Things are getting pretty serious with the Shenmue III project, between a new Gamescom presentation that blew away fans, as well as the announcement of a new publishing partner with Deep Silver. But this week, producer Yu Suzuki reminded us that it will be as simple as it’s ever been, staying with a reliable gameplay system that fans will certainly come to appreciate. And yes, that includes you hardcore forklift drivers.
Speaking with Metro, Suzuki explained that the game will stick to a roadmap similar to how the first two Shenmue games worked. “Shenmue has always been very unique, I think, and so there’s nothing else that’s very similar. But I do not think it’s a problem overall as what has changed in the modern games world is that people are now used to playing different types of games that may not be action-based and have a lot of story. Shenmue may still feel strange to them at first [laughs] but I hope that in itself will be attractive to many people, and that they will find it interesting for that reason.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“The style of game will be very similar to the original, but we will of course be adding some new features as well. The style of control from the original game is one thing that will be updated, but that is natural given modern controllers and the advance of that type of technology.”
He continued, explaining that there will be updated controls, though the gameplay will have familiarity. “I don’t think it’s necessary to change the basics of the gameplay. If I change it too much the existing fans will be very upset. Although I am always making up new ideas and things to add to the game, which can be a problem for my team who are trying to implement these ideas. [laughs]
“At the moment we are trying to keep it to 30% new and the keep the other 70% of the game similar to the original. But the design is constantly changing and I am always coming up with new concepts that we can try to add to the game if there is the opportunity.”
Oh, and he totally addressed the issue that some people have with the trailer, and certain appearances. “This has been a definite problem and what you see in the teaser is not the final development. It is a work in progress and is due to a change in the nature of the character models, rather than the facial animation itself. So what you see in the teaser is not a sign of the final game and you will see a lot of improvement before the final game.”
Shenmue III doesn’t have a release date, but it’s expected sometime next year for PlayStation 4 and PC.
