Every month Phantom River Stone holds a poll among our patrons to choose a topic for the blog in the coming month. After tallying the votes (including accumulated votes from previous months), the winning topic that has been voted this time is:
Feature Translation: A Year and a Half Following Shenmue (March 2000)
Not long after the release of Shenmue ~Chapter One: Yokosuka~, the Shenmue Complete Guide, with its distinctive black cover, was published in Japan by SoftBank under the Dreamcast Magazine brand. Included in this guide was a special in-depth feature that looked back on the game’s ambitious development.
In this post, we will be translating the full piece into English. It's a fascinating glimpse into how Yu Suzuki and his AM2 team transformed an experimental RPG prototype into what would become one of the most groundbreaking titles in gaming history.
Across several pages, the article traces the project’s evolution - from its early days as Project Berkley to its eventual release as a new kind of experience dubbed FREE (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment). As Suzuki puts it: "Until now, RPGs were about reading a story. Shenmue is a game where you live the story."
This article captures a rare retrospective on the Shenmue project, written just a few months after the first game's release. While much of it reflects on the development journey, it also looks ahead to what was already underway at the time: the next chapter set in Hong Kong, and beyond that, mainland China. Suzuki shares his interest in exploring themes such as Eastern philosophy and the idea of "chi", hinting at the broader scope the story would take.
Coming soon to the blog!
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