User Rating: 9.7 | Shenmue II (Limited Edition) DC
Nice improvements on the gameplay and graphics make Shenmue 2 even better than its predecessor. This is a game that confirms how Dreamcast was able to deliver excellent software. Shenmue has improved the first installment in almost every aspect, better graphics, changes in gameplay including QTE and a storyline that makes you play it non-stop for hours...of course you need to have some food and go to the bathroom. I dare to say that this is probably the best Dreamcast game along with Soul Calibur 2. In terms of graphics Shenmue 2 is for sure one of the best Dreamcast games and it is even better than the first one. All cut-scenes are presented in real time but now AM2 has used more poligons to enhance in game graphics. Once everything is more detailed such as NPCs, textures, environments, the frame reate may drop sometime especially when there is a lot of "things" to be processed, in other words, the larger number o people walking around compared to Shenmue is for sure one of the causes. Some effects such as light and the weather simulation have been improved providing a better feel of each area and time passing. The gameplay has changed in order to provide a better experience. The Shenmue 2 engine can minimize the impact of the crowd "removing" some NPCs from the screen in order to improve the performance, it also places back the character early removed if your actions in game require the system to draw it back (it´s a kind of fade in and fade out). It helps but doesn´t fix the FPS problem. The camera system has improved providing the player with easier views to control Ryo and also some nice perspectives during the game. The QTE have been polished and now you have longer and harder on screen commands which is also a lot more fun. The rest of the gameplay follows the steps of the previous version. The music has also changed and now it is even better, The sound effects follow the quality of the soundtrack and the voice acting as well. Once again some of the voice actings were translated direct from the japanese version sounding uncommon. Once again another great game from AM2. I had to buy it from Europe, it costed me 65 bucks and it is worth every dollar.
