- Joined
- Oct 17, 2022
I played Shenmue 1 for the first time and I'd deem it quite a special game, not just for the technical achievements for its time but the story and slow burn pacing was just such a refreshing gaming experience. There's actually a lot of nuance to the characters, for example: Ryo is portrayed as a well mannered, good person who will not back down from his quest for revenge, which worries his family and friends. His interactions for example with Ine-san and Nozomi are thoroughly subtle, the former not wanting to over step their bounds and restrict Ryo but also worrying for his safety, the latter caring about Ryo in a romantic manner but not being able to express those feelings, as a wall stands between them. It was generally well done (not to mention Ryo's interactions with Fuku-san, the townspeople and even the thugs he beats up.) The player was given a lot of subtle inferences throughout the experience to ask questions such as, how far will Ryo go for his revenge? Is he good or bad? How will his family react to his actions?
So, with all of that in mind, what happened with Shenmue 2?
Nothing developed in the first game is carried over to Ryo's 'adventure' in Hong Kong. Here are some problems in order:
- Joy (the girl on the motorcycle) is such a hamfisted, annoying character who constantly drives Ryo forward to the next destination, but in a manner that isn't natural. As soon as you step off the boat she gives you your next objective, with the player asking the question of 'why does she care about me? Who is the person? Why are they talking to me?' Even if its answered later why she's so interested in you, how the writers shoved her into Ryo's life just didn't mesh with the much more subtle approach of Shenmue 1. She felt like a device to give the player information because the writers couldn't do it another way. To have this early 2000's 'bad ass, motorcycle chick' in the sequel to Shenmue, a game that had thoughtful character interactions (not to mention modest females, ala Nozomi) just feels like a slap in the face to the identity the first game established. Also, she makes Ryo look like a total fool, who is incompetent in finding his own way, which leads to the second problem.
- Xiuying Hong (the female martial arts master) does the same thing to Ryo: make him look like a total fool and, what's worse, makes him incompetent at martial arts. Through the entire first game Ryo has fought hundreds of people, using the renowned Hazuki style (respected by many masters) and yet he is completely out bested by this 'master'? The whole encounter is seeped in the stereotype of the female out besting the male for the sake of subversion. Why is Ryo brought down to level zero in this game from all of the training and experience he gained in Japan? There's nothing wrong with being humbled by a different style of martial arts with a different philosophy but Shenmue 2 has many instances where the 'masters' pretty much make Ryo look like a greenhorn with no experience. Going back to Hong, she leads you to her house and you sleep on her couch? Absolutely bizarre.
- Ryo's character isn't really developed (from what I played) and he instead becomes more of an avatar then a real person. It's strange to think that, in the first game, he fought people to further his quest, out of self defence and protecting the weak, and yet when he's fighting in arenas for money in the back alleys of Hong Kong...it doesn't feel right. From what I played, there weren't any moments where Ryo thought about Japan, has a moment of introspection or reminisces about the past. He becomes nothing more but a blank slate for the player to be absorbed in amusement.
- Japan had its distractions in the first game but the sheer amount of things to do in Hong Kong is honestly overwhelming. There's too many people and too many pointless locations. It was interesting to stake out and know by hand the people and places of Japan but this intimacy is missing from Shenmue 2. It felt like the designers were directionless and not thinking about the game from the perspective of the player (it's somewhat cool to follow people when they ask you to come with them, but will any player actually want to walk slowly behind an NPC, or just dash in whatever direction they're going in to eventually find where they were looking to go?)
I'd like to suggest some changes that I believe would have made Shenmue 2 a much more compelling experience.
Chen directs you to a family of his who board Japanese people on the outskirts of Hong Kong. There, you can grow accustomed to Chinese culture and see the difference between it and Japan's culture. You do menial tasks here such as chores to maintain your boarding and bond with the family you're staying with (they also will speak Japanese but everyone else will speak Chinese, forcing Ryo to manoeuvre through the language barrier.)
Hong Kong would be a place you would gradually work up to visit and the disorientating aspect of its city would be much more earned when given a smaller scale, Chinese town as your base.
Every night (or at certain times when the plot moves forward) you write a letter to Nozomi, Ine-san and Fuku-san. This would make Ryo not only thoughtful of the people he left behind but would keep the continuity of the first game still maintained in the second.
