SHENMUE 4 UPDATE FROM YU SUZUKI - Shenmue Dojo

SHENMUE 4 UPDATE FROM YU SUZUKI
Matt looks over the recent Yu Suzuki interview breaking down each section and discussing the each talking point.
What better place to start than the #Shenmue 4 section?!
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[@importals]

Shenmue dojo is such an ancient website, I’m 34 and used to browse that site when I was 11 or 12 and was playing shenmue on Dreamcast

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

We're still here!

[@adnan-khan]

@ShenmueDojoVOD I used to be a mod on your forums years ago..... Was a good time. Produced some old banners and avatars and was one of the first to upload high res screen caps from the Dreamcast game emulated on PC. Shenmue will always have a special place in my heart. It was the game that got me massively interested in Japanese culture.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

@@adnan-khan Welcome back!

[@RetrofIex]

I’m 38 and have memories of the Dojo and forums from back in 11th grade

[@LuisRodriguez-he1xl]

I was 12 when Shenmue came out. We bought it on accident thinking it was Dynasty warriors... I loved it! Once Shenmue franchise crashed and went silent i would go on Shenmue Dojo and look for updates for YEARS revisiting concept art and theories.

[@jackarack]

Well done mate, we must see a Shenmue 4 and or 5 and complete this masterpiece.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

And we will do if we keep pushing!

[@Master-Mo]

The interview was overall a blast to read through, and I'm super happy for James and Switch for getting to actually meet the legend. Knowing the status quo is always a good thing. So let's hope we can get Shenmue IV and V made. I also saw the interview make some news on gaming news media sides here in germany, which is an amazing accomplishment.

[@SkillJim]

That’s great to hear! Also happy that it’s been met mainly positive overall too 😊!

[@jeremiahgrayest]

Shenmue 4 will come out 💪

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

It will - especially if we keep on pushing!

[@TheGuppyMaster]

That was such an awesome interview! Thanks so much Shenmue Dojo, Yu Suzuki, and all others involved for providing it! I was also thinking that, along with sharing the interview around the internet, we could add something like #ShenmuePartner or #LetsGetShenmuePartner or something along with #LetsGetShenmue4 to help get the word out that Suzuki and Ys Net are looking for a partner to get IV and V made. Like you guys are always saying, as long as we can keep eyes on this, the possibility is always there! I also love the idea of a novel coming out someday! I'd love to read the story of Shenmue when traveling. Either that or maybe some sort of Shenmue lore book could come around! I'd buy that in a heartbeat! Maybe even publish the Legend of Akira books alongside it! This interview got me so excited for so many things! haha So thanks again Matt, James, Switch, Yu Suzuki, and all others involved in setting up this interview and bringing it to us! Looking forward to what's next for the Dojo, and of course whatever comes next for Shenmue! Let's get sweaty! Edit: Forgot to also credit Phantom River Stone as well! Thank you so much for your contributions PRS!

[@TeamGguN]

#LetsGetShenmuePartner is good !! Nice idea

[@DoeRecompense]

I hope this story get it’s conclusion soon. I’m hoping something happens before Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3. I love Shenmue! Let’s finish this story!!

[@TeamGguN]

Very good video, this interview makes me optimistic for Shenmue 4, we need to keep pushing to have the next game, the second season of the anime and maybe Shenmue 0 after that! Nice to know that there are interests from potential partners too! Thanks for your videos !

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

The prospective partners thing is good news. Now the challenge is to get a deal that the suits are happy with and gives Yu the space to do what he'd like. Whether that's 1 or 2 games I don't know. But... what I do know is that all the time we stay vocal - keep Shenmue in the news, thoughts and in the public eye we have a shout.

[@shadowofmemorieswiki]

Vivi-G: it can't just be 1 game, it's too much to compress & due to Shen3's lack of story progression I see Shen5 is vital - but I'm glad to see Yu believes that too. I've started adding more content to the Shenmue Wiki. But as far as partners, I'm still saying RGG Studios is the go to - 'similar' styled game, good budgets and in cahoots with SEGA.

[@coffmanlove2020]

Legendary

[@joe6699]

Some great news updates

[@Tasuke]

Even if it's more realistic, I hope them trying to finish the story in Shenmue 5 doesn't cause them to rush the story and cut out a lot. Though I'm pleased to hear that there is some interest from others for that partnership Yu Suzuki is looking for. I think that we may hear something new about Shenmue 4 soon.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

I think Shenmue 5 would be the perfect length with 2 more games.

[@Agoraphoboy]

Just crowdfund again. Ask for the amount you need, however much, and let the fans decide if it's worth it. Don't lowball it at 2 million again and rely on publishers. I'd happily contribute to a 20+ million kickstarter, and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

There's no way a kickstarter would raise $20m especially second time around.

