Yu Suzuki, creator of the sagas Shenmue and Outrun, and founder of Ys Net, reaffirms that he wants to work in the future Shenmue 4. In an interview with the Japanese division of IGN (translated by VGC), the Japanese explains some of the ideas you are considering for the project, which aims to appeal to a wider audience than Shenmue III.
"With Shenmue 3 create a game for the fans but if I get a chance to do Shenmue 4 (and I think it will), I know how to satisfy casual users, so I want to make a game that everyone can be satisfied with. "The renowned former SEGA creative explains that with the third part I wasn't thinking "about making money", but with its sequel you have to think "about what you can sell".
Shenmue 3 It was funded on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform in 2015 thanks to the support of more than 70,000 patrons. During development, Ys Net received advertising and monetary support from publisher Deep Silver, who rated the game's sales disappointing. In Japan the title sold less than the remastering Shenmue I & II.
Improvements in Shenmue without "breaking" the formula
During the same interview, Suzuki referred to some specific mechanics you want to introduce in the fourth installment From the series: "How to Add Mission Gauges, Improve Quick Travel and Time Skipping Features, and Make the User Interface Easier to Understand." He would like to introduce indicators of where you can buy items and where you can fight, and even benches to sit on for hours to pass.
"I would like to offer a smoother overall experience for those who want to progress faster in history.", reasons the Japanese, who adds that if the content is the same as in Shenmue 3Players should be able to pass the title 50% faster than in the third installment.
Suzuki has also researched modern open world games and player comments from Shenmue 3 who did not know the saga. From them he has extracted "ideas for how we can improve and incorporate (improvements) without breaking the feelings of Shenmue"Some of those developments will be changes in the open world.
"I think 'open world' is the magic word driving trends in current games (…), but it seems like it's getting harder and harder to differentiate within the genre." The one who was also the creator of Virtua Fighter he wonders if it will be "interesting to have a closed space instead of staying in the open world". He also notes that he would like those places to be more populated: "If there aren't many people, it doesn't look like China, so I would like to increase the number of characters walking in the city at the same time."
Suzuki hopes that "fans who have waited 20 years for Shenmue 3 and they were satisfied now show the same demand for Shenmue 4. The fourth installment of the saga has not been officially announced, although the founder of Ys Net has promised it on several occasions, including in the third-party credits. However, in the past, it was clear that its realization depended on sales of the original, and more importantly, agreements that you can reach with publishers.
