Shenmue II (Massive Review)

[Original_Name]

(Dreamcast version reviewed, as opposed to XBox port)

Foreword:

A review of the PAL version of a game written in 2008 (practically 2009) by a young adult who lives in Nashville, Tennessee is strange enough to begin with. When the game in question was actually released in the aformentioned youth's native country, and is available on a console he already owns for several dollars less, some questions may arise. Why would anyone pay extra money for a game that is readily available for them on a more modern platform? In response to this perfectly reasonable inquiry, we must step into the realm of psychology. There was once a great era in history known as the "Nineteen-Nineties" in which two companies fought to capture the attention spans of young America. Either these youths had already been seized by the already-massive Nintendo Corporation, or were captivated by the attitude portrayed by the budding Sega Corporation. I was one of the latter. Thus, I grew up investing in Sega machines: Genesis, Saturn, and ultimately, the Dreamcast. The latter is still my favorite console to this day, and featured one of my favorite titles of all time: Shenmue. Most people who followed the industry at the time can recall the sense of wonderment they felt when they first viewed gameplay of this extraordinary title. It was a truly moving experience for anyone interested in games as a viable art form, or the entertainment business making strides in the field of virtual reality. These two entities, the Sega Dreamcast and Shenmue are synonymous to me in that they are both incredible examples of the electronic medium of videogames showcasing its potential for art. Thus, playing Shenmue's sequel on the XBox seems wrong. Don't get me wrong, the XBox is a good system, especially if you like First-Person Shooters, but it just doesn't seem right. It's just not Sega. (Though it was lucky enough to receive the port of Panzer Dragoon Orta, a Dreamcast game which wasn't released as a DC title ANYWHERE, unlike the Japan and Europe exclusive Shenmue II). I hope that answers any questions about choice of console. Christ, I write alot. Now, without further adieu, the actual fucking review.

We'll begin with the thing that inarguably slapped gamers in the face when they first picked up Shenmue II (and still continues to slap new-comers in the face to this day):

DEAR GOD, THE GRAPHICS ;_;

Not until the release of more recent games such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Half-Life 2, and Fallout 3 has a game melded such magnificent amounts of detail, exploration, and interactivity in such massive realms. Any gaming enthusiast who entered the field sometime after the life-span of the Dreamcast owes it to their senses to somehow forget everything they know about videogames, build a time machine to travel back to sometime during the PlayStation-era, and wait a couple of years, just so that they can experience the incredible impression of awe this series left on gamers at the time. Shenmue II is built from the same engine as the first, but the locales explored in this sequel are so much more vast than its predecessor's. The multiple millions of dollars spent on these games, while not great decisions in the business department, were 100% worth it. If you're going to contribute to the financial ruin of your company, do it like this. Spend every cent your company owns (or doesn't own, in Sega's case) on a fully realized universe, in which every minor aspect is rendered in excrutiating detail. Take your players somewhere else; somewhere they haven't been, and fully-engross them in it to the point where they may actually turn their head from the screen for a moment and be shocked because they forgot they were in their living room. I've never been to China, but I feel as if I know Hong Kong. Of course, I doubt that if I were to actually go to Hong Kong, in 1987 or not, I would see far less Lucky Hit stands and Sega memorobilia, but those are entertaining anyway, so we'll let it slide. I'll stop trying to explain and just show you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGZIQPYWR_E

Graphics: 10/10... though to be perfectly honest, the score deserves to be higher, because graphics this astounding and in such immense detail on a scale this vast are so far beyond what anyone should've ever expected or anticipated in the year 2001.

