| Shenmue III | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Ys Net |
| Publishers | Deep Silver (2019–2024) Inin Games (2024–present) |
| Directors |
|
| Producers |
|
| Designer | Aki Tsuchie |
| Programmers |
|
| Writers |
|
| Composer | Ryuji Iuchi |
| Series | Shenmue |
| Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
| Platforms | |
| Release | |
| Genres | Action-adventure,life simulation,social simulation |
| Mode | Single-player |
Shenmue III[a] is a 2019action-adventure game developed by Ys Net and published byDeep Silver for thePlayStation 4 andWindows. Like the previousShenmue games, it consists ofopen-world environments interspersed withbrawler battles andquick time events, with aday-and-night system, variable weather effects,non-player characters with daily schedules, and variousminigames. Players control the teenage martial artistRyo Hazuki, who continues his search for his father's killer in the mountains of 1980sGuilin, China.
The director,Yu Suzuki, conceivedShenmue as a saga spanning multiple games.Shenmue andShenmue II were developed bySega AM2 and published bySega for theDreamcast in 1999 and 2001. The originalShenmue was themost expensive video game ever developed at the time, though this development also covered some ofShenmue II and groundwork for futureShenmue games. The games attracted positive reviews and acult following, but were commercial failures.
AtE3 2015, following years of speculation, Suzuki launched aKickstarter campaign tocrowdfundShenmue III, with Sega having licensedShenmue to Suzuki's company Ys Net. It became the fastest campaign to raise $2 million, in under seven hours, and ended the following month having raised over $6 million, making it the highest-funded video game in Kickstarter history at the time. Further funding came from Sony and Deep Silver and crowdfunding on other platforms. The development team was much smaller than that of previousShenmue games, though key staff from the original team returned.Shenmue III was developed usingUnreal Engine 4.
Shenmue III was released on November 19, 2019, 18 years afterShenmue II. It received mixed reviews; some critics described it as outdated, while others praised its faithfulness to the franchise. Retail sales were low, but excluded digital sales and copies sent to Kickstarter backers. The CEO of Deep Silver's parent company,Embracer Group, saidShenmue III had been "fine" financially. An enhanced version is planned for Windows,PlayStation 5,Xbox Series X and Series S. Suzuki expressed his hope to developShenmue IV.
Like the previousShenmue games, the player controls the teenage martial artistRyo Hazuki, who is searching for his father's killer. Most of the game is spent exploring theopen world inGuilin, China, searching for clues, examining objects and talking tonon-player characters for information.[1]
The 3D fighting system is similar to theVirtua Fighter series; Ryo can practice moves to increase their power.[1] The fighting system was redesigned to make it accessible to less experienced players.[2] In quick time events, the player must press the right buttons at the right moment to succeed.[3] Ryo can earn money throughminigames such as gambling, fishing, woodchopping, and forklift driving, and by selling foraged herbs.[4]
Shenmue III introduces a stamina system, whereby Ryo'shit points (HP) gradually decline as the player explores. If his HP drops too low, he loses the ability to sprint while exploring. Ryo can restore HP through sleeping and eating.[5]
In 1987, the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki has journeyed fromYokosuka, Japan, to the mountains ofGuilin, China, in search of his father's killer, Lan Di. Ryo and his new friend, Ling Shenhua, search for Shenhua's missing father, the stonemason Yuan, in Shenhua's hometown of Bailu Village. They learn that thugs have been harassing the local stonemasons, looking for the phoenix mirror, which Ryo has brought from his father'sdojo. Another stonemason, Xu, is also missing. Ryo defeats two of the thugs, but is defeated by their boss, Yanlang.
Ryo learns that Lan Di's father, Zhao Sunming, visited Bailu Village with Ryo's father to train under the local grandmaster. Zhao died under mysterious circumstances several years later. Ryo also discovers that the phoenix and dragon mirrors were created by Yuan's grandfather at the request of the Chinese emperor. Their creation is connected to the local Verdant Bridge, constructed to honor the visit of a Chinese envoy.
At the thugs' hideout, Ryo is defeated again by Yanlang. He convinces Sun, a local martial arts master, to teach him a powerfulBajiquan move, and uses it to defeat Yanlang. A village elder helps them discover a map to the treasure connected to the mirrors. Ryo fends off an attack from Lan Di's henchman, Chai, who reveals that Yuan and Xu have been taken to the city of Niaowu.
