Favorite thing about Shenmue? And ideas for pt 3?

The things I loved most about Shenmue were:

• the characters. Every character was voiced and had a name and a daily routine. Most of them revealed little things about their lives as the game went on, which meant that you felt that you truly got to know them over the course of the game.
• the story. Without wanting to give anything away, it truly is an epic journey! It takes turns between being serious, moving, nostalgic, quirky and funny, but without ever being childish. Even after 40 hours of playing parts I and II, which were an unforgettable experience, the main story has really only just begun!
• the variety of gameplay mechanics. Not only was Shenmue I (and II) a long game, but it was also incredibly varied. It was an adventure game, a life sim, a fighting game, a racing game (forklift truck and motorbike :D ) and had a stack of minigames/arcade games too.
• at the time, the graphics were amazing too. Graphics don't make a game, but they contributed strongly to the feeling of being in a living, breathing world.

Hopefully Shenmue III brings more of the same, but I'd also love to see improved voice acting, as well as Yu Suzuki taking some inspiration from both Telltale's recent series and the recent (and brilliant) Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments. That would allow the player to have even more impact on the story :D

I don't know. I love games with deep stories so the most important thing for me is the story. Graphics are not as important (when i read a book i don't have graphics at all :P). I would like a game that is true to the franshise and feel connected to the previous parts. With almost 18 years between them the risk of dissonance could be of some concern..

@sonorous: Yes, I love games with a strong story too. Fortunately, I think that is the one thing that is pretty much guaranteed to be included in the game! :D According to Yu Suzuki, any Kickstarter funding over and above the absolute minimum will go towards fleshing out the world and giving the player more story choices and activities to take part in, with the aim being to create a truly open world if the budget allows.

So what happens if the project doesn't reach $10 million? Can we forget Yus ultimate vision of the game? Is there any chance at all that he'll be able to fulfill his vision with let's say only $7 million? What do you think?

I honestly think it will be awesome either way. It's difficult to describe quite how much depth there is in the first two games. I replayed Shenmue I recently and there is a section where you have to race a motorbike to a specific location in order to rescue someone important to you. The race lasts exactly 1 minute and 30 seconds, but someone had to build a racing game mechanic literally just for that part! It's that level of attention to detail which is one of the things I love about it, but even if the budget doesn't quite allow that level of extravagance, I'm still sure that the story and the world will be spellbinding. Yu Suzuki knows what he's doing and has wanted to make Shenmue III for a long time, so I think he will be capable of prioritizing the most important things :D

Edit: But wouldn't it be fantastic if the Kickstarter did reach the amount required to make a truly open world? I can but dream... :D Every extra bit of funding will add more things to do and make the world that bit more immersive.

Im pretty sure that Yu-san will be pretty strict on where the funds are going (Hopefully he isnt paying Awesome Japan that much money).

Anyway, the things i want most are, In no particular order,

Darts
Forklifts
A City of some kind
An arcade (with some of Yu-sans classics)
Flashbacks to Dobutia and / or his childhood
Anything to do with Nozomi, Ryo was such a douche to her
Toms Hotdogs
and last but no means least...
A Passport Disc.

@stupidinvaders: Haha, yes you're right, Ryo owes Nozomi big-time. He can at least send her a few postcards or something :-p

Great ideas btw :D

What is a "passport disc"? An entire disc just with your passport on it? :D

@sonorous: Haha, good idea, then you'd need a Dreamcast at every airport terminal. Queues would grow while all the passport control guys were secretly playing Shenmue ;-)

Not sure I can fit info about everything that the passport disc does in one short post (see http://guidesarchive.ign.com/guides/14499/passport.html). But I think the online features would be the coolest bit, where you can get game-related messages, view game stats and info and trade items online etc.

Playing as Shenmua and Ryu kinda switching off between the two of them. LIke in the beginning you play as Ryo and during the second part of the game you play as Shenmua. I know it's Ryu's story but it would add replay value playing as different characters. Maybe have an online mode where you can visit other players in a virtual world like Shenmue online.

Hi pillarrocks - I think the character-switching mechanic is actually happening, if I heard correctly from Yu Suzuki's twitch stream last night. So it sounds like you're in luck! :-D