Extremely Late To The Party: Shenmue 2...

U

UtadaBarkley

Member
I just picked up this game today, and I think I will take a break from going out every weekend, and just chill out and play some games... It's been months since I've done this... I'd like the opinions of board members on Shenmue 2... I finished part 1 on the DC years ago (loved it), and I've been meaning to pick up part 2 for some time. I've heard some bad things about S2 on the xbox from people. The clerk at EB "didn't reccomend it" when I asked if he had the game in stock.. :lol lol, but I know not to trust their idiot opinions. So, is the game even worthplaying, because I don't want to get into a long game like that if you think it's a serious waste of time? I could be playing MGS3. (but I'd like to finish the back cataloge first)
 
It definitely worth playing. It's one of the best titles on Xbox IMO. 10/10 if you ask me.

And the ending is the best thing about the game. Not actually 'the end' but the whole thing before it ends. You'll love it, I'm sure of it.
 
It was a great expirience back on DC,its still good but no longer has the Graphics,but the gameplay and story are still great.
The ending is sad considering we will probobly never know how it ends(unless there is some sort of manga/anime based on Shenmue)
 
soul.less said:
There's always been rumors of it coming out but the only thing Shenmue-related scheduled to be released is Shenmue Online (ugh).
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Shenmue online? Wtf...What a waste of development time that could be used for Part 3... Damn Suzuki!
 
Are you playing the Xbox version? That version's hideous lighting, exaggerated motion blur, and intolerable English voice acting detract greatly from the experience.
 
Except for the last part in Shenmue 2, I liked the first Shenmue more. I had a harder time navigating in Shenmue 2, running around aimlessly at times in rather boring locations. A big map covering all the areas in Hong Kong would've been very useful.

And the "story" dragged on with pointless things happening, most of the progress felt like "hello, I'm a person who might know a person who might know someone who knows where the person you're looking for might be, but you need to prove yourself worthy first!". The first Shenmue was more focused, and more interesting things happened. In Shenmue 2 I was always trying to GET to a part where something, anything, related to the story would take place. But it never really happened until the end, which was way too late as far as I'm concerned. :/
 
The last "boss" fight rocks!

I wish they'd find a way to complete the story. Hell, I'd even accept a quick synopsis from Yu Suzuki... just tell me what the story was all about. :(
 
I loved Shenmue 1, but gave up on Shenmue 2 halfway through. I found it much more tedious, with stuff like book carrying being almost game endingly boring. I agree with the guy from EGM, there's something wrong when the most interesting thing you've done in hours is balance across a board.
 
This thread makes me long for my Dreamcast. I thought Shenmue was a stinking pile of half-assedness, but Shenmue 2 is something else entirely. I didn't get to play it for very long before I sold my DC, but I will definitely be playing it as soon as I reaquire one. So good.
 
Yes, I "miss" my dc.. I still have it, just rarely play it. It seems like there was a ton of innovation at that time... And it was probably the biggest jump in jaw dropping graphics that I've ever witnessed.
 
Didn't feel home in SM2 like I did in Dobuita. But the end was great. I'll definitely have to pick it up again (sold it) and play it through again...in the far future.
 
Loved Shenmue 2. It makes me kind of mad that there aren't any other games like it. IMO, the Shenmue series is the first game series to truely integrate movies and games.

Shenmue 2 is sublime. I haven't spent much time with Shenmue 1, and got about halfway through over a period of on-off gaming for a couple months, but I felt compelled, almost obligated, to finish Shenmue 2 in a few sittings.

I will never forget the Gay dude/Transvestite Q.T.E. scene where he/she/it is weilding the chainsaw :D It was amazing.

If you have the Xbox version, load times are a killer.. Even worse if you have the DC version. If modded with a faster harddrive than the stock Xbox, definitely load S2 onto the HD. .5-3 second load times are the only way to experience it. Otherwise, 10+ second long load times will ruin the experience a bit.
 
I recommend a Euro DC import because I suspect the voice acting in the Xbox version is terrible. At least you can't tell in the Euro version.
 
I really liked Shenmue 2. I like Dragon's Lair-like games, so I thought the QTE sections rocked. :P

The worst thing thing about it is how it ends, considering we'll never get a real sequel. Supposedly Suzuki wrote down all the chapters, he could at least release a book or something. :P
 
What a coincident I'm playing Shenmue 2 right now. Started all over again and now at this moment I just finished Zhangyu Barber Shop and on to find another martial artist to learn more about the WUDE.

I think my trip to HK and China influenced me to play the game again because I felt I was Ryo!

I love the series dearly... *sigh... Where's my Shenmue 3...?
 
