Do you prefer Shenmue or Shenmue II?

Shenmue or Shenmue II?

  • Shenmue

    Votes: 28 29.8%

  • Shenmue II

    Votes: 42 44.7%

  • Love them both the same

    Votes: 24 25.5%
  • Total voters
    94
I see both 1 & 2 as simply just chapters in one grand story. Asking me which I prefer is like asking me which child is my favorite and that's something I can't do. Both games have their own strengths and weaknesses so they balance each other out.

Shenmue 1 has a more intimate feeling to it than Shenmue 2 does. I actually enjoy the slower pace because it gave me time to take everything all in and felt very similar to traditional Japanese cinema. I like how the game was also more detailed in that you could interact more with the environment or how characters had set schedules. I love how the arcade minigames actually pass time and the ability to train your moves and grow stronger with them. Characters like Guizhang, Nozomi, Iwao, and Lan-Di all left a strong impression on me. Finally Shenmue 1 told the entirety of Chapter One of Suzuki-sama's story and gave a wonderful sense of completeness.

Shenmue 2 feels like a better "game" overall because you're given much more to do compared to one. Shenmue 2 feels like a genuine wuxia film and shows how naive Ryo truly is in the world. The highlights for me though is the stronger emphasis on martial arts philosophy compared to the first game. The four Wude, catching leaves, focusing on the "minds eye" really nails it home. Also, the time spent with Shenhua is some of the best writing I've seen in a video game. After an extremely action packed journey through Kowloon it's nice to catch my breath again. It shows that Shenmue 2 still takes the time to be contemplative and have you absorb the deep atmosphere. And finally characters like Ren, Xuying, Joy, Shenhua, and Fangmei left just as strong of an impression as characters like Guizhang and Nozomi.

Where each game falters is that one has less stuff to do and had less options from a "gaming" perspective while two feels too streamlined and less detailed overall. Shenmue 2 also took several chapters and spliced together various elements from each of them so it feels less whole.

So at the end of the day I find both games to be masterpieces that have their strengths and weaknesses.
 
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Tsukuyomimagi99 said:
I see both 1 & 2 as simply just chapters in one grand story...Both games have their own strengths and weaknesses so they balance each other out.
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TLDR synopsis; this. Yokosuka and Hong Kong/early intro Guilin are one gigantic arc, only divided by media capacity shortcomings.
 
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I also experienced the two releases as two parts of a whole, although I think ironically that perception may have been aided by the intervening time in between the two. As I recall, the only thing that I really noticed as 'missing' from Shenmue II was that there weren't any characters on motorcycles, bicycles, or scooters trying to drive through the streets as there were in Dobuita. But for all I know that's accurate to the sections of Hong Kong portrayed in II.
 
For the last 17 years, whenever I played both of my Japanese copies on the Dreamcast, I would binge play from the beginning of Shenmue 1. Since you can carry over your save file of Shenmue 1 onto the second game, I think of them both as one big game that appropriately expands where it needs to. Both games have something unique to offer for their own reasons, as I am assuming Shenmue 3 and other future releases will follow through with.

On a recent Shenmue podcast, with the first game, you get more of a life simulator while Shenmue 2 gives you a travel simulator. With Shenmue 1, you experience a community through a character who already has familiarity with. A good percentage of the the neighborhood knows him and you have a unique support group. But when you move on to Shenmue 2, everybody’s trying to scam you and you don’t know who to trust.

With Shenmue 1, I appreciate how you can practice your moves and level them up in empty parking lots or parks, and I was disappointed this feature was gone. In Shenmue 2, I like how it adds a time skip when you need to do something the following day.
 
RyoHazuki84 said:
With Shenmue 1, I appreciate how you can practice your moves and level them up in empty parking lots or parks, and I was disappointed this feature was gone.
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Common misconception I believed myself until this year. Look closely at your move list; there isn't an indicator like in the first chapter or harped on so much by other characters, nor is it even quite as important--admittedly--but moves do improve when you spar Jianmin or street fight. Definitely still prefer to max out every move by early disc 2 in Yokosuka, or end of disc 2 at latest. Just stinks there aren't empty lot solo sessions. So badly wish the site across from yan Tin to have been a practice space...!
 