Ryo and Shenhua travel to Niaowu by boat. Ryo learns that a local gang, the Red Snakes, is holding Yuan and Xu. Ryo encounters his Hong Kong ally, Wuying Ren, who has traveled to Niaowu in pursuit of the treasure connected to the mirrors. At the Red Snakes’ hideout, Ryo and Ren are defeated by their boss, Ge, who uses an animalistic fighting style. Ryo meets a cormorant fisherman, Grandmaster Bei, who teaches him a similar Bajiquan move to defeat the Red Snakes.
Ryo and Ren approach the hideout, only to find Li Feng, a mysterious woman whom Ryo has encountered previously in Niaowu. She tells them that the Red Snakes have kidnapped Shenhua and taken her across the river to a castle. Ryo convinces Bei to take him and Ren by boat. Before departing, Ren reveals that he has acquired a counterfeit phoenix mirror, believing it could be useful.
The three cross the river with Hsu, a former student of Bei, and Lin Shiling, the maiden of a local shrine. Ryo and Ren infiltrate the castle while the others guard the perimeter. Ryo finds Yuan and Xu trapped in a cell; Ryo defeats Chai again and releases them. In the process, they learn that Li Feng is a Chi You Men leader: Niao Sun. Ryo gives her the real phoenix mirror to spare Shenhua's life, and Niao Sun tells them Lan Di is up ahead.
Ryo and Ren fight their way to the top of the castle, defeat Ge, and find Lan Di. Ryo challenges him to a fight, but Lan Di defeats him easily. Ren offers Lan Di the counterfeit phoenix mirror in exchange for Ryo's life. Lan Di accepts, but Ren hurls the mirror out of a window. Niao Sun has her men distract Lan Di in the castle and consolidate her power, and Ryo and Ren escape.
Ryo, Shenhua, Ren, Yuan, and Xu depart Niaowu by boat. On board, Yuan reveals that the mirrors were initially locked away in a cliff temple; Zhao Sunming retrieved them to keep them from "falling into the wrong hands". After Zhao died, his son, Lan Di, was raised by the Chi You Men. While captive, Yuan also learned that the Chi You have taken over the cliff temple. Ryo, Shenhua, and Ren continue their journey along theGreat Wall of China.
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The first twoShenmue games were directed, written and produced byYu Suzuki. They were developed bySega AM2 and published by Sega for theDreamcast in 1999 and 2001.[6] Suzuki planned to tell the story across multiple games.[7] With a level of detail considered unprecedented,[8] theoriginalShenmue was themost expensive video game ever developed at the time, reported to have cost between US$47 and 70 million, including marketing. The development also covered some ofShenmue II, which was completed for a smaller figure,[9] and groundwork for futureShenmue games.[10]
Despite attracting acult following and appearances in severalgreatest video games of all time lists,[11][12][13][14] the first twoShenmue games were commercial failures.[15] Suzuki worked on various projects which failed to see release,[16] includingShenmue Online, amassively multiplayer online role-playing game for the Chinese and Korean PC markets.[17]
Fans petitioned forShenmue III,[18] and in 2005 theBBC seriesVideoGaiden ran a campaign for its release.[19] On several occasions, Sega spokespersons said they recognized the interest inShenmue and did not rule out another game,[20][21] and Suzuki said that Sega would be open to the project with the right budget.[22] In 2008, Suzuki established his own development company, Ys Net, while remaining at Sega.[16] That year, Sega announcedShenmue City, asocial game for the Japanese services Mobagetown (for cell phones) andMobage (PC). Suzuki hoped that ifShenmue City were a success it would allow him to makeShenmue III.[23] However, it was shut down in December 2011.[24]
In September 2011, Suzuki left Sega to focus on Ys Net.[16] In 2012, he suggested that Sega could licenseShenmue to Ys Net to developShenmue III independently.[25] News arose in March 2013 that Suzuki was consideringcrowdfunding orconsole exclusivity to fundShenmue III.[26] During the 2014Game Developers Conference,Sony Computer Entertainment approached Suzuki aboutShenmue III as it was one of the most requested games.[27][28][29] In March 2014,Phil Spencer, the head ofXbox, saidShenmue III was the most requested sequel from Xbox owners.[30] Sega renewed theShenmuetrademark that May.[31]
