The latest Shenmue 3 trailer shows actual gameplay footage, proving it does indeed exist

Shenmue 3 has been a long time coming, but now it actually looks rather like a playable video game - and there's video proof!

The latest Shenmue 3 trailer is a big one - a significant one - because it actually shows some footage of the game in action proper. We've seen glimpses of story sequences and a little bit of exploration, plus screenshots of actual playable scenarios, but this is a first time seeing combat in the game in motion.

Those glimpses are very brief indeed, but it does show that Shenmue 3 will once again feature a full 3D fighting system designed by Yu Suzuki - the man famous for revolutionizing fighting games with the Virtua Fighter series. Shenmue of course began life as a RPG-based Virtua Fighter spin-off, but ended up becoming its own thing.

The trailer also shows protagonist Ryo training to improve his martial arts skills, which will be a major part of this section of his journey.

A look at the game in motion like this should go some way to reassure fans that it stands a chance of actually making its previously-announced August release later this year, too.

The trailer was shown at MAGIC 2019, a video game, anime and general Japanese-culture focused event in Europe. VG247 actually got to see around fifteen minutes of Shenmue 3 in action at the event, and while there's some dodgy animation stuff going on it looks rather promising compared to what we saw a few years ago at Gamescom, which itself was improved from initial public showings that left fans concerned. You can expect our full impressions in the coming days, but for now the trailer is up above. Go check it out.