Yeah, I agree. In 2 it's a bit more understandable, but I was actually surprised when I first played it and saw it... I thought it had no place in the game. It's an quality-of-life thing, sure, but personally, I think it sort of waters down the thing a little bit.
If I remember correctly, the first time I played Shenmue 2 I actually refused to use the time skip feature because I thought it was sacrilege in a game like Shenmue. My opinion on that 'softened' on further multiple playthroughs though lol.
I'm happy they're not including it. To be honest, even the 'save anywhere' function isn't all that important in Shenmue 1. The experience is cozy enough to where it honestly doesn't matter, IMO.
On one hand, choice is never a bad thing. Then again, Shenmue is smaller in scope, and doesn't benefit too much from the feature. I think some new players will enjoy exploring the world that is available. I never used the feature in Shenmue 2.
Welp, that means I'll be skipping this crap. Not buying it anymore. Grrrr, devs are lazy, teeth gnashing, etc etc etc...
No, I'm kidding. Would have been a nice feature, and it is kind of lame that they won't go back and put it in (it's about having options, and having more options is not a bad thing, especially with a game we've already gone through over and over), but oh well. It's still Shenmue.
Eh, I'm fine without skipping time, as it encourages exploration and that's the essence of the first Shenmue.
Retaining the long waits does make a modern save feature essential though, IMO. Sometimes life intervenes and you don't have the free time to get Ryo all the way home or wait til 11PM.
I didn't use it the first time I played Shenmue II, but did on subsequent playthroughs. For me it's a little disappointing that it's not there this time for SI, but it's hardly a deal-breaker. Would have been nice, though.