Revised Graphics Score: 11/10

The Shenmue series is infamous for being one that players either love or hate with a passion. While I'm one of the former, I'll respect the opinions of those who dislike the game, because their complaints are valid. Shenmue II is not a flawless game by any stretch of the imagination, but these flaws are easy to pass up for players who "get" what Yu Suzuki was going for. The game is essentially a life simulator. You walk around and perform sometimes mundane tasks, talking to locals, find little ways to keep yourself entertained, and abiding by your sleep schedule (regardless of what you're doing). The thing about it though is that while you often feel as if you're simply living someone else's life, that person's life is SO MUCH MORE EXCITING THAN YOURS. If a player learns to understand this, then he can probably learn to love the title, which is a victory for him, because Shenmue II has a magnificent --

Story

After Lan Di, the powerful martial arts master, and leader of a nefarious Chinese Cartel murdered his father with little explanation other than the only clue poor Ryo could gather, "Do you remember Chao Sun Ming? That's the name of the man you murdered in Mun Swan" (Hilariously misspelled, I'm sure), Ryo sets off on his epic journey to find his father's murderer. As documented in the first Shenmue, Ryo ends up in Hong Kong by searching relentlessly for clues as to the whereabouts of his father's murderer. He searches so relentlessly, in fact, that he neglects all of his friends and loved ones, despite his father's last words of advice: "Keep friends, those you love -- close to you". He traverses past numerous beautifully rendered Eastern Asian locales, amidst references to 1980's, Ancient Oriental, and (of course) Sega culture. All the while becoming more and more engulfed in his quest, to the extent that the poignant ancient lessons bestowed to him by his peers are foolishly ignored or misinterpreted as only tools to aid him in his quest for revenge. Lan Di murdered Ryo's father out of revenge, thus Ryo embarks to murder Lan Di for the very same reason. Is Ryo's conflict inner or outer? Are Ryo and Lan Di the same monster? Needless to say--

Story: 10/10

Sound

While many weren't particularly impressed by the sometimes wooded voice-acting of the English original Shenmue, those importing the PAL version of Shenmue II will be able to read well-written and almost always believable dialogue, along with enthusiastic and believable Japanese voice-acting. It's a huge step over the lack-luster voice-acting of the original. It's actually really nice to play the game in its native language, though to be perfectly honest, I would've rather had the option to play a well-acted English version (the XBox version is simply atrocious).

The soundtrack, though... oh sweet Jesus Christ. Full orchestral soundtrack, employing beautiful Oriental instruments to create an ambiance replicated by very, very few other games (Chrono Trigger and Panzer Dragoon Saga come to mind, but that's damn good company!). You sit in your seedy hotel and feel a bit intimidated by the creepy vibe the music and setting give, but at least you're safer here that in the back alleys you observe out the window; each have their own music, with varying creepiness. It's still 7, so you feel like exploring a bit before heading off to sleep. You go down to the more lively shopping district, complete with a mall. On your way you pass a book store. Not much to do there but browse through the covers. It's a minor location, but this store has its own theme music (here, listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auNOxnZHwxs). You step out into the street again, you can hear pedestrians speaking to one another, their feet rustling as they traverse from store to store and eventually home; the cars passing by swing by at high speeds, with sound effects to match, and in the distance you can hear a dog barking. You have to fight yourself not to play a round of Space Harrier or OutRun... you're still low on cash. Still, their theme music can be heard from outside the arcade, enticing you to play with their nostalgic tunes. You notice a Tomato Convenience Store in the distance, a favorite of yours when you lived in Japan! You step in and hear their iconic poppy theme music and speak to the girl behind the counter. You find that she's a Japanese exchange student and her cute little Japanese voice seems to jump a bit with excitement. You've made a friend! You look back at your watch and realize it's getting a bit late. You step back into the shopping district to find that everyone's gone home... now this place too is engulfed in the same eerie ambience as the environment around your seedy hotel room as a result of the shadier characters and music. You stop by a local bar on your way home and talk to a few locals, the jukebox plays some slow jazz. You observe the jukebox and find that there's about ten songs to choose from. Forgetting your relative lack of money, you slide a coin into the slot and listen to a more upbeat tune. You slip back into the night, and run home because it's getting really creepy out in the streets... they don't seem to be very safe. Now THAT'S a GREAT AMBIANCE!!! Fueled mostly by the spectacular soundtrack! My only complaint is that it doesn't feature one of my all-time favorite video game tracks, "Christmas on Dobuita Street"... which is completely forgivable as no part of Shenmue II takes place on Dobuita Street and the game automatically takes place after Christmas. Still,

