SHENMUE IN A WORLD OF ITS OWN PART 2 (Shenmue II (DC))

Member Name: mr_nice_man

Product:	Shenmue II (DC)
Date:	14/02/02 (195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fully interactive environment, great story, hours of play

Disadvantages: some slow down, japanese voices

Most hardcore DC fans own a copy of Shenmue and have completed it one or more times. At the end of Shenmue you are left with a cliff hanger where Ryo is forced to go to Hong Kong in order to continue his quest which is to get revenge on Lan Di, the man who killed his father

The game begins in Hong Kong and the first thing that you notice is that everything has kept the same to the original game (this is a good thing) One of the most noticeable changes is the landscape and scenery as this gets about as close as it gets in creating a virtual Hong Kong.

I couldn't wait to get into this game and I was very happy to see that all my items and money I had collected before hand had been kept in my collection. One of the biggest changes in the game which is a sad one is that the characters voices are in Japanese instead of English which they were in the original. Personally this does not bother me, but some will be disappointed.

Shenmue 2 keeps everything that the original had but improves it in everyway that you could imagine. The attention to the detail has been improved greatly and you are now more free to do what you like not what the computer wants you to do.

The story on Shenmue 2 is even more gripping than the original. You meet a complete range of new characters all which get involved with Ryo in order to aid his quest. The story is one that you can't help but love as Ryo always gets so close but never close enough

If you don't own the first Shenmue then not all hope is lost. You have the option to watch a small movie which tells you everything that happened in Shenmue, this is very informative so you wont miss out on anything but I still recommend that you go buy and complete the first one as its such a great game.

Another noticeable change in Shenmue 2 is the fighting system. This has been changed quite a bit but still retains the old Virtua Fighter style. A new style has been added to the QTE (quic
k timer events) basically instead of one button flashing up a series of buttons or directions flash up and you have to enter them correctly to continue.

The sound as usual is as good as it gets and fits the theme of the game perfectly. Many different themes and emotions are portrayed in this game and the music sets these up perfectly.

The game is based over 4 discs and to be honest it is the greatest game on the Dreamcast and once again Yu Sazuki has out outdone himself again and in most peoples opinion this is the greatest game ever made. It certainly fits into my top 10.

If you have the first one then this is a must buy and it is better than the first in every way. Even if you don?t own it buy it because the movie on the fourth disc tells you the story so you don't miss out on a thing.

This is the best Dreamcast game made, Buy It.

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