Shenmue 2 Review

Itâs a common held belief around the TVG office that Shenmue was the prologue to an epic martial arts story. Whether you loved it or loathed it, the end feeling was slightly anticlimactic, and so we hoped that Shenmue 2 would offer us more of an insight into Ryoâs quest for revenge.



Shenmue divided gamers like no other game before it, there were those that were quite happy to sink into Ryoâs life and watch intently as every little detail appeared, quite happy just to wander around town, train intently every day and watch as relationships between different characters evolved. Whilst there were those who were put off by the games slow
tempo, itâs often linear approach and the tedious nature. However the truth is, Shenmue was more then just a videogame, a more cinematic experience then weâve ever experienced, and this I feel is what alienated and divided gamers across the world, I hate to say it but⦠âInteractive movieâ!!!



Well Iâm glad to say AM2 have addressed all of these issues, and without wanting to spoil anything there IS an epic unfolding.



Shenmue 2 kicks off right from where you left Ryo in his first adventure, for those who didnât play the first chapter there is a 10 minute digest movie on the fourth disc to bring you up to speed, suffice to say if you didnât play the first game this is essential. If youâve got a saved game from the first title, you can import this. Tip #1 - If youâve got money, do this, as funds get quite tight at times in Shenmue 2.

Certain improvements are immediately apparent, within wandering around for the first ten minutes youâll realise that the games tempo how definitely been increased over his somewhat slow paced last adventure. Youâll also notice that the game environment is absolutely huge, daunting even, when news came through that you could buy maps I was fairly bemused, let me just say these are essential if you want to have any clue as to where youâre going. AM2 claim that Ryoâs adventures in Hong Kong are ten times the size of that in Japan, I would have claimed bigger!



Even for the Shenmue fanboy that I am, one of the big complaints I leveled at the first game was the scripted nature of certain events, for a game that claims to have invented its own genre, at times it was anything but FREE. Failing QTEâs often resulted in you just re-doing them until you completed them, for me this distracted from what the game was all about, Shenmue at times felt like Groundhog Day! 



Whilst any game based so heavily on a story like this needs its linear moments and scripted nature, the truth is they do conflict with the overall nature of the game. In the sequel the approach feels a lot less scripted, some of the failed QTEâs will mean youâve just got to get to the result in a different way, and whilst important moments will result in you retrying if you fail, the general feel is that you are Ryo, make mistakes and youâll just have to find another solution. 



One of the biggest problems with the first title was some gamers didnât like waiting around for certain tasks to activate, youâre now given the opportunity to skip time. This is depicted in a very impressive style, as you see your shadow revolve around you and day turn to night in a few seconds.



From extended play on Shenmue 2 I also believe a lot of the finer points are beginning to emerge, I often felt that the combat system wasnât refined enough in the first title. However this seems to have changed for the sequel, if you want to be the true martial artist that you should be, youâre going to need to train every day. For some daft reason you can no longer train in the parks, and must find certain people to spar with. Youâll be rewarded by this dedication, as youâll learn and master new moves. As in the first game characters will teach you moves, youâre given the opportunity to accept this invitation or decline, I hope Ryoâs fighting style will develop over time and differentiate depending on your selections. 



As in the first title when youâre taught a new move, youâll be cunningly told how to perform it, i.e âplace all your weight in the hands and feet then step forwardâ, meaning press X+A then press forward. However dedication and hard training is required to truly master the move, whilst learning a new move with the Kung Fu master I was dismissed because I wasnât performing the move well enough, this resulted in a learnt move rather then a mastered move, so I had to go back to get more advice. 



Itâs a difficult thing to explain because it is so subtle, you really need to put in the time to appreciate it, perhaps Iâm being too elaborate and the system isnât as developed, however knowing that Yu Suzuki gave us the most intricate fighter around in the Virtua Fighter series I wouldnât be surprised.

Rather then just button bash during the Free Battle moments, with practise and hard training you can string moves together so beautifully that even Bruce Lee would be impressed. This seems to have been highlighted whilst in this mode, as pulling off good moves will activate all types of extremely impressive cinematic cuts; matrix style slowdowns, motion blurs, close up cut scenes.



One of the biggest problems leveled at the first title was when you had to work as a forklift driver, whether you liked it or not you were made to do this no matter what. Shenmue 2 takes more of a light approach; youâll need money more then ever - rooms donât come for free any more â“ however you can just get a part time job at several different locations. Because of this nature you often only work for a couple of in-game hours, giving you the opportunity to carry on with your quest, and you work when you want to work. Itâs quite scary when I found myself planning my next day, right Iâll work from 9-11 carrying crates, then Iâve got to go and find âso-and-soâ, then perhaps I could earn some more money playing pachinko!!!



As I said before and without wanting to spoil anything, there is an epic Martial Arts story emerging after playing Shenmue 2. Dialogue just takes a massive leap over the original, as you begin to learn the nature of a true martial artist. Iâm an extremely happy fanboy with the knowledge that the Shenmue series will continue, and hopefully develop in the ways Shenmue 2 hints at.

Conversations between Ryo and other characters have also been advanced beyond the rather dumb nature of the first title. Youâre now given the opportunity to select what youâd like to talk about, whether it be about jobs, directions, specific people, etc⦠People are also a lot more friendly then the rather blunt citizens of Japan, when asking for directions people will often take you there thanks to the nifty new follow manoeuvre, its just a shame theyâre all a little slow except for the kids, so Tip #2 - Ask kids for directions.



Visually Shenmue 2 is as spectacular as youâd expect, the same level of detail has been carried across just on a much larger scale. Slowdown does occur at times, and the people fading in/out is still there. But with the GameCube and Xbox release, itâs good to see that the Dreamcast can keep up with the current batch of games and most second-generation titles on the PS2.



The lavish presentation covers everything; I donât think that there is any other game that can touch Shenmue 2âs soundtrack. The Far East music perfectly catches the tone, whilst Yu Suzukiâs fondness for âbutt-rockâ guitar makes an appearance whenever Joy makes an appearance.