I wrote a Shenmue review...

[Shenmueso]

check it out - http://www.juicygamereviews.com/retro-b ... shenmue-go

[SMDzero]

"Hell, the sequel (by far the better game)"

A debatable point which I'm sure is a near 50-50 split among the fan base.

I happen to agree but the qualitative differential between the 2 games is not huge. Shenmue 2 is a natural expansion of SI.. it's part of the same game.

That's why all the QTE's in SI only use A or B while in SII we start using X and Y and then command QTEs, etc.

[sand4fish]

Nice! I really appreciate the fact you actually pointed out with numbers the situation of the Dreamcast at that time. But I really don't agree that Shenmue 2 was by far the better game lol.

[Yokosuka]

"Hell, the sequel (by far the better game)"

A debatable point which I'm sure is a near 50-50 split among the fan base.

I happen to agree but the qualitative differential between the 2 games is not huge. Shenmue 2 is a natural expansion of SI.. it's part of the same game.

That's why all the QTE's in SI only use A or B while in SII we start using X and Y and then command QTEs, etc.

I'm sure if you make try a newcomer, he has 85% of chance to prefer Shenmue II rather the original. The fanbase is completely biased by nostalgia imo.

[MJMW]

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[shredingskin]

I'm sure if you make try a newcomer, he has 85% of chance to prefer Shenmue II rather the original. The fanbase is completely biased by nostalgia imo.

The thing is that both games have a totally different feeling/tonality.

I resonate far more with the tonality of the first game (a little more noir, sad, angstier).

[zema]

In my opinion the second game is superior.

The pacing was better, the setting in Hong Kong and Kowloon was far more interesting to me, the world was much much bigger, the characters were more interesting...

Anyway for me the second game is easily the highlight of the series, and i think some people that didn't like shenmue would enjoy shenmue2 if they tried it.

[SMDzero]

I reckon S2 is better than S1 because S2 really left you wanting more whereas S1 felt more like a contained experience (prologue before the quest starts proper).

[sand4fish]

I'm not biased by nostalgia at all, just very opinionated maybe lol. Here are my points to why Shenmue 1 is actually the better game (for years I thought the second one was better):

The QTEs in the first game are better done, as they act as simply reactionary button inputs during cutscenes (as it was meant to be given the FREE acronym) and they are seemly placed without breaking the flow of the action. But in Shenmue 2 we are introduced to COMMAND QTE, which darkens and freezes the screen in wait for the player's button input and by doing so it breaks the fluidity of the cutscene. The mechanic just breaks the illusion of a continuous action movie take (without actually even providing a step-up in challenge, as the commands are just a matter of repeated button memorization).

The forklift is a far better job mechanic than the ones encountered in Shenmue 2. The fun factor might be questionable (as people already dread at the thought of working even in real life lol), but the crate carrying and the booking airing jobs consist of being simply the same QTE based mini-games found throughout the entire game, like the action cutscenes and the ghost hall building balancing on boards' section. Meanwhile the forklift mini-game in Shenmue 1 is a full-fledged simulator, and even contains a racing game component to it (I'm not considering the duck race in the 2nd game as it's a hidden and totally optional part of the experience).

And at last and more importantly, time actually matters in Shenmue 1. Though not apparent, there's a sense of urgency in the first game that was lost in the sequel. This is thanks mainly because of two factors. The first is Ine-san, the housekeeper, as the game puts her in the role of a time limiter for what Ryo can accomplish during a day. The player is forced to be worried about the time and hurry back home way before the allowed 23:30 everyday, otherwise Ryo is scolded by Ine-san in the following morning. Of course the player can ignore Ine-san altogether, but in doing so you'd be playing out of character (and besides what cold bastard are you to make Ine-san worry constantly about your well-being? lol).

The second factor is that time can't be skipped in Shenmue 1, and that forces the player to plan out his schedule well throughout the day if he wishes to see any in-game progress. For example, the player needs to find a certain NPC in a tattoo parlor during a specific period of the day, but if you miss that time window the game punishes the player by making him waste time (real and in-game) and wait until the next day in order to progress. The game simply makes it important that the player is mindful of the NPCs' daily schedule. But in contrast to the first game, Shenmue 2 presents you with a laid-back approach where the player simply has to be at the right location at his own leisure, and make Ryo skip time automatically until the scenario kicks in. Note that the player can even avoid the "inconvenience" of locating people or places by simply making a random NPC do the job for him. Ryo even has the ability to teleport himself from one location to another whenever he decides to call it a day. All in all, getting rid of the inconveniences and frustrations of the first game also meant way less challenge and immersion in the sequel, which ultimately amounts to a less fun game in the end.

And so these are the primary reasons why the first game was superior IMO .