Shenmue III Teaser Trailer’s Character Models Aren’t Final, Plenty Of Work Left To Be Done

We recently got to check out a new teaser trailer for Shenmue III, and some fans were concerned about the lack of expressions and stiff character models in the trailer.

Here’s a bit from a Game Spark interview with director Yu Suzuki and executive producer Hideaki Morishita.

Game Spark: Many of our readers got to watch it [the teaser trailer]. In the comments we saw feedback saying “I wonder what’s going on with the character models.”

Yu Suzuki, Director: Shenhua, Ryo, and other characters are mostly temporary.

Hidekaki Morishita, Executive Producer: The character [that appear in the trailer] are mostly temporary, and I fear there may have been some misunderstandings from it.

Suzuki: We still have plenty of fixing to do for Shenhua. [Suzuki points at other characters] This character is close to completion. This one is temporary. This one is also temporary. Another temporary.

So does that mean there are characters in the trailer that are set to be revised?

Morishita: That’s right. We can’t just simply put an explanation in the trailer, so.

Suzuki: [Continues pointing out characters] This one’s temporary. Ah, this one’s also temporary. We also made some rather high-quality characters.

Morhishita: However, this time we weren’t able to make it on time for the video. While the video we presented this time was meant to be a promotion for us, I believe that it was a little premature. Since starting the project in 2015, we haven’t released that many videos. Since we signed a publishing contract with Deep Silver, a part of us felt the need to announce “We’re continuing the project’s development under a new establishment. Please rest assured,” and we felt that it would be wrong to not have any kind of video, so we decided to release one this time around. It might sound like a bit of an excuse, but even though there are some parts that we feel is lacking or some parts that we’re not satisfied with, we decided to go ahead with it because we didn’t want to not have anything to show for it.”

I see. So what was it you wished to communicate with the trailer?

Suzuki: In the end, it was only a teaser trailer, so basically “We’re making Shenmure III. Please don’t forget.”

Morishita: It’s about showing that we’re working hard on it, so please rest assured.

Lastly, please share a message for the fans awaiting the game’s release.

Suzuki: We’ve gained a wonderful partner in Deep Silver, and Shenmue III will continue powering up. Thank you for your continued support.

Morishita: The trailer we presented the other day was in a meaning to show our alliance with Deep Silver, for our strengthened establishment, and to show that the project is continuing smoothly. The game will continue getting better from this point on, and I believe we’ll be getting more opportunities to show the game, so please look forward to it.

Thank you very much.

Shenmue III releases in the second half of 2018 for PlayStation 4 and PC.