Shenmue II

"Harder, better, faster, stronger"

And thus, the Saga begins… (better late than never)

Shenmue II is refreshing.

Yes. It is. Really.

I know this isn’t the first time you’re hearing that, but it’s true. With this opus, it seems legendary figure Yu Suzuki finally managed to fulfill his craziest wish: creating a game that’s not just fun, but also an experience as close to virtual reality as possible. You don't just play Shenmue 2: you live it.

Shenmue II may very well be one of the best games Sega has ever done. Yes indeed, it’s simply beautiful, in a way that few others can pretend to match: Ico, Castlevania SOTN, Legend of Zelda, and so forth… It’s not just the quality of the visuals, or even the overwhelming freedom granted to the player, but the overall ambience emitted by the entire game.

There’s no doubt that Shenmue II outclasses its older brother on all accounts. Although it doesn’t benefit from the same novelty appeal, it feels a lot more complete: whereas the first game looked great, and was –sometimes- nothing short of fantastic, the second one looks awesome, and is –most of the time- simply breathtaking.

This much-anticipated sequel opens with Ryo’s arrival to Hong-Kong, a city he isn’t familiar with at all. In spite of the great number of distractions he’ll have to face, he’s decided to finish his quest and avenge his late father by killing the dreadful Lan-Di. On the way, he'll take several petty jobs, develop his fighting skills under the advice of many masters, and make as many friends as enemies. The story, being twice as good as in the original (which, I admit, isn’t saying much), provides numerous memorable moments and is somewhat clichéd, but always epic.

The second half of the game turns out to be much darker (therefore, more interesting) and sees Ryo team up with a charismatic thief, before visiting a remote Chinese village to find out the origins of the Phoenix mirror he inherited from his pater. By far, Shenmue 2 is at its best on disk 3, when the game eventually reaches an optimal balance between action and plot development. Disk 4, although heavily story-driven, is characterized by such beauty -both aesthetic and metaphysical, as the protagonist finally finds out the purpose of his journey- that it leaves a titanic impression on the player. This game is placed under the sign of fate, and Ryo Hazuki's fate is symbolized by a mind-blowing voyage that leads him to a frustrating yet undeniably exciting ending.

Shenmue II finds its inspiration in a mix of popular and refined culture that works unbelievably well: mysterious Chinese legends, references to blockbuster The Matrix and designs reminiscent of renowned mangas Akira and Hokuto No Ken ultimately generate a strange and fantastic appeal for the player.

Furthermore, the pace of the said story has clearly been enhanced, as a meaningful cut-scene will usually give you a break from your exhausting detective work every twenty minutes. This simple process succeeds in keeping the player excited and interested in a plot that seems to take off eventually. Make no mistake: this is the real beginning of the saga. The characters are all interesting and enjoyable, while the two charming females at the center of the story will make any trace of Nozomi’s annoying whining disappear from your memory. Overall, Shenmue II feels more mature and less mainstream than the first episode, which is an undeniable asset.

Obviously, the settings greatly contribute to the peculiar personality of the game, adding a delightful oriental touch to the exploration, reflected by the insane amount of detail and the excellent quality of the textures. The visuals even seem too good for the Dreamcast’s own good, since an important case of slowdown is to be found on the screen at times. But this bears no incidence on the gameplay, and the graphics themselves are definitely the best this system can produce. To be honest, Shenmue’s singular village instantly pales in comparison to what the sequel has to offer: the environments are five times larger and more varied (the different quarters of the city were apparently truthfully reproduced), while the action is as enthralling a first-rate kung-fu flick.

It’s also worth noticing that Ryo’s communication skills have been widely improved by developer AM2: he can now occasionally choose a topic when asking information to the passers-by. What this means is that you’ll no longer pace up and down the narrow streets of the city saying exactly the same things to the same people. As one could imagine, the Hong Kong crowd is intimidating and it’s now actually possible to get lost and wander around with no other purpose than visiting the city. Then again, this is contrasted by the impressive desolation of Kowloon and the troubling nature of Guilin, the two other places Ryo will have to visit, which are surprisingly realistic but situated in the wrong places on the map. When Ryo meets Shenhua, a disarmingly charming country girl who's never left her village, it's the unprecedented union of two different, almost rival cultures. And even though Shenmue II perhaps suffers from a common flaw with the previous installment to some extent (a certain lack of things to do), you really feel like you’re in China when you’re playing it, and that’s surely what matters the most.

Still, the game keeps the basic elements that made the first game a relative success. The Quick Time Events, action scenes a la Dragon’s Lair during which you have to follow a fixed sequence of buttons in a particular order, haven’t fundamentally changed but can now appear at any moment (including during fights) and are now tougher than life. Moreover, the mini-games are omnipresent, including original versions of Sega classics Afterburner and Out Run. There are many ways to make money now, ranging from street fights to crate carrying and various more or less legal gambling occupations. On the other hand, the three-dimensional fighting part remains mainly unchanged and is still very fun, almost matching the intensity of a Virtua Fighter game with an array of complex moves and escape techniques: the new first-person view is particularly impressive, but some will probably regret the fact that the number of enemies is often relatively small.

Yet, these are only mere tokens of the evolution embodied by Shenmue II. You see, the first game was awfully boring at times, and AM2 tried to partly solve this problem by both creating a time-shift option available during key moments that gives the player the opportunity to lock and follow people willing to help him. This works really well and consequently mends the rhythm of the game, making Shenmue II a substantially better game than one could possible hope for.

The superb music is naturally reminiscent of Chinese tunes, but surprisingly enough doesn’t sound corny at all. It plays an important role here, finalizing the immersion of the player and blowing life into the game. Rarely in videogame history has a game offered such versatile music, as epic oriental themes are counterbalanced by catchy action tunes and emotional balades. In the end, it captures the essence of a country in an admirable way. Simply saying that it’s beautiful doesn’t do the soundtrack justice, and if it weren’t for this awful eighties rock that accompanies each of Joy’s apparitions, it’d be near spotless.

The voices haven’t been dubbed into English, but it’s unequivocally better that way. Ryo’s Japanese voice only takes a few minutes to get used to and the ambience of the game is definitely reinforced by these oriental accents. The subtitles are in English however, and the translation doesn’t suffer from any issue. Whether Sega did have the financial means to translate the game or not, it sounds grand just the way it is.

Alas, Shenmue II isn’t perfect.

Aside from the severe slowdown problem I mentioned, the game is daunting sometimes. Actually, Shenmue II itself is rather easy, and, contrary to the appearances, only slightly longer than the first (approximately thirty hours), but the thing is that once you stop playing, it’s particularly hard to go back and finish the game. For instance, despite the great number of ways to earn some -sometimes much needed- money, they all start becoming incredibly tedious after a few virtual days, which reveals itself to be very discouraging. Granted, the first game was significantly worse in this area, but it’s still worth mentioning that Shenmue II isn’t exactly a game for those with a short attention span.

Have you kept that inconvenient 80-block save religiously? If so, do yourself a favor and import the European version of Shenmue II. Not only you’ll be able to convert your file and continue the adventure with your moves scroll and items intact, but you’ll also discover a fantastic world without having to buy a X-Box.

Less intimate, more spectacular, this game is everything the first chapter should’ve been and succeeds in keeping the player hooked. Unless you’re the kind that gets irked by meaningless visual details, Shenmue II is definitely worth a try.

It’s a shame to see the Dreamcast fall while giving birth to such a wonderful title.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/28/01, Updated 02/02/03