Shenmue III
Main game
3.06 average rating based on 70 ratings
- Developers
- Ys Net
- Publishers
- Deep Silver, ININ Games, Shibuya Productions
- Franchises
- Shenmue
- Series
- Shenmue
- Events
- PC Gaming Show 2019, gamescom 2018: Opening Ceremony, +1 morePC Gaming Show 2019, gamescom 2018: Opening Ceremony, PlayStation E3 Experience 2015 Press Conference less
- Platforms
- PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4
- Genres
- Adventure, Fighting, Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Role-playing (RPG)
- Themes
- Action, Fantasy, Historical, Mystery, Open world, Romance
- Steam
- View on Steam
Release Dates
User Stats
How Long Is Shenmue III?
Related Content
“The story goes on…”
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version
I won't attempt to review this game in an objective way… for that, I recommend Julie Muncy's article in Wired. But as a longtime fan, I really loved this long-awaited sequel.
Sure, there's probably an alternate reality where Yu Suzuki sacrificed different elements (the game's size, the inconsequential details of the world, etc.) to elevate other aspects more noticeably. But would it have still felt like Shenmue? Probably not: So few games do.
But this did. So for me, it was worth the wait. ❤
Is this a joke?
Playtime: 15 minutes trying to figure out the controls, 5 minutes trying to figure out if it's a joke.
Actual conversations from this game:
1:
"I'm looking for mr. Yuan."
'No, i haven't.'
2:
"Do you know mr. Yuan?"
'I haven't seen him since he went into that house over there'
Also, the controls sure are something else. Menus use J/K to deny/confirm. The main menu is under U. Menus also use Ctrl and Shift to change between pages. J is used to skip dialogue.
Saving a game means pressing U, then K to pick a slot, then K to confirm (even an empty slot) then K again to acknowledge the game has been saved.
Did i mention the game has incredibly long unskippable cutscenes? And that it looks like a remaster of a PS2 game? And that i wasn't allowed to look at candy machines because i was supposed to follow someone?
So yeah, i agree with Commander Stephanie Sterling. Is this a joke? Someone gave this 5 stars, that has to be some sort of joke, right? Help me out here.
1/10
Brief Final Thoughts
This is one of the toughest games I've had to score, coming nearly 20 years after Shenmue II, I was expecting a big upgrade but instead it was the opposite. Voice acting was cringe, movement and combat ridiculously stiff and the repetitiveness of the same objectives throughout my 25-30 hour playtime, and yet, It retains that original Shenmue feel I loved back in the day. Oh and Lan Di
A good surprise, a chill travel in a Japan (no... china lol) country.
I totaly didn't know what i'll play when i launched this game. Characters look like an old fighting game (Virtua fighter) and remember that old console but graphics are Unreal Engine better graphics. On first bridge, i said :
- "woaw ! that's beautifull !" Finaly the story captured my mind. I was in the game, i was a Kung Fu fighter that will save the princess's daddy ! Let's connect that Xbox gamepad and let's try fighting !
- "Oh it's easy ! I just need to spam all buttons !" If i'm not strong enough, i just need to train and come back later. So fighting is not the finality of this game. It's just a bonus gameplay to wake up you. So what is this game (with no spoil) ? This game is fun, chararcters are very funny, i like japanese humor in that game. The history of Japan country ? I don't know japan country but that game made me understand why money games are forbidden. But the game show that it's certainly impossible to totally forbidden because even if you win loots, you can sell it on pawn shop ! So it's an interesting system that certainly …
I totaly didn't know what i'll play when i launched this game. Characters look like an old fighting game (Virtua fighter) and remember that old console but graphics are Unreal Engine better graphics. On first bridge, i said :
- "woaw ! that's beautifull !" Finaly the story captured my mind. I was in the game, i was a Kung Fu fighter that will save the princess's daddy ! Let's connect that Xbox gamepad and let's try fighting !
- "Oh it's easy ! I just need to spam all buttons !" If i'm not strong enough, i just need to train and come back later. So fighting is not the finality of this game. It's just a bonus gameplay to wake up you. So what is this game (with no spoil) ? This game is fun, chararcters are very funny, i like japanese humor in that game. The history of Japan country ? I don't know japan country but that game made me understand why money games are forbidden. But the game show that it's certainly impossible to totally forbidden because even if you win loots, you can sell it on pawn shop ! So it's an interesting system that certainly make a limit on risk. Sometimes i see those little surprise box, you pay for a random loot and collect all the things. When we are children we like it but every time it's a plastic toy with no value. So finally i bought bubble gum... In that game we understand that there is rare piece difficult to have and when you have all, you can sell it a very good price. Nobody explain me that when i was young.