On June 14, 2015, the day before the Los AngelesE3 industry event, Suzuki tweeted "E3" with a photo of aforklift, a reference to aminigame in the originalShenmue.[32] During Sony's E3 press conference the next day, Suzuki announced aKickstarter crowdfunding campaign to developShenmue III forPlayStation 4 andWindows with a tentative release date of December 2017.[33] The surprise announcement drew publicity,[18] winning the "Best Debut" award fromGameTrailers[34] and generating a surge in sales of pre-owned Dreamcast consoles.[35] In January 2017,Time,The Guardian andDen of Geek includedShenmue III in their lists of anticipated games.[36][37][38]
The initial Kickstarter funding goal, the amount necessary for the campaign to succeed and development to begin, was $2 million. Additional goals, to encourage further donations, included a "rapport system" that changes interactions with characters depending on player choices, and a "skill tree system" allowing for greater customization of Ryo's fighting abilities.[39] Suzuki said that forShenmue III to be a "true"open-world game, the campaign would need to raise at least $10 million, but that he would not be disappointed by a smaller figure and would work within the budget.[40]
Shenmue III became the fastest game to raise $1 million in crowdfunding, in an hour and 44 minutes, and the fastest to raise $2 million, in eight hours and 43 minutes.[41] Crowdfunding ended on July 17 having raised $6.3 million from over 69,000 backers, becoming the highest-funded video game in Kickstarter history at the time.[40] On September 17, crowdfunding resumed using the online payment systemPayPal. On March 15, the project began accepting pledges through the Chinese crowdfunding platformAlipay.[42]
Crowdfunding ended in September 2018, having raised $7,179,510 from 81,087 backers across multiple platforms.[43] Though this is a large amount for a crowdfunded project, it was relatively small for a high-profile game. Sony andDeep Silver provided further funding.[43] Suzuki said the final budget was around $20 million.[44]
Shenmue III was developed by Suzuki's development studio Ys Net,[18] with production, marketing, and publishing support from Sony andShibuya Productions.[45][46] WhereasShenmue andShenmue II were developed by between 250 and 300 people,Shenmue III had a core team of about 75, with a further 100 outsourced roles, excluding voice actors.[47] Ten key staff had worked on the previousShenmue games,[47] including Suzuki, the second director Keiji Okayasu, the scenario director Takao Yotsuji, the writers Junichi Yoshida and Masahiro Yoshimoto, the character designers Kenji Miyawaki and Hideki Kawabata and the composer Ryuji Iuchi.[48][49] The chief executive of Neilo, Takeshi Hirai, was a lead programmer on the firstShenmue.[18] Other staff had worked on games such asTheLegend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Sega franchises such asStreets of Rage andVirtua Fighter.[47]Masaya Matsukaze and Corey Marshall reprised their roles as the Japanese and English voices of Ryo.[50][51] The Indian studio Lakshya Digital provided additional character models.[52]
In November 2015, Suzuki visited China to promote the project and research the locations, traditional clothes andmartial arts of Guilin. In a presentation at China's Chuapp conference that month, he said thatShenmue III's story and "composition" were complete and that "baseline research" withUnreal Engine 4 had begun.[53] Suzuki chose the engine as it allowed the team to build prototypes quickly.[54] In late 2015, the team began usingShenmue II characters to run simple battle and conversation tests.[55] In February 2016, Suzuki demonstrated the weather effects, lighting and music at the Monaco Anime Game International Conference.[56] By December, the game had left preproduction andmotion capture and voice tests were under way.[57]
In June 2017,Shenmue III was delayed to the second half of 2018. According to Suzuki, it had become "bigger and more beautiful" than he expected through the use of new technology.[58] That August, Suzuki announced that Ys Net had partnered with the publisherDeep Silver to publishShenmue III globally. He toldEurogamer that this allowed them to make a larger open world, and that Sony and Sega were still supporting development.[54] Ys Net released a teaser trailer on August 22, 2017.[59] It received criticism for its "stiff" character models and animation.[60]