[@VitoVitonerLanci]

A Kickstarter right now would be the worst possible choice. The internet would point at Shenmue 3 and tear it apart really quickly. Shenmue is not in a good spot right now, I hope Suzuki manages to find a way... he's not gonna live forever and developing games like Shenmue takes a really long time.

[@Chocoburger]

@@VitoVitonerLanci my thoughts as well, Suzuki took too long to get Shenmue 3 started, it could have easily been made during the PS3 era. If he passes away, then the series is basically dead. Would even the small fan base support Shenmue without him? Sega sitting on the sidelines really annoys me, they could easily fund at least half of the budget. But of course not.

[@Hypno_BPM]

@@Chocoburger ps3 era ? it took time to pass by for sega to allow to license out the title to a third party and also crowdfunding which wasn’t a thing until the 2010s.

[@Chocoburger]

@@Hypno_BPM that is exactly the point I made. Sega should have done it themselves instead of letting time pass by.

[@truthfuturist]

2024/2025 - Shenmue IV+V Publisher Announcement 2026 - Shenmue IV Trailer 2027 - Shenmue IV Release 2028 - Shenmue The Animation: Season 2 2029 - Shenmue V Trailer 2030 - Shenmue V Release 2031 - Shenmue The Animation: Season 3 2032 - Shenmue I+II Remastered 2033 - Shenmue III Remastered 2034 - Shenmue IV Remastered 2035 - Shenmue V Remastered 2036 - Shenmue I-V The Complete Collection 2037 - Shenmue Fighter 2038 - Shenmue The Movie 2039 - Shenmue The Remake 2040 - Shenmue VI: The Story Goes On...

[@081588101]

How to milk the cow... its almost like "one piece". A good story knows when it has to end.

[@abdulazizalsaad121]

He should end it with 4 , he's not getting any younger , and also he needs shenmue to move to modren gaming . I know 3 was made for the fans and it had that shenmue charm in it . But if they want a successful game , an upgrade is needed without losing it's identity.

[@renners4367]

If a shenmue 4 game was made even if we think the community is small I still think they will easy sell 2 million copies and if the game cost £50 that’s 100 million profit well won’t all be profit it will probably cover costs and split between ys net and the partner company

[@Gary_Hun]

Was there ever an interview with Yu on how the series originally would have gone down? Shenmue III was supposed to be a Dreamcast game still, that i know, but further down the line?

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Not yet

[@finessewitstyle1982]

Can't wait till Shenmue 4 and 5 are released been a huge fan since the dreamcast days and will Ryo finally be able to beat Lan Di and will we get a story on Iwao Ryo's Dad in his younger years.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Would be awesome.

[@philkasafir.]

Im thinking an episodic game now - every 6 months or so we get another 3 or 4 hours of story content, and a modest £10-£15 per download. The first episode can be funded in terms of a slacker backer type crowd fund with no rewards. Almost like a subscription, i hate saying that but its a feasible way of doing. If Suzuki can get a good few grand up front and give us a new section every few months ill take that! Dont even care if its Linear 😎

[@tyler2106durden]

シェンムーへの愛を感じる部屋ですね。右下のソニックコーナーもgood。

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Thank you I am glad you liked the room :)

[@toxicmanbaby1069]

"No chance we'll see him go back to Japan?" "Not currently". That's weird. I remember an older interview where the same question came up, and the answer was, "not in 3". Implying that in future games, he would. Now it sounds like they'll never show it.

[@SkillJim]

I think it’s probably a case of what he’d like to do, rather than what’s realistically possible. Not currently, probably cause they would need to remake Yokosuka just for Ryo’s return, when we’re still a ways off of Shenmue 4 even being a thing.

[@RobertHustwick]

I kind of wish they would just make a shenmue novel or series of novels that completes the rest of the story

[@mapledripcomics]

it might not be the worst idea for fans to mod the hell out of shenmue 1 and 2 pack to try and get a new set of eyes on the game. Pimp it out so much that normies start to notice. Shenmue is a notoriously cheap game now, and if there was some kind of insane mod that gave those old games quality of life changes, maybe upscale to audio and video, add extra fighting moments etc we could make new fans of the series that way.

