Third Shenmue 3 DLC Takes Ryo Gambling

Shenmue 3 is wasting no time with DLC launches, releasing its third pack just a month after the second. The Big Merry Cruise pack arrives on March 17, sending Ryo on a relaxing but high-stakes excursion.

Set in the Niaowu harbor, The Big Merry Cruise DLC pack sees a new cruise ship arriving in town. Ryo is free to board the ship and explore its halls and even maintenance areas below the deck, but you're likely to spend most of your time gambling. You can also get special outfits for clearing mini-quests, and there are challenge missions exclusive to the ship.

It's far different from the other two Shenmue 3 DLC packs, which added story content and even playable characters and a battle event.

In order to access the DLC, you must have already either reached the Niaowu section in the main game or completed it entirely without erasing the relevant save data.

The Big Merry Cruise pack is free if you purchased the Shenmue 3 Complete DLC Collection, which also includes both previous DLC packs. It's $15, offering a slight discount compared to purchasing the packs on their own. On its own, the Big Merry Cruise costs $4 and will be available through both the PlayStation Store for PS4 and the Epic Games Store for PC. The two previous games are also on Xbox One, but are soon leaving Xbox Game Pass.

Shenmue 3 reveres the previous two games, sometimes to a fault. In GameSpot's Shenmue 3 review, Heidi Kemps praised its side activities and charm, but found the dated combat and boring protagonist dragged it down. The game began with a Kickstarter campaign back in 2015 which raised more than $6 million, but it suffered several delays before finally launching in 2019.