Developer Ys Net has issued a new development update on the highly anticipated Shenmue III for PlayStation 4 and PC.
The studio offered a sneak peek at some of the testing that’s been going on after around three months of development, including battle and map testing. Right now, Ys Net made it clear that many of the in-game elements, such as character models and objects, are still placeholders, although thing still seem to be shaping up rather nicely.
"The development team is in high spirits now that we have reached this stage where we are finally able to start testing. The studio has become quite the lively place as of late, even on Saturdays for some of us! We look forward to your continued support!" said the studio.
Check out the latest screens below. Shenmue III’s creator, Yu Suzuki, recently admitted that hitting 60fps for the PS4 version of the game may be difficult to accomplish.
Shenmue III was formally announced after more than a decade of speculation at Sony’s E3 2015 press conference back in June, where Suzuki-san took to the stage to launch the game’s Kickstarter initiative. The campaign was hugely successful, becoming the fastest video game on Kickstarter to hit the one million mark, and ultimately went on to earn just over $6.3 million from eager fans. The sequel is scheduled for release in December 2017 and is receiving backing from Sony.
Fortunately, those of you who missed the initial Kickstarter campaign can still donate via the Slackbacker initiative recently set up by Ys Net. Looking to the future, it also seems like Shenmue III is unlikely to be the final entry in the cult franchise, although Suzuki-san has made it clear it’s far too early to talk about Shenmue 4. Long time fans will be pleased to know that the original voice actor for Ryo Hazuki, Corey Marshall, will be reprising his role in the game.
Shenmue was released in Japan for the Sega Dreamcast in 1999, and arrived in the west the following year. The sequel launched in late 2001, although in the U.S. the game was only available on the Xbox in 2002 following the demise of the Dreamcast. Not familiar with Shenmue? Then you might want to read up on our dedicated feature on six things that defined Suzuki-san’s cult classic.