Ys Net has announced that Corey Marshall, the English voice actor behind Shenmue protagonist, Ryo Hazuki, will reprise his iconic role in the upcoming Shenmue III for PlayStation 4 and PC.
Marshall voiced Hazuki-san in the English language versions of Shenmue and Shenmue II, and has remained a firm supporter of the Dreamcast cult classic ever since.
Said Ys Net:
"The support for Mr. Marshall to reprise his role as Ryo has been just overwhelming!
"We would all like to thank Corey-san for coming back, and especially for all the support he has given to Shenmue over the years.
"Corey is as excited for Shenmue’s return as we all are, and to help out, he has magnanimously offered his voice for a special reward. Yes, that’s right–get a personal message from Ryo! Do not miss this opportunity to get a very special message from Ryo himself. Maybe one those classic Ryo one-liners?"
Shenmue III is scheduled for release in December 2017, and was announced at Sony’s E3 2015 press conference as a Kickstarter project. The game raised its $2 million goal in less than 24 hours, becoming the fastest video game on Kickstarter to hit the $1 million barrier.
The project currently has just under $3.8 million with over two weeks to go. However, the stretch goal has increased to $11 million, with creator Yu Suzuki also expressing interest in releasing a physical PS4 copy of the game.