ExedExes wrote:Shenmue II is much better than the first. Just so much more to do, and you're not stuck doing work *all day*. Much more to find, to buy, to play, and to participate in.
You MUST find the duck races later on.
That is also what makes the game so interesting, is there sheer amount of things you will most likely miss. There are events that have various paths and events that can take place based on your actions and overall events that you will completely miss out on. I feel like both Shenmue 1 & 2 were jam packed with things you could easily miss as they are based on day, weather and where you are in the story.
The duck races, being one of the biggest and most elaborate, that is for sure.
Ack wrote:I don't know, chief, the haunting feeling of lust I feel whenever I look at your avatar makes me think it's real.
-I am the idiot that likes to have fun and be happy.
ExedExes wrote:Shenmue II is much better than the first. Just so much more to do, and you're not stuck doing work *all day*. Much more to find, to buy, to play, and to participate in.
You MUST find the duck races later on.
what duck races? I completed 1 on Dreamcast and 2 on Xbox, I do not remember duck races
ExedExes wrote:Shenmue II is much better than the first. Just so much more to do, and you're not stuck doing work *all day*. Much more to find, to buy, to play, and to participate in.
You MUST find the duck races later on.
what duck races? I completed 1 on Dreamcast and 2 on Xbox, I do not remember duck races
It's going quite well! after catching up on my Saturn purchases i went back for DC games i'd lost and was largely happy with the non-capcom prices, if you look around (many of em i found here!) you can avoid the markup & get some absolute classics on the cheap.
the remaining stuff is again capcom: Rival Schools, Third Strike, Giga Wing 2, Cannon Spike etc etc that i'll just have to luck out on, or import. really wish i'dve been one of the people to pick up a broadband adapter on the cheap from JP yahoo auctions, but ah well.
I didn't like doing side stuff in Shenmue because controls were awkward and very un-intuitive not to mention the loading times and the measly rewards. Many of the games were not fun, like deciding which slot to drop a marble and just see by luck where it goes. I understand what Sega was trying to do, it probably tried to make it as realistic as possible but it didn't work for the reasons I mentioned earlier. Also I kept getting lost in Shenmue 2 the map system sucks...
The weird thing is that lately I've been playing a ton of quirky original PlayStation titles as a function of my love for the Dreamcast. My adoration of oddball games like Rez, Seaman, Jet Set Radio, Lack of Love, Roommania #203, Segagaga, D2, Samba de Amigo, The Typing of the Dead, Space Channel 5, Seventh Cross Evolution, Rent-A-Hero No. 1, Ikaruga, Sengoku Turb, and Tokyo Bus Guide has lead to an appreciation of the outsider art pieces and off-kilter simulations in the PlayStation library such as LSD: The Dream Emulator, Internal Section, Tail of the Sun, PaRappa the Rapper, Aquanaut's Holiday 2, Incredible Crisis, Bishi Bashi Special, Vib-Ribbon, Skullmonkeys, Ore no Ryouri, UFO: A Day in the Life, No One Can Stop Mr. Domino, and Intelligent Qube.
There's just something so compelling about the pure, practically compulsive creativity of these titles combined with the primitive nature of their graphics. Dreamcast graphics are favorites of mine for their unnatural, fantasy smoothness -- PlayStation graphics have a unique charm of their own due to their characteristically jagged, ever-warping renderings of rudimentary worlds. LSD and Aquanaut's Holiday are of particular interest because the unnatural early 3D graphics combined with the ambitious and foreign environments to produce aesthetics even more alien than their creators' bizarre intent. I enjoy the squared-off tiles of terrain with low-resolution textures, and there's a special quality to the fauna and flora composed of flickering triangles.
I just wish that companies like Artdink, NanaOn-Sha, Warp, Treasure, Love-de-Lic, and, of course, Sega could still be in a position in which they have the potential to not only experiment, but to experiment on the forefront of technology. I mean, don't get me wrong, we have Platinum Games, and Sony still gets behind art house projects on occasion, but the industry should always have this sort of creative life teeming just under the surface, supported by big-name enablers on good faith. Just like weird, happy little worms improve the soil just by squirming their way through their simple, self-fulfilling lives, when given a place in the industry, the outsider-art-house titles build up IP and audience and potential for the industry at large. A self-perpetuating network of creative reciprocation -- this is, or should be, the real life-blood of the industry. In essence these games still exist, but they're barely a part of the "Industry" industry at all anymore. What we need is some trickle-down effect!
^couldn't agree with that post more, and excellent list man! always wanted to try both Roommaina & LSD (the game...haha). your lists show a great deal of what i miss about that era though, experimentation made the medium feel limitless. we still get moments of that, but i wish i found more of them.
I played a bit of Vanishing Point over the weekend, but like Daytona 2001 it feels like you really NEED a racing wheel for this one. Looked great though.
About 17 hrs into Grandia II now. I just killed Valmar's Claw.
And been playing lots of Capcom Vs. SNK 2. That survival mode is awesome.
Shenmue II is incredible and I've only played the Xbox Version. Is it worth it to invest into a copy of the PAL release?
The duck races are absolutely worth the investment. I'm sure there's tons of other depth that I've not yet encountered because I've only beat each game three times. Even to this day, you can tell Yu Suzuki poured his heart and soul into every detail of the game.
I played Ooga Booga today, and had a few laughs. Played Cannon Spike with one of my staff members I supervised, and he had no idea that this game even existed, let alone was able to play with Mega Man. We made it to stage 7 on Very Easy before meeting our demises. We also bonded over our fondness for Grandia II.
