Haunting Music & New Art in the S3 Character Concept Theme | PlayStation Store

Pre-orders for Shenmue III for the PS4 are now open on the PlayStation store, and with it comes a Shenmue III Character Concept Theme pre-order bonus, for both the Standard and Deluxe editions.

Firstly, there is a beautiful (though short) and haunting new piece of piano & violin music that is a variation of the Shenmue theme. It has been shared via youTube by VG Life:

Next is a glimpse of one of the wallpaper images (image credit: Alfonso Martínez on Twitter), which shows concept art of five characters from the game:

Shenmue III Character Concept Theme for PS4

Update: a video of the theme has been posted on YouTube:

We can see a number of familiar faces from past trailers and development previews.
At the left is the "temple maiden" (first introduced in Kickstarter #69) and at the right is the muscly brute who we have seen in multiple images and trailers until now, including in a fight with Ryo on the Great Wall of China (Gamescom 2017 teaser):

At the bottom right we can recognize the two thugs Ryo chases in the most recent trailer, "The Hidden Art Returns" shown at E3 2019:

Lastly, there is a friendly-looking rotund character in the center, a steamed Chinese bun held in each hand. I don't think we've seen him before - comment below if you think we have!

Update #1: Nathan24 and _sonic_blast_ have suggested that this might be the concept art for the character below who we saw in the Ryo & Master trailer and also in some of the recent E3 gameplay footage (at the start of the footage with the wood chopping). While his face and facial hair is not particularly similar, I agree he is a strong contender, based not only on the same distinctive body shape but also matching detail in the way his tunic fastens at the front.

Update #2: a new possibility has been suggested by a reader of the blog, which is this guy practicing in a courtyard near the start of the "The Hidden Art Returns" trailer. In particular, note the headband and the way his hair appears to be tied up at the top, strongly resembling the concept art.

For more information on this and the other pre-order bonuses on offer at the PlayStation Store, see our earlier summary post:

• Shenmue III Collectors Edition, Deluxe Edition & Pre-Order Bonuses

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