In a media quickly becoming a form of art, Shenmue II rises from the fray a masterpeice.
Simply put, Shenmue is the Lawrence Of Arabia of video games. The great epic that takes an industry seen as just that, an industry, and transforms it into a new form of storytelling before your eyes. Also, like Lawrence Of Arabia, not many young people in America today have seen it. Fortunately it has been added to the growing list of XBox 360 backwards-compatable games, and can still be found in most stores for around ten bucks. You have your chance to see it. By all means, see it.
It's hard to dive into what Shenmue is without first covering its background. Shenmue was the first non-arcade game to be produced by Yu Suzuki and AM2. You know Suzuki's games if you stood in an arcade in the mid-90's and watched as two polygonal characters used kung-fu on eachother. Virtua Fighter is Suzuki's most prominent arcade title, and with that in mind you can expect Shenmue II to be a Virtua Fighter RPG. It almost was (notice main character Ryo looks like a teenage Akira?), but became much more. Now Shenmue II can best be described as a three-dimensional-freeroam-fighting-slash-puzzle-game along with some other words I can't fit.
The premise of the story seems simple at first. You take the role of Ryo Hazuki, a young Jujitsu student out to avenge the death of his father on the legendary Chinese mafioso known as Lan Di. Before he can confront Lan Di, he must first meet up with his father's former contacts in China to uncover the mystery of his petty inheritance, the Pheonix Mirror. What this branches off to goes far deeper than revenge. Instead, the story takes a deep journey into martial arts. Not only will you learn how to attack with styles from Jeet Kune Do to Tai Chi (yeah, you can kill a man with Tai Chi) but you'll learn what they mean! The game guides to to learning the secrets behind noble martial artists, and most of all teaches you that it is an art. Shenmue's depiction of kung-fu is so romantic it could encourage you to reconsider settling for a yellow-belt when you were nine.
Among many original steps taken, Shenmue is the first game to simulate culture shock. The game draws you deep into the culture of China, both contemporary and mythologically. The urban areas all have a fantastically gritty look from roof to dirt. Walking around the slums of Hong Kong, passing desperate gamblers, crowded workhouses, and people doing whatever they can to make a living, you really get a feel for the desperation of those who lived in British-controlled Hong Kong in the 80's. The setting even draws you into a state of uneasiness as you wander through the broken-down ghosts of former towers in Kowloon. But right on the flip side, Shenmue II proudly displays the vibrant beauty of rural China when you finally leave the slums and venture through spiraling mountains and exotic forests. An outdated graphics engine doesn't at all hinder the sights, the developers have crafted the images so well that some sights will amaze you even in the post-GoW world. It will blow your mind to realize this is all a direct Dreamcast port, one that was originally slated for the Sega Saturn!
While on the subject of graphics, yes, they are ugly at first glance. There's no bump-mapping, parrallaxing, hi-res textures, or HDR lighting. What you will find instead is a different kind of graphic quality. The world of Shenmue II is arguably more detailed then any other game in existence! Every sight you see is unique. You will not walk into a shop and find it's a repeated cell of the shop you entered in the other town. Instead, you will find a fully furnished building right down to the price tags on the tea sets. What's truly amazing is that nearly every building in the game that you see, you can enter. The interior cells have had an enormous amount of heart put into them and you may never have a reason to walk into the rooms (in fact, only about %60 of what's in Shenmue II is necessary to further your goal in any way). In addition, this game never repeats character models! Every person you meet looks unique, and their designs are very inspired. Although they vary in quality (some will have blocks for hands) they're appearance matches their lifestyle and surroundings perfectly. Not only that, but the screen is almost always full of them as they go about their daily lives. Shenmue II has a marvelous AI system that manages each citizen's daily routines that is sure to throw surprises. People shop, gamble, dine, work, and wander through the bustling Hong Kong streets. The few times you think the game is recycling a character model, you realize it's actually just the same guy on a different part of his daily routine. This even applies to major game characters, so you may find yourself running into a friend on their way to work or at the arcade.
But what truly makes Shenmue shine is its gameplay, which covers all fronts of RPG, fighting and puzzle. Most of the game is spent free-roaming the city, speaking to anyone you wish and asking them for information on locations or people. The mystery-solving aspect of this game can be either ridiculously simple or excrutiatingly difficult depending on when you decide to take your final guess on where to go, but you won't get stuck as long as you can always ask for more clues. As the game plays out, you quickly encounter QTE moments. QTE tests your reflexes and tasks you with pressing a button that shows up onscreen within the allotted time, which is normally a second and a half. This makes for some excellent cinematic kung-fu fights, but interestingly you'll find QTE implemented in most of the gameplay that doesn't involve free-roaming. This tremendously helps the tension of the game, especially when Ryo must cross a plank over a destroyed building and it's up to you to keep him from falling to an untimely end. Beyond QTE, the rest of the combat action takes place in fighting. This is the best and rarest part of the gameplay, as the combat system is taken right out of Virtua Fighter, only you'll often find yourself going against five or more opponents at a time. Your combat moves look amazing, especially grab moves, as while you're holding an opponent you can kick at enemies to your sides or throw the poor thug at his friends. It's truly a fun system that only has flaw in its rarity.
With time wrapping up, I will have to admit that Shenmue II isn't the perfect video game. You can go hours without seeing any action, meaning it's not for everyone. This game is a dream come true for fans of games that deliver immersion, but others may wish they could fast-forward to the kung-fu fights (which isn't possible.) Also, the voice acting is well below standard even for this game's time. Perhaps the reason for this is because there is so much freakin' voice acting in the game. Every single character you interact with talks, and that's within the thousands range. Still, they could have tightened up the VA for the main characters. You'll hardly hear much interest out of Ryo, and why can't Joy stop yelling???
But problems aside, Shenmue II is more next-gen than any games currently in developement. Even Oblivion couldn't touch the scope of this game's rich setting and exciting combat. If Shenmue II is forgotten for the next-generation, don't expect to see video games become respected for quite some time.