Polish up that forklift certification, wolf down one of Tom’s hot dogs, and prepare to ask your neighbours about sailors: Shenmue is back. Again. Specifically, Shenmue 3 is getting an enhanced re-release six years after it first came out (via Gematsu) with whizzier graphics and various quality-of-life tweaks.
Publisher Inin Games didn’t deign to furnish us all with a release date just yet, but Shenmue 3 Enhanced is PC-bound and will make protagonist Ezekiel Shenmue (I know his name is Ryo Hazuki please don’t email me) more excruciatingly high-res than ever before. Inin is calling it “the upgraded edition of the acclaimed adventure that stays true to its roots while adding modern improvements.”
What kind of modern improvements? Thank you for asking. Aside from the graphical stuff—which is what you’d expect: stuff like DLSS support and 4K textures—-it sounds like the devs have taken the time to make the game a bit more forgiving. There are “optional stamina system adjustments, health restoration before fights, and reduced money barriers for smoother progression,” as well as “expanded quick-time event timing window for more accessible gameplay.”
All of which is probably deeply offensive to someone out there, but fear not: you can turn all those changes off if you want the most hardcore Shenmue experience possible.
On top of that, we’ve got stuff like increased NPC density in Niaowu village, a “classic camera mode” inspired by Shenmue 1 and 2, cutscene and dialogue skip options, and streamlined menu navigation (whatever that means in reality). All good, enhanced-edition stuff, in essence.
We rather liked the third of the Shenmues. In our Shenmue 3 review, Andy Kelly scored the game 83% and praised it as “A seamless continuation of the series that makes up for its limitations with pure heart.” Perhaps with these updates, it’ll have fewer limitations to make up for.
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