Sound: 10/10

Gameplay

As previously stated, the Shenmue series is either love-it or hate-it. No one who's played a Shenmue title doesn't have a definite opinion about it. If you bring up "Shenmue" in a room full of gamers you'll get "I LOVE THAT GAME!!", "I HATE THAT GAME!!", and a whole bunch of raised eyebrows (as a result of Shenmue and Sega as a whole's increasing obscurity). Nothing else. Try it. If you're looking for an straight-forward, balls-to-the-wall action game, Shenmue II isn't what you're looking for. While Shenmue II does have a strong battle system, based around the godly Virtua Fighter series, and some highly-entertaining QTE bits (one of the first games to utilize these as an individual aspect of overall gameplay. Dragon's Lair and some Sega CD FMV games based entire games around this concept, but the Shenmue series utilizes them more effectively as a way to engross the player into the cut-scenes. Think Resident Evil 4, but done more effectively. Die Hard Arcade is the only game prior to the Shenmue series that I can think of that uses QTEs in this fashion), it mainly consists of detective work. Some people like this, others don't. You figure out where to go based on what you've been told, ask locals for help if you're stumped, travel there, then some event takes place which will bestow more knowledge upon you; rinse, wash, repeat. Personally, I don't think this is a detracting factor, as it's done relatively believeably. If I were to search for my father's murderer, I'd likely do it much the same way that Ryo does... except with much less kung-fu. I can understand that some might find this mundane, but I sincerely think they're missing the point. Imagine this is your life! You're looking for your father's murderer in a distant land full of danger and beautiful Asian women!! And SEGA TOYS!!!! I just picked up an Opa-Opa action figure!!!!! Awesome, right!?!?!? Huh? Hello? *Sigh* Taking both my sincere love for the gameplay and other's disdain for it:

Gameplay: 7/10

Overall

People say that the Shenmue series is a mixed-bag. I personally think that they're merely approaching the series the wrong way. With the correct mind-set, Shenmue II can be the most engrossing experience a gamer can experience, in the leagues of The Elder Scrolls, World of Warcraft, and similar franchises. Its flaws are present, but to me they were quite negligible. The spectacular ambiance created by the incredible visuals and soundtrack oozes off of the game disc, into your Dreamcast's processors and onto your television set, breathing with life, and it is one of the greatest stories digital entertainment has ever told. Come into it expecting a life-simulator and be completely blown away. Seeing as this game is so controversial, I'll give it two scores:

My Score: 10.5/10

The General Gamer's Score: 8.7/10

[ThunderPrince]

Shenmue 2 was just outstandingly ambitious for the DC hardware. while it is sooo much larger than than the first game I still think the original is better looking, mainly for its small attention to detail.

[Spoiler Duck]

I too would agree with preferring the look and feel of the first. There minute detail level of the first was sacrificed for the vastness of the second. What you prefer is very simply personal preference, as both as their pros and cons. Though I play through Shenmue I once a year for that 'coming home' feeling the game always evokes, I do wish there were more areas to mill around in, as the harbour seems boring when not doing plot related tasks and Dobuita seems to get smaller everytime I'm there.

It is worth noting how sharp Shenmue I and II are - there are few aliasing issues on anything but long-distance objects, and the lack of bloom or colour filters that plague modern videogame aesthetics means everything is displayed in a crisp, pleasing fashion.

I'm glad you enjoy the original Japanese dub, but I will correct you here - it has worse acting than the Western version. Both versions are pretty dire, to be honest. Yu Suzuki himself always preferred the English voices, but that might largely be due to similar reasons as yours - the language that he hasn't grown up with is harder to discern as poorly acted, hence it sounds better to him. Again, it's just a preference thing. I prefer the English voices simply because I grew up with them and can't separate them from the characters.

The fighting engine was mercifully improved, though it still wasn't up to VF standards - a real shame, as it was my biggest disappointment with the series - but the introduction of the simon-says style QTEs in II without warning of explanation really pissed me off. I believe the first one you come across is in a narrow alley with lots of market stalls. I had to repeat that section so many times because I wasn't getting the timing right due to the extreme lack of pointers.

