Anyone else feel this way?

[BigTuna]

This game was horrible in my opinion. Couldn't even complete it.. I love Shenmue so much, but this game just took all of the originality and joy out of it and made it absolutely horrible. Everything was lost in this release and it broke my heart.. I adore the first game and just found this game annoyingly tedious and pointless... I may be alone in this, but I hope I'm not..
Here's to hoping Shenmue III will be bring back the originality the original game had!

[ShOzO MiZuKi]

This game was horrible in my opinion. Couldn't even complete it.. I love Shenmue so much, but this game just took all of the originality and joy out of it and made it absolutely horrible. Everything was lost in this release and it broke my heart.. I adore the first game and just found this game annoyingly tedious and pointless... I may be alone in this, but I hope I'm not..
Here's to hoping Shenmue III will be bring back the originality the original game had!

I think you may be the only one. It's a new experience for Ryo so the atmosphere is different. I understand the tedious comment, but stick with it the end of the game is great.

[MiTT3NZ]

Shenmue II is essentially the embodiment of Yu's inspiration for the franchise. Personally, I prefer the first, although the second has grown on me in recent years.

I like how the game takes both Ryo and the player out of his comfort zone. Instead of the simple, straight-forward, easily memorable layouts of Yokosuka, you're forced into maze-like locations with no clue of where anything is, which is how it should be. Sure, after a few playthroughs or map-buying it's easy to get around, but imagine playing it for the first time without maps, well, it'd be a completely different experience indeed. Possibly a better one. In fact, the removal of the map from the HUD could've made the game feel a little more like Shenmue, come to think of it.

Back on topic though, I understand how you feel about it. I was saddened by the departure of many of the things I loved about the first, but you've just gotta move past that and think of it as a different game, because that's exactly what it is. Hell, you may even just be feeling homesick.

[BigTuna]

I think you both nailed it. Perhaps it was a mistake jumping into this game right after beating the first one. Its got a totally different feel and atmosphere. Everything feels a bit more linear to me in Shenmue II though. I had to stop playing cos it all started to feel like a chore, sadly. The magic of the first game was lost to me.
I've heard great things about the levels outside of Aberdeen and Wan Chai; I just wish I could find the strength to continue it. haha I'll more than likely focus on a different game right now, then hopefully come back to Shenmue II with a new outlook. Just start from the beginning.

[ShenmueTree]

I can understand how one could feel shocked by the major differences between Shenmue I and II, after all the first game had a ton of atmosphere and it was the embodiment of community, people knew each other, were friendly, and knowledgeable, you got a sense that you belonged. Playing Shenmue is living in 1980's Japan and giving you the greatest sense of immersion that I've ever come across in a game.

Shenmue II, you're in a strange land with strange people. All your surroundings are unknown, your friends you make seem sort of sketchy, everyone is a potential enemy. Etc.

That being said, I really really loved Shenmue II. It took me a while to recover from just how different it is but just like life when traveling to a new place with new rules and new people, it's hard at first.

[JohnBlack]

Well....i dont like Hong Kong part of the game, but the Kowloon is just better. And Guilin part is masterpiece. The thing is, that Hong Kong is like very big city, so its not so pretty and dont have something like "soul" of small towns maybe this is the problem.

[mue 26]

Couldn't even complete it.. I love Shenmue so much, but this game just took all of the originality and joy out of it and made it absolutely horrible

I would hate to choose, but if I could only be on a desert island with one of them,I would pick Shenmue 2. It stays winning with it's greater scope, in my opinion. Also, Xiuying. So needless to stay I disagree with you.

Also you haven't finished Shenmue 2 ?! I know I haven't completed Shenmue 1 and all, but not completing Shenmue 2 is an even bigger crime! That aint right b, that just aint right. It is interesting though, while it's not at all uncommon to find people who prefer Shenmue 1's small town vibe, or people who are taken aback and a bit surprised by the fact that Shenmue 2 is (clearly deliberately) the antithesis of S1 in many ways, I think you may be the first person I've ever seen on here who loved the first game and quite so strongly disliked the second.

