Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

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Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby starscream178 » Wed May 31, 2017 3:41 pm

I generally look at this series as a one whole thing, but for fun, what did you enjoy more about shenmue I than II?
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby Bluecast » Wed May 31, 2017 4:59 pm

I believe that is subjective. I feel for me, Shenmue II...is just ok. Played a few times only finished it once. I adore Shenmue 1 however. The quiet town. Atmosphere. Set in the 80s. Arcades. Japan. Big fish in small pond. I like that more. Shenmue II felt much more like a video game to me where Shenmue 1 felt like a slice of life experience. I do get the appeal of II for some with bigger set pieces and more action. That's what takes me out of it really. I do like II. I just don't love it.

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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby BlueMue » Wed May 31, 2017 5:49 pm

Well to a certain extent Shenmue does feel less like a game than Shenmue II. They were going a more unique way when they made the first entry in the series. The changes to the pace and the reduction of the mundane in Shenmue II made it more enjoyable overall but they also made it come closer to a traditional game while doing so.

Talking about the setting is a difficult matter. Shenmue is meant to have a familiar feeling city and a fixed location you can call home while Shenmue II is meant to throw you in a foreign enviroment with ever changing life conditions. Of course everyone can have their preferences but I don't think it's fair to say that one or the other setting is better. I could only rate how well the games manage to pull of their respective feel and to me the slight winner here is Shenmue II.

In specific points, this is where Shenmue has the upper hand
- Weather effects
- Importance of time (and how you go about to make it go by)
- NPC routines
- Free training
- Ease of counter attacks (the timing in II is so strict that for a long time I thought they were gone)
- Kitten
- Forklifts
- Telephones
- Online features of the Passport Disc (too bad it's so hard to access the stuff)
- Raffle and winning cans

There are only a handful of things missing from Shenmue II that go deeper into the details of the game, like the items that don't carry over or were made into capsule toys since they lost their purpose or how the camera can be moved during fights.

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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby Yokosuka » Wed May 31, 2017 6:10 pm

Those who feel nothing special regarding Shenmue II, how can you be hard-hyped by Shenmue III?

I mean, contrast between Chinese and Japanese cultures is as wide as the distance between present and the time we'll get our Shenmue III trailer. Since the saga is known to be mainly a journey in China, we are likely to never feel Shenmue I vibes again.

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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby shredingskin » Wed May 31, 2017 11:13 pm

The thing I actually like more in retrospect is the japanese noir atmosphere.

I really connected to Shenmue when I was a kid, so I would know everything like the back of my hand, and just wasting time running around and looking at stuff. I also love the FREE music, it gives a vibe of tranquility, of intensity and of mystery depending on which part of the game you're on. It feels more intimate and lonely for some reason. Shenmue II music is great for reflecting China, but sometimes it feels too cheerful, Kowloon never felt to me like this threatening mafia ridden/criminal safe heaven, just felt like another place.

I never could get the original DC version of II, so I played a ripped version that would glitch anytime you had to wait time. I didn't knew at the time but that was because my DC was set to spanish and the game should've been played with it in english for it to don't glitch. So after like 5 years I finally got a copy of II for xbox, and I was already more mature, and kinda breezed trough the game.

Even today SII feels so big that it's easy to only see a forest and not the tree, while there's still that detail of the first, it's simply a little bit too much to run around and see every little thing like in the first one. Also the vibe is less one of "investigation/noir" and more of a kungfu film / quest based and the challenge comes from navigating this new giant place, and I prefer the former.

Another thing I felt is that Shenmue had more weight to some scenes for me. The sailors are the first baddasses that make your life difficult,like a shadow during the whole game, and at the end of the game you go through the ladder to fight the boss, they feel threatening and less cartoony than dou niu and ren's gang. Most of the scenes with Nozomi, the basement and the cat feel closer, even the training with yamagishi, being confronted by guizang, and actually "they get you out of nowhere", just running around doing nothing. The whole scene to rescue Nozomi was amazing to me (I might like it even more than guilin). In SII the big scenes feel a lot more epic, and SI was closer home and it appeals more to me on an aesthetic level, like the alienation of the urban setting or something.

It's a hard thing though, a lot of what I liked about Shenmue is something that today I would reject, so I feel lucky that I played the game at that time. But in some other sense Shenmue felt like "something else" and Shenmue II felt more gamey, grinding to get money, the puzzle to get to Zhu Yuanda, the "let's go to X floor" in the yellowhead building a succession of different puzzles/mechanics, talk to the X masters that will give you a "miniquest", having to fight the street fighters like it was nothing in kowloon (supposedly this menacing place), it's great by game design standards, heck if a game today tells me that to advance the story I have to wait till night and run around a harbour to trigger a scene I'd say "this is straight bullshit", but at the time everything was wonder.

So yes, some of it could just as well being "I played Shenmmue first" and SII is a "better game", but on the subjective level SI gave me more.
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby Bluecast » Thu Jun 01, 2017 1:03 am

Yokosuka wrote: Those who feel nothing special regarding Shenmue II, how can you be hard-hyped by Shenmue III?

I mean, contrast between Chinese and Japanese cultures is as wide as the distance between present and the time we'll get our Shenmue III trailer. Since the saga is known to be mainly a journey in China, we are likely to never feel Shenmue I vibes again.

