Shenmue 2

Hopefully Shenmue 3 won't be that far behind 2


For hardcore gamers only; interactive novel; not that great   October 31, 2002
ERW (U.S.)
8 out of 23 found this review helpful

First of, yes, Yu Suzuki is a genius and I admire what he's attempted to do here. Very valiant effort on this series that may just be ahead of its time.

I just got this the other day and have been trying to MAKE myself play it. That should tell you something right there.
EGM and Gamespot's reviews of this game are dead-on: It definitely feels and looks like a DC port.
Read both of those reviews.

This almost can't even be called a game, and if you go into this thinking you have another Morrowind type game on your hands, than you will be very disappointed.
Morrowind blows this thing away for epic scope, freedom, and variety. It's false advertising if anyone tries to sell this to you under that pretense.

The game is mostly you talking people and getting from point to point. It's a detective novel that you kind of interact with, for all intents and purposes.
Yes, you can sight see, buy knick knacks, find the Sega arcade games, and other side jaunts, but GTA:VC and Morrowind both FAR AND AWAY have a much greater sense of freedom and variety of gameplay than this does. It's not fair to compare such different genres, but that's what some people have been doing, and I am setting the record straight.

I think this is a niche title that fans of the first game should chew up.
For people like me, who didn't play the first one, you might be asking yourself, "Yeah, so?"

I think that this game needed more time on the shelf.
MAKE it Xbox worthy on all levels. As it stands, it reeks of Dreamcast port all the way.
The controls leave something to be desired. They almost go down to Resident Evil level, which is disgraceful. The controls are tolerable, but that's about it.

The game does boast a nice music score, and the transition between the game modes is pretty seamless.

This is a very slow paced experience. VERY SLOW. I recommend that you proceed with caution; consider a rental first. I view this game as an interactive book.


shenmue 2 rocks   August 16, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

this game is awsome its even better than the first one its still have realastic graphics and xbox makes it look better...the game has so many things to do u just want to play it over and over again..i bought this game over seas and even though its in a diffrent language it still says words in english. This game (in my oppinion) can almost match with Halo. the only hard part is deffeating the boss at the end of the game even if u never had trouble with and other people u faught this guy is tuff.. all in all this game should be number 1!


Shenmue II is an instant CLASSIC..   April 19, 2005
Robert Evans (USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

One of the Greatest Dreamcast games ever made is finally making it's second appearance...ON THE MICROSOFT XBOX. Shenmue II not only out does the first one in every way but surprasses it even more, this game is unbelievable. It is handsdown, my favorite Xbox game ever...EVER. The story continues with Ryu Hazuki on the journey to find his fathers murderer and to meet a man who may know alot of things about his father then he'd imagine. Now the game takes place in Hong Kong, and Ryu is still on the hunt....get ready because not only are playing one of the best sequals to a game ever..but you'll be having one of the greatest video game experiences....ever..

Shenmues Graphics are just amazing, As you've already notice I'm not going to give it a negative on visuals since it's not fair because this is a DIRECT PORT from Dreamcast....Those idiots like IGN and gamemagazines should of known this is a direct port and that the visuals were going to be bumped up, hell it would take poor suzukie EVEN MORE YEARS to make the visuals amazing....but who cares cause this game is still AMAZING. The sound/music is just as beautiful as the original Shenmue, sometimes I'd just stand at one area and listen to the music..it's just so brilliant.. The level desighn for Hong Kong/Kowloo is just incredible, especially one the final chapter of the game, which I won't spoil. Something I like Shenmue II more then Shenmue I is that Shenmue II is just one of those flat out "Sequals that didn't fail one bit" as I can see alot of people love this game but are dissapointed compared to the original...I'm not one bit, Something that Shenmue I had that made me fall in love with the game was the FREE BATTLES and QTE'S....Theres even WAY MORE of those in Shenmue II, and they've never looked so good on the Xbox. Other then the sequal having more action then it's predecessor, something that I loved about Shenmue is that it got you all pumped up all the way to the grand finale...THIS DOESN'T FAIL AT ALL. Especially the Yellow Head Building part, which is by far one of the greatest moments in Video game history.. Everything about Shenmue II on Xbox is amazing....It's just so Brilliant!!!!!

