as much as I like the charm of this series I cannot give it a good conscious give it a positive score the things that annoyed me about the first game primarily the QTEs are tenfold worse here especially once you enter Hong Kong and omg wtf is the Hong Kong area aside from the money grind they put in towards the end of the game these building who tf designed these buildings I swear if you see screenshots of the interiors you would think its assets from a silent hill game dilapidated buildings everything is dirty whoever designed the elevators deserves prison time, omg the final level of the HK zone being a 17 story climb it takes like a good 2 even if you do everything correctly it feels like one of those smt dungeons where you just want it to end but there is always another level and after all that am supposed to believe that at the top of this completely recked building with elevators that only stop very specific floors is a millionaire's skyrise apartment PLSSSSS. also, the final boss has multiple QTEs at the end in which if you fail you have to replay the entire boss fight... then after the climax of the game goes on for another 3 hours where u kinda just walk with this girl that has only up until now been hinted at since the first game and honestly, it was cool it was chill it was a walking simulator but I was so tired of hong kong section of the game I didn't mind it but also wow leaving your game on a cliffhanger in 2001 to never bee seen again until 18 years later... and I am not very excited to play Shenmue 3 since everyone says that one is a disappointment.

I would like to talk about as well the cultural impact of this game because the first was like wow no game looks even nearly as good as this in 1999 this is insane PS1 and n64 had nothing on this but then in 2001 we have the ps2 and this year in specific we have metal gear solid 2... put mgs2 next to this game it's not even fair and tbh it isn't fair it's a Wii u, ps4 situation where even though it's technically the same generation but one came out way too early too ever compete in specs despite how ahead of its time the Dreamcast was and so what about this games has become impactful over time and it feels like its QTEs (i know this isnt the first game to have QTEs but its definitly one of the games that started its popularity in action/story games for making action scenes seem more interactable then they really are) and... the yakuza series (ironically this having a top of a skyscraper ending is so yakuza lmao) but even yakuza is game that really is nothing like the rest of the triple-A open world games out there so you iam still glad this game exists to an extent but iam not in love with it the way a lot of people seem to be

Platform: PlayStation 4 (Via PlatStation 5)
Date Started: July 16th, 2023
Date Finished: July 27th, 2023
Time Played: 23hours

"Like a polished mirror."

An absolutely perfect follow-up, and my joint favourite video game of all time alongside the first, Shenmue II flips the cosy small town atmosphere of what came before and instead throws Ryo, and the player, into a complete foreign land, huge and brimming with life, massive in scale. It's a perfect contrast to the original's location offering - it's easy to get lost, the locals aren't all as friendly and there are plenty more side stories to get up to.

Each location and environment you visit in this one is a marvel, and the story and characters are just wonderful. Ryo's relationship with Ren is a perfect uneasy alliance, the villains are great and the entire cast of side characters are memorable. Some of the revelations, reveals and moments are staggering, too, and a real testament to what slowing down and taking your time with story-telling can amount to.

Game-play stays mostly the same with the addition of newer QTE's, some new combat moves and scenarios and a lot more action in general. It's all a great blend of slow-paced, long-form story-telling and great action set pieces with a lot of satisfying narrative beats. The final area is just a masterful change of pace, too, ending things with in a true Shenmue meditative way - one of the most memorable parts of the entire series, leading to an incredible setup for the third entry.

Shenmue II truly is a magnificent piece of work and the ideal follow up to the first. Unbelievable stuff.

Shenmue I & II are two of the most important games of all time and people who deny that go to Hell and burn alive. The amount of effort put into the games to create the most immersive game of all time at the time. Cyberpunk, Witcher, Fallout, the entire fucking current state of immersive sims. Shenmue isn't the first game to do all of its shit but it's the first to have that big of a budget on it to push these ideas enough to reach a mainstream audience and inspire literally every single game with any kind of slight open world. The LAD series getting massive in the states out of nowhere ruined discussion of this series because for some reason everyone thinks this is the LAD prototype now. Watch a Shenmue funny NPC dialogue compilation what are you reminded of? Not Yakuza Kiwami fucking 2 no you're thinking of Oblivion. Fuck you i hate everyone who plays video games