I know what the differences are and what both aimed for. I also said I liked II just not the same way I love the first. It's a preference. Shenmue I I prefer much more. I helped fund 3 for the same reasons as anyone. To see the 3rd game and where they take it. I kinda figured III might be something different. I is a big fish in small pond. II is a small fish in a large pond. III is maybe a fish out of water.
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby sand4fish » Thu Jun 01, 2017 1:10 am

I wrote a lengthy critique on the topic in the past, so the recap is while I love Shenmue 2's epilogue and cliffhanger to death, Shenmue 1 is more immersive as a game experience. The original is more focused narrative wise, the QTE mechanics is less intrusive and there is a sense of urgency present in the game that is lost in the sequel. Still gotta love the grand scope of the second game and that ending though, as the Guilin section is still one of the most memorable gaming moments for me.
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby Truck_1_0_1_ » Thu Jun 01, 2017 11:03 am

Bluemue said it all basically:

More familiarity, more homely and slow-paced. You know everyone and everyone knows you. Drunk people are amusing and laze about on grass, talking about nonsense and life. You take care of a cat and everything is old, but functional and useful (like the Dojo Trapdoor).

These points are what I love about the game and discovering things and exposition for the first time, is just awesome; my favourite part of the entire game is the basement: I'm grinning ear to ear the whole time.
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby jasonorme666 » Sun Jun 04, 2017 5:35 am

Shenmue 1 felt like you were playing a big fish in a small pond.
It pretty much nailed the point that you're a naive teenager surrounded by the comfort of people who love you in a familiar location. The progression is Ryo realizing that through his hot-headed persistence and that using his fists he can do anything.
Shenmue 2 captured being fish out of water perfectly.
Ryo is thrown into the deep end, he's lost and way over his head. If it wasn't for the kindness of strangers and people teaching him how to survive and to calm his temper he would be killed.

From what I understand Shenmue is meant to be sadness, followed by anger and revenge, followed by forgiveness and that his skills are better spent on something much bigger than himself.

I honestly think Shenmue 3 will slow things down a bit, but with some big action scenes.

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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby punkmanced » Mon Jun 05, 2017 9:49 pm

I also prefer Shenmue 1’s more intimate setting, as opposed to that of its absolutely epic sequel.
(Not to mention that it’s set in Japan in the 80’s. Awesome.)

On a side note, I do like that Shenmue 3 is opting for a ‘smaller’ experience more akin to the 1st (even if, I’m guessing, budget constraints have a lot to do with it).
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby TheTimeRanger » Tue Jun 06, 2017 4:02 pm

This is purely subjective, as I know many who believe that Shenmue II is a better game.

I however love Shenmue I for many reasons. Primarily it’s the atmosphere. :heart:

There is a word in Norwegian I would explain it as, Koselig, but it doesn’t translate. But it feels more homely, yet exotic. And in my opinion a far more immersive experience.

It something to do with the setting, naturally, but also the pacing. It doesn’t feel like a game, but an experience. Where Shenmue II, feeling more like a game, if you know what I mean.

@BlueMue said it best really. Some very great points are the weather effects, they hands down made the atmosphere way better. Forklift driving was also a lot more fun than crate carrying! :lol:

Again, saying that one game is better than the other, is difficult. Its very subjective and both settings have their own strengths and unique feeling.

But for me, I think a lot of the nostalgia and atmosphere and feeling I get from Shenmue I, came from the time I played it too. I remember it was spring, and raining. I was just 14-15 at the time, and felt free! So that helped a lot :lol: And to this day, I will get in to that feeling and want to play Shenmue in the spring/early summer when it rains or is grey outside.

Sadly, I know adult life will probably not give me the same feeling for Shenmue III. :sad:
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby killthesagabeforeitkillsu » Wed Jun 07, 2017 8:19 am

Obviously the first Shenmue had more care poured into it because this was the title that was supposed to get you hooked and serve as a foundation for the rest. Shenmue II had a bigger scale feel but sadly the technology wasn't there yet to fully express it but it was rather impressive for the time despite some constant loading screens. Imagine the level of open world detail that team could do with today's tech.
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby drunkensailor » Wed Jun 07, 2017 12:02 pm

shenmue 2 is a ton better imo. the only things I missed from the first were free training en being able to grab raffle tickets for prices.
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby Verderame » Thu Jun 08, 2017 8:57 am

I think that Shenmue II is "objectively" the better game, and by far. I mean: it's bigger, it's longer, it has more action, way more variety in every single aspect, a lot of great quality of life improvements, and it would be very hard to argue against this.

That said, i like the first Shenmue more anyway, and i know there are a lot of people in the community that feel the same about it, because it can touch the emotional chords of some sensitive person in a powerful, almost mystical way.

And that because it's nostalgic, intimate, mundane, it has a smaller scope, a more relatable location with more realistic npcs and actually explorable, more handcrafted environments.

In few words: it captures real life better.
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Re: Why is Shenmue I better than Shenmue II

Postby Cyberman » Thu Jun 08, 2017 11:06 am

Shenmue II is better IMO. Better characters, better music, more areas to explore etc.
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