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Hands On: Shenmue II

http://xbox.ign.com/articles/360/360328p1.html

Quote:

When Shenmue first arrived on Dreamcast, it was promoted as just the first in an epic series that could span four to six massive games. The original was really just a prequel to the true adventure of Ryu, a young man looking to avenge his father's death. Shenmue II was always meant to be the beginning of Ryu's journey, with the first installment there to help ease gamers into Ryu's world. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast went the way of the Dodo and the sequel to Shenmue only managed an appearance in Japan and Europe. Finally, American gamers will be able to join Ryu on his journey of revenge. Gamer's unfamiliar with the original need not worry. Shenmue II will have a short recap of the first Shenmue. The real adventure begins now, and hopefully there will be several Shenmues to come.

The story thus far
Shenmue begins with the murder of Ryu's father by a mysterious man named Lau. Ryu, young and inexperienced, sets out to find the truth about Lau and his father's death. Along the way, Ryu hones his martial arts skills, discovers Lau's desire to rule the world, and leaves his home in Japan for the island of Hong Kong.

The demo
Shenmue II is a deep, interactive world where almost every cupboard and door can be opened and every person can hold a conversation. Though AM2 would like to call it a "FREE" game, it is still basically an RPG. Which is good, because the Xbox is in need of a few and Shenmue looks be a quality title. There are two things in Shenmue II that stand apart from other RPGs -- Quick Time Events (QTEs) and the fighting engine.

QTEs
Quick Time Events are used much more heavily in Shenmue II than in the orignal. Players watch the game in action and much press buttons as they flash on the screen. In the demo, the QTE was a large fight in an alley with several thugs. Hitting the button within a second or two of it flashing on screen offers a positive action, while pressing the wrong button or mistiming the action leads to something negative. For example, the button may flash B and if the B button is pressed in time, Ryu will dodge the swing of a fist. However, if the wrong button is hit, the punch will connect, sending the QTE down a slightly different path.

Most QTEs are not fights, but can be chases or other actions. The QTEs were far too few in the original Shenmue and need to be much more frequent in the sequel, which they appear to be. Failing a QTE doesn't cause something negative in the game. Instead, you get to retry it most times. At least, that was how the first Shenmue worked and how the demo worked as well.

Fighting engine
The fighting engine is real-time and fluid like any good 3D action-title. Ryu can learn new combos or buy scrolls with new moves on them. Ryu rarely fights one on one and is often crowded by others. This requires gamers to learn to block and position themselves properly. The fighting is much smoother than in the original and more enjoyable.

Graphics and sound
Shenmue II looks better than its Dreamcast incarnation, but not enough to make it really next-gen. The game looks good, but could have done more with the power of Xbox. The music remains incredible within the game and from what little was heard of dialogue, it seems the voice-overs won't be as stiff as the original.

Screen shots (some look bad, because of the glare):

Shenmue II Trailer running on Xbox

From those screens at least, it doesn't look much improved over the DC version, which was hella good to begin with.

But have they added anything since the DC version, or is it the same game?

Quote:

Originally posted by gekko
From those screens at least, it doesn't look much improved over the DC version, which was hella good to begin with.

But have they added anything since the DC version, or is it the same game?

I believe the graphics have been pumped up a little bit, and the sound improved for the Xbox. But nothing really major mentioned.

Oh yeah, thanks for replying to all my Xbox E3 topics gekko. Unfortunately no one else seems to have much interest.

Well when 50 million Nintendo things go on, you can't expect them to.

They are all having good shows this year, unlike last year where Xbox sucked ass. Hmm... wonder if they got CT3 setup...

Quote:

Originally posted by gekko
Well when 50 million Nintendo things go on, you can't expect them to.

They are all having good shows this year, unlike last year where Xbox sucked ass. Hmm... wonder if they got CT3 setup...

I hope you mean Crazy Taxi 3...

In any case it will be at E3, just no information on it has been released.

Ya, I meant Crazy Taxi 3. I've read quite a bit about it. I just want to know if it's as good as the last 2. Been waiting years for this.

I couldn't see any real differences between these screens and Shenmue I, but I can tell that the faces are much more detailed. Once I get an XBox, I'm definetly picking this one up since I couldn't get a hold of a DC copy.

