Shenmue II

"After Playing This Game, the Original Seems Like Child's Play..."

As with all of my reviews, this begins with a little story. It was November 27th 2007, and I'm waiting around downtown Toronto to go to my annual physical at my doctor's office. Directly across the street, was a video game shop named, "Gamerama." After going in, and waiting for over 20 minutes for one of the two clerks to help me (after helping another customer, he went on to, "re-boxing," X-Box games, while the other couldn't help me because he was, "on lunch."), I notice that there are a few copies of Shenmue in the display case, one of them was the ever-so-difficult to find gem, Shenmue II: PAL, the only version to be (partially) in English. Then came the best part, when I asked how much it would be. "25 dollars," was the reply. While I stayed cool on the outside, a part of me was jumping for joy like a little kid on the inside. I payed for the game, was treated even more rudely when I asked for a bag, and left the store. 5 Months later, I finally purchased a legal boot-disc, and the magic began. A game like this comes around only once every generation, as this is undoubtedly one of the top three video games ever made. Ryo and Shen-Hua have captured the essence of what a true character should be, Guilin, Kowloon, and Hong Kong capture the essence of how real settings should be, and the story is nothing but golden. As always though, game play is to start.

Game play: 10/10

Shenmue II plays virtually exactly the same as its predecessor, with a few added features. The game is still as interactive as the first, though there are less instances where you will have to zero in on desks, or symbols. There is now a new mode of QTE, known as, "Command QTE," where you must press a combination of buttons together, right on the d-pad and A for example, and it is a great new-ish addition to an already perfect game. The other two modes, the exploration mode and the free battle mode, are ever present of course, and they have been improved for the second installment of the series. The free battles are more frequent, and that adds a lot more color to the game, as you face off against many different types of people (from Mongolians, to other Japanese people, to masters of certain martial arts). The QTEs are also more frequent , and they too add more color to the game. You get a sense of excitement when you are running after an enemy in a QTE sequence, and then after 15 or so different buttons pressed, a command QTE pops up, and then the sequence ends. Its a great adrenaline rush that shows that Shenmue II is not just an all-out exploration game. When Ryo travels to Kowloon, and then Guilin, the game speeds up a lot quicker, and then subsequently dies down a lot quicker too (as Guilin consists of solely you talking with Shen-Hua), but it suits the game perfectly. The arcade and mini-games are back in this installment, and there are a few new additions, including arm wrestling, the ever popular, "Lucky Hit," and Afterburner 2! The story of Shenmue II, also is nothing short of perfect.

Story: 10/10

Ryo has travelled on a ship from Yokosuka to Hong Kong, and he arrives in the small seaside port known as Aberdeen. Here, the fantastic, epic story from the first game, continues on, and gets even better. Ryo searches for the man named Yuanda Zhu, and after a long search in Hong Kong, he discovers that he must then move on to the City known as Kowloon, where the citizens live in buildings that are expanded up, and up, instead of houses or apartments that are expanded out, and out. After some run-ins in Kowloon, Ryo then travels to the picturesque Guilin, where he meets up with Shen-Hua, and it is here where the background story of the Shenmue world really is developed. To put it simply, just like the game itself, Shenmue II's story is one of the best stories, if not the best story in Video Game history. The graphics will keep the score perfect.

Graphics: 10/10

Shenmue II on VGA is one of the best looking games of the last Video Game generation, and it rivals some games this generation; they are simply stunning. The characters, whether important to the story or not, all look different, and highly realistic. The environments are just jaw dropping. When I saw the small intro into the 4th chapter of the series (when you first enter Kowloon), I was seriously enamored and sucked in. Some of the best visuals I had ever seen ever. The, "area," of Guilin is nothing but glorious forest and wilderness, it too will cause your jaw to drop at the amount of detail and work put into it. Keeping the perfect train rolling is the sound department.

Sounds: 10/10

Just like the first game, the sounds are more than perfect. The music in this game is even better than the first, with more classically inspired, native Japanese/Chinese music in comparison to the first game, however this music is golden; I even have some of the tracks on my ipod. The in-game sounds are also fantastic, with everything in-game having its own unique sounds. Just as the first game, the voice acting is simply spectacular, however since there was no localization to North America, there were no English voices for the characters. Instead, the Japanese voices were kept in the PAL version, however the subtitles were in English, thus allowing non-Japanese speaking people to play this game. Just as the first game, Shenmue II falls a bit short in the department of replay ability.

Replay ability: 8/10

Not as bad in this category as its predecessor, though still not perfect, Shenmue II lasts for a decently long time, albeit long enough. The time spent for this game will hover around 30 hours or so without a walk-through, and around half that time with a walk-through. There is a lot of trial and error with this game, and that causes a bit more time to add up. There are more mini and arcade games, and this well also help keep the longevity of the game, however, again, aside from beating the game, unless you want to do it again, there will not be much more to play through once the game is in fact, beaten.

Buy or rent?

Buy, buy, buy. This game cannot be rented, but it does not matter. This is a game you absolutely must have in your collection if you own a Dreamcast, and that is the 100% truth. Buy, buy, buy!!!

It is not hard to doubt the greatness of this game, as those who found even the first game a little dull (which it was not), found this game to be fantastic. AM2 and Yu Suzuki, as they did with other classics Virtua Fighter 2, Afterburner, and Space Harrier, got things right when they made this game, only they got things right, even more so this time around. Without a doubt, Shenmue II is one of the greatest Sega games ever made, nay, one of the best game ever made period. "He shall appear from a far Eastern land across the sea. A young man who has yet to know his potential. This potential is a power that can either destroy him, or realize his will. His courage shall determine his fate. The path he must traverse, fraught with adversity, I await whilst praying. For this destiny predetermined since ancient times... A pitch, black night unfolds with the morning star as its only light. And thus the saga, begins..."

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/03/08

Game Release: Shenmue II (EU, 11/23/01)