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

Yu Suzuki isn't being realistic. He had a miraculous unforeseen hail Mary opportunity to finish the story with Shenmue III, which would have required a degree of compromise. Instead Suzuki chose to have Shenmue III spin it narrative wheels, and by all accounts the game was fairly disappointing, poisoning the well for further crowd funding. Yu Suzuki is getting up there in age, and he can't expect another lifeline like the one he already wasted. The series is done. The best anyone could hope for is for the full story to get told in the form on a manga, and maybe (eventually) an anime.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

3 was never meant to end things. There would have been too much to cover and it would have been rushed. The chapter cards tell us that. Is Shenmue 3 as good as the others? No. Does it have the Shenmue charm? Yes. It is let down by story progression but this fixation on 3 'killing the series' only means something if people continue thinking that way. Without Shenmue 3 you don't get the Anime or 2018 re-releases. Lastly while the story may end up being told in manga/novel or anime form in the end the doesn't mean we cannot push to get games - nor will we stop. They have had interest - so people see a value in the series. Getting that to something formal is the key now.

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

@@ShenmueDojoVOD If you can't tell a story with a large 20+ hour video game, then you need an editor. This is especially the case given the relative lack of essential narrative beats delivered in Shenmue III. This may be a degree of hyperbole speaking, but it kind of feels like everything important that happens in Shenmue III could be delivered in one moderate length cutscene. Everything about the game just seems wasteful.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

By that estimation Shenmue should have been one game all the way to the end. In Shenmue 1 there's not actually a tonne that happens. It's only in 2 do things really heat up. Shenmue 3 changes the status quo massively but what was missing was the build (like in 2 where the build is awesome) to that point. That's down to time and money to a large portion as well as some odd decisions which we have analysed in previous content. Considering they spent 70% of the time building the games systems it means there's not much left for anything else. Especially when you compare the Kickstarter ambition to the final product. If you don't like 3 that's cool - but if you want more Shenmue it's time to move on from it. We and many of the community have communicated our thoughts, know they have been heard and have set our sights firmly on getting this thing finished.

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

@@ShenmueDojoVOD I guess it's kind of pointless to try and convince a Shenmue fan that less Shenmue would actually be a good thing.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

That sounds like moving the goalposts of the discussion

[@blizzred2143]

I wish they would make a Shenmue game where you play as Iwao Hazuki and you get his backstory about him and Lan Di

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

We'd be down for that.

[@Dragonfury3000]

Shrinking the story is the best way forward. Just make 4 the final one with a big commitment to wrap the story. They can't make a 5th entry specially considering Yu Suzuki age.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Making a 5th game is a huge ask and one I am not entirely sure that they can stretch to.

[@PipInTheMiddle]

There's talk of a number 5!? Just end it, please. 3 was soooo disappointing and probably did nothing to gain new fans. Finish the story and call it a good run with number 4.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

3 was disappointing in your eyes. Sure there's some issues with 3 but that doesn't mean we can't get a 4. 5 you'll have seen in a tonne of our videos I'm not sure is viable from my POV. But all the same I'll be pushing to get Shenmue done.

[@TeamGguN]

I sent a message to a French video game content creator to tell him about the interview, we have a lot of informations but in France the interview went unnoticed

[@SkillJim]

Thank you for sharing! We need everyone to spread the message as people appear to be sleeping on Shenmue again 🙈

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Brilliant - thank you.

[@GrayFoxGamingHD]

hum.... this is inspiring me to make some tracks :)

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Good times! More Shenmue content the better!

[@Gary_Hun]

I would so love to just win a lottery and offer up the entirety to fund these... they can give it back without any interest whenever they want.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

We'd pay for it all in an instant haha

[@maxcady360]

Yeah, I don't see gamers waiting around that long for anything beyond Shenmue V and that's being generous. Take a page from the Like a Dragon series, Yu-san. They managed to crank out at least 7 games and we are still waiting to see if a Shenmue 4 is still in the works.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

They re-use a tonne of assets though so it rightly speeds the cycle up. Not saying Shenmue should or shouldn't do that but that's definitely a factor in getting yearly games.

[@MasDouc]

Shenmue V? We're never going to get the end of this story huh

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Depends. If they can secure a 2 game deal then it's all fine. That said I'm still not sure a 5th game is viable. Don't get me wrong I want one but business factors seemingly dictate otherwise.

[@jamestaylor7042]

I've been a shamnue fan my since the begin It's always been hard work i backed the shenmue 3 kickstarter with more money then like to think about Literally the most expensive game I ve ever paid for We're living in a world that is running out of good ideas That's why this can I feel different I actually believe they'll be shenmue 4 and 5 I don't think it be has difficult to develop for In today world There's a very real possibility this happens I'm honestly happy about it

[@matthewclark7952]

I hope it happens. Thank you very much for supporting Shenmue III. I contributed just over $500 to it and regardless of any little disappointments feel super pleased we managed to get it finally. It can happen again!

