Shenmue II (Dreamcast, 2001)

I associate Shenmue II with nothing but good times. Despite the console having been given a death sentence in January 2001, by the winter I was still deeply in love with the Dreamcast. Its impending doom caused prices on games to be slashed across the the board – meaning a poor student like myself was swimming in cheapo games and accessories (£1.50 for pre-owned games, yes please!).

But the announcement that Shenmue II might not make it over from Japan hit me hard. Shenmue had opened my eyes on what a game could be and I wanted my Ryo to continue on his adventures. I breathed a sigh of relief when a PAL Dreamcast version was announced – though as with other late period titles I had to get it via mail-ordered.

What followed was a hazy two weeks in which I did little else but guide Ryo through the next chapters of his journey. With the console merrily whirring and buzzing its way through its hardest workout yet, I marvelled at the way they’d scaled up the game from a few streets to an entire city. This was something I simply hadn’t seen up to this point (Grand Theft Auto III had come out a few weeks prior, but I wouldn’t play it until Christmas).

Then there was the hazy and meditative night spent playing through Disc 4, a long walk through the Guilin forest making small-talk with Shenhua. The credits finally rolled at 4am, and I went for an early morning walk feeling extremely peaced out.

Now, almost twenty years later, Ryo is finally about to come out of that cave. I can’t wait for Shenmue III, so decided to catch up with his adventures via the recent PC port. They’ve both held up beautifully.

However, while my memories had jumbled the pair together, a replay makes them feel like very different games. For example, Shenmue is glacially paced and perversely domestic – while Shenmue II features an action sequence where you’re chased by a genderqueer chainsaw-wielding maniac.

But the main difference is that where Shenmue was narrow and deep, Shenmue II is wider and slightly shallower in terms of detail. It’s got it where it counts though, with the game rewarding players who wander off the critical path and poke around in the quieter corners of the world.

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On some level this shift feels like a concession to critics of the original who didn’t like the pacing. But, frankly, even as a fan of waiting at virtual bus stops in the rain, I appreciated being able to skip waiting times and have more exciting cinematic sequences.

I also like the variety of environments. Hong Kong is nicely bustling and detailed, and while it’s not huge there’s a great sense of place. I’m also a sucker for the Kowloon Walled City and, while I don’t think Shenmue II‘s depiction is particularly accurate, it’s still an interesting place to be.

The only things I didn’t like were the QTEs. Maybe something went wrong in the PC port but I don’t remember them being this strict in the Dreamcast original. I don’t see how you’re supposed to make sense of the more complicated multi-button ones the first time you see them, and repeating the same action sequence over and over is just boring. Making you go through a long sequence of them at the end of Disc 3 (and you have to replay a tough free battle if you fail) is just bad design.

But now it’s done and I can’t wait to see what Ryo Hazuki does next in Shenmue III. I’d given up hope that this sequel would happen, so stepping into those sneakers and pulling on that leather jacket is going to be one hell of a moment.

As an addendum, this playthrough also revealed to me that Ryo can make friends with a wisecracking talking duck and enter it into a surprisingly involved duck racing minigame. So that was fun.