Finaly i discovered the game Yakuza "like a Dragon" after that game and that is a best 5 star game, with the same spirit but more RPG turn by turn style, more GTA open world, more action game than this chill "versus fighting" old school game. But i saw that old Yakuza games was more "versus fighting" like Shenmue. So Shenmue is certainly the same family game. But this one is more and more chill and contemplative ! It's a nice virtual travel in the ancient world of Kung Fu. (And then, Indiana Jones have a gun xD)
Another thing incredible : i didn't find any bugs. It's near perfection, it's rare to have no bugs in a game. I didn't found anyone. That's UE power maybe ^^
Shenmue 3 is a gift from the past.
This review is for the PC (Microsoft Windows) version
If you don't get these games, then you probably never will. There is a unique charm and bewilderment to Shenmue. Yu Suzuki is almost as unapologetic in how he has pushed forward with bringing us an experience that feels inextricably connected with the first two way so perfectly that it's more of a miracle that he's kept it the same than the fact the game came out in the first place.
Shenmue 3 falls short in few areas, but it definitely has it's flaws. It's a game that deserved a bigger budget to give us an even more polished Shenmue game. I would have wished Shenhua Ling looked exactly the same as the first two games. And little things like no animation for drinking soda or the title screen not being the same plague my greedy little mind sometimes. But as a Shenmue fan, I got an experience that is above and beyond what I could have hoped for. With a series that is as niche as this, Shenmue 3 is a miracle of a game.
Even the fact that game is extremely boring and outdated, you may still find something fun to do.
Free now on Epic Games, but the checkout process errors out.
It's uncanny how similar this feels to the old Shenmues (albeit with some welcome technical improvements).
This is getting a little ridiculous: Limited Run Games just announced another special edition.
I'm a huge Shenmue fan. I even liked the most recent entry when many didn't. But this is, by my count, the fifth "special edition" of the game… there was the Kickstarter backer version, the original Limited Run Games special edition, the Best Buy steelbook, the Pix'n Love collector's edition, and now this. How many editions does a game get before they stop being "special?"
Beautiful environments, textures, atmosphere and music! I just wish I could say the same about the fighting engine and story!
20 years of waiting for a filler episode! Let's hope Yu Suzuki can progress it further with Shenmue 4. If not we can always look forward to the Anime...LOL
Shenmue 3 looks really good actually. Really pretty and immersive, and surprisingly faithful to the originals. I won't be getting it unless it comes to other platforms but still, looks better than expected. Anyone playing it?
I just cleared the Backer Trial and really enjoyed it!
It feels very faithful to the originals (right down to the famously awkward dialog), which makes it unlikely to convert new fans. But the presentation is beautiful and full of many little details. Butterflies frolic around flowers, I opened a random drawer and Ryo commented on how dirty the plate was inside of it, and one of the buildings in the square seems to be growing pumpkins on its roof! Even the new capsule toys are cute... I thought I'd miss collecting Sega references like Sonic and NiGHTS, but
The biggest changes are to the combat and health system. Sparring and training now have a much more direct and tangible impact on your abilities in battle, and health must be replenished with food items. I was skeptical about these changes, but they ultimately won me over when I lost a battle by button-mashing, trained, then came back and won with modest but purposeful effort. Assuming that training-to-win ratio is maintained throughout the full game, I could see it feeling much more rewarding than in the originals.
Looking forward to the full game now more …
I just cleared the Backer Trial and really enjoyed it!
It feels very faithful to the originals (right down to the famously awkward dialog), which makes it unlikely to convert new fans. But the presentation is beautiful and full of many little details. Butterflies frolic around flowers, I opened a random drawer and Ryo commented on how dirty the plate was inside of it, and one of the buildings in the square seems to be growing pumpkins on its roof! Even the new capsule toys are cute... I thought I'd miss collecting Sega references like Sonic and NiGHTS, but
The biggest changes are to the combat and health system. Sparring and training now have a much more direct and tangible impact on your abilities in battle, and health must be replenished with food items. I was skeptical about these changes, but they ultimately won me over when I lost a battle by button-mashing, trained, then came back and won with modest but purposeful effort. Assuming that training-to-win ratio is maintained throughout the full game, I could see it feeling much more rewarding than in the originals.
Looking forward to the full game now more than ever!
My backer trial key arrived just now. I'm looking forward to trying it out, but I'm setting my expectations low. Better to be pleasantly surprised than bitterly disappointed! 😅
So far, the footage I've seen of Shenmue III is exactly what I expected. It feels like the old games with upgraded visuals, right down to the awkward dialog and slow, odd mini-games. As a fan, I'm both excited to see it remain faithful but disappointed that it doesn't appear to do more to win over a modern audience.
I've been doing my best to temper my expectations for this game, but the new trailer they just posted has me pretty excited. First material I've seen that feels like Shenmue to me.