Shenmue_Trilogy wrote:Because Ryo is the main character and after 1,5 years not knowing how his face looks and how its animated its IMO not a good sign. ...but ryos face is only one thing of the whole picture. I also don't understand why many fans accepting photoshoped screenshots that easily? "Yeah its just a placeholder"...for 1,5 years placeholder?
Back to topic: What we got so far?
- Some early footage without any ingame gameplay mechanics
- Some screenshots of photohoped Ryos face and other scenes
- Some information through the kickstarter updates
No real ingame gameplay and no new trailer!..only 8 months before release! Well, I try to look on the whole situation more realistic and in my view it doesn't look good for a release by the end of 2017. Lets wait and see what we get at E3.
Well, to go back to the bit of my post you didn't address; Shenmue III has not yet reappeared in a wider press/promotional context, which is an important factor here that cannot be ignored.
I've talked before about the smoke and mirrors of modern video game development through accelerating certain sections of the game for trailers/carefully stage managed hands-off demos. I made a comparison a while ago to the very advanced looking FF15 trailer from Sony's 2013 E3 and how it took three and a half years to release, and that still rings true. Even from the first playable demo of FF15 it took over a year and a half to release.
The Kickstarter is giving us a pretty honest account of game development where the budget cannot account for routinely cutting two months out of wider development to make key assets pretty for a press conference. Presentation is currently taking a back seat to function, which is the smart long term decision. There's work being done in those areas, but it's spread out and happening in an iterative fashion.
Simply said, YSnet aren't making the mistake of short term glory by following the mostly bullshit traditional AAA press cycle. They don't have the benefit of making Shenmue III away from scrutinising eyes, but the point still stands that they're properly prioritising right now.
Why is there an emerging trend of games being revealed mere months before release (recent example: Shadow of Mordor sequel)? Because it cuts down on time and money expenditure making a game look presentable earlier for promotional purposes. Even the AAA games industry are realising their drawn out press cycles are inefficient.
I'm not arguing that the game will make 2017. The point I'm trying to make is; how a game looks is not a very good yardstick for judging completion.