Believe it or not, it’s been four years since Shenmue 3 was first unveiled as a Kickstarter project at E3 2015. The reaction at the time was immense, with people flocking to the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter page to help fund it in record time. Since then, we’ve been anticipating more information, with Neilo and Ys Net - the two development studios behind the game - slowly drip-feeding us with trailers and tidbits of Ryo's next adventure. During the PC Gaming Show at E3 2019, another Shenmue 3 trailer was revealed, along with some… interesting news that may not please everybody.
Shenmue 3 is going to be an Epic Games Store exclusive on PC when it launches on November 19, 2019. This was revealed at the end of the latest trailer, which showed off more gameplay spanning a minute and a half. Of course, the community reaction to Epic Games snatching up so many titles hasn’t been wholly positive, so this news will dishearten many who were hoping to pick it up somewhere like Steam. Don’t forget, however, that Shenmue 3 is also releasing on PS4 as a console exclusive.
Also contained within the trailer was a long hand-to-hand combat scene on a boat, followed by Ryo Hazuki chasing down some drunken thugs and putting his martial arts training to good use. He saves the day by catching a girl as she falls off a ladder pushed by the thugs… it’s a good thing Ryo was paying attention. This short video is described as a gameplay trailer but it’s unclear which parts of it are actual gameplay; it looks like mainly cinematics to us. Nevertheless, we’re excited for this third installment to a 20-year-old franchise.
Read more about Shenmue 3 in this Edge magazine feature from earlier this year.
