Shenmue II

[Adam Stone]

The credits roll ? the beatifically conducted music plays. I sit here smiling to myself blissfully, but also equally upset. The fact that there may never be a conclusion to this immersed epic tale is quite a saddening thought. It took me awhile to get into the right frame of mind for both titles, probably more so for Shenmue II in fact, however I am most glad I didn?t give up. I completed the first Shenmue quite some time ago now, and then started to play Shenmue II on the Dreamcast a little after. However, after the first ?moving crates? job I didn?t really feel I wanted to continue? put the controller away...and then since then packed my Dreamcast up and only leave it out for display? meaning I had a only briefly played Shenmue II on my shelf? looking at me. Crying to me played. I sadly ignored it for months and months.

Until recently...

A couple of weeks back though, I bought the Xbox version (new only ?10!) and have been playing it since. I was determined to not stop this time and stuck with it. Then, after say 5-6hours or so, I was totally sucked into the world and haven?t been able to stop playing. To have finished it tonight is most satisfying ? but as already mentioned, a little bit saddening.

The sheer scale is quite astonishing and there is a true sense of awe throughout, gradually becoming more and more surreal as the game progresses. Watching your character mature both mentally and physically adds so much to the experience imo. Also, i really felt the relationships with the many characters you interact with (main characters, not the soulless individuals who aimlessly wander the streets, heh) develop to quite an extant ? so much in fact, I actually started to miss them when I went some time without their company. Ren in particular was quite a character and i felt like i wanted him to continue to join me as i progressed to the next and final area.

Concerning the slowly revealing plot, I get the impression there is some sort of connection between Lan Di and Xiuying. I don?t know, but I get the impression they are brother and sister. Lan Di is the brother who left to take vengeance (and then swayed into the evil path) on the one who killed his father, and maybe a twist being Ryo?s father was that man. Meaning both men sort revenge on the death of their fathers. Meh. probably way off, but thats the impression i got. Maybe that is what we are meant to think?

I?ve recently read through the reviews for Shenmue II again (I seem to have a habit of reading reviews after I actually beat a game), and I felt the xbox version was particularly a little unfair, however i suppose puts the main point across well ? it isn?t for everyone. But for those of us who have had the pleasure of experiencing and enjoying these truly wonderful games, what are your thoughts? Or? maybe? you hate them with a passion and couldn?t really quite understand what the fuse was about? Please share.

Am I, as usually, really late to the party or have any of you recently played through this again (or ur first time like me?).

I apologize if this has been discussed to death in the past ? however having just beaten Shenmue II, I have an uncontrollable urge to talk about it. It really has amazed me.

Kind regards
Adam

[2097]

ive always been interested in the shemnue series, i never had a dreamcast so i felt i missed out. I heard great things of the games from friends and im really into the tradional adventure genre so a big budget hybrid from sega sounded really great. When I got an xbox shemnue II was one of the first things i picked up ..

.. and i wished i hadnt :S i think the idea in my mind and all the nice things people have said and written about the game are far more enjoyable than playing the actual thing.

its horrible and i hate the stupid bloody thing!

sorry.

bad design, it looks ugly, the combat is very crap and tacked on, a lot of the time you have no idea where your supposed to go or what your supposed to do the game is overwhelming. That would be fine if there was some freedom but its so linear you have to hunt arond for hours finding the next cutscene or bit of plot the game wants to show you.

talking of the plot its the worst written pile of boring old poo ever to be seen in a videogame. not a single moment manages to be heartwarming, funny, disturbing, interesting or provoking any emotional response other than a sigh and how generic and badly converted the script is.

It had promise, a big budget, a talented team and its a nice style but ugh. crap game! overrated! hate it! its like the japanese getaway. Its really aged badly too..

Shadow Of Memories is a lot better and manages to do a simular thing but without the fighting and it actually works. What im trying to write is that i normally love games of this genre, but hate shemnue. Damn you and your design sega!!

I want to hang onto the game coz its like worthless at the moment and sold quite bad so hopefully the value will go up one day :/

[Olympichero]

I felt the same as you Adam, after completing Shenmue 2 I was lost. It was like I needed closure, and after I completed it I went on the net and checked out the rumours and stuff about Shenmue 3 and after concluding and admitting to myself I'd probably never find out what happens I started to wish I'd never played this.

It was a great experience and I loved most of it (bar the parts where you had to get X amount of money) but I can see why people wouldnt like the game. Its one of those love/hate games I think.

As for the actual game itself I wouldnt say it drew me in, I left it for a while when you had to collect money to get into those buildings. I was pleasantly suprised as I was nearly certain it would end on the rooftop but when it continued I savoured every extra minute, and the end of the game was really nice. As far as the plot goes I think if we do find out there will be a couple of big twists along the way, but I guess we'll never know...

