Shenmue II

[burgundy]

Originally posted by Jeremy
A couple of them told me that they didn't want to post in this thread, because they didn't want to have to catch shit for actually liking a review of mine. Another person I told to just not reply, since I didn't want to see anyone but me catch flak for my review.

I thought his Brita review was pretty fucking hot. Wanna make something of it?

Originally posted by AFX
That's funny on so many different levels.

I'm not seeing any of them.

[Omni]

Interesting turn of events...

[Brisco Bold]

What's so interesting? What turn of events? Same shit, yo.

[Omni]

By "interesting" I meant "totally predictable."

Though I did find the "Just because I don't use your criticism doesn't mean I don't THINK about using it" comment totally hysterical. And pathetic.

[Frogacuda]

Jeremy, a bit of advice. I don't want to insult your writing, but you write to be informative more than entertaining, which, despite what Stibbons and MVS say, is fine, really. But you choose the worst fucking subject matter to do it.

I don't want to read a superfical rundown of Shenmue II. Like most people on this board, I've already played it. 3 times. Since the goal of this review is not to entertain me, nor to provide me with some insight I might have missed, it's difficult for me to sit through, because you aren't telling me anything I don't already know. Your Mean Bean Machine review was another fine example of a compotent, but superficial run down of a game I've already played to death.

I'm not a particularly good writer, but when I post reviews here, it's usually games people haven't played to death. Look at what I've reviewed here. Night Raid, Internal Section, Tales of Phantasia Remake, Hajime no Ippo. I can get away without a colorful writing style because I'm writing about games that people don't know about but might want to.

Try it, you might have a better reception. If this was a Wild Riders review and not a Shenmue II review, I'd probably have hung on every word instread of trudging through it.

[Jeremy]

Thanks Frogacuda, but I have a feeling these guys simply don't like my reviewing style, and as such, I will now be writing TWO versions of reviews to be posted on these boards, one with my usual writing style, and one for those who don't like my usual writing style. With that said, here's my redone review for the game, which I hate even more than my original review of it, although I did touch on a point in this one that I didn't get to in the original review.

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Shenmue II was one of my most anticipated games of all time, and I was devastated when I first heard it wouldn’t get a U.S. DC release. Thankfully, Microsoft stepped up to the plate and released the game for the Xbox. They did a fantastic job by all accounts, and even added in some little features that weren’t in the DC versions of the game.

The first really notable thing they added in was a snapshot feature, which lets you take hundreds of photos throughout the game’s three chapters (Hong Kong, Kowloon, and Guilin.) Each chapter features plenty of areas and moments worthy of being saved, as well as snapshots that are required if you want to unlock some hidden stuff. MS also saw fit the add some odd looking graphical filters for the game. These things are pretty worthless, and will probably wear out their welcome after the first use. Thankfully, the graphics received a bit of a tune-up, and while the game still shows the effects of being a DC game on the Xbox at times, it’s still quite a stunning game visually.

Shenmue II’s gameplay is a lot like the first, only with more of everything. There are now more free battles, and more QTEs, as well as more complex QTEs, the addition of more Sega arcade games is a nice touch as well. A nice addition from the prequel is more time-saving functions. In the first game, the most you could do to save time was select an area to go to from your house, now you can do a version of that, and be given the option to automatically wait for certain events to occur. While this isn’t a feature I use all that often, if you found the original Shenmue to be a bit mundane, you’ll love it. Also, if you enjoyed the toy capsules in the first game, you’ll be happy to find out that there are now many more of them as well, with the highlight being a Rent-a-Hero toy capsule that will rock your socks even more than the Opa-Opa one.

Shenmue II’s controls are pretty much identical to those in the original, barring the black and white buttons being used for the graphical filters and the snapshot feature respectively. What this means to you as a player is that you’re in for a game with very tight controls. The responsive controls are important due to the many QTEs and free battles you’ll be in, and make progressing through the game quite a joy.

As stated earlier, the graphics show signs of being a DC game, like in the poor looking suits many characters wear. Despite this problem, the game still looks fantastic due to so many things looking breathtaking. It’s the little details that rule the roost in this game visually, and the main graphical stuff isn’t too shabby either. Textures has been smoothed out from the DC versions, and slowdown has been reduced quite a bit as well.

Shenmue II’s sound pales in comparison to that of the original. While the sound effects are still fantastic, the music featured in the game isn’t nearly as memorable or as good as the original’s.

In the end, Shenmue II is a game that can appeal to a broad range of gamers, while still offering different reasons for that appeal with each person who plays it. This is one of the things that makes Shenmue II such a rare gem in gaming. The game delivers on nearly every level, and is quite a satisfying game to see to completion.

[burgundy]

Much better. I don't think you had to pare out quite so much information (you were trying to reach an artificial word limit, so that's fine) but you're writing here is much more efficient. It's still not compelling (but it doesn't really have to be) and there are still a few trainwrecks like

In the first game, the most you could do to save time was select an area to go to from your house, now you can do a version of that, and be given the option to automatically wait for certain events to occur.

and

Despite this problem, the game still looks fantastic due to so many things looking breathtaking.

but on the whole you do a better job just saying what you have to say.

[Jeremy]

I defintiely could have fit more in, since it's still 300 words under the limit after counting them up. I just posted whatever the hell I had after rewriting it from scratch.

Thanks for the feedback, Burg. I'm not happy with either review of the game, but I'd rather go with the format that gives me the most freedom to express my opinion without a limitation than one where I'm inherantly limited in what I can say. Despite that, all future reviews by me posted here will be done in both a regular and shortened style. I figure, it defiitely won't hurt my writing, and can help more folks decide if a game is right for them, so everyone wins.

[sleeve]

Excellent work. I'll return later today with an edited copy.

[Jeremy]

Thanks for the feedback, sleeveboy. I look forward to seeing the edited copy and improving upon further reviews.