Like this one even more than the first. Way better characters and cooler locations. Story is more action packed.
This review contains spoilers
I totally understand why people don't like Shenmue but to me it's always been a striking thing, even as I spent my (many) playthroughs of it reading gaming magazines while waiting for in-game shops to open so I could get the story moving. Shenmue is a great big ball of friction; Yu Sazuki seeing game devs turning their life experiences into "fun" games and calling them cowards for it. Shenmue is a life simulation with a little bit of martial arts added in, not the other way around. In Shenmue you grind, and it's not for anything fun like experience points or a new sword or so you can unlock the secret ninja character for your party. Instead, Shenmue is a vision of a classic revenge story where the protagonist is just a regular polite doofus. So you're skipping school, talking to people in your little podunk town, trying to find out if they saw something, anything, that could put you on the right track, until day turns night and you try to not to get home too late so that your kindly old housekeeper doesn't get mad - not because there's any gameplay reason for it but because she's kind and you don't want to disappoint her. Occasionally, you beat a dude up, and your only reward for it is a bit of information and the fact that you didn't get your ass handed to you. One more day of survival. Wake up the next day, take the bus to your boring warehouse job and do it all over again.
None of this happens in a "cool" way by the way, the localization is a too-literal first-pass with awful voice acting, the combat is borderline non-functional, and the characters are bland and wooden. But its realization of small-town Japan is so lovingly detailed, with such a beautiful soundtrack, and you can just sit there drinking a can of soda while twilight hits the pier that you're working on as a forklift driver and chill in this moment of elegance. This was the thing that I fell in love with as a kid.
Shenmue II is more of the same with a few improvements. It's a continuation in every sense of the word, to the point where the original's budget covered some of the sequel's dev cost as well, and it basically doesn't tutorialize anything. There are a few quality of life additions; you can actually skip time instead of waiting around, you can get a little mini-map in the corner, you can save anywhere, and if you know where to look you can make money somewhat quickly. That intensely frictional gameplay is still there though; the first thing that happens in the game is that your money gets stolen, and you spend your first night scraping cash together for a room at the local hotel by manning sketchy gambling stands around the city. This delighted me.
In addition to that, you get a much more propulsive story in three shockingly different regions, a martial arts training arc, a buddy-cop investigation, a crew of dirtbags - totally undercut by the voice acting, which I usually find pretty charming - and what I can only describe as probably the first walking simulator ever made; several hours of trotting through the deep woods, talking to a single person about their life and comparing it to your own. Like the first game, Shenmue II is acutely interested in representing actual locations with no glamour. The streets of Wan Chai are dirty, and the vast buildings of Kowloon are a labyrinth of elevators, stairs under construction, and floors with nothing more than a plank of wood getting you from end to the other. It is inconvenient to get around. Few games go this far to represent a videogame space as a real place rather than a container for gameplay. At the same time, Shenmue II is heightened from the original, with more action, more kung-fu masters, and ending on a mystical note that has been hinted at since the first game. Lest you think this is an exciting videogame, I must say that it's all, essentially, boring. Most of the game is performing menial tasks and repeating the same questions to different people on the street until they can point you towards the location you're looking for.
And yet I loved every part of it to the point where it is legitimately hard for me to encapsulate it all. I can only end by saying that I loved it more than I expected, while also expecting that about 90% of people will absolutely hate it. So, basically, it's Shenmue. Thank god for that.
None of this happens in a "cool" way by the way, the localization is a too-literal first-pass with awful voice acting, the combat is borderline non-functional, and the characters are bland and wooden. But its realization of small-town Japan is so lovingly detailed, with such a beautiful soundtrack, and you can just sit there drinking a can of soda while twilight hits the pier that you're working on as a forklift driver and chill in this moment of elegance. This was the thing that I fell in love with as a kid.
Shenmue II is more of the same with a few improvements. It's a continuation in every sense of the word, to the point where the original's budget covered some of the sequel's dev cost as well, and it basically doesn't tutorialize anything. There are a few quality of life additions; you can actually skip time instead of waiting around, you can get a little mini-map in the corner, you can save anywhere, and if you know where to look you can make money somewhat quickly. That intensely frictional gameplay is still there though; the first thing that happens in the game is that your money gets stolen, and you spend your first night scraping cash together for a room at the local hotel by manning sketchy gambling stands around the city. This delighted me.
In addition to that, you get a much more propulsive story in three shockingly different regions, a martial arts training arc, a buddy-cop investigation, a crew of dirtbags - totally undercut by the voice acting, which I usually find pretty charming - and what I can only describe as probably the first walking simulator ever made; several hours of trotting through the deep woods, talking to a single person about their life and comparing it to your own. Like the first game, Shenmue II is acutely interested in representing actual locations with no glamour. The streets of Wan Chai are dirty, and the vast buildings of Kowloon are a labyrinth of elevators, stairs under construction, and floors with nothing more than a plank of wood getting you from end to the other. It is inconvenient to get around. Few games go this far to represent a videogame space as a real place rather than a container for gameplay. At the same time, Shenmue II is heightened from the original, with more action, more kung-fu masters, and ending on a mystical note that has been hinted at since the first game. Lest you think this is an exciting videogame, I must say that it's all, essentially, boring. Most of the game is performing menial tasks and repeating the same questions to different people on the street until they can point you towards the location you're looking for.
