Like Ryo leaving Japan to go to China, Shenmue 3 has finally set sail from its exclusivity deal with the Epic Games Store and weighed anchor on Steam. The best thing is that it's already on a deep discount.
Shenmue 3 is currently 66% off on Valve's digital platform from the game's normal $49.99 price tag. Its three pieces of DLC is also 60% off. This deal will be ending on November 23, so make sure you're playing enough Lucky Hit to buy this on Steam.
You might want to be wary of getting Shenmue 3, however, if you're not a fan of the series. The third entry is true to the series with its narrative and voice acting, for better or worse, and according to our review, the gameplay feels like it's straight from 2004 as opposed to 2019. Our writer Scott Baird gave it 2 out of 5 stars.
However, another writer for TheGame,r Michael Llewellyn did enjoy some aspects of the game. He had a lot of fun with the combat system within Shenmue 3 and enjoyed the wonderful soundtrack that Ryuji Iuchi created.
Despite the lackluster response that Shenmue 3 received critically and perhaps commercially, Yu Suzuki has said that he wants the series to continue its original path and move on to Shenmue 4. The plan from the start was to release 12 chapters, so there's a long way to go if that's indeed Suzuki's intention.
He said to his fans, "For as long as there are those who wish to see Shenmue live on, I will never give up on my own personal journey to complete its story." Hopefully, those who waited almost two decades for a sequel won't have to wait as long for the next entry. Maybe Stadia, Epic Games, or even Amazon could step in to make that a reality.
Deep Silver's parent company Embracer Group has been bringing back many old franchises, like Shenmue, into the limelight. Two treasured PS2 classics Destroy All Humans and Spongebob: Battle for Bikini Bottom were both remastered for modern platforms to varying degrees of success, but you can say one thing about all three of these games: they embrace the spirit of the originals.
Embracer (THQ Nordic) also brought back a cult classic from the PS3 era Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning to modern platforms this year. Shenmue 3 sold less than expected for the publisher, according to Gamereactor, but who knows? With this Steam release, Shenmue 3 could sell better and maybe Ys Net will be the next studio that Embracer acquires. Then, more Shenmue games can be developed.