Worth playing through at least once.
Now here we are in 2008. 6 years have passed and 9 since the original Shenmue. The story picks up right where i left off. I was very jumpy i was finally going to see what happened. The graphics were good for it's time but nothing revolutionary. I enjoyed the new ability to actually ask what to talk about instead of hearing the same generic ''i can't talk right now'' But still it could have used much more dialogue options to expand replay value. It still seems very generic except now people will lead you around the town.
The gameplay is completely in tact, It was disappointing they put no effort into expanding what they built, but what made it worse was no longer could you develop your fighting moves. It made it seem very generic and the slight rpg elements i enjoyed were now gone. It wasn't a gamebreaker but it certainly wasn't a charming aspect of the game. I enjoyed the mini-games in this one, they seemed better and there was a higher magnitude of choices. Unfortunately, as cliche as it is to attack the jobs in this game, they are as terrible as people say. They could have tried much harder, or at least given you several options.
The Story is very good. It ties up loose ends of shenmue 1 and is the main selling point here. You are rarely given a boring task other than a short time in the game where you must carry books. I really felt the anger ryo felt, and it gave him more human qualities. You really feel him growing through this tale where as in Shenmue 1 he was just your generic good guy. I also really love the ability to leave you wondering about things, yet not leaving you unaware of what is happening.
The scenery in this game like the first is amazing. Everywhere is vividly detailed. This game really inspired a deep interest in Kowloon walled city in me. There is also places to fight unlike in the first game where you would rarely encounter an actual fight outside of the main plot and it's a solid way of making money.
Overall, the game sells for 5 bucks or so. It's well worth buying if you see it. This game really has some solid replay value as well, interesting character development,a great setting, and it's very captivating. The only real downfall is it seems like they didn't try to improve it all at from Shenmue 1 and in several cases watered it down. And you'll find these interesting places with literally NOTHING to do inside it. This game like the first, easily had potential to be a 10/10 but it fell just short.