Love them the same.
 
Both are incredible titles with a ton going for them.

But 2 is my third favourite game all-time and 1 isn't even in my top 15... so that pretty much seals it!
 
xatruio said:
Common misconception I believed myself until this year. Look closely at your move list; there isn't an indicator like in the first chapter or harped on so much by other characters, nor is it even quite as important--admittedly--but moves do improve when you spar Jianmin or street fight. Definitely still prefer to max out every move by early disc 2 in Yokosuka, or end of disc 2 at latest. Just stinks there aren't empty lot solo sessions. So badly wish the site across from yan Tin to have been a practice space...!
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I had no idea people actually commonly thought that lmfao... training is a big part of the series but in Shenmue 2 it happens less by yourself and more from actual combat...
 
Seen it believed pretty rampant by posters throughout these very forums and the old ones.
 
Definitely Shenmue 2. The pacing is a lot better and the world a lot more expansive. I still enjoy Shenmue 1, but there are times that I wish it was faster/easier to progress through the story. Whether it be waiting around for events to trigger or things like specific conversations needing to be had before others can be triggered (like talking to Nozomi before talking to Tom about Lan Di at the beginning or needing to go through a bunch of nonsense before you can go to the tattoo parlor even though you already known that Charlie has a tattoo).
 
Just played Shenmue I all the way through for the first time, "HD Remake" but I played Shenmue II a crap ton in high school. Now I'm playing through Shenmue II again. It's a hard one but Shenmue II is where I started so I gotta say Shenmue II is my favorite.
 
I am going to vote Shenmue II and my reasons are slightly biased.

I knew of and about Shenmue about a year after it was released and a friend told me. I had actually attempted to borrow someones dreamcast to find a copy but could not find it anywhere at the time

I figured Shenmue II would come to the US so had plans to find a way to get it and found out it was canceled and import only but that xbox would be getting it later, so my first experience playing was Shenmue II. I watched the Shenmue dvd to catch up and found it quite cheesy but it at least gave me the backstory so going into 2 wasnt a huge surprise.

Loading II for the first time and seeing the boat coming into the harbor, the music and the flash of the density of the city and walking off the boat with so many people there and being just some tourist from Japan in game made it feel like I really was a stranger in Hong Kong and I had no friends or family there. I recall the barrage of those looking to take advantage of tourists and the thieves taking my valuables. Hong Kong felt huge compared to Dobuita and you really feel how irrelevant you are and that the city doesn't put up with it. Additionally to complicate things, Ryo has to prove loyalty and goes in with a chip on his shoulder as if everything needs to be answered and ultimately has to learn to let go of that aggression .

Seeing the architecture, all the shops, people, minigames, gambling arm wrestling, arcade, slots and most challenging others to darts was great.

Kowloon was my favorite part of the game, what an impressive place, all I can say about it. Really fascinating portrayal of a city like Kowloon and the interconnected mazes of massive flea markets and abandoned apartments.

Guilin was such a huge change and loved every minute.

Shenmue II has a special place in my heart in that it was what the game was building up to. I love the first game too but it doesn't have that same feel to me especially feeling lost in a country with no friends. Both are wonderful games but II is the winner for me.
 
pilman said:
Loading II for the first time and seeing the boat coming into the harbor, the music and the flash of the density of the city and walking off the boat with so many people there and being just some tourist from Japan in game made it feel like I really was a stranger in Hong Kong and I had no friends or family there. I recall the barrage of those looking to take advantage of tourists and the thieves taking my valuables. Hong Kong felt huge compared to Dobuita and you really feel how irrelevant you are and that the city doesn't put up with it. Additionally to complicate things, Ryo has to prove loyalty and goes in with a chip on his shoulder as if everything needs to be answered and ultimately has to learn to let go of that aggression .

