Yu Suzuki Thinks He Was Able to Make Shenmue III ‘Several Levels Higher’ Than the Initial Project

Yu Suzuki, the man behind titles like Out Run, Virtua Fighter and Shenmue, is now polishing up Shenmue III alongside his fellow staff members at Ys Net. With the release date now pinned for November 19th, 2019, on PC and PlayStation 4, Suzuki-san is able to look back to the development of the game.

Speaking with Gamespot, the renown game designer mentioned he wasn’t able to put in everything he thought of, though that’s common with any game. Still, he believes Shenmue III to be ‘several level higher’ than the initial project.

I’ve been making games since 1983 and there wasn’t once where I could do everything I wanted. All the time, it’s about half of the things I wanted to do. But since I could complete at least half of it, I am happy. If I manage to do everything 100%, I won’t have anything to do next.

The problem is when you make a game … if you put everything you want in, you can put a lot in it, but the risk gets bigger because it’s a completely new game. And this time for Shenmue III, I had to pare down a little bit on the innovation, and it’s more a game I made for the fans of the series. But there are still new things in it.

In my mind, I think I was able to make a game that was several levels higher than the initial project, and I have done everything that I could that was in my power, so I am not that anxious, I am more looking forward to seeing how people see the game. If some people don’t like it, I guess that, since I’ve done the best I could, there’s no way I worry too much about that.

Regarding the pace of Shenmue III, Suzuki said it is a bit faster than the old Shenmue titles, though still quite slow compared to other modern games.

I’ve arranged a game to fit the time we’re living in now, so it’s a bit more modern, maybe. You know, nowadays everything is going faster, these movies, the games. [Players are] looking for the thrill that it provides, and I think the Shenmue we have now is a bit faster as well compared to the old Shenmues. But since it’s still Shenmue it’s still quite slow and chilled compared to other games. It’s like, it’s just a slow life.