Ryo Hazuki is a young Akira Yuki
- They have the same scar
◊ to prove this.- The Trivia page says Shenmue was originally supposed to be a Virtua Fighter spin-off starring Akira, which probably explains the similar scar.
Kazuma Kiryu will make a cameo in Shenmue 3.
Considering the Yakuza series is often considered a Spiritual Successor to Shenmue, it would be appropriate. It doesn't need to be canon, but it would nonetheless be cool to see Ryo fight against/alongside the Dragon of Dojima in a sidequest.The unusable special items from the first game will serve a purpose in the third.
The Mysterious Scroll and White Leaf always mystified a lot of players, so it seems fitting to finally explain their purpose in the third game; for example, maybe Ryo could meet the old master who taught Iwao the secret to the scroll, and learn the move it contains from him. And since the items were optional in the first game, a workaround could be found in order to put them in Ryo's inventory, with maybe an Old Save Bonus giving them back sooner (i.e; from the start of the game as opposed to a later point).Yuanda Zhu is the true villian.
Very mysterious and shady.