Now for anyone who hated Shenmues Slow paced gameplay DO NOT GET THIS GAME, Shenmue II is just the same(but a lil better) as it's predecessor. It will take awhile to get to the action....More like when you're at the end of the first chapter which by the far longest in this game.. Did I mention this has a very good Length..If you skip all the sidequests and just beat the story for the first thenmue, it would take about maybe...10 to 14 hours...It took me about 13 hours and 45 minutes.. Shenmue II takes about 20 to 30 hours of just playing the story mode of it and skipping some side quests....It's just bigger, better and longer...

The Good
-Superb Visuals and got a bit bumped up on the Xbox
-longer then the original
-the voice acting got a tad bit better but not by much
-Theres more character development and we finally know what SHENMUE means!!
-An amazing scenarion that has to do with the Yellow Head Building and LAN DI!!
-More FREE BATTLES and QTE'S
-More clues to find and people to ask, for me it was fun
-The Music is beautiful
-IT'S Just better then the original...that's all I can say about that....

The Bad
-The controls are TERRIBLE, I had to adjust em' before playing the game
-It got a lot of bad review on lots of sites about it's visuals...they should have known it's a straight port from the Dreamcast
-Just like the Dreamcast...Poor Sales for Shenmue II means NO Shenmue III in the future
-Some like myself were left wanting more after Shenmue II's Ending...amazing though..

Shenmue II on the Xbox is one of the best games ever made, and one of the most overlooked xbox title ever..period.. Just like every other Sega Game on Xbox... Please if you liked the original you will LOVE Shenmue II, it's just better, longer, better looking, more action, MORE EVERYTHING!! Why the perfect score?..Because on like most of the idiots who gave it abad score cause of Visuals, I'm being mature about it, so what if it's a direct port from DC, The visuals are still amazing even if it's no Doom 3 or Ninja Gaiden....Other then that, Shenmue II is just a beautiful game and that is why I give it a.......

5 out of 5 stars...

Brilliant game....


One of the reasons why I bought an XBOX!   November 1, 2002
AMM (New England, United States)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

I played the first Shenmue over 2 years ago on the now dead Sega Dreamcast. I am convinced that Shenmue was the ONLY reason to own a Dreamcast and I anxiously awaited Shenmue II. But then Sega announced it would discontinue the DC and that eventually even Shenmue II was cancelled for US release (though Europe and Japan did get it). Luckily for us, Microsoft kindly picked this title up for it's XBOX and gave us US gamers hope that the series would continue on!

It was a long wait, but finally the definitive version of Shenmue II has arrived! XBOX owners truly benefit and to reward us for our wait and loyalty, Microsoft included a full length DVD movie of the first Shenmue game (awesome!!) and they went back and improved the game by improving the textures, adding voice dubbing (I hate subtitles) featuring the same voice actor who did Ryo's voice in Shenmue 1, and added hard drive support, faster load times, a rock-solid frame rate, and so much more! And it's all on ONE DVD disc! No need to swap discs during play like we were used to on the Dreamcast versions (the DC version of Shenmue consisted of FOUR discs!). Needless to say, Microsoft and Sega did a fantastic job making this the definitive version for the true Shenmue fan! They could have done a quick and dirty port and just called it a game, but they wisely chose to improve it!

The game is great...a strangely addictive mixture of Virtua Fighter-style fighting, 3D exploration/detective work, and some QTE events. The world you interact with is a true living/breathing world complete with clock and common people who follow schedules and daily patterns! It's so much fun just to walk around interacting with everyone and seeing how people react. This is as close to a virtual world as you'll find! The fight scenes are great and there are also full versions of classic Sega games like Hang on/AfterburnerII/Space Harrier!!

Whether you're a true fan or just looking for a great adventure with plenty to do, buy Shenmue II today. You will not regret your purchase!