Yu Suzuki, the man behind the Shenmue series, revealed his thoughts on a potential new installment in the franchise he has made. However, he might have a prequel in mind akin to Yakuza 0.
During an interview with IGN Japan, Suzuki first talked about how he would want Shenmue 4 to be “enjoyable for newcomers”. That is, by giving new players of the franchise an experience that does not require 100 percent knowledge of the series’ previous story.
“I don’t think that a new player wants to know 100% of the story. 20 or 30% could be enough,” he said.
Suzuki added that “It would be great if the player could naturally learn about previous events just by playing the game”.
Finding a similarity with Yakuza 0, which served as a landmark to the SEGA franchise with regards to a new audience, Suzuki was asked if he was thinking of a similar approach.
“Yes, I have. I cannot go into detail at this point, but it is something I have been thinking about,” the series creator said.
He continued by saying:
I think recreating the streets of Dobuita with modern visuals on a new engine alone would make it worth doing. It also connects to the topic of not simply expanding in size. Making an even more detailed Dobuita than the original Shenmue is an interesting idea, especially if it’s not a remake but a prequel with a new story.
But aside from giving continued life support to his brainchild, Suzuki admits that he has “various ideas for other games” that he would like to make. And while he cannot go into detail about the notion, he said that they are working on a game right now.