Kowloon was my favorite part of the game, what an impressive place, all I can say about it. Really fascinating portrayal of a city like Kowloon and the interconnected mazes of massive flea markets and abandoned apartments.
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This was another reason I enjoy Shenmue II to Shenmue I.
Because in Shenmue II every single person is not only new to you the player but also a new face to Ryo. I just played through Shenmue I for the first time all the way through last week. I have had it since 2015 on the dreamcast but I have never had the time to play it but last Black Friday I got a new TV and my brother got me a PS4 so I got a copy of the Shenmue HD Collection. And loved every second of Shenmue I, exepect the part where you have look for Charlie and have to wait a whole bunch, "Come back tomorrow". It was also kinda weird walking up to people that you don't know and having Ryo address a lot of them by their first name, when I the player no nothing about them. I still loved the game and I understand the opening part of the story is leaving the town you grew up in so that means you would know a lot of the people but the characters of Shenmue II were far easier to grow attached to since Ryo is learning about them as your are learning about them.

However I do like fighting along side Guizhang Chen, and having him as my back up partner, more then Ren, and I didn't think that could be possible cause Ren is awesome! Hopefully both will turn back up in Shenmue III, also Tom was cool even through he rarely had anything helpful to say.

And Kowloon was also super enjoyable, it wasn't until a few years later after I finished Shenmue II, that I found out that it was based on a real city and I have been watching tons of documentary's on Kowloon ever since. Such a fasting city to walk around and get lost in.

http://shenmue.wikia.com/wiki/Guizhang_Chen?action=edit
 
2. More fun, more fights, more challenging fights, waiting, cool diversions like obtaining the medals, lucky hit etc. The only thing I miss from 1 is solo move training.

S2 is less realistic but more epic and fun to play
 
About the same for both gamea.

Shenmue is more immersive, intimate and interactive.

Part II is bigger and has more streamlined gameplay.

IMO both games 'blow their loads' a bit too early as I find the first environments more interesting (Dobuita and HK) then what follows (harbour and Kowloon). But Shenmue II redeems itself a bit with Guilin.
 
I definitely prefer the first game. Mostly for the cozy feeling it has.


There is one aspect of Shen2 that keeps me from replaying it as often as I do Shen1. It’s petty and I know that. But the fact is. I really hate moving crates for money. I still don’t understand why they’d go from the fun forklifting to the boring ass “left! left!” shit.


Lucky Hit is fun, the gambling aspect is overall greatly improved in Shen2. I absolutely love Kowloon and Guilin. Guilin is my favorite part of the Shenmue series, infact. But moving crates just really weighs the whole thing down for me.

EDIT: Airing out the books! I just remembered. That’s the other major negative I have against Shen2. Can’t believe I blocked that from my mind so hard. Holy shit.
 
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Big Tuba said:
There is one aspect of Shen2 that keeps me from replaying it as often as I do Shen1. It’s petty and I know that. But the fact is. I really hate moving crates for money. I still don’t understand why they’d go from the fun forklifting to the boring ass “left! left!” shit.

Lucky Hit is fun, the gambling aspect is overall greatly improved in Shen2. I absolutely love Kowloon and Guilin. Guilin is my favorite part of the Shenmue series, infact. But moving crates just really weighs the whole thing down for me.
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In my opinion the biggest flaws in Shenmue 2 are some of the QTEs which are too unforgiving and frustrating (like the Ghost Hall Building or having to fight a boss again because you failed a single QTE) and some of the jobs are either not that fun (like the crate carrying) or too hard to make money with (Lucky Hit). Besides those flaws I still love it though.
 
You move crates for one day. One Shenmue Day that is. One Shenmue morning to be exact.

Then completely optional.

Forklifting was maybe more fun but it was forced and everyday once you get a job at the harbour.
 
Sman said:
You move crates for one day. One Shenmue Day that is. One Shenmue morning to be exact.

Then completely optional.

Forklifting was maybe more fun but it was forced and everyday once you get a job at the harbour.
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That’s only technically true. Once (if) you’re out of money and gambling/lucky hit/pawning is no longer an option. Crate lifting becomes mandatory. It depends on how far you are in the game though. There is also fighting, but that comes later.
 
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