What an exciting day it has been for many Shenmue fans, with the release of the Shenmue III trial for backers (those who pledged $100 or above to the Kickstarter or Slacker Backer campaigns).
I had some additional unwanted "excitement" as my PC chose this exact day for the screen to start freezing and showing nothing but black after a couple of minutes, each time I started a new game. In the end, opening up my PC and reseating the graphics card firmly did the trick and I was able to relax and enjoy the gameplay.
The content appears to be the same as I experienced playing at the recent Tokyo Game Show, although this time I chose to try it out with English voices rather than Japanese. I'm happy to say that I did beat the bookie and complete the trial on my second attempt, after some training at the dojo on the mountainside.
Have you played the trial yet, and if so what did you think? Leave any comments beneath this post.
Enjoy below a selection of screenshots from the trial, with captioned notes.
 |
| The trial comes with an English version of The Prophecy trailer, with a new clip at the end showing the newly-envisaged Shenmue tree which looks spectacular. |
 |
| "Director & Executive Producer: Yu Suzuki" |
 |
| At the training dojo, looking down towards Bailu village. |
 |
| A view up the river towards the bridge. |
 |
| "I think I can fish here" (but alas, not in the trial!) |
 |
| Extreme close-up: the pores on Ryo's face can be seen. |
 |
| Talking with one of the village children. |
 |
| Ryo learns that Jiang likes to gamble, but hands over his winnings to his wife for their business. |
 |
| "Ryo Hazuki" is already there on the board (bottom right) at the dojo, ready to be ranked. |
 |
| Ryo's notebook contains a map showing where Bailu village (left) is in relation to the path going back to Langhuishan (top) and Shenhua's house (right). Based on the geography shown in Shenmue II, the Stone Pit lies further on to the right past Shenhua's house. |
 |
| In the distance, a sign can be seen showing the way back to Langhuishan (left) and to Shenhua's house (right). Ryo is not able to proceed further in the trial, but will return to Shenhua's house each evening in the full game. |
Become a Patron!
I want to play this so badly!!! Thanks for the information.
ReplyDeletePeople are also putting up some play-throughs online. They may help to ease the wait until the release of the full version!
DeleteI played it thanks to the generosity of someone on the Shenmue 500K facebook page that gave me his code. It's Shenmue, there's no doubt about it.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of details that I feel would make it a more rounded experience, like being able to zoom on the items in our inventory and, on the technical side, an advanced way to configure graphics, something essential on pc.
The combat I haven't fully grasped yet, but I'll probably only commit to it when the full game arrives, I love the rpg element of it, but my fingers are doomed by this new combat system.
I hope they polish this game as much as possible. It's freaking SHENMUE!
Thank you for your thoughts. I could stand at that vantage point and gaze down on that river for hours! I also haven't fully gotten to grips with the combat system yet, but I do like the concept of the player practicing skills through actual sparring and training, then using them in battles.
Delete