And yet I loved every part of it to the point where it is legitimately hard for me to encapsulate it all. I can only end by saying that I loved it more than I expected, while also expecting that about 90% of people will absolutely hate it. So, basically, it's Shenmue. Thank god for that.
did u find him yet ryo
Completely drops the nice small town sim of the last game for a confusing and obtuse open world that just doesn't feel impressive anymore. Video review soon, maybe?
Baba hıncını almaya geliyom
one of the most impressive games I've played to this day. the insane amount of voice work put in this game, not to mention how all the npcs have their own va's and design for the most part is just astounding. Each and every corner of this game is beautifully crafted. There's always something to discover in this game.
Shenmue 2 is grand and majestic with memorable story beats.
Shenmue 2 is grand and majestic with memorable story beats.
This game was amazing for its time, but aged like milk. The voice acting is just terrible, but it was actually considered normal at the time. If only the story would actually meet a conclusion. Holds a special place in my heart.
I prefer the first game because japan is just so much cozier than hong kong or kowloon but I recognize the merits of the 2nd game well enough. The ability to skip to the next story event when you get to the destination is a godsend, the hong kong section (particularly the temple and learning from the wude masters) is pretty good. The final section of the game with shenhua, despite mostly just being walking around, made me feel the shenmue soul hard. However I do not like the kowloon section of the game which is a pretty big problem because it is half the game. The buildings are same-y, it's hard to navigate, it's flooded with annoying QTE segments, the entire "shadowing yuan" part sucks, the part where you have to get to the top of the building by crossing like 20 beams sucks, the 17 floor yellow head building is not fun and they have an issue with repeatedly telling you what to do "run when the lights go out" says Ren every single time. That being said Kowloon has some nice aspects too, there are some fun interactions between Ryo and Ren, the story beats are alright, and some of the martial arts challenges are fun to do like catching the acrobat or beating up the half blind guy. The boss fights also suck. Shenmue's combat isn't great to begin with but having every boss feature a QTE near the end that makes you restart the fight if you fail is terrible. Not to mention half the bosses are unbeatable and the other half require a strategy of "constantly dodge and sometimes throw a few punches". The QTEs also felt unreliable in general which leads to most of my other gripes but that may just be because my controller is a little messed up so I won't blame the game for it. It was a good experience overall but I definitely prefer shenmue 1.
Every bit as much of a one-of-a-kind experience as the first game, with just as much goofy and awkwardness, but it's just genuinely a more enjoyable experience due to a lot of improvements to the gameplay like not being forced to wait in real time for objectives, the combat feeling more refined and the cast of characters being written better and more memorable, plus the story being more compelling and the mini-games being more fun. The ending sequence was incredible and made the whole journey worth it.
do you want to play a game of lucky hit
Muito bom. Não diria que é melhor que o primeiro, mas sim complementar. Enquanto Shenmue I se concentrava na cidade natal de Ryo, tendo um level design pequeno mas denso, o II coloca o protagonista numa cidade grande e estrangeira, com um level design expansivo e maios orientado à ação. Algumas adições de "quality of life", como a habilidade de passar o tempo, são muito bem-vindas, entretanto.
I hate this game.
Like its predecessor, a masterpiece of virtual tourism and grandiose storytelling, but now with way more combat scenarios and less drawer opening. And it's last three hours or so are so damn ballsy.
Seeking to be bigger, bolder and better than its predecessor, Shenmue 2 comes out another solid entry in Ryo's journey to avenge his father. While my heart will likely forever lie with the homely atmosphere of the OG, a still lovable cast, huge scope, and QOL changes make for another entry few can compete with the uniqueness of.
Having said that, I hope those responsible for the leaf catching game, the section where the game forces you to wait in a single area with no option to either fast forward time or leave to do anything else, and the final section of the game being near exclusively QTEs and cutscenes, think about what they did.
Having said that, I hope those responsible for the leaf catching game, the section where the game forces you to wait in a single area with no option to either fast forward time or leave to do anything else, and the final section of the game being near exclusively QTEs and cutscenes, think about what they did.
Shenmue II is far grander in scope than its predecessor, for better or worse.
By better I mean it takes the story to the next level, introduces fantastic characters, and features massive gameplay areas and dope action setpieces. By worse I mean you don’t really get to immerse yourself in any of the locations quite as well as you did Yokosuka. In some ways that lack of connection to each area parallels Ryo’s journey, but that still made them less engaging for me as a player.
