by PILMAN » Wed Jul 29, 2015 9:44 pm
I played shenmue 2 for the first time on release on the original Xbox, however I was playing the game via a coax splitter as I had a old TV that didn't even support composite cables. Even when I had the money to finally use composite, I always noticed shenmue 2 on the Xbox had very muddy graphics specifically the faces and the motion blur during combat. The unnatural bloom at night also made the game sometimes look strange, in terms of the environment, colors were actually pretty decent on the original Xbox.
The only improvements I noticed were Ryos jacket being slightly higher resolution and clearer on the back logo with the tiger, some models did look slightly improved in some areas but most of the faces still have a muddy play dough look to them on the Xbox, water was improved to a degree with waves but the water texture was still pretty ugly, and in other cases, many textures were removed without explanation like some windows, gates, signs, or textures reversed which didn't make any sense, in other cases some additional or different textures were added or modified like some of the doors. I found this strange. I didn't like the shenmue 2 english voice acting, Ryo was fine but otherwise in some cases it was unbearable with some of the extras. It's not that the Xbox version was bad, but in some cases the models look worse especially that play dough face on some characters, I'm also confused why the moon is missing in the Xbox version and why the modifications to joys bike. Some benefits are the better framerate in crowded areas.
Regarding the dreamcast version, I didn't get a chance to play it until 2007, but in my opinion, it is the superior version. While Ryos jacket isn't as nice, I think the textures are more consistent and life like, the Japanese voices I prefer not because I'm a weebo or prefer unrealistic Japanese voices in Hong Kong that I can't understand, but because of the emotion and the original art direction of shenmue II and attachment I have to the voices, they just seem diverse and much more emphasis on the situation occurring, the added textures, and the ability to see what the dreamcast can do is wonderful. Only downside is the number of disks and changing to proceed, and some of the slowdowns. I would much prefer the game on dreamcast or a emulator on my PC.
The Xbox 360 version did significantly improve the game from the original Xbox, but the music was broken when I played it.
To be fair, if it wasn't for the original Xbox, I would have never had a chance to experience shenmue, I had always wanted to play the first game since I heard about it, and I didn't have the money for a dreamcast when it was announced, so naturally hearing that shenmue 2 was coming for the Xbox, I was able to enjoy the game and finally obtain a dreamcast to play the first game.