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.
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.