10 Comeback Video Games That Proved EVERYONE Wrong
5. Shenmue 3
Not every comeback is a success story, most importantly from the fan reception.
Why is Shenmue 3 on the list? Because it really was a comeback, putting itself out there on Kickstarter, gaining $2 million in six hours and a total of $6 million overall. Shenmue needing to be funded via Kickstarter is weird, but what’s weirder is that all of these promised Steam copies would later be nixed, being sneakily switched to Epic Store copies.
A bad start for a comeback. Still hopeful, waiting 18 years, fans stayed true to a beloved franchise… only to find that the final product really wasn’t that good. Unfortunately, after almost two decades, somehow, not a single higher up realised that this game was not suitable to be released in 2019.
The voice acting was horrendous, with my favourite example being, “I’m looking for someone named Yuan”, eliciting the response of, “No, I haven’t.”
Combat, which was somehow a high point of the prior titles, is now delayed, and featured neutered animations. As well as the game’s signature gameplay of waiting and talking to poorly translated NPCs being the main focal point.
Shenmue 3 gained $6 million, backed by fans. It’s safe to say they were proven wrong in that it is not the masterpiece they had been waiting for.