Kickstarter Games Under Crazy Pressure
Shenmue 3
Since it’s release in 1999, Shenmue has gone on to win the hearts of gamers the world over as a cult classic. At the time of its release, Shenmue was the most expensive game ever made, containing an unprecedented level of detail and gameplay that broke conventions.
Since the equally detailed sequel came out in 2001 both have helped give rise to the open-world genre and to this day continue to make it into “Best Game of All Time” lists.
Yu Suzuki, the franchise’s creator, was behind the Kickstarter campaign, as well as several key team members from the original games. The campaign was ridiculously successful, netting $2 million in less than nine hours, and officially becoming the most funded Kickstarter video game of all time.
The campaign announced Shenmue 3 would come out on PS4 and PC, with the goal to combine familiar elements from the first two games with new and improved fight mechanics and interactivity.
The story will continue from where Shenmue 2 left off, with Ryu and Shenhua journeying through Guilin, China in search of his father’s killer.
With 14 years of planning behind it, Shenmue 3 has a lot to live up to. Suzuki has admitted he’s ambitious about the project, with a world even more expansive than his previous titles.
After all this time, Shenmue 3 is finally arriving on August 27 this year and early previews are glowing. But measuring up to your nearly-two-decades-old predecessor, which is also considered one of the best games of all time? That’s a tall order.
