Not quite as good as the original, but Shenmue II remains the second greatest video game ever made.
With shaking hands I unwrapped the present, knowing the familiar shape and feel of the box, but doubting – as doubters do – that my hopes could possibly be realised. For you see, my girlfriend had imported for me the sequel to the greatest game I'd ever played. I had waited two years for the game, and when at last I held it in my hands I wanted nothing more than to go home and play it. I barely paid my lady friend any attention the whole Christmas through, such was my anticipation. Thinking back, I'm surprised I didn't sleep with it next to me rather than her.
Playing the sequel to the greatest game ever made, I was not overly disappointed. The Dreamcast version contained only Japanese voices with subtitles, and I was disappointed at first not to hear the familiar sound of Ryo's American actor saying "I see" in reply to just about everything. But in actuality, I found the Japanese acting to be vastly superior, so if you own a Dreamcast, get Shenmue 2 on that rather than on the Xbox, which only has US audio.
I did, though, find myself slightly disappointed with a few of the changes. But I wont talk about those yet, as if you never played Shenmue 1, you'll want to know what Shenmue as a series plays like. In two words: a dream.
Sure, if you're nothing but an action freak, or you can't get past first person shooters long enough to fit your brain into any other gaming experience, you wont like it. You also wont like it if you're expecting the run-of-the-mill Final Fantasy RPG experience, because Shenmue just aint that. There's no aliens in Shenmue, no elves, no guns, no hacking people's heads off, no levels …
… yes, I'll give you a few moments to wrap your head around that foreign concept if you can …
… no missions, and only the faintest hint of magic. So if that all doesn't sound like your 'bag', then back away right now.
But, if you like compelling, engrossing story-driven worlds, realistic characters, massive free-roaming environments, puzzles, conversation, and action only where action is really needed, then Shenmue is surely for you.
Much like its predecessor, Shenmue 2's charm is in its ability to captivate you using music, emotion, likeable characters, and a sort of serene, patient passing of time and events. I believe one scene in Shenmue 2 sort of sums the game up: you are given the task of tending to a temple library for a certain number of days before the master agrees to teach you anything alluding to the whereabouts of your Father's killer. She refuses to tell you anything until you have learned patience. And thus, the seemingly menial task of "airing out the books" begins each morning, which at first seems pointless and boring. But somehow it begins to captivate you. The music, the scenery, the Zen of the whole situation just makes you feel quite calm until you escape the monotony of your own life and begin to put yourself in the protagonist's shoes. Eventually, you – the gamer who might have previously yearned only to kick some more bum – learns patience, just as the character you are controlling begins to learn patience. Then and only then are you given some new special moves and the chance to once more angrily kick people on the floor and shout "tell me!" at them repeatedly.
You see, Shenmue rewards your patience and your thinking ability with progressively more intense action sequences throughout. In doing so it does the total reverse to most action games that devalue intensity and bloodshed by their frequency. Shenmue makes you want to fight even more, because it is comparatively rare that you get to do so.
Alas though, the fighting is not as good in Shenmue 2 as it was in Shenmue 1. In their effort perhaps to please critics who may have considered the excellent tactical fighting of the first chapter to be wooden and slow, Sega have made the karate in Shenmue 2 much more fluid, quick, and thus they have stripped some of the art from it. Before, the combat was exciting because you couldn't mash combos together and take out your surrounding quarry. Now, although the combat remains Shenmue-like, it is easier to do and thus it is less fun or realistic.
Another change for the worse was the expansion of the playable area. While this might seem like a change for the better, in doing so Shenmue seems to have lost some of its personality. Whereas in the original, the huge cast of characters often had their own unique things to say, advice to give to Ryo, or something to comment on in regards to their personal life. Now though, the characters say far more generic things, such as giving directions or trying to sell you things. In addition, Shenmue 2 offers huge skyscrapers with virtually every apartment being open to intrusion. Realism aside, it's not as fun as it sounds. Shenmue 1 offered the chance to examine draws, cupboards, to pick up objects and look for clues. Most rooms in Shenmue 2, however, are empty, or they don't allow you to interact with the props at all.
