Shenmue III will only complete 40% of Ryo’s story


If you funded Shenmue III assuming that we would be getting a closure to a story that we (at least most of us older fans) have been following since early 2000s, but that doesn’t seem the case. We all know that Shenmue was always mean’t to be 11 chapters, but considering budgets and restrains, a lot of us assumed that Yu Suzuki had planned a more condense version of his story. I guess not:

During a interview with USgamer, Yu Suzuki revealed that Shenmue III will be about 40% of Ryo’s story:

“Whole story of this bottle, about here [sic],” Suzuki said via translator. I asked if he meant halfway. “40 percent,”

About the game’s length, Yu Suzuki had this to say in a Reddit AMA:

“There are a total of 11 chapters that make up the whole story, over the past 14 years I originally planned for there to 4 or five games to the series. If at all possible, I would still like to realize the full story of 11 chapters.”

What are your thoughts on Shenmue III not finishing Ryo’s story and do you think Yu Suzuki will have another chance to make Shenmue IV? We still have 60% of the game’s story left, does the studio have 3 more games in them?

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8 responses to “Shenmue III will only complete 40% of Ryo’s story

  1. Tad says:

    He has said this before, but he’s also said he could cut it down to ending on Shenmue 4. Personally, I’d have kept it a trilogy as I’m not sure he’s going to get another chance to make a fourth title, but we’ll see.

  2. Centrale says:

    Yu Suzuki has said in recent years that he would ideally like to make five or six games total. I agree with his approach, to go for that ideal and let the chips fall where they may, rather than trying to truncate the story to fit it within three or four.

  3. stephen says:

    I think he should wind it up now given this miraculous chance he’s had to instead of leaving it in potential limbo like it’s been for the last 15 years…

    The whole thing is pointless unfinished.

  4. OriginalName says:

    That’s playing a very dangerous game.

  5. tdixpix says:

    I dunno, I could have felt satiated with spoiled anticipation if Game of Thrones ended at Season 7, but instead, they packed a bunch of crap into season 8 and ruined the whole thing for me.

    If Weiss and Benioff can’t squeeze a huge story into 6 episodes well, what makes us think that Suzuki can squeeze 60% of a title into this game? I’m happy with the delay – even if that means it doesn’t come out.

    Also, now that the engine and style is figured out, we could see more installments require much less time and work to make.

  6. am2model3 says:

    the Shenmue3 kickstarter back in 2015 was truly a dream come true; and the fact we are getting Shenmue3 at all is itself a miracle; regardless of the story completion.

    That being said, a lot of people assumed Shenmue3 would finish the story; and that clearly was never the case; lots of people thought great, now we get the last game and closure. The real fans knew that wasn’t the case; and that Shenmue would hopefully conclude with Shenmue 4 or 5, or 6.

    Personally, i will fund/kickstart as many games as it takes; but given the nature of the industry these days; I hope Yu Suzuki can find a way to condense things without taking too much out to conclude our Shenmue game&story with Shenmue 4 or 5.

    Regardless, Shenmue for life! Shenmue3 will be a dream come true to play this November! (i was hoping for August)

  7. jimi Andreas says:

    I think the game will b successful enough to justify a continuation of the series.Theres still a chance it will sell beyond anyones expectations.That would b cool!

  8. Una says:

    Das betrifft beide Versionen des Spiels (INT, JP).

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