[Millim]

As someone who never played the first (instead watched my older brother play through it) my opinion is somewhat biased. But yeah, S2 is an excellent game. I agree, it starts off pretty slow and considering the change in direction from the first game, a lot of people may feel a bit disconnected. But I say stick with it. I don't want to give away too much but that final boss sure is satisfying and the whole chapter that comes after it is kind of like a break. In fact, it leads into a conclusion pretty well.

[Rakim]

Couldn't even complete it.. I love Shenmue so much, but this game just took all of the originality and joy out of it and made it absolutely horrible

I would hate to choose, but if I could only be on a desert island with one of them,I would pick Shenmue 2.

This.

The second game is just so much more exciting. Its where the real meat of the series begins really.

phpBB [video]

I remember going to the library and watching this trailer like everyday in anticipation of the release. I would pretend I spoke Japanese and act like I understood what was going on in the clip too.

[ys]

I like how the game takes both Ryo and the player out of his comfort zone. Instead of the simple, straight-forward, easily memorable layouts of Yokosuka, you're forced into maze-like locations with no clue of where anything is, which is how it should be.
...
Hell, you may even just be feeling homesick.

That's what I experienced and I've never had that with any other game where the world mostly feels like a map to walk around in. When I arrived in Hong Kong it felt like : Damn, what now? And when Ryo went to the hotel the first night it felt so "off" and strange in a way. Yu really managed to make players (at least me) feel at home in the first game.

[south carmain]

I'm the opposite, Shenmue 1 felt like a chore at times because well the game is highly based around routine which is something I hate. on the other hand Shenmue 2 really had that sense of adventure and constant novelty, it threw you from dynamic location to location and made you struggle in the process while giving you multiple ways to solve them like either making money tediously but safely at the docks or risking losing it through bets, street fights, arm wrestling or looking for rare capsule toys to make it quicker. these minor gameplay choices you get to make while the game throws issue after issue at you is something I really found interesting and all that just makes disc 4 feel even better, the calm after the constant vibrant atmosphere of hong kong just makes you want to take your time and carefully look at every detail in to what is arguably the most stunning part of the series

[RyoDC]

Agree to an author in some way.
Whilst Shenmue 2 is fun and quite enjoyable game, with great characters and great sense of humour, I admite it much less then the first game.
I kinda agree to a carmain opinion's, yeah, there's a lot of chore in a first game, in a part when you need to drive lifters, but in sense of atmosphere... I think they're just two different games.
First is more lamentable, melancholy, weilful, the second is more dangerous, filthy, sneaky - all that Chinese people that are trying to wind round one's little finger, dangerous and insidious opponents.. First chapter is more naive in some ways, whilst in second you are faced with all the cruel reality.

[Axm]

To all who haven't played the first game yet.. You REALLY need to.
I started with Shenmue II because I only had an Xbox at the time. I started playing that like a year ago, but quit because I felt like I needed to play the first one before I continued.
When I finally got my hands on a Dreamcast I immediately ordered Shenmue. I instantely enjoyed that game more than the second. Once I finished it, which took me not even a week, I then felt comfortable with starting 2 from the beginning again. Of course I didn't enjoy it, because it's almost a completely different game.
If you haven't played the first you desperately need to! It's a must, amigos.

[ShenmueTree]

Only played for a week? Not near long enough to play the first game. Play it again, and again, and again, discover all the intricacies and secrets. BE in 1986 Yokosuka, Japan, BE Ryo, LIVE the moment. I'm just saying, a week is not long enough to explore everything in that game. I've come back to it over and over and am always surprised at certain little things that I haven't noticed or seen before.

[BigTuna]

haha I played it for hours and hours, man.
Been playing it over and over again ever since. Re-playing it now and really taking my time with it. I just wanted to get the story done with the first time cos I was seriously invested. It's the best game ever, dude.