Yeah, but man! Have we really progressed this far in terms of graphics? I remember when Shenmue (the original) was jawdropping and ground breaking (especially the facial animations). Now, when I play the game, it's all blocky looking, the animation is horrid, and the lip-syncing is horrible... Don't get me wrong I still plan to complete it, but damn the game definitely didn't age too well... I didn't think we had progressed THAT far in visiuals but obviously I stand corrected! Needless to say, Sega made a lazy port with this game, it could have looked much better on Xbox.
 
Except for the last part in Shenmue 2, I liked the first Shenmue more. I had a harder time navigating in Shenmue 2, running around aimlessly at times in rather boring locations.
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That's how I felt at times. I really loved first Shenmue, and I still liked the second one, only less. I thought the game worked best in the small city scenario, and the atmosphere was better and somehow more personal. I was playing the DC Euro import with Japanese voices, and from what I've seen, some of the English voices in the Xbox version are seriously bad (and I mean seriously bad compared to english voices in Shenmue 1). Then again, I found listening to 20-30 hours of Japanese that I don't understand a word of, more than a bit annoying at times.

Yeah, but man! Have we really progressed this far in terms of graphics? I remember when Shenmue (the original) was jawdropping and ground breaking (especially the facial animations). Now, when I play the game, it's all blocky looking, the animation is horrid, and the lip-syncing is horrible...
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Heh, so true. I booted Shenmue 1 yesterday because I was cleaning my DCs laser and wanted to see if games work (nothing would work before cleaning), and to my relief it booted fine. Ater playing MGS3 right before it, the whole intro portion made me chukle couple of times at how poor it looked in some ways. For all it's nice color usage, some technical flaws are just glaringly obvious now.
 
To be honest, I think the graphics in part 1 are better than part 2. I think this is because of the textures used are more realistic and some of the lightning used are sensibly placed. But later on in part 2 the graphics does improve.

Also, baring the obvious graphical improvements in the Xbox version of the game - like the water effects - I strangely believe the Dreamcast version looks generally better. I think this is because of the Dreamcast superior VGA hardware output. If the Xbox hardware had that component then many people would be thoroughly satisfied.

Anyway, I'm glad I have the Dreamcast version of Shenmue 2, the Japanese voice acting sounds much better than the english even if I only understand 30% of it.
 
Trojan X said:
To be honest, I think the graphics in part 1 are better than part 2. I think this is because of the textures used are more realistic and some of the lightning used are sensibly placed. But later on in part 2 the graphics does improve.

Also, baring the obvious graphical improvements in the Xbox version of the game - like the water effects - I strangely believe the Dreamcast version looks generally better. I think this is because of the Dreamcast superior VGA hardware output. If the Xbox hardware had that component then many people would be thoroughly satisfied.

Anyway, I'm glad I have the Dreamcast version of Shenmue 2, the Japanese voice acting sounds much better than the english even if I only understand 30% of it.
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I agree... argh the voice acting is LAME.
 
Agent Icebeezy said:
They should put Ryo and Lan Di in the Virtua Fighter series
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<=============== [Look at the avatar] Imagine Lan Di s the final boss in VF 4 Final Tuned or VF5...? Whoa.....
 
I'm probably one of the few that think this way, but I thought Shenmue 1 was FAR better than Shenmue 2.

Sure, Shenmue 2 added some great features and cleaned up some of the first games flaws a little, but then it added it's own annoyances and issues.

I could go into details, but pretty much I don't think the time skipping feature should have been added (even if it is optional), the jobs were way more tedious and downright boring (oh, how I hated the
airing of the books
), the last disc for the DC version was very dull and really should have been trimmed down, they never topped the 80 man battle from the first game and overall there were just more frustrating/annoying bits than in the original game.

And did anyone else HATE when you asked someone directions and they told you they'd show you the way ("Follow meeee~") but they turned out to be a 800 year old that walked so slow you had to run off and find someone else anyway?
 
Absolutely loved Shenmue 1 en also started shenmue 2 which was ofcourse more of the same. But i stopped at the part where you have make a lot of money. Couldnt be arsed to work or gamble.
 
My solution to that is work once then arm wrestle the rest of the way. This way is much more fun but that would only work if you not going to play the game for 100% completion. I still need to get to the part where it's the little girl's birthday, damn.
 
ThirstyFly said:
I'm probably one of the few that think this way, but I thought Shenmue 1 was FAR better than Shenmue 2.

Sure, Shenmue 2 added some great features and cleaned up some of the first games flaws a little, but then it added it's own annoyances and issues.

I could go into details, but pretty much I don't think the time skipping feature should have been added (even if it is optional), the jobs were way more tedious and downright boring (oh, how I hated the
airing of the books
), the last disc for the DC version was very dull and really should have been trimmed down, they never topped the 80 man battle from the first game and overall there were just more frustrating/annoying bits than in the original game.