Haha, I already completed this game. Even in japanese it was great.

Those first few shots are from disc 1 and 2. Then we have some nice pretty 3D renders thrown in. And then those other shots are from right near the end of disc 3.

Trust me guys, if you played the first Shenmue then you really want to get this. It reveals so much more about the storyline about Lan Di and why he killed your father. You find out more about the mirrors. You also find out who the person your father killed was.

Oh and for the record, the guy aint called Ryu (thats the bloke from Street Fighter) he's called Ryo, get it right.

I'll post again when I have seen the video.

Well I have seen the video and the graphics are of the exact same standard as the Dreamcast version from what I can gather. Not surprising really since Shenmue is the most graphically superb game on the market IMO.

There are points of game slowdown and you cant see people and objects in the distance, they kinda fade in on the Dreamcast version. The X-Box will probably go some way into remedying this I would imagine.

Quote:

Graphics and sound
Shenmue II looks better than its Dreamcast incarnation, but not enough to make it really next-gen. The game looks good, but could have done more with the power of Xbox. The music remains incredible within the game and from what little was heard of dialogue, it seems the voice-overs won't be as stiff as the original.

Twat, thats bias fanboy crap IMO. Disagree if you wish but I think that is a completly stupid comment. I agree however that the voice acting could be imperoved in places.

Oh and that press release calls Lan Di, Lau (thats a guy from Virtua Fighter) ????

TWAT???? LOL!!!!:D :D :D :D

Ric, I think that term has a COMPLETELY different definition in Australia than it does in the US!!!

LMAO!!!!:eek: :D

As for Shenmue 2, I really couldn't care less if the graphics were a little better or worse here and there. What made this game great was that it was so completely immersive. It started out slow, with you answering a lot of questions (which got annoying I'll admit), and then slowly built to fever pitch of action and intrigue.

It takes a level of commitment that I have never experienced in a game before, and thats a good thing.

I can't wait for this game to be released.:D

Oh ya didnt think of it like that, over here twat has a multiple meaning, if you call someone a twat basically you are just calling them an idiot or a moron. Then theres that other meaning :stud:

Oh and for the record whoever was fighting the 'Men In Black Suits' in that video is crap at fighting. My skills as Ryo could kick their arses.

Quote:

Originally posted by Ric
Oh ya didnt think of it like that, over here twat has a multiple meaning, if you call someone a twat basically you are just calling them an idiot or a moron. Then theres that other meaning :stud:

Oh and for the record whoever was fighting the 'Men In Black Suits' in that video is crap at fighting. My skills as Ryo could kick their arses.

Sure sure..:rolleyes:
You would do alot of things wouldn't you?? But your not at E3 and you don't have an Xbox. :p

Oh man I want to play this game so bad( that Panzer Dragon)...but I don't have a money to buy an Xbox yet...in fact I'm broke :(

Oh well this always makes me feel better

*Kicks Ric in the nuts*
hahahahaha

Ok then what I mean is, in Shenmue you could pretty much win every fight py pressing L and A and doing that kick. In Shenmue 2 most opponents appear to learn your tactics so you have to learn lots of different moves. Dodging outta the way helps a lot aswell. Shenmue 2 greatly improves your skills as a player IMO. And it did mine, especially when fighting... well wait till you get to Kowloon on disc 3 thats all I am saying.

Oh and before I forget,
*kicks fingersman in the balls*
*knees him in the face*

Muh huh huh huh huuuuuuuuuu.

If Sega can't make the X-Box version of this game look a lot better than the DC version... there is a serious problem.

I guess Ric was right before, I just overestimated Sega... makes me wonder how all Sega's Other rehashes will look.

No no no, what I mean is Shenmue looks damn good as it is, I don't see how it can be improved graphically that much, perhaps better textures could be introduced and there wont be the game slowdown in places. Also as I mentioned earlier the objects in the distance fading in and out, perhaps an X-Box would give the game more depth, allow you to see further if you get what I mean.

Also you have to remember this is a reasonably quick port, translating language and voices is all they have to do for the game, I dont think they would try to improve it graphically, probably have to wait for Shenmue 3 for that, however when you play the game you will see that it is a graphical masterpiece anyway. (Except for the few things I mentioned if you want to be pickey.)