Poll Result: Patrons' Choice Topic for September 2025

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 any accumulated from previous months), the winning topic this time is:

World Guidance Guidebook - Shenmue Staff Developer Survey

Shenmue Chapter One Yokosuka: World Guidance

The World Guidance guidebook was published shortly after Shenmue I's original release in Japan and contains some of the most detailed and complete information about the first game of all the guidebooks published at the time.

As a special feature, at the end it includes an exclusive survey held with Shenmue developers themselves, and while the length of the survey is brief (in the form of a short six-question list), it is sure to give some fascinating insights from those who worked on the project.

The survey is introduced in the guidebook as follows:

Shenmue Staff Survey - 57 People!

The massive development team poured their collective effort into creating Shenmue: Chapter One ~ Yokosuka. To close out this book, we present the real, unfiltered comments from the staff themselves. Of course, this is only a portion of their voices, but it gives you a glimpse into both the hardships and joys of game development. Please read through with anticipation for what’s to come in the next installment. 

 

Note: Except for team leaders, all names are shown as initials, and honorific titles have been omitted.

Survey Questions

1. What do you like about Shenmue?

2. Who is your favorite character, and why?

3. What scene left the deepest impression on you during the game?

4. Are there any hidden “tricks” you secretly included in the game?

5. Do you have any interesting episodes you can share from development?

6. Shout out one thing you'd like to say!

7. Please give a short message for the players.

Coming soon to the blog!

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