[Adam Stone]

2097, Heh, its nice to see a view from a different perspective.

When I first started to play Shenmue II I would have agreed with almost all the points you made. It was very? meh.

But I couldn?t help feel I was missing the point a little. I stuck with it, and somehow my thoughts changed entirely. You are very true about how linear it feels, but I never saw this as a negative point. Very much like Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear Solid, I felt the game benefited from the linear design.

Concerning the combat, it wasn?t until about half way through it finally clicked for me. I agree that it felt pretty tacked on, but once it clicked, I couldn?t believe I disliked it in the first place.

I?m a little shocked to see you felt that way about the story tbh. I would have thought that was the one thing, if nothing else, which would have intrigued people.

In terms of poor design, I feel the many ?go to point A to collect B then to Z and then back to A to collect C etc? could have seemed utterly tedious. However I was kinda used to this from Animal Crossing (heh) and found the whole experience rather relaxing and chilled (very much like unrooting weeds ). I would never only do the above command though, but would always do my own little things, so I wasn?t only running back and forth. But I agree it could seem a little cheap.

Your thoughts are appreciated Mr. I feel it is important that people can share their different in opinions without having to pull its others hair in doing so.

Edit. Mr Oly, good to see ya buddy. Its is a little bit daunting to think we may never know. I also agree having to collect money was a little "Grrr" but i find that there was only one time where i had to make extra effort to collect it. That was the $500 for the first of the three major street fights. After that, didn't find it a problem.

Hm... it would be nice to think that if the other game(s) never get a release, a script may just to conclude the story? heh. one can dream i suppose.

[pohleonguk]

Oh so you too have recently been playing Shenmue huh Ipicked uo Shenmue II with my Xbox after my friend kept telling me about it a very long time back. I thought I didnt have much to lose with a cheap second hand copy with the movie to fill me in on the way.

At first Shenmue looked massive, I got lost along the streets as I wondered my way around, even with maps they didnt make much sense to me. But once I found my feet I could be on my way. I really enjoyed Shenmue on the xbox and it hasnt let me down. I could see the detail in Shenmue even now it is still the best ive seen. I was under the illusion this would be another RPG id maybe couldnt be bothered to finish but it really isnt a RPG, not a typical one anyways, FREE as sega would call it.

After playing Shenmue IIx I couldnt get enuff and so I bought myself a dreamcast and played through Shenmue I. Much less of a challenge size wise but the fighting I notice is much more difficult.

Now im hooked on Shenmue and I cant wait for the third installment, if yu suzuki ever gets round to doing it I hope it will come within the next few years. If he does release another Shemue game it looks likly to finish as a trilogy although it was planned to be much longer?

Oh and Lan Di is not Xiuyings brother. You are along the right lines. If you have Shenmue II for xbox I suggest you perhaps read the comics that you can unlock, these will clear it up and you will notice they are not the same person, however he is in the chi you men. What intrests me is Shen huas powers as shown to us on our trip through guilin as well as in the project berkly demo for those who have seen it. Ive been reading into Shenmue too much huh? Another intresting thing you may notice is the scars these people share, if you manage to see ryo, lan di and xiuyings brother they have scars all on the left cheek? They are all linked with searching for revenge to their fathers deaths. What was cool was the theory ryos has a plaster over it showing he is undecided in the path he will take. Its pretty intresting the theorys.

Where did you manange to pick up Shenmue II for ?10 btw

[Adam Stone]

Ooooh? interesting. Some very nice points there Mr, thank you. I think I remember reading about those comics somewhere, how do you unlock them again? Something like taking photographs of certain people isn?t it? If that is so, I will probably slowly play through again as I would love to read them.

Yeh, ?10 is madness isn?t it. Also picked up MGS: Substance for the Xbox for ?15. In Bognor (around 6miles from where I live) there is a newly opened computer games store opened opposite GAME *shakes fist* This new place is surprisingly good. Unlike GAME (from my experiences ? no offence meant to anyone here who works there), the staff have an adequate understanding of the hobby and are very helpful.

[pohleonguk]

Yeh you have to take photos of people in the game. You can see who if you look through the photobook thingy. I think its about 8 or 10 people to take pictures of per comic. Gotta have a finger ready to snap and make sure you dont miss people before moving on to a new area etc. It makes the game last longer and also is kinda fun to snap photos. I think 4/5 comics. All help to explain ur understanding of the game, such as ryo on the boat ride and the little girl, gui zhang and joy relation, xiuyings brother, ren and wong etc. All very good and a MUST read for any Shenmue fan to get the most out of the story line. Best of luck unlocking them all happy snapping.

