Do you prefer Shenmue or Shenmue II?

[Nathanial Essex]

Sorry if this has been done before. I played through Shenmue for the first time in many years and though I enjoyed it, you can see how it has aged. I essentially rushed through it brought back some memories but that's it. I think I have only completed Shenmue II twice with the last time being on the original Xbox. I have since had it in my mind that it was my least favourite of the two as it was less immersive, less personal and the areas being more complicated to traverse. The latter is definitely true but I find myself addicted to the game playing through it now with the story and characters being a lot more interesting.

 

[spud1897]

It may have been done on the old forums but this is always a discussion that prompts some good memories.

For me Shenmue 2 is my favourite but only just. The pacing of the game felt better and I think the desire of wanting Ryo to explore Hong Kong (established in Shenmue 1) drove that forward. Shenmue 2 gave me a sense of unfamilairty which I really enjoyed, the way the story develops and the development of Ryo as a character. Also the introduction of Xuiing drew me in, the backstory of her and Ziming. That;s only touching the surface.

That being said I don't think I appreicated how good 1 was until I was a bit older & having seen new players play the game in the same way I did shows thayt subtly it drew me in but in a very different way.

 

[SledgeNE]

I prefer Shenmue 1 more. Because the characters and the environments looks more technically better and bigger in comparison of Shenmue II. Shenmue II have a better Story. But the main characters does looking more better than the side characters and the evironments looks smaller to me.

 

[Kodama]

While I have to admit that Shenmue 2 is the better game, with a more intriguing story, more solid characters, much better pacing, and overall more to do... I still love Shenmue 1 better and would prefer to play that any day. It's become so burned into my soul that I feel like I live there. The entire experience is just so much more intimate to me and it's become a part of me in a much bigger way than 2 is...

 

[DigitalDuck]

Easily the first game. While Shenmue II made advancements in gameplay, it lost a lot of what made Shenmue as unique as it is. The majority of stores no longer have opening/closing times, most NPCs are randomly spawned in rather than having their own daily routines, most rooms have no interactive objects at all, you can't call people for unique conversations, and you don't even get a cassette player. Most of this goes towards making Shenmue II feel less detailed than the first game, which is understandable given the increase in scope, but makes it less... Shenmue.

 

[orient]

While I played both upon release, the first game is where the core of my nostalgia lies. I was 13 years old and had received a Dreamcast for Christmas, and to be totally honest, I didn't love the console at first. I had a stack of five or so game and none of them were great. Dave Mirra BMX, Fur Fighters, ReVolt, Sonic Adventure, Quake 3...despite having some fun with them, I started to feel like I'd made a mistake with the DC. Then I saw Shenmue on TV and I couldn't believe how amazing it looked. The graphics were out of this world, and the setting grabbed me instantly. So I went to the shops with birthday money in hand...even the damn box looked amazing, with a dual case and cardboard sleeve. It must've been one of the first games I bought with my own money, at full price, instead of a cheap £10 game at a market.

For all those reasons and more, Shenmue will always be my favourite in the series.

 

[Sh3ppy]

Funnily enough I borrowed Shenmue II on DC before ever playing Shenmue. I had no idea what it was all about and being in the UK, I experienced it in Japanese with English subs. It wasn't long before the scope and immersion of the game had me thoroughly hooked. When I finished II, I went back and bought Shenmue immediately. Whilst I thought it was amazing, II was my introduction into it and it didn't quite have the scope I had experienced with II and the pacing was a bit slower. Don't get me wrong, I love Shenmue more than any other game ever, but II is really what got me into it in the first place so it has a special place in my heart. Having said that, they are both part of the same epic story, so II just edges it. I will say that I would have preferred to have had access to Shenmue in Japanese with Eng. subs on DC, but at least now I've had a chance to experience that with the PS4 release.

At the end of the day both are part of my favourite ever gaming experience.

Edit: Forgot to mention I find the refined combat engine much more enjoyable in II.

