Shenmue Online resurfaces

Although the status of Shenmue Online has been up in the air for almost a year following a bitter fallout between publisher Sega and developer JC Entertainment, the project seems to be back on track. At the China Joy 2006 convention, Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki introduced a video clip of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game that showed off features, environments, and several minutes of in-game battles, according to Japanese gaming site 4Gamers.

4Gamers posted a new video for the upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game Shenmue Online. The movie, which clocks in at over six and a half minutes in length, gives a few hints about the game's class system. The video seemed to show that each class would be further divided into intermediate and advanced specializations. Apparently there will be two possible intermediate and three advanced specializations for each class. The video caption also mentioned that there will be quests for players to complete, over 150 of which will be ready for the open beta test.

A glimpse of some minigames, such as pottery making, dice, and darts, was also given by way of still screens. Also, more than three minutes of battle scenes showed several of the 1,000 combat motions that will be featured in the open beta. Some of the game's settings were showcased, from quaint rural towns to huge, modern cities reminiscent of Hong Kong.

No details about the specific status of development or projected release date were given.