Inin Games and Yu Suzuki have announced Shenmue 3 Enhanced, an upgraded version of the 2019 game, with more to be revealed at Gamescom 2025 this week.
The new edition will be coming to PC, PS5, as well as releasing for the first time on Xbox Series X|S as well as Nintendo platforms, although the press release does not confirm whether this will be just Nintendo Switch 2 or also Nintendo Switch. It will be the first time the series has appeared on a Nintendo platform.
Shenmue 3 Enhanced features overhauled visuals, performance boosts, and quality-of-life updates, although no new gameplay content has been confirmed. The original release did however have three pieces of DLC, including an additional story quest.
The enhancements confirmed for the new release include:
- Enhanced graphics and performance: sharpter textures, richer details, faster load times, and smoother gameplay.
- 4K texture uplift including for environments and characters.
- DLSS/FSR support for supported platforms to enable upscaled graphics while maintaing smooth performance.
- Increased NPC density. In particular, the city village of Niaowu will feature more characters populating the streets.
- The option to play with a classic camera mode, based on the system in Shenmue 1 and 2. In the original games, you moved Ryo with the d-pad, while the left stick was for moving the camera from behind him, while holding the right trigger allows you to look freely in first-person.
- Gameplay tweaks, including optional stamina system adjustments, health restoration before fights, and reduced money barriers to reduce the grind for progressing the story.
- Option for skipping cutscenes and dialogue, while expanding the QTE timing window.
- Menus will include helpful purchases alerted while navigation is also being streamlined.
While the above quality-of-life improvements address some criticisms of the game, it will also be possible to toggle these changes so that the original experience of Shenmue 3 is preserved.
Shenmue 3 Enhanced marks a “new chapter” for the game teased by Inin Games and Ys Net after they announced that they received the publishing rights for Shenmue 3 from previous publisher Deep Silver last year.
In our Shenmue 3 review, we said, “Shenmue 3 is certainly an interesting game thrown out of time, but that doesn’t mean that it’s always enjoyable to play.”
