead, Ryo says 'What the heck?' It's like they gave the game PG-level swearing so the age rating could stay low: 7+ in the UK's Xbox version; I'm sure it's similar in other countries.

I know this seems minor, but I honestly prefer a little bit of swearing. Not simply for the sake of profanity, and certainly nowhere near to the extent of GTA games, but somewhere around Shenmue I's level so it could add a layer of authenticity when you're fighting thugs and gangsters. Shenmue II's lack of swearing almost makes the game comical at times, i.e. especially with Dou Niu ''Damn you! You rats etc'' and can take away from the realism. Although, making Dou Niu comical may have been a deliberate choice idk (I mean we are talking about some huge, bald, sumo-wrestler-looking guy here), but there could have been some swearing with the other thugs you meet.

So, I guess I'm wondering, would anyone like some level of swearing to be in Shenmue III, preferably as rare and mild as it was in Shenmue I? I honestly don't think, in this day and age, and especially with the fact that most Shenmue fans are over 18 years old, there's a need to refrain from any swearing for the sake of reducing the age rating. Even people younger than 18 are accustomed to swearing in videogames everywhere.

I think this could also make for an interesting interview question to ask Yu Suzuki; I don't see any reason why he wouldn't answer it haha.


Dont know god damn was used but the word asshole was used several times.
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