 

[Life_247]

I have always leaned towards Shenmue 2 - just the pacing and the actual playing of the game is much better than S1. Its not without its flaws (mostly some Janky camera stuff) but partly I feel its possibly because I played through Shenmue 1 so many times and took my time with each turn that I know it word for word. S2 is a longer more engrossing experience and there are still things in there that surprised me on the re-releases.

 

[BalHan]

If my arm was twisted I’d say I prefer Shenmue 2, and of the two versions of S2(DC and Xbox), I prefer the Xbox version.

However, both games are kind of like one big game, if you know what I mean. When I say ‘I love Shenmue’, I mean both games.

 

[darksniper]

My opinion has wavered back and forth on this for a while now because both games have had an amazing impact on me. 10 years ago I would have said Shenmue I for the fact that I knew I was playing something "next gen" for the first time and experiencing a breakthrough in technology. Shenmue I has a more nostalgic impact on me that's for sure.

However now I'd have to go with Shenmue II because of where I am in my life. I'm older now and having traveled the world a few times, I love that thirst for adventure and the feel of being in unfamiliar territory. When I went through my recent playthrough of II after about 10 years, I felt more connected to it's world and that innate survival instinct of being alone in a foreign country.

Although it was great to play Shenmue I again as well, I really have no interest in going back to Yokosuka until Ryo's quest has been completed. Shenmue II to me is the true beginning of the story.

 

[Kyo_JP]

Shenmue II is a better game from a game design perspective but Shenmue I feels like home to me. I don't remember who said ir but S1 is about feeling at home and S2 about being lost in uncharted territories. Maybe is the setting, or that Yokosuka NPCs are more detailed (both graphically and behaviour wise) or just the fact that S1 was the only one tried during the Dreamcast lifespan, but I am closer to S1. That said Disc 1 to 3 of S2 are masterpieces and I love to play it even more in the rerelease, but I don't like Disc 4, not even this last run. In my mind is like Am2 was working on it and someone yell 'Dreamcast is finished, wrap up the game'. Anyways, favourite saga ever.

 

[Araviel]

SII, by a tiny margin. Fifteen years ago SII was definitely the favorite, but being older and replaying SI shows a lot more appeal. Still have to grade SII that one point more because it holds some of my favorite areas and characters.

 

[Nathanial Essex]

Easily the first game. While Shenmue II made advancements in gameplay, it lost a lot of what made Shenmue as unique as it is. The majority of stores no longer have opening/closing times, most NPCs are randomly spawned in rather than having their own daily routines, most rooms have no interactive objects at all, you can't call people for unique conversations, and you don't even get a cassette player. Most of this goes towards making Shenmue II feel less detailed than the first game, which is understandable given the increase in scope, but makes it less... Shenmue.

I agree with this. Though I would say it is one of the reason why I loved both games overall. The second game I felt like I was far from home and genuinely in a foreign place. The fact that I could not speak to a familiar face or make a phone call just embedded that feeling for me. The life of the town not being that detailed only really stood out for me when you asked someone for directions and they just so happened to be passing that building despite walking in the opposite direction.

 

[Gavan]

I used to prefer Shenmue 2 but now I love them both equally. What I like about Shenmue 1 is the cosy small town atmosphere and the more detailed world and NPCs. Shenmue 2 feels more like an adventure, has a more interesting story, epic moments like the rooftop fight and cool locations (Kowloon is awesome).

 

[Peter]

I did love Shenmue but Shenmue 2 is just the absolute definition of my favourite type of game. It has the aspects I look for most in a game, which for me, causes it to surpass the original. Of course, these aspects will be the things people will think went wrong with Shenmue 2, but that's why the series has been so cool.

