Yu Suzuki (the creator of the series) and Hiroaki Takeuchi (animation producer) talked about the development of Shenmue III in a video called „Then, Now, And Tomorrow.”

Suzuki said that thanks to Unreal Engine 4 (which he hasn’t used until this game), he managed to get the visuals to a higher level than what he originally imaged. However, he cannot change the game’s code as before (when he wrote everything from code). He added that he’s proud of Shenhua, whose looks are now approved by him – and she’s just one of roughly a hundred characters. The team is working together with a character design studio called Lakshya Digital in their creation.

Suzuki wants to do something new with the combat – he wouldn’t focus on the timing (as in the Virtua Fighter series), but instead, he would have a bit of puzzle-based fighting with emphasis on the choreography. He’d also appreciate a new kind of QTE. Voice acting-wise, we learned that the rest of the English voice actors would be cast (and recorded) next year.

Shenmue III will launch in the second half of 2018 on PlayStation 4 and PC. The crowdfunded game has a lot of weight on its shoulders!

Source: Shenmue III