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| Shenmue 3 is coming, and you should be excited! |
For years, dedicated fans, Facebook groups and Twitter users have rallied hard to try and get a continuation of the Shenmue saga in development. The campaign to get Shenmue funded on Kickstarter was immediately successful, overtaking its original target of USD 2 million in less than 9 hours. "We can unfold the continuous story, "Shenmue III will be the story you have waited for. The fate of Shenmue is in your hands now" Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki said defiantly.
There is still a long way to go before we get to see Shenmue again, with financial targets yet to be reached. The estimate on a release date is currently ranging from mid-2017 to late 2017. Either way, most fans won't be too bothered as long as the chance to play Ryo Hazuki again is on the horizon.
With Sony as an official partner of the Shenmue 3 development, I would hazard a guess that it will be exclusive to PlayStation.
It serves as a mystery as to why it has taken so long for a new Shenmue project to be announced. The first Shenmue, in particular, was extremely popular on the Sega Dreamcast. Shenmue was critically acclaimed and hailed as a masterpiece on its original release in 2000, and is a personal favourite of mine. Disappointingly, Shenmue only sold 1.2 million copies worldwide.
The original Shenmue was such a well crafted and in-depth open world game that I still have yet to find a title that has made me care so much about its main character. Of course, I am a huge fan of the Fallout series and many other open-world games, but Shenmue has a special place in my heart that no other game has managed to replace. I am incredibly excited about the return of Shenmue and cannot wait for further updates about its release!
Check out the official announce trailer for Shenmue 3 below.