I still can't quite believe it, but after fourteen years of waiting, Shenmue III really is right around the corner. And having now reached almost $4.5 million, it's also become the second most funded video game on Kickstarter. In fact, it's the tenth most funded Kickstarter period, and the nineteenth most funded of all crowd funded projects. With nine days still to go.

To celebrate this fact, and because Yu Suzuki-sama just genuinely cares about his audience, there have been a dizzying amount of new backer rewards added. Not least of which being a physical release for the PlayStation 4 (silly Sony, not having enough faith in the game from the beginning) and several new ways to have yourself appear in the game. Including, but not limited to, your name on a temple in Chinese, your picture in photographs and on lucky hit game boards.

And five lucky (and wealthy) people can have a fully realised digital avatr appear as an NPC in game. Possibly with their own voice? That part is unclear at present. But the point is, this is going to be an amazing game. But we already knew that.

Best of all, it isn't the end of the series. Even if it will be a conclusion to Ryo-san's story.

Is that so?