In May 2018, Ys Net and Deep Silver delayedShenmue III until 2019.[61] At theGamescom trade fair that August, Deep Silver displayed a new trailer and announced a release date of August 27, 2019.[62] A new trailer was shown in March 2019 at the Monaco Magic festival, showcasing the Guilin setting, fighting system, and several new characters.[63] In June,Shenmue III was delayed to November 19.[64] A new trailer, showcasing arcades and fighting gameplay, debuted at theGamescom trade fair that August.[65]
Shenmue III includes a letter to fans from Suzuki expressing his hope to developShenmue IV.[66] Suzuki toldIGN he had createdShenmue III "for the fans", and that he planned to giveShenmue IV more mainstream appeal.[67]
Shenmue III was released on November 19, 2019, 18 years afterShenmue II.[68] A demo was released for Windows in September 2019.[69] The Windows version ofShenmue III was exclusive to theEpic Games Store for the first year.[70] The exclusivity announcement drew criticism from some fans, and Kickstarter backers who had requested theSteam version were offered refunds.[71] In China,Shenmue III was published by Oasis Games on PlayStation 4 and theWeGame platform on PC.[72]
In January 2020, Ys Net released thedownloadable content (DLC) "Battle Rally", in which players compete in arcade-style races as Ryo, Ren or Ryo's sparring partner Wei Zhen.[73] The "story quest" DLC was released in February, and features the return of Zhang Shuqin fromShenmue II.[74] The third DLC expansion, "Big Merry Cruise", was released in March.[75] In April 2021, fans released amod for the PC version that replaces the voices ofGreg Chun andKyle McCarley as Ren and Lan Di withEric Kelso and Paul Lucas, who voiced them in the original games.[76]
On November 19, 2024, Ys Net announced that the publishing rights had transferred from Deep Silver to Inin Games.[77] On 18 August, 2025, Inin announcedShenmue III Enhanced for Windows,PlayStation 5,Xbox Series X and Series S, and an unspecifiedNintendo console, with changes including improved visuals, new camera options, more non-player characters, and gameplay alterations.[78]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | PC: 69/100[79] PS4: 67/100[80] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 7/10[84] |
| Eurogamer | Recommended[88] |
| Famitsu | 32/40[81] |
| Game Informer | 6/10[91] |
| GameSpot | 5/10[90] |
| GamesRadar+ |   [82] |
| IGN | 5.9/10[93] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 83/100[86] |
| Push Square | [85] |
| RPGamer |  [89] |
| The Guardian | [87] |
| USgamer | 2.5/5[92] |
| VG247 | [83] |
According to thereview aggregator websiteMetacritic,Shenmue III received "mixed or average reviews".[79][80] Reviewers were divided over its similarity to the older games; some felt it was a faithful sequel, while others criticized it as outdated.[94] According to Matthew Handrahan ofGamesIndustry.biz, "Ys Net hasn't rebooted or reimagined its franchise; rather, it has made a game as if (for the most part) the intervening years never happened at all."[94]
Martin Robinson ofEurogamer describedShenmue III as "archaic and arcane ... completely ignorant of modern trends in open world gaming, or indeed trends of the last 20 years ... It looks and plays like a Dreamcast game that's as off-kilter, maddening, magical and majestic as the originalShenmue games, both all-time classics. I think there's good reason to rejoice in that."[1]
Kirk McKeand ofVG247 wrote that he enjoyedShenmue III despite its "decades-old sensibilities".[95] Justin Towell ofGamesRadar+ described it as "a magnificent, authentic, totally uncompromised sequel that crucially ignores virtually every gaming trend of the past 18 years".[3] Kyle Hilliard ofIGN criticized the plot, feeling it moved the series no closer to a conclusion.[96] At the 2020NAVGTR Awards,Shenmue III won for best franchise adventure game and was nominated for best franchise original light mix score.[97][98]
In Japan, the PlayStation 4 version ofShenmue III sold 17,857 retail copies in its first week, making it the week's fourth-bestselling game and the bestselling new release.[99] In the UK,Shenmue III entered the charts at number 17, selling half as many copies as the 2018Shenmue remaster.GamesIndustry.biz andVG247 said the sales in both regions were likely lower than hoped, but noted that the chart excludes digital sales and copies given to Kickstarter backers.[100][101] Lars Wingefors, the CEO of Deep Silver's parent company,Embracer Group, said thatShenmue III had been "fine" financially and that it was a "core niche product".[102]
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