[@jamestaylor7042]

@@matthewclark7952 I've always love shamnue I really want To see the story we get finished I wanna see what happened with rio Hazooki I'm not very good at spelling

[@kentrader2489]

5 years from 2019 or 5 years from 2024? :(((

[@RedShogun13]

I hate how in 3 Ryo is back to being beat up by run of the mill thugs. In Shenmue 1-2 you feel a real progression for Ryo as a martial artist. He’s come such a long way, learned so many techniques, fought so many masters or experts of various arts. So many of his moves have a story as to how he learned them, who he learned them from and for an express reason. Then in 3 his moveset is a fraction of what it was in 1 and 2 and he’s being given a run for his money or flat out beaten by village goons. It felt like such a regression that didn’t make character sense to me. Ryo is wiser, has been through so much, has studied so much of the martial arts at this point, etc and didn’t get any sense of that at all in 3. I did feel something like that in the jump from 1 to 2 though.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

We did a video on that very topic here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYeymaawr9-ShKM

[@Peter_Hodge]

I really hope that they have already made shenmue 4 and are looking for a publisher and when shenmue 4 is released they start to make shenmue 5 and if he does remake shenmue 1 and 2 they can add in the boat chapter which they said was going to be a dlc for shenmue 3 back when shenmue 3 came out but never got round to it i pray shenmue 4 gets announced at the PlayStation showcase

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Unfortunately it won't be getting announced at the showcase.

[@Peter_Hodge]

@ShenmueDojoVOD we can only hope the PlayStation showcase or summer games fess

[@cyxceven]

Why does it take seven games to tell a story that could have been told in three? Nothing happened in three. Just end it. This is insane.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

If you think 3 games was going to be all Shenmue was then I'd suggest going back and looking at the chapter cards. There's no way it'll have been done in 3 games. Not without cutting a tonne.

[@cyxceven]

@@ShenmueDojoVOD No offense, but I think y'all gettin' scammed.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

@cyxceven none taken. But how is a creator wanting to do things his way a scam? We may agree or disagree with those ideas but that doesn't make it a scam. As I've said many times recently in these videos I'm not sure 2 more games is viable. That doesn't mean I'm right or wrong. Just a view. It doesn't line up with what the creator wants to do but that doesn't mean I'm going to support anything less.

[@captainthunderbolt7541]

@@ShenmueDojoVOD He can't do things 'his way', and he owed it to fans to be realistic about that, and provide them some closure. He had a once in a lifetime opportunity to finish things out with Shenmue III, and chose to just waste it. It probably doesn't technically classify as a 'scam', but Suzuki is certainly wasting everyone's time and money!

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

@@captainthunderbolt7541 The fans backed Shenmue 3 knowing it was never going to offer that closure. Anyone who thinks otherwise really missed all the interviews and discussion around that. How is he wasting peoples time? People choose to support Shenmue - like you choose to comment here. How is he wasting peoples money? He made a game as promised under very difficult circumstances. It's not even close to being a scam. We knew what we signed up for.

[@Elayzee]

He completely blew the one single chance he had at concluding the the story with Shenmue 3 and effectively made the game completely pointless as it hardly advanced the story at all. And the fact that YunSuzuki is even hinting at a Shenmue 5 is the nail in the coffin for me. Shenmue 3 was a major flop which is why nobody has exactly jumped at the chance of producing this game after seeing its commercial performance,

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Shenmue 3 did fine according to the publisher and was never meant to end things.

[@YIDARMY08]

To the Master Dojo content creator - didn’t you think it was a mistake that once you backed the 3rd game you got a copy on release? I’d of happily paid for the game separately on top once it was released?

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

Personally no. But then I bought a copy on release too!

[@Peter_Hodge]

He also said that he's going to remake the first 2 shenmue games if I read it right

[@samuelg7673]

no he did not lmao.

[@Peter_Hodge]

@@samuelg7673 ys net did if you read the interview on the Internet for yourself he does day he's thinking of remaking the first 2 games

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

It's more of a floating of an idea at this point.

[@Zenmaster911]

Shenmue III was a missed opportunity. Nothing happened during the entire game, and at the end Ryo was in a worse position than before. Any hope that I had for the series died with this game. Plus the extras in the collectors edition which I bought twice where laughable and ridiculous. Yu Suzuki is just trolling Shenmue loyalists. I wouldn’t give him any budget.

[@custardgannet4836]

3 was awful. Should have ended it all there tbh.

[@jeremiahgrayest]

No 😎

[@samfaris313]

He should've just ended it in the 3rd game using the original graphics.

[@ShenmueDojoVOD]

They felt at the time they couldn't and with the lack of experience on the DC hardware (keep in mind they'd need to pay for the engine) and next to no documentation it was more cost effective to go with a new engine. Also they were never going to end it with Shenmue 3

[@random_an0n]

shem4 should be done without fan input,fan input ruined 3,they wanted it to be like the DC games but with all the clunky jank