Instead of talking to martial arts masters and learning the wude, Ryo straightaway tries to find out how to join the Chinese mafia so he can find Lan Di. You work your way up and this eventually forces Ryo to contemplate how far he is willing to go for revenge: is joining a criminal organization and partaking of their heinous crimes really worth this quest? This would then also maintain the feeling of loneliness Ryo had in the first game where he couldn't tell anyone what he was up to, his quest being a lonely and melancholic one.
I would love to hear any and all opinions about the second game that I mentioned or in regards to the first game.
Thank you.
So, with all of that in mind, what happened with Shenmue 2?
Nothing developed in the first game is carried over to Ryo's 'adventure' in Hong Kong. Here are some problems in order:
- Joy (the girl on the motorcycle) is such a hamfisted, annoying character who constantly drives Ryo forward to the next destination, but in a manner that isn't natural. As soon as you step off the boat she gives you your next objective, with the player asking the question of 'why does she care about me? Who is the person? Why are they talking to me?' Even if its answered later why she's so interested in you, how the writers shoved her into Ryo's life just didn't mesh with the much more subtle approach of Shenmue 1. She felt like a device to give the player information because the writers couldn't do it another way. To have this early 2000's 'bad ass, motorcycle chick' in the sequel to Shenmue, a game that had thoughtful character interactions (not to mention modest females, ala Nozomi) just feels like a slap in the face to the identity the first game established. Also, she makes Ryo look like a total fool, who is incompetent in finding his own way, which leads to the second problem.
- Xiuying Hong (the female martial arts master) does the same thing to Ryo: make him look like a total fool and, what's worse, makes him incompetent at martial arts. Through the entire first game Ryo has fought hundreds of people, using the renowned Hazuki style (respected by many masters) and yet he is completely out bested by this 'master'? The whole encounter is seeped in the stereotype of the female out besting the male for the sake of subversion. Why is Ryo brought down to level zero in this game from all of the training and experience he gained in Japan? There's nothing wrong with being humbled by a different style of martial arts with a different philosophy but Shenmue 2 has many instances where the 'masters' pretty much make Ryo look like a greenhorn with no experience. Going back to Hong, she leads you to her house and you sleep on her couch? Absolutely bizarre.
- Ryo's character isn't really developed (from what I played) and he instead becomes more of an avatar then a real person. It's strange to think that, in the first game, he fought people to further his quest, out of self defence and protecting the weak, and yet when he's fighting in arenas for money in the back alleys of Hong Kong...it doesn't feel right. From what I played, there weren't any moments where Ryo thought about Japan, has a moment of introspection or reminisces about the past. He becomes nothing more but a blank slate for the player to be absorbed in amusement.
- Japan had its distractions in the first game but the sheer amount of things to do in Hong Kong is honestly overwhelming. There's too many people and too many pointless locations. It was interesting to stake out and know by hand the people and places of Japan but this intimacy is missing from Shenmue 2. It felt like the designers were directionless and not thinking about the game from the perspective of the player (it's somewhat cool to follow people when they ask you to come with them, but will any player actually want to walk slowly behind an NPC, or just dash in whatever direction they're going in to eventually find where they were looking to go?)
I'd like to suggest some changes that I believe would have made Shenmue 2 a much more compelling experience.
Chen directs you to a family of his who board Japanese people on the outskirts of Hong Kong. There, you can grow accustomed to Chinese culture and see the difference between it and Japan's culture. You do menial tasks here such as chores to maintain your boarding and bond with the family you're staying with (they also will speak Japanese but everyone else will speak Chinese, forcing Ryo to manoeuvre through the language barrier.)
Hong Kong would be a place you would gradually work up to visit and the disorientating aspect of its city would be much more earned when given a smaller scale, Chinese town as your base.
Every night (or at certain times when the plot moves forward) you write a letter to Nozomi, Ine-san and Fuku-san. This would make Ryo not only thoughtful of the people he left behind but would keep the continuity of the first game still maintained in the second.
Instead of talking to martial arts masters and learning the wude, Ryo straightaway tries to find out how to join the Chinese mafia so he can find Lan Di. You work your way up and this eventually forces Ryo to contemplate how far he is willing to go for revenge: is joining a criminal organization and partaking of their heinous crimes really worth this quest? This would then also maintain the feeling of loneliness Ryo had in the first game where he couldn't tell anyone what he was up to, his quest being a lonely and melancholic one.
I would love to hear any and all opinions about the second game that I mentioned or in regards to the first game.
Thank you.