I can't express the greatness of the Shenmue series. (Spoilers inside)

[gamevet]

Originally posted by MajinRyu
Imports or Copy games don't load in my DC

Sorry, I did'nt realise you were from P.R. Are the DC's in your country made in the US? If they are, you can use a Gameshark, or one of those region lock out diks to play imports.

[Punky Skunk]

Or do we have to agree on everything and make this all happy happy land?

Or when you see a topic clearly expressing a more positive viewpoint, you would say to yourself, "self, I disagree, but there really is no point in inserting a two sentence opinion just to be contrary." It really does wonders for reducing mindless clutter.

[MajinRyu]

My friend try with the Utopia disk [don't know if that is the name] and didn’t' work... he bring games that is suppose to load without boot disk and didn't work neither.

My DC refused to play imports and burn games; I find that pretty cool and because of my patience when I go and buy my US copy of Shenmue II, it will come with the DVD movie

[Regus]

After finishing the first one I felt some what dissapointed, but only because I allowed myself to get swept away by the hype and was expecting something huge. I did have a hell of a time trying to get high scores on the online world rankings.

I borrowed part 2 off of a friend a few months back. I tried to play it, but I got side tracked by GTA3 and some other stuff, so the game just sat there unplayed.

[Saint of Killers]

Originally posted by Rob
Or when you see a topic clearly expressing a more positive viewpoint, you would say to yourself, "self, I disagree, but there really is no point in inserting a two sentence opinion just to be contrary." It really does wonders for reducing mindless clutter.

Instead, if you disagree with the topic of the thread, you should create a whole new thread to discuss your viewpoint. No one should actually disagree with anyone in a single thread. Much less clutter that way.

[taloony]

Hmm. I miss a few hours and see what we have? Some people like the game, some don't. So what if you're either.

And no, we can't agree on any one game. The "Can we agree on one game?" thread should tell us all that.

[Punky Skunk]

Instead, if you disagree with the topic of the thread, you should create a whole new thread to discuss your viewpoint. No one should actually disagree with anyone in a single thread. Much less clutter that way.

Or just go on to something more positive, like eating another bag of Dorritos. The "what's wrong with Shenmue" arguments were run into the ground a year ago.

[Maikeru]

I know that Shenmue 2 is much better than Shenmue 1 but for some reason, despite all of Shenmue 1's flaws, the great atmosphere and the bustling streets of Dubuita made it fun to play, I loved the forklift races too, those rocked! Shenmue 1 will always have a place in my heart because I have such great memories of playing it, I guess I like it as much as Shenmue 2 in a way simply because it was the first of the series, and I had an absolute blast playing it.

[StriderKyo]

If anyone doesn't understand, this is why I love Shenmue.

The first Shenmue consumed me for two weeks.

To really get into the game, you have to let yourself be absorbed in its world. Alot of people don't get into that; they keep thinking "yeah, but when do I fight?", not realizing that the story isn't the entire point of the game - taking your time and experiencing its world is. If it's just a name to rush through on your list of "games to finish before X comes out", it probably won't do much for you.

Warning: Now the Spoilers start





The second one was pretty good at first. The city was ten times as big as the whole first game, things happened faster, to the point where there wasn't the amount of "leisure time" the first part had.

Then I got to Kowloon. First off, I've never seen an environment like that in a game before or since. It's simply breathtaking, and freaking massive. And shaking down mob informants with my ganglord friend was pretty cool, too. And towards the end of that city, the series finally began to live up to its promise as a "Virtua Fighter RPG", as you fight stand-ins for Jeffry, Wolf, Pai and Kage, all while learning moves that seem strangely reminiscent of Akira's. That was too cool. But that wasn't what really knocked my socks off.

The game could have ended when you made it to Kowloon. I thought the game did end when I finally beat up the guy who'd been hounding me the whole game in a rooftop scene straight out of Streets of Rage. The characters gather, the story wraps up, things are explained, and roughly a half hour of cinemas with beautiful music pass by, with a setup for the next game - Ryo must travel to the heart of China. He bids everyone farewell, and sets off into the sunset. I sit back, expecting the credits to roll.

The screen says, INSERT DISC 4.

Suzuki didn't have to do this. The DC was dead and all but buried, and a sequel for him to tell more of his story was pretty much guaranteed. All he has to do is pull out the "you wouldn't want me to go work for Sony, would you?" gun and put it to Sega's head. But he did it anyway - adding on another lengthy scenario to an already massive game.

Ryo heads to the Chinese interior. What follows for the next five or six hours was one of the most beautiful and unique experiences I've ever had gaming. For the first time, I felt like I was playing something that had truly graduated from commercial product to genuine, capital A Art.

There's no fighting. You don't even have to do much, really. Ryo arrives by ship in a tiny port village, looking for another village located two days' walk away. So he walks. Along the the way, he finally meets up with Shenhua, the girl who's been featured in all the Shenmue promotional material since the beginning. And finally, the game's story begins to make sense. Suzuki's demanded patience from you, and it's finally paid off. You see why the first game was only the first chapter in a massive story.

Shenhua happens to be from the same village the Ryo's heading to, so she accompanies him on the journey. It's a two day walk, and you do it all in real time (according to the game's time structure). The view through the mountain path is gorgeous - so much so that I walked the whole way rather than run, just so I could enjoy it. As you walk, you converse with her (deciding what to talk about as you go) and as they travel and stay in a cave overnight, slowly you can see Ryo begin to fall for her. Since you're the one talking to her, you can't help but do so too.

No gunfights, no karate, no cg cinemas, no powering up, no platform jumping (okay, maybe a little), no Solid Snake "love on the battlefield" ridiculousness. Just a natural building of bonds between two characters who begin to feel completely lifelike in this decompressed storytelling structure. You've just spent four hours walking through a forest having a conversation with a videogame character, finding out just about everything there is to know about her life, and you've enjoyed every minute of it.

Finally, you reach the village. Finally, you discover what Shenmue means. Finally, you see just how freaking beautiful Dreamcast graphics can really look. And finally, you understand why Ryo was so disinterested in Nozomi, and why he never got together with Joy. Ryo and Shenhua are fated to be together, as they were in a past life - she can be his only love. The real power behind the two mirrors is revealed, and you know why his father died. And then the story really starts to get interesting, throwing in a curve or two you wouldn't have expected from this world Suzuki's spent so long building up...

...and the game finally ends. Say you're not into the game's pace. Say you're not into the thoroughly asian theme. But don't try and tell me Shenmue II isn't a landmark in game design. Don't try and tell me it doesn't shatter the boundaries of established videogame storytelling styles and expectations. Whenever part III finally comes out, whatever system it's on, I'll be there, day one.

[Yamcha]

That was beautiful dude. In light of the more articulate respinses posted in favor of the game, I apologize for my previous statement. But I still stand by it. I tend to take Shenmue criticism a little personal since the game means so much to me.

As I said before, I loved the last disc of SII as well. They really had a lot of balls to do it, and it worked out perfectly. The music was perfect, and as I said previously and StriderKyo points out, just talking to Shenhua was more engrossing than most video games I've ever played.

Let me try a little summary of my own here. Remember as the pair enter the cave to rest, Ryo watches as the hawk swoops and glides throughout the beautiful landscape and the canyon, and later a smile comes to your face as Ryo tells Shenhua about your friends from part I: Tom, Goro, Nozomi, and Guizhang. A sleepless night abounds and Ryo heads out to practice Tai Chi under the starry night.

Goddamn, I'm gonna go play the game again right now.

(edit: ughh, I just realized I spelled Nozomi as Nozomo...it was a late night...I think I'll shoot myself now)