Shenmue is a much-beloved franchise, and fans have been waiting years to see the continuation of Ryo’s story, and with the MAGIC 2019 gaming showcase, they finally got the chance. The new trailer showcasing Shenmue 3 dropped, and teased both story and gameplay elements, so let’s check it out.
And just for the unaware, MAGIC 2019 is a video game, anime and general Japanese-culture focused event in Europe. And Shenmue 3 had plenty to show to fans. There was almost 15 minutes of footage on the floor of the event, showing off combat, story, characters and more. It’s the first time in quite a while we’ve seen any in-engine footage, so people are really happy about that.
The trailer that was released for the game, which can be seen below, shows off a fair bit of the main character and the supporting cast he interacts with over the course of the game. I must say, the animations and background environments look really good. The trailer also shows protagonist Ryo training to improve his martial arts skills, which will be a major part of this section of his journey.
Speaking of martial arts, the famous fighting system from the previous games – the one designed by Yu Suzuki – will make it’s return in full 3D this time around. Complete with much smoother animations and new fighting techniques, it looks like the latest game is set to push the bar higher for the already excellent franchise.
Shenmue has had a long and storied history since it’s beginnings as a spin-off of the Virtua Fighter franchise. The RPG-based gameplay of the original concept eventually morphed into the story-heavy fighting adventure that many know and love. And with this new game, a whole new audience will get to experience the journey of Ryo Hazuki.
Check out the latest trailer for Shenmue 3 down below. The game is scheduled to be published by Deep Silver in August 2019 for PlayStation 4 and PC.