[Hatta]

I really did like this game a lot. But there were some failings as well. The controls for interacting with the world are pretty clunky. I would have much preferred if they had used the time tested point and click adventure game interface.

The story is a cliff hanger too. And there will never be a Shenmue III, so that kind of bothers me.

[ThunderPrince]

Though I play through Shenmue I once a year for that 'coming home' feeling the game always evokes, I do wish there were more areas to mill around in, as the harbour seems boring when not doing plot related tasks and Dobuita seems to get smaller everytime I'm there.

I know what you mean, when I replayed the game recently I was walking around and I was still in awe of what they could pull off but the game just didnt seem as big as it did the first time around. maybe its because I have seen bigger and more well, modern stuff or maybe its because I knew where to go. I remember spending entire days just running around the tiny little neighborhood looking at all the details and feeling like I was really there. I talked to everyone, looked at all the addresses, the trees, the people, the real-ness of it all.
Shenmue rules, and I almost dont want a third game to come out. it has been quite a few years since 2 came out and Im worried maybe third one wont have the same charm/voice actors (they are bad but I love them).
or hell, maybe it will blow the other two out of the water and be the best game ever. if AM2 could pull off the amazing visuals with the dreamcast imagine what they could do with the PS3! Shenmue that looks as realistic as VF5? I can dream cant I?

[turkish101]

It's my first time (posting), so go gentle on me, eh?

It's too bad I never got to play it on Dreamcast. I was young then, and had no clue about any import scene.

The first game holds a special place in my heart - it's essentially what prompted me to buy a Dreamcast in the first place. The new system hadn't come out yet, game stores are hyping it up and all (came out on my birthday, along with FF8), Mr. Clerk is trying to get me to pre-order it, etc. etc. As enticing as a true 3-D Sonic game was, at heart, I'm an RPGer. I expressed that sentiment to the clerk, and he showed me a copy of that awful official Dreamcast magazine, with some pics of Shenmue (even though it's debatable whether or not it's an RPG). Even my mom, standing beside me, was impressed, calling it 'the fingernail game', because of the high level of graphical detail (this was still before the system had even come out).

Well, I got my Dreamcast, and a year later, I spent my entire Christmas break playing Shenmue. It was amazing, etc. etc. Eventually, I get an X-box (no, I still don't know what possessed me), and played through Shenmue 2. Something had changed, and not for the better.

Regardless of plot and gameplay, the graphics really don't hold up well. At all. The level of detail is surely impressive, but the game is just seriously ugly. I never got used to looking at the hideous jacket Ryo wears all the time. Everything just looks.... dirty, even when it's not supposed to. That sense of amazement I felt in Winter 2000 is just gone, at least in regards to the graphics.

The plot? It was.... alright. Nothing about ever seemed really special, and (in the first game especially) the pacing was frustratingly slow. I think I just had a hard time getting into it because of the terrible voice acting. Literally, some of the worst voice acting I've ever heard. The worst one of all? The effin' protagonist! And then... it's a massive cliffhanger. Even if Shenmue 3 were to exist, that type of cliffhanger still manages to greatly annoy. Since Shenmue 3 will probably never come to fruition, it just seems kinda sad. [SPOILER WARNING] And after the pseudo-mystical turn the game takes at the end, I'm not sure I would want to play it. [END SPOILER]

The gameplay? Again, nothing special. The battle system wants to be Virtua Fighter when it grows up, but it's not quite there yet. Most of the time, button-mashing does the trick. QTEs are highly annoying, and have been a terrible influence on modern games. The exploring controls are pretty clunky too, as Hatta said.

Still, I love these games. The first one moreso than the second, but even the second one warms my heart. I have no idea why - the graphical achievements have become moot, the game can be a pain in the ass to play, and the plot is the opposite of 'gripping.' I guess I'm just a sucker for detail, and Shenmue has that in spades.


Yikes! Pretty long for a first post. Please don't stone me.