To FREE! I much preferred the Shenmue 1 method where story progression dictated the music, as I think I've mentioned on these forums a few times.
Found it made the world feel much more seamless, and on top of that I preferred the specific pieces themselves much more than the ones from Shenmue II.
The Shenmue II open world music felt much less ambient and immersive than the original to me, way too bouncy and less fitting I think. Some exceptions do come to mind, like Fortune's Pier's night theme and Thousand White Qr's night theme. But I really don't find the likes of Stand Qr's day theme or Worker's Pier's day theme to be particularly great or that well suited to Shenmue, as memorable as the latter now is. (It's primarily the
day themes I don't like by and large, now I think about it
)
Yasuhiro Takagi was the sound director for the second game, whereas Takenobu Mitsuyoshi had that role for the original, so I assume that played a part. I guess it's the "synthy chill" pieces that were very distinct in the original game, that often seemed missing in the sequel. Hoping they'll go for that in Shenmue III, but I have my doubts. Especially with Yu Suzuki talking of possibly no new music being composed for it!