'Shenmue 3' news: 'Shenmue 1' game director joins production team

Ys Net

In a new Kickstarter update, Ys Net reveals that the third "Shenmue" game will have Keiji Okayasu, the director of the orginal "Shenmue" game, will join the development team for the current iteration of the game.

Okayasu was key to the success of the original Dreamcast action-RPG game back in 1999. While he also worked on the second game, some people remember that the director left the project when it was around 70 percent complete. Now he returns as the subdirector for the third "Shenmue" game. He was approached by Yu Suzuki, the series creator, while he was working at Studiofake.

According to PlayStation Universe, Okayasu thought that he was only going to become one of the fans waiting for the new "Shenmue" game's release, but he was so glad that he got to become part of the new team. He wants to finish the new game in order to satisfy the fans, and as such he wants to ensure that the game should be interesting, regardless of whether or not the user played the first and second game.

In the same article, Okayasu even shares that he wants to stress what makes "Shenmue" as it is. He wants to emulate the game's unique atmosphere in such a way that the ambience and milieu from place to place will make the players experience the full sensory experience. As such, the newest sequel to the game will not disregard this asset and further develop it.

"Shenmue 3" was first announced during the E3 2015 Sony press conference as a Kickstarter-backed project. Its popularity was undeniable, since by the end of its crowdfunding campaign the game was able to raise around $6.3 million, the highest ever recorded for a video game, according to Game Spot.

"Shenmue 3" will be released for the PS4 and PC in December next year, with SEGA still considering to bring the first two games to PS4 and Xbox One as HD remakes.