And did anyone else HATE when you asked someone directions and they told you they'd show you the way ("Follow meeee~") but they turned out to be a 800 year old that walked so slow you had to run off and find someone else anyway?
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How ironic, LOL, I judt did that with that old lady to find pigeon park... Pretty boring so far, the first game seemed like so much more. ALthough I am only 10 min into the game :lol
 
shibbs said:
Absolutely loved Shenmue 1 en also started shenmue 2 which was ofcourse more of the same. But i stopped at the part where you have make a lot of money. Couldnt be arsed to work or gamble.
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Your answer: street fights.

Also Jeff, disc 3. It's all about disc 3.
 
How ironic, LOL, I judt did that with that old lady to find pigeon park... Pretty boring so far, the first game seemed like so much more. ALthough I am only 10 min into the game
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Shenmue 2 did have a much slower start and a much, much slower end. The middle would have been great if it wasn't for having to always earn money and the tasks to do so being really, really dull.

I remember getting a kick out of all the ways Ryo would ask people directions to Wan Chai (which was about a block away - so close you actually see it) and get about 20 different responses that it was just to the left of you. What a silly way to start a game.
 
Kiriku said:
And the "story" dragged on with pointless things happening, most of the progress felt like "hello, I'm a person who might know a person who might know someone who knows where the person you're looking for might be, but you need to prove yourself worthy first!". The first Shenmue was more focused, and more interesting things happened. In Shenmue 2 I was always trying to GET to a part where something, anything, related to the story would take place. But it never really happened until the end, which was way too late as far as I'm concerned. :/
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Eh, I thought both games have its share of endless errand-runs.. except in Shenmue II you can just talk to someone who will walk you to your destination. That and the time skip option were a godsend if you grew tired of Shenmue's signature tedious exploration.

The infintitely more interesting characters (Joy, Ren, Xiuying, Zhu Yuan Da, the VF clone fighters, etc.) are what won me over about Shenmue II. The characters in Shenmue I were either too goofy, or hardly interacted with Ryo (or maybe more accurately, Ryo didn't really interact with them).
 
soul.less said:
I'll say just this: the only thing negative about Shenmue II is that it ends.
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IAWTP

Shenmue 2 is on the third place in my all time favorites, surpassed by Shenmue (1°) and Kotor (2°). It's an amazing game with so much atmosphere and it shows perfectly that in game design Yu Suzuki >>>>>>>> everybody else.
 
I'm probably one of the few that think this way, but I thought Shenmue 1 was FAR better than Shenmue 2.
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Mmmm...I don't necessarily think you're alone. I think both of them are weak, but I have better feelings about Shenmue I than II, probably because the type of game it is was more unusual in the Pre-GTA3 days. Once those kind of games started to proliferate, it just made Shenmue II seem even more slow and boring. And, no, you are not alone in your hate of the book airing segment. I hated that WAY more than the leaf-catching bit.

The other thing about SMII that bought it some ill-will was the last-minute switcheroo from DC to Xbox. I understand WHY they did it, and I agree with the idea in principle (bigger user base, more likely to see the series continue, did it meself with LUNAR Saturn->PS), but it's as if all that time that could have been used to fixup the localization was wasted. It's far ->worse<- than the localization in Shenmue I, and that's saying something.
 
Shenmue 2.. One of my favourite games.. Mostly because of the epic feel of the story line.. and the awesome action that is Disc 3.
 
XS+ said:
Eh, I thought both games have its share of endless errand-runs.. except in Shenmue II you can just talk to someone who will walk you to your destination. That and the time skip option were a godsend if you grew tired of Shenmue's signature tedious exploration.

The infintitely more interesting characters (Joy, Ren, Xiuying, Zhu Yuan Da, the VF clone fighters, etc.) are what won me over about Shenmue II. The characters in Shenmue I were either too goofy, or hardly interacted with Ryo (or maybe more accurately, Ryo didn't really interact with them).
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Yes, there were errand-runs in Shenmue 1 too, but the progress I made in Shenmue 1 felt more relevant to the main story than it did in Shenmue 2.

And the areas in Shenmue 1 were easier for me to navigate through. Probably because the locations often were more distinct in their appearance, and because you stayed in the same place throughout the game rather than having to re-learn a whole new area. Having someone walk you to your destination in Shenmue 2 just shows how much more a detailed map was needed IMO.

And I didn't feel like Ryo tried to interact with people. It's more like he avoided to interact with them in any way possible, while they tried to interact with HIM (see Joy for example). ;)
I didn't find any of the Shenmue 2 characters to be very interesting. Maybe it was because of the horrible voice acting, I dunno...
 
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