The biggest improvement for me was the entire colour pallette of the second game. It jumps out at you right from the very first scene. It's such a vibrant world that entices me to get off that boat and go exploring! The original colours of the first game, whilst necessary..... They were just grey! The gloomy winter sky, the roads, buildings, the warship, warehouses... It's a world of darkness. Even the sea is dark green! But when you arrive in Hong Kong, the force of all of those colours just hits you. The bright sandy browns, yellow sunshine, red exteriors, melting blue water, lush Forrest green in Guilin... I could go on and on. This is where I really got my first full on effect that Yu Suzuki wanted me to smell the colours coming out of Hong Kong. The corn from the street vendors, the sizzling meat of food stalls, the musky damp smell of the rundown buildings in Kowloon.
Then on top of the colour, we have the lighting accenting it. The Xbox bloom gets a bit of stick, but there were instances where it really was amazing. For example, at night, the warm glow coming off the old lamps in Shenhuas home. Or standing working the Lucky Hit stand at the top of the street, down from the Come Over Guest House. It all comes together to make you actually feel like you are in Hong Kong. That's an achievement in itself!

Next up, I hold my hands up and say I am a wafer thin gamer when it comes to my demands. I will take a story and narrative over character development. Huge set pieces over RPG style elements. Leave the training in Japan. Random hard to find phone calls with your friends? Forget about them. Whilst there is some development with the characters in Shenmue 2, Joy, Wong, Ren, Yuanda Zhu, Dou Niu, Yuan, and Xiuying call carry a huge impact with them as individuals, which gives me a more attached feeling that I ever had with Nozomi, Tom, Fuku-san, or even your so called best friends whom I can't even remember the names of!

The map design, compared to the first game is just on another planet. So many huge areas in Hong Kong alone trump the first game, but as we really begun to analyse, the sheer amount of interior places you can walk into make it a truly living, breathing Hong Kong. Ok, you could to into a lot of places in Dobuita, but there were also a lot of shutters, and whilst there were a lot of living quarters, no one was ever in! So knocking on doors gets pretty mundane. But with the addition of pawnshops, bars, shops, and even gambling areas, Hong Kong always offers you somewhere different to visit, and something different to do. Shenmue has door knocking, the arcade, skothouse, store raffles, buying a drink and training. That's it!

Finally the story, narrative and pacing. Where do we even begin. Shenmue has a good story. It sets the wheels in motion and... Well that's it really. It's got a lot to do, but it's all so microscopic. In a small location, it's go here, go here, go here. Of course Shenmue 2 is the same, it's the narrative that sets it all apart. In Shenmue, we have black car, sailors, guy with a tattoo, get item, get to harbour, get another item, find Lan Di, go to Hong Kong. The notebook is very padded out with multiple clues about the same thing, as well as Lapis clues. But in Shenmue 2, it's the story progression that comes with the objectives you always get. Place to stay, Kung Fu to learn, pennance to pay, lessons to learn, code to learn, find a gang leader, head to a brand new area of China, take on another gang, find Yuanda Zhu, take on a criminal gang, test all of your skills.... That's all before we even get to Guilin! There is just no let up at all, keeping you gripped every step of the way.

I could talk about every stage of this game for hours, but Shenmue 2 has so many moments which had me truly hooked, in ways no other story driven game has ever done since. I have a feeling Shenmue 3 is going to be more of the same, which really has me so pumped for it.

 

[Amir]

I love Shenmue but Shenmue II really feels like the Hong Kong martial arts films of old that I was really getting into around the time of its release, with the stuff about the Four Wude, catching leaves, etc. Nothing has ever topped that thrill of ascending the Yellow Head Building and then executing the Counter Elbow Assault on Dou Niu.

 

[Nigel]

Regarding nostalgia, it's the original: I picked it up the day of release, and recall spending the following rainy weekend plowing through as much as I could. The intricate details (light switches, the cassettes, et al.) stand out. I'll always have a warm fondness for that period of time-- if only I could trim my 70 man battle time.

Regarding gameplay (I rank this higher), it's Shenmue II. Both with temporal distance and merely due to the number of times I've replayed it, I prefer its tweaks. Some elements still make me playfully roll my eyes (buying maps feels so outdated), but I will always prefer playing this.

