Differences between Shenmue 2 versions?

[Pavey]

DC and Xbox obviously. Is one better than the other, or both exactly the same?

Working out whether to sell my PAL DC one?

[paul]

I think the textures might have been improved on the Xbox version.
Also, I seem to recall that the slowdown and fade in / out of NPCs (apparent in the DC version) was removed.

Also, the Xbox version had the various camera filter effects not present in the DC version

The DC version allowed you to used your save from Shenmue 1 IIRC. Can't recall any other substantive differences though.

I'm keeping my version (even though I have the Xbox version) simply because I think its an important part of gaming histoire.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Dreamcast is Japanese voices with English subtitles, whereas I believe the X Box version has an American dub.

[Concept]

Yup, the DC version also features slightly higher quality music too due to the differences in the hardware I presume.

The Xbox version contains a snapshot camera mode (the icon is annoyingly present at all times) and a graphical filter effects option too (different colour schemes).

[Phar]

As already mentioned xbox version has better textures but in some places it's actually worse, theres a site here which points out a few differences http://park.fateback.com/differences.htm

[NekoFever]

- Xbox is one DVD whereas DC is four GD-ROMs.

- Probably the biggest difference is that the DC version is Japanese with English subtitles and the Xbox version is dubbed into English (badly).

- Xbox has improved graphics, especially with regard to slowdown (alas, not eliminated entirely).

- Xbox has the photo mode which is pointless but cool.

- Dreamcast one lets you bring across your Shenmue save (

->Open Spoiler<-

slightly pointless since you get robbed five minutes in

).

- Xbox version comes with Shenmue The Movie on DVD.

- There are also some weird graphical differences, many of which are documented here. No apparent reason for them, either.

Personally I prefer the DC one simply because of the voicework. The Xbox dub is terrible.

[Concept]

The English soundtrack has grown on me over the years (chiefly because of Ryo's campness), but yeah, I prefer the original Japanese voices simply because I was too impatient When Shenmue was first released to wait for a localised version. Getting lost in Dobuita for the first time really did make the game feel as though I was a virtual tourist.

[Swallow]

At Neko's spoilered part:

[H.I.]

If I ever visit Hong Kong, I'll expect everybody to speak perfect Japanese!

[MarioMark]

Dreamcast version is the proper version.

[Kotatsu Neko]

The Xbox version looked much cleaner, as it not only used mip mapping (which the DC was capable of, but turned off in Shenmue 2 to save RAM), but also 2x anti-aliasing. It also ran at a better frame rate, and had a few texture improvments (such as nicer water and a higher res jacket texture for Ryo). Finally, the Xbox version added some quite subtle stencil buffer shadow to the scenery.

That said, the Xbox version was stuck with one of the worst dubs in all of video gaming, rendering it physically painful on the ears.

[Dogg Thang]

I never played the XBox version but, man, the thought of missing out on those stencil buffer shadows makes me green with envy.

Be honest though, the bad dub, are you exaggerating? Was it any worse than the dub for Shenmue 1? Did I spell exaggerating correctly?

[Kotatsu Neko]

I'd say it was even worse than Shenmue 1, but the dub in SM1 was still terrible.

I remember AM2 were looking for Cantonese speakers in Japan during the making of SM2, as the plan was to have all the locals speaking Cantonese. (as they would obviously) This would make Ryo feel out of place and would really have to struggle to communicate. In the end they must have got cold feet and switched it all to Japanese. Shame, it could have been interesting.

[sj33]

I'd say there's no real reason to sell your DC one for the XBox one, as the minor improvements that others have noted aren't really that big a deal. The only difference I actually noticed while playing it was the fact that it slowed down a little less, and the draw-in distance for the characters was a bit further... but it did still slow down, and it did still have a pretty close draw-in for the characters.

I'm sure all the graphical improvements Kotatsu noted are true, but I still didn't really notice it, and I usually do notice such things.

[anephric]

For me, the slowdown in DC Shenmue 2 was almost-if-not game-breaking when you go to the Golden Shopping arcade, and in the Xbox port it's not.