It has been 18 years since fans of the action-adventure franchise Shenmue have been able to take control of series protagonist Ryo Hazuki.
Shenmue 2 released back in 2001, and now in 2019, the story continues with the release of Shenmue 3 on the PlayStation 4 and PC.
To further hype this long-awaited release, PlayStation has put out a launch trailer, which you can view below.
The original Shenmue and Shenmue 2 were released exclusively for Sega’s short-lived Dreamcast console. Amidst a slew of lackluster titles, Shenmue stood out among the crowd and developed a cult following.
Many were shocked by the announcement that Shenmue 3 would be coming to the PlayStation 4 after the commercial failure of both the original games and the console that they were made for. However, someone at Sony seems to believe in this franchise because it’s getting another turn at-bat.
This latest trailer is entitled The Story Goes On. It starts by saying, “18 years ago the clock stopped. Time vanished into an unfathomable future. But passions never waver. A moment in motion, a story renewed.”
In many ways, this trailer is a celebration for longtime fans of the franchise who believed that the game they loved was dead in the water and gone forever.
The trailer jumps right into the thick of it, following Ryo and Ling Shenhua. It also briefly features Lan Di, the antagonist of Shenmue who was directly responsible for the death of Ryo’s father. The trailer makes this seem like a return to form for Shenmue, featuring some investigation, kung fu action, and of course, wooden voice acting.
This game is groundbreaking in that it is mostly fan-funded. An official Kickstarter was launched in the summer of 2015 and shattered Kickstarter records, garnering $6,333,295 from 69,320 backers. That’s amazing, especially considering that the initial goal was $2 million.
The previous record-holder for a video game project was Castlevania: Symphony of the Night director Koji Igarashi’s Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which brought in $5.5 million.
If you’re new to the franchise, there’s no need to fear. A Shenmue 1 and 2 HD Collection was released last year on the PS4, PC, and Xbox One, marking the first time that these games have been made available outside of the Dreamcast.
Shenmue was always intended by its creators to be a multi-part epic. To that end, Shenmue 3 has not been designed as a finale that will end the franchise. There are hopes internally that the game will perform well and revitalize Shenmue as an ongoing title.
Shenmue 3 will release on November 19 for PlayStation 4 and PC.
