Give us Shenmue 3, please, we beg you!
As with most of my reviews, I will not go into much detail about the game because you can read that in other reviews, I will just add what I think should be added:
I rated Shenmue 1 a 9.5 and Shenmue 2 a 9.0
What I loved about Shenmue 1 was the fact that it was a very slow paced game, it was just like in real life, you had to search things behind in drawers, closets, behind pictures, you had to wait whole days for someone, etc.
A lot of people didn't like that aspect of the game, but I loved it, I felt it made the game much more rewarding.
Why did I mention all this? because in Shenmue 2 you will never have to wait a whole day for something to happen, if someone tells you to come tommorow you will get an option to fast forward, and when you need to search for some object it feels like you're in "search mode", it's hard to describe that feeling, it's as if the developers said "alright, in this phase of the game make the player search something for 10 minutes and then go back to the game".
Or when you're looking for some place, remember in Shenmue 1, how you asked like 50 people where warehouse number 8 is? in Shenmue 2, to avoid frustration, a lot of people on the street will offer to take you to your destination, and then Ryo will follow them without you having to do anything, I liked that because it puts you in first person view and you can look around the city, I actually felt like a tourist, but I also disliked it because it made the game easier.
So these were my problems with Shenmue 2, they aren't really problems if you think about it, they just changed aspects of the game that some people didn't like in Shenmue 1.
Overall Shenmue 2 is one of the most epic games I've ever played, just when you think the game is over you're taken to a new, completely different place, and just when you think that the game has to end here, you're taken to another completely new place.
The attention to details is beyond anything I've ever seen in a video game, every area has a different "vibe", a genuine feeling.
If you have an American Dreamcast and you're looking for a way to play this game then don't buy it, but know that it's possible :)