Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

Most people probabl don’t want to know anything about the game, which was the case for me before I played the game so I’ll refrain from any spoilers here. As soon as the cancellation of the American version was made official I ordered this baby, maybe I was jumping the gun a little instead of waiting for the UK version but I wanted to play it bad and I guess I wanted to test out my Japanese too; as it turns out, I had no problems getting through the game, and I’d say I understood a good 75% of it.

As some might know I’m one of the biggest Shenmue fans there is, so what of the sequel? It blows the original out of the water in every which way. The areas are huge, the plot is intriguing, and the music superb. It’s the closest you can get to adventuring in China without doing it yourself. Almost every criticism leveled at the first game has been addressed. The plot definitely moves at a faster pace, and important events and revelations come more often, unlike the first which was stilted towards the second half of the game. I would be the first to admit however, that game can drag on a bit at times still. QTEs and Free Battles are also placed more liberally throughout the game. Didn’t like waiting? When an event occurs and you have to wait for something, you have the option of skipping ahead until then. Free battles have also been sped up, execution and recovery times in free battle have been lessened and dodges are generally bigger. Which is good since you’ll go up against multiple opponents many times as well as some kick ass VF inspired one on one matches. For those who complained about the controls, you can now switch the functions of the digital and analog sticks. No crappy English voices either.

I’m pretty amazed myself at how Dreamcast can handle such huge environments at one time, though it’s clear what it’s being pushed to its limits. The Xbox version should be nothing less than nirvana for the eyes. And what a soundtrack. Continuing in the tradition of classical Chinese music, you’ll hear old tunes as well as ones that were on the first soundtrack and many more.

If you couldn’t tell already, I love this game. In fact, for me it transcends a simple video game. It’s proof that better technology can make for better games. When was the last time a game brought you nearly to tears by its beauty, or made you dream about it every night you played it? I’m not ashamed to admit Shenmue II did these things for me. It’s also cemented for me the fact that Dreamcast is my favorite system ever. At this point I’m still deciding about getting the European version, since there’s no way I’m not getting the Xbox one. My reasons for not getting it at this point would obviously be forking over another $65 and so the Xbox version is fresher for me. Too bad Shenmue 3 is probably another two years away….

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

Speaking of soundtracks... I loved the Shenmue 1 soundtrack, went out and bought it when I was back in Singapore last year. Hopefully I can pick up the soundtrack for S2 this time round...


<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.feixaq.com/vf4></A>

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

I'm gonna be a bitch n scream " I PAID 40 BUCKS AT HMV FOR THE SOUNDTRACK N IT GOT STOLEN BY A STUDENT WHO SAID " U got lend it to me meh...I dun remember leh" ...FUCKER"

FUCKER FUCKER FUCKER!~

<font color=red>~~~ ' IRC
I Repeat Classes!/versus/images/icons/mad.gif~~~'

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

I can send you the MP3s if you want...


<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.feixaq.com/vf4></A>

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

Yes please/versus/images/icons/smile.gif

-Chanchai

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

AFAIK there hasn't been a Shenmue II soundtrack released. Next time I have relatives coming from Taiwan I'll have them check though.

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

Looking forward to a Shenmue 2 soundtrack, but I'm really hoping to get a VF4 soundtrack whenever that comes out.

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

I also really liked S2. While I wasn't crazy about working, I liked everything else.

S2 seems much more involved with the whole martial arts aspect, and there are WAY more VF tie-ins. For example, at one point, Ryo will learn a VF character's famous move. wait... I'm posting. DOH!

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

Warning slight spoilers ahead....

Work? What's that? Heh I only really worked at the beginning, at the dock lifting boxes of course and a bit at the otoshi dama places. By the time I had to actually earn enough money for certain events I ended up going to the dice game and betting the max amounts (and resetting if I lost). I also loved all the martial arts talk, although I definitely missed out on a lot of it being in Japanese and all. My favorite line from the old guy Tai Chi master in the South Carmain district: "What style do your practice." Ryo: "Jujitsu." Old guy after Ryo leaves: "Jujitsu...what's that..."

I think I actually liked disc 4 the best, very relaxing. And Kou Shuei is hot.

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

you like kou shuei? I kind of enjoyed Joy "that woman.... whhhooaaa!!!!!" and I like the girl at the boxes work in Kowloon with the black hair and tribal tattoos. To be honest, I found disc 4 kind of slow, but maybe it's 'cause I couldn't understand a lot of it. "there are bears and wolves in this area?". Did understand about where the name of the game comes from, though.

Yeah, I also did the gamble for $100 with 50/50 odds, reset if you loose.

Did you get every Waza scroll? I missed about half of them!

"Otoshi Dama desu... Otoshi Dama, do desu ka?" Did you play with the guy who looks like GW Bush?

Spotlite

 

Re: Shenmue II thoughts (no spoilers)

More spoilers below...read at your own risk.

There is no discounting the hotness of Joy of course...in the end I think I'd choose Shuei...that blue dress...and she gets bonus points for being a martial arts master. I didn't see the other chick you mentioned though. I didn't see GWB either, I think the only place I worked at the otoshi dama was on the street between the pier and Wanchai area.

I didn't get all the waza scrolls either, I think I ended up with maybe 5 or 6 only. I also read that some of the bottom ones are actually the ones from Shenmue 1. There's also a side quest involving Fanmei's birthday which I read about at GameFaqs that I missed, and something about a duck race.

Actually maybe that's not true about disc 4, I think most people would agree the end of disc 3 is the best (what I'd give to know what Lan Di was thinking), it was just nice to relax and take in the music and scenery in disc 4. I think I got the gist of most everything though. There was also some funny stuff there. Like when Shenhua asks Ryo what kind of animals live in Japan, choices were tanuki, neko, something else, and gokiburi (cockroach). Ryo: "My house is kind of old so there's cockroaches there...." And when she asks him about siblings, choices are "Fuku-san" and "none", I just thought that was kinda funny. I chose Fuku-san. And just to have Ryo talk about Tom, Gui Zhang, Nozomi, and Goro was kinda cool. I didn't entirely get the ending but it seemed pretty abrupt and intentionally mysterious to me.