 

[Mittens2317]

Easily the first. I remember being slightly underwhelmed by Shenmue II. Not that I didn't like it, I just never fell in love with it the way I did the first. Kinda did the job of immersing me in the world though, as it was almost like I was feeling homesick half the time.

 

[Lan Di-sama]

I just finished Shenmue I on ps4 (finally!) and am looking forward to starting Shenmue II with a completed save file. My conclusion - which hasn't changed over the years, but only reinforced - is that Shenmue II is the better game in almost every way - the pacing, the storytelling, the cinematography/cut scenes are all just such a vast improvement over the first game and for those same reasons, it is my favorite. I think Disc 1 is a little bit of a chore to get through, but once you meet Tao Lishao, the rest of the Hong Kong section is excellent. Kowloon is, well - Kowloon - can't really top it. And I'm still blown away by what they managed to accomplish with the Guilin section.

And as far as personal replay-ability goes, Shenmue II wins by a long shot - the waiting around in Shenmue I does get frustrating. While the first game obviously has more detail to absorb, and the unmatched hometown charm and familiarity, I've seen pretty much all of it at this point - Disc 3 especially is a total slog for me. I realized this play-through my patience for the forklift routine was definitley wearing thin. On top of that, the story itself doesn't really progress much in Disc 3 (until the end) despite having more "action". The events with the Mad Angels blur together and I can never remember which is supposed to happen on which day. I love the game as is, but if they were ever to remake this series from the ground up, they could cut out a LOT of Shenmue I and still be able to retain pretty much the entire storyline.

 

[Jetmcfancy]

This is a really tough one all of a sudden. Had you of asked me this about a year ago before the re-release, I think my being unable to play it and general rose-tinted glasses would have happily said Shenmue beats II every single time for my money. But since playing the game again for the first time in...probably ten years? I must admit that while I still love the game a heck of a lot, certain aspects of it don't quite live up to the memory that I had in my head. Which isn't to say it's bad at all, just not quite how my sentimental brain had archived it all those years ago.

But then I think they are in a lot of ways, two completely different games. Shenmue is a lot more pensive, I think things are supposed to take time and be frustrating. I mean, the idea of this 18-year-old looking to get revenge as quickly as Ryo wants to is quite possibly one of the most 18-year-old mentality things I've ever seen. I love the junior detective aspect of the game, and I love that Ryo suddenly wants to right all of the wrongs going on in Yokosuka which I suppose you could argue is this kid looking to find justice where he can while his main objective just seems to get further and further out of reach. I like that, and I can understand how it would be frustrating but I do rather enjoy it. Mixed with the idea that this event really shook a community where everyone seems to know everyone, being set at Christmas time, and just the way that everything spirals out of control towards the end becomes much bigger and sets you off on a much larger adventure. I love it in the same way that I love Fellowship of the ring for what it does to set up this much larger story.

That being said, I'm really coming to appreciate how Shenmue 2 really IS the sprawling adventure. I like how the game very much revolves around being a stranger in a strange land (Well, unfamiliar.) and I like how suddenly the small town mentality of everyone trying to look out for you and making sure you don't get into trouble is almost immediately replaced with people trying to take advantage of you and rip you off. Ryo, being as young as he is kind of just has to learn on his feet and find out that apparently everyone wants to rip you off or take advantage of you in arm wrestling competitions. I think between the two games, they tackle Ryo growing up and learning from his mistakes very well whilst not forgetting that Ryo is essentially a very headstrong character blinded by his desire for revenge.

I think, as a game. Shenmue 2 offers slightly more. As a story and being emotionally engaging, I have to say that I much prefer the first. For me, it's a battle between gameplay and emotion, both games kind of cancel each other out in that respect. So I'm going to be annoyingly diplomatic and just say that I love them both for different reasons, just as I dislike aspects of both for different reasons. But ultimately, I think it's very difficult to enjoy one without the other. So with that in mind, I guess I will settle on loving them both equally. They're both my children...or something.