What do you expect to be disappointing ?

[Yokosuka]

My main concern is the gameplay and the ability of the team to renew it. I'm not sure if I can appreciate the QTEs like I did in the 00's. Apparently, Yu is aware of that and wants to evolve the system to another level.

Will Shenmue III reach the brilliance of the catching leaves ? What would be the gameplay if Ryo has to strike something like a rock or a tree again ?
Video games still use pad and buttons after all, it's hard to invent new things and Shenmue use a concept where constant gameplay innovation is needed to not bore the player.

My other concern is the length of play. Shenmue was fun because you could play tons of mini-games, do some interesting side quests and unlock some other events. It's more a question of things to do rather than the open world scale.

As sure as I will appreciate and love the game, I expect some awkward feelings, the kind of bitter taste you experiment only after the end of your playthrough. Hopefully it will only concern minor parts like make a better fortuneteller than Ailian He (hard task !).

[Zoltor]

"Apparently, Yu is aware of that and wants to evolve the system to another level"

I really hope that Isn't the case, to date, Shenmue 2 is the only game ever made, that used/executed QTEs perfectly. If evey game used QTEs like Shenmue 2 did, no one would ever have a problem with QTEs at all.

Please Yu, don't try to fix, what's not broken, and what you already perfected at that.

[Yokosuka]

That's my point. QTE were so well done and fully exploited in Shenmue 2 than I can't see how they can raise the level again for Shenmue 3. It would be a mistake to simply re-use the system without requiring new skills from the players (and Freeze QTEs appeared for this purpose at the time).

No mention about the modern games having overused (badly) the concept and managing somehow to make some of us disgusted. But we know Yu doesn't play video games that much and usually creates his games independently from what the others do and the players ask.

That being said, I think Yu will reintroduce the classic QTEs but not as much as Shenmue 2 did.

[Gavan]

"Apparently, Yu is aware of that and wants to evolve the system to another level"

I really hope that Isn't the case, to date, Shenmue 2 is the only game ever made, that used/executed QTEs perfectly. If evey game used QTEs like Shenmue 2 did, no one would ever have a problem with QTEs at all.

Please Yu, don't try to fix, what's not broken, and what you already perfected at that.

I agree. Yu shouldn't waste too much time and money trying out new things. If it isn't broken, don't fix it. I just want a game similar to Shenmue 1 and 2. Some innovations would be cool, but they are not necessary IMHO.

[elfshadowreaper]

I'm also worried about the size of the world. I loved getting a little lost in the S1 and S2 world and not really knowing where to go. Not out of a sense of poor game design, but from an exploratory standpoint. If the world is too small I'm afraid it will be "Go to the only hut in Bailu Village and ask that guy" instead of "I think he was around Bailu Village." A dense world would make up for a small world, but I'd love to have a dense and large world.

I don't care so much about voice acting or graphics as long as they're both acceptable. I'd rather a large world than better graphics.

[Master Kyodai]

Honestly, I'll prolly not love spending the whole game in China. Big fan of Japanese culture here, rural China just ain't my favorite, I'm more of a Yokosuka boy i guess. But i knew that anyways and still sold the family treasure to fund the game. True love eh?

Oh well the family treasure was just a pair of rare snakers and thus 100 Dollars. But hey I'm not Bill Gates, mmm-kay?

[amiga1200]

Which aspect(s) from the game do you think to be lower than your expectations ?

The gameplay ? the story ? the free battle ? the overrall shenmue feeling ?

^^ okay, rich coming from > < considering i'm not the cheeriest coked-up wreck head on the block, but fine.
honestly, for once, i'm NOT looking to be disappointed.
not saying i expect my spliff to get gummed by an angels vagina and sealed, reality here.
won't be perfect, but my expectations are high, certain the devs (and cohorts) are fully aware they're playing with matches.
aside tiny niggles EVERY game has, should be a winner.
no, not expecting any failures, just a damn good game on the whole.
[edit]
typo.

[johnvivant]

at 5 million Suzuki said he wasn't sure if shen3 would have 30 or 60 hours gameplay. maybe at 5 million we will get 30 hours gameplay, and if 10 million was reached it would have been 60 hours gameplay.

30 hours gameplay over a very detailed area thats maybe twice the size of dobuita, i would find that acceptable. if Ryo is mainly training with masters in this game then you don't really need a huge area to explore since the majority of time is spent training in the dojo and getting to know the new characters.

more time spent in a smaller location will give a greater feeling to becoming established in a location so it becomes more like a home, which is similar to what shenmue 1 did. i really think it will work well.

[Hyo Razuki]

I'm not worried about the size and the location itself. If S3 will have the size of S1 I'd be more than happy. Also the game being set in rural China does not bother me at all. I liked the rural Japan feeling in Yamanose and Sakuragaoka very much and the journey to Shenhua's house is what made the difference for S2, I think. S2 without "Disc 4" = fantastic video game. S2 with "Disc 4" = One of a kind masterpeice, unequaled by any game, even after 14 years.

To sum it up: I like the "rural" parts in both S1 and S2 so no worries about S3.

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

Shenmue was a product of a lost SEGA era.
I fear that despite all the care and effort YS net puts into it, Shenmue III might not have the same attention to detail the old games had because they don't have the same resources and talent SEGA had before it all went down the shitter.

[Yokosuka]

I share the same fear. However, the open world will be very small and UE4 is a very efficient engine.
In the other games, the interactivity is not really the purpose of the developers, and if it's the case, the game is likely an indie real time point & click. So there's still a chance that Shenmue 3 could suffer from neither the competition nor the previous Shenmue which have aged on this point.

[shenmue852]

Chai coming back sucks, why not Master Baihu instead?

[alexh86]

I'm really not worried about graphics, voice acting, sound, length (unless it's ridiculously short) or anything else like that. The main thing I'm worried about is the story and how it's presented. Almost everything in the first two games is perfect. Will the third game be able to capture that? Are the next chapters as good as the early chapters have set them up to be? Can Yu Suzuki still rise to a level of storytelling unmatched by any of his peers over the last 14 years? We shall see.

[shenmue852]

The graphics could be a double edged sword- Unreal 4 is great but the problem with using such a common engine is that many elements could look familiar in a generic way, i.e grass and plants will have this utilitarian kind of look where it's good enough in the sense that it's there and it looks like grass, but it reminds you very strongly of other games.

The thing about the old Shenmue games was, for better or worse, the graphics looked unique. It didn't take the same standardized approach and granted a lot of that was because of the unique innovations required to get around tech limitations, but having grass and trees that looks like they could've been in Dragon Age or The Witcher is a modern day challenge that Shenmue faces.

here are examples of the generic look that I REALLY hope Shenmue doesn't suffer from. both shots are from Unreal 4 engine-

[shredingskin]

To be honest as a Shenmue fan, I'm not that afraid of much.

I just hope gamers and press don't kill it because "too little fights" "too slow", and bullshit like that.