They also effed up the tank controls (you can’t just rotate, now Ryo walks forward a bit when he turns) and made the notebook music loud and annoying. But this is still a ballin’ game, which I can highly recommend, especially if you just beat the first game and want to bring over your save file.
By better I mean it takes the story to the next level, introduces fantastic characters, and features massive gameplay areas and dope action setpieces. By worse I mean you don’t really get to immerse yourself in any of the locations quite as well as you did Yokosuka. In some ways that lack of connection to each area parallels Ryo’s journey, but that still made them less engaging for me as a player.
They also effed up the tank controls (you can’t just rotate, now Ryo walks forward a bit when he turns) and made the notebook music loud and annoying. But this is still a ballin’ game, which I can highly recommend, especially if you just beat the first game and want to bring over your save file.
Honestly, I'm not really sure what to think of Shenmue 2. On one hand, automatic waiting is a vast improvement over what was there before, but at the same time I feel giving Ryo more things to do with his time would have been another viable solution, but there really isn't so all he can really do is wait. On another, I still don't like how Ryo controls, but at least the fights this time felt fair and the like 5 actual bosses were a fair challenge, even if mobs could be cleared by mashing.
The Hong Kong part of the story is the best part with its map and strong set-up of the story. Lifting Boxes isn't as fun as a forklift but you only have to do it like 3 times. I do miss the flow you could get into while doing a forklift though, as odd as that sounds.
Ren is a highlight, someone who acts out of his own self interest unrelated to Ryo while still accompanying him made him a treat and is easily Ryo's best companion. Unfortunately Kowloon is a garbage map that is far too easy to get lost in and has all the worst missions, especially the Yellow Head Building that went on for too long. A lot of the game actually has pacing issues like this but the Yellow Head Building is the highlight. At least you get your prototype Yakuza final boss fight on a major rooftop, complete with Lan Di Date in a Helicopter!
The final area of the game was a treat at first but the novelty wears off after 20 minutes. I also think the game could have ended like 3 times. It just wore away its welcome after a while. I'm not sure which of the two games I prefer, in all honesty.
The Hong Kong part of the story is the best part with its map and strong set-up of the story. Lifting Boxes isn't as fun as a forklift but you only have to do it like 3 times. I do miss the flow you could get into while doing a forklift though, as odd as that sounds.
Ren is a highlight, someone who acts out of his own self interest unrelated to Ryo while still accompanying him made him a treat and is easily Ryo's best companion. Unfortunately Kowloon is a garbage map that is far too easy to get lost in and has all the worst missions, especially the Yellow Head Building that went on for too long. A lot of the game actually has pacing issues like this but the Yellow Head Building is the highlight. At least you get your prototype Yakuza final boss fight on a major rooftop, complete with Lan Di Date in a Helicopter!
The final area of the game was a treat at first but the novelty wears off after 20 minutes. I also think the game could have ended like 3 times. It just wore away its welcome after a while. I'm not sure which of the two games I prefer, in all honesty.
Better than the first game in about every way, but I kind of prefer the simplicity of the original tho. Gorgeous world
CD4 > all
Loses a lot of what I loved about Shenmue in service of continuing Ryu's story, but in such an intentional manner that I respect. Miserable pacing in some parts mires the whole experience, even if it ends hella strong.
The gameplay is definitely more refined, with more options to make money and being able to fast-forward certain moments instead of waiting. I'm not a fan of the gambling mini-games, though. When the best way to make money is by save scumming, it's counterproductive from the immersive gameplay.
The story is epic and gripping, retaining that sense of mystery and discovery. The supporting cast is just as strong. Ren is a great ally, Xiuying is wise and bitter, and Joy is... well, a joy to be around. The Guilin chapter at the end is also a nice breather and ends with an intriguing cliffhanger.
It's hard to say whether I prefer this to the first one. This is more refined, but I also liked how relaxing the first one was. I'd say they're equal for the time being.
The story is epic and gripping, retaining that sense of mystery and discovery. The supporting cast is just as strong. Ren is a great ally, Xiuying is wise and bitter, and Joy is... well, a joy to be around. The Guilin chapter at the end is also a nice breather and ends with an intriguing cliffhanger.
It's hard to say whether I prefer this to the first one. This is more refined, but I also liked how relaxing the first one was. I'd say they're equal for the time being.
Totalmente continuista a la segunda entrega, pero mejorando fallos menores y expandiendo varias virtudes. Sus mayores problemas son los mismos, eso sí, me cago en los muertos de los quick time events. La historia te deja con ganas de la tercera parte.
I didn't like jim sterling until they said shenmue is bad
A game that I love and hate at the same time. Really great atmosphere, Hong Kong was a really good city to explore, I loved the fact that there were so much possibles activites (contrary to the first one), the game has a good narrative even though it's not the strongest point of the game. But the QTE made me rage at times on ps4 version, and there are too many of them. Still a great game regardless.