Shenmue III PS4 PlayStation 4 1

Shenmue III’s stumbled over $7 million in fan funding through slacker backer support, which means that the scale of the project has increased again. As per its stretch goal obligations, Ys Net will now be adding a new system named AI Battling. We’ve read the developer’s description of what it actually is a dozen times now, and we’re still not entirely sure.

Maybe you can make more sense of it: “This control system lets you automatically unleash the perfect technique in response to the opponent’s positioning and distance. R&D for this system is based on Yu Suzuki’s concept for players who are not used to fighting games or for those who want a full immersion battle experience. This battle system is highly compatible with, and will be an extension to the current battle system.”

While it’s neat that the developer’s sticking to its stretch goals, it’s clearly struggled to realise its vision for Shenmue III over the past few years, and we’re cautious of any announcements that are going to add to the scope of the project. That said, as far as we can tell this is just an addition to work it’s already doing, so let’s hope it doesn’t complicate things too much.