Anyways ?10 is a good price id gladly pick one up for that. I dont see anything great about GAME stores, there online website is not bad on prices and stuff though Still I would work at any games related shop hopefully I might strike lucky and find myself a pt job one day lol.

[Adam]

Hey Shenmue fans!

Adam, you should probably know but one of the comics which pohleonguk mentioned that takes place on the boat is actually a whole chapter from the series, so go back and take those pics! you don't need to start from scratch though, when you play through again any new snaps you take will be added to the ones you took in your last game(s)

About the games story, not everyone is going to think it's excellent. Every RPG plot gets rubbished at some stage, people need to loosen up and just try and enjoy the thing instead of looking for faults. When Ryo got on that roof and saw Lan Di on the helicopter, you'd have to be soul-less to not feel what Ryo is feeling, the game is flippin beautiful

*plug alert*

check out some of the FAQs I've written, especially the secrets faq there's quite a few things in the game most people wont discover first time through.

link

[Adam Stone]

Fantastic. Just looking at them now.

In that scene with Lan Di, you?re absolutely right. There was a real sense of anger and determination surging through Ryo?s veins, but amazingly through my own too. Imo that is a testament to the nature of the story, it completely pulled me in.

I?m definitely going to go back and take those pictures, but also use ur FQA and hunt out those secretes I think. How do i know when i have taken the right amount of pictures of certain people? By that i mean is there some sort of notice which says i have unlocked a comic, or do i need to find it in one of the menus? Thanks in advance

[JU!]

Ever since i saw a screen shot of Shenmue for Dreamcast i was hooked i owned Japanese Ltd vers one of the best games i've ever played. I don't think 2 is as good tho i'm at the bit where you have to fight the guy with the Afro n other two peeps in a Street fight but my X-Brick ain't with me.

I was quite annoyed i had to get yet more money after gettin 500 hong kong dollars only moments before. I can't wait to complete it but will have to wait til i get bck home The story is still brilliant n i was really hooked over X-mas thought i wud have completed it then but that was not so. I hope Yu Suzuki gets to finish this game off it wud be criminal for him not to.

[broomey]

i bought shenmue 2 second hand for the dreamcast spent ages playing through it and loving it

then got to the 4th disc just to find it wouldnt boot because some freak had made a massive scractch on the disc!!!!

so i never got to play the beautiful walking through the forest bits after you leave hong kong

[johnjwaters]

The barber shop..I thought my pad was broke

And the last disc....pretty woods what yes.

Still fantastic game

[Iori]

I must say - It's always nice to see some fully deserved recognition for these awesome games.

I understand it's not everyone's cup of tea, but IMO this was one of the most engrossing adventures I have played. I loved the way the Shenmue II expanded on teaching you new styles to link into your martial arts like Tai Chi... If this continued, you could have developed your own fighting style to play through the game. The setting was just superb too - father gets killed so son vows revenge on the killer, who happens to be an unstoppable kung fu master... Brilliant - like transferring a classic kung-fu flick to modern day....

It would be such a crime if Shenmue III never surfaced...

[df0notfound]

shenmue 1 wasnt too bad but by the time you got to the docks it had got VERY dull and boring. Basic formula for the game is:
find person
find someone else
walk aound aimlessly till you ask the right person for you to be allowed to leave
go to whoever they told you to, talk to them
maybe a QTE or a fight and on to finding the next person.

I started 2 right after completing 1 and I got bored when it got just after to the library clean bit the whole twatting about with martial arts people plot which I can't even remeber how that all started off its so boring I just don't give a **** aobut that and I think the plot should have stuck with the biker girl even though she was a big over acted cliche she was still more interesting than people going
OMG A THINK THERES A MARTIAL ARTS PERSON IN <insert place> GO TALK TO THEM
and all that boring crap ugh awful.

Shenmues main problem is it doesnt seem linear but really its as linear as it gets and thats why its just dull (mixed with the just plain boring plot and all the dull characters of the martial arts plot)

"It's always nice to see some fully deserved recognition for these awesome games. "
Jesus christ I don't know where you've been hiding but shenmue is always on the receiving end of way more recognition than it deserves, a week doesnt go by without shenmue getting praise on message boards

[Adam]

How do i know when i have taken the right amount of pictures of certain people? By that i mean is there some sort of notice which says i have unlocked a comic, or do i need to find it in one of the menus?

You have to look in the photo gallary before you load your game and you can see the faint images of people you must snap, most of the pictures are of key characters, or NPC's which are seen more often than others so there's a good chance of recognising them. Might be a time saver if you look up the Snapshot FAQ though.

oh be sure to check out Shenmue Dojo when your bored, there's some real cool **** on there like when they messed around with the discs and got Lan Di to sit on the back of Ryo's bike instead of Nozomi