But Shenmue 2 got a few things right. The dialogue seems better translated, and at times you feel yourself getting into the banter between the main character and Ren - a gang leader who ends up being handcuffed to Ryo while escaping the Chinese Mafia. The inclusion of gambling and street fights is a welcome one, which adds a certain level of realism to the game and is a welcome digression from the core plot. There's even a duck racing game, and opponents to face in the old darts mini-game, as well as a return of our favourite Sega arcade games.
The crowning glory of Shenmue 2, however, comes in the final disk and a half of gameplay (for Dreamcast users). First, you're in for the fight of your life. Punch, kick, dodge, sneak, sprint and balance your way up a decaying 40 story skyscraper as you race to rescue your friend, fending off more enemies than ever with some amazing battles and awe-inspiring quick-time events. Then, atop the roof, you face off against the toughest opponent in the 2 games, culminating in a heart-stopping, sweaty-palmed final quick-time sequence that you'll probably muscle through on sheer adrenaline alone.
But when you think the game is over, you're in for a treat unlike anything you've ever played: three hours worth of walking and talking. No, I'm quite serious. Therein lays the beauty and magnificence of Shenmue. One moment you're bringing the smack down to a group of evil henchmen, the next you're walking through the picturesque mountains of China with a new companion, discussing your completely different upbringings. As you travel through the mountains, you'll gather firewood, search your way through forests, and hop across slippery streams. It's a hiking simulation, with the loving inclusion of a cute girl! But by the end of the three hours, you feel as though you've actually formed a friendship with the woman. You see the protagonist grow as a result of discovering this alternative way of life, understanding what it means to life amongst nature, so deep in the wild. The music throughout is a moving experience, coupled with some of the best video game dialogue I've ever seen imported from Japan. There's even a few moments that get you thinking about the morality of the mission, or about those you left behind, even questioning the laws of nature as you're introduced to the possibility of something beyond the realms of science (the first hint in the two games that there might be something fantastical and perhaps magical included in the forthcoming final chapter, perhaps based on Chinese mythology and the premise of chi).
In conclusion, Shenmue 2 – though slightly different to Shenmue 1 – might tickle your fancy in just the right spot for you personally. Were I judging the final quarter of the game, I might have given it equal marks to Shenmue 1. As a whole, however, Shenmue 2 is only able to earn itself the title as the second best game ever created, at least in my eyes.
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Score Breakdown
Based on the the Mooncalf Reviews scoring system as shown on this blog post:
http://uk.gamespot.com/users/MooncalfReviews/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25395842
> > Story: 3
(Unoriginal basic storyline, but dig deeper and you'll find much more than initially meets the eye)
> > Hook: 3
(Not quite as compelling as the first game, but still okay.)
> > Characters: 5
(Unique, likable characters, who you actually end up caring for. With the inclusion of Ren and Shen Hua, the characters in this game are at least as interesting as the ones in the previous game.)
> > Originality: 5
(No other game like it came before the original, and none have come after the sequel, perhaps none ever will)
> > Art: 5
(Not as cutting edge as the first game, by the standards of the year in which it was made. But if we're talking art, then Shenmue 2 has a lot of fresh concepts and well designed costumes and scenes to make it stand out)
> > Voice Acting and Script: 3 (/5, depending on platform)
(Better dialogue than in the original game, but still poorly done voice acting for the most part. However, get the Japanese version with English subtitles (DC only), and this score goes up to 5.)
> > Music Score: 5
(Some of the best music ever composed for a game. A match for most movies.)
> > Fun: 5
(Although the action-freak might consider Shenmue to be boring, its sporadically placed action only serves to make such areas of the game twice as fun. Simply exploring the game and talking to people can also be very fun, if you aren't of the aforementioned action-freak variety of people)
> > Freedom: 4
(Perhaps the game has more freedom than Shenmue 1, but it the charm, so aimlessly walking around isn't quite as free as it once was. Still, plenty of mini-games, street fights and gambling make up for that)
> > Lifespan: 5
(A long game, made twice as long if you enjoy exploring and talking to random NPCs, and made thrice as long by replay-ability factor)
> > Multiplayer: 0
(No multiplayer support)
Total Points: 43
Gamespot converted rating: 9