If you've only played Shenmue 1, you really haven't played shenmue, although for the purpose of this video focusing on life simulation, Shenmue 1 is most appropriate. But Shenmue 2 is really nothing like Shenmue 1, and it's pretty much the template for modern AAA games. Shenmue, the story, is broken up into 16 chapters. Shenmue 1 is solely chapter 1. Shenmue 2, by comparison, is chapters 3-6 (with chapter 2 being a comic). You really don't get what makes Shenmue fans go crazy if all you played is Shenmue 1, because all the great story elements happen in Shenmue 2. Shenmue 1 doesn't even introduce most of the main cast of the story. However, the sprawling nature of Shenmue 2, plus the feeling it tries to evoke of being a fish out of water, means the place is much less intimate. Something most people don't know is that every single character in Shenmue 1 has a name and backstory which can be found in the official guides. Shenmue 2, by comparison, uses generated nameless crowds of people. Shenmue 2 is more concerned with building a living, extremely intricate city, than the lives of people. Shenmue 2 attempts to recreate Kowloon, the densest city to ever exist, which was so dense you couldn't see the sky. It was a 24-hour city, so the time limit isn't as imposing. Combat also only makes sense in the context of Shenmue 2, because there really isn't any combat in Shenmue 1. A good chunk of Shenmue 2's plot involves you participating in an underground fighting tournament and moving up the ranks to get information. There are also random fights that can happen with locals and muggers, and you meet a martial arts master who trains you for a bit. And scraping by to get money is a much bigger problem in Shenmue 2, which means taking illegal fights for wagers is an easy source. There is also several spots dedicated to training, which lets you practice and level up your moves. Something they don't communicate in Shenmue 1 is the leveling system, the more you train a move, the stronger it gets and it branches out into new moves. The combat intentionally feels clunky at the start of Shenmue 1 because you're low level. If you train, the combat system becomes as fleshed out as Virtua Fighter. The climax of Shenmue 2 revolves around Ryo mastering a technique he was shown earlier in the game at an absolutely crucial moment while Lan Di watches; prior to that Lan Di paid no attention to Ryo at all as he was beneath him but seeing him do that specific move makes him take notice. They attach actually narrative weight to the moves Ryo learns throughout Shenmue 2, such as the Tai Chi he practices. It's really cool and you become a lot more intimate with it all in that game. It gives life sim depth to the martial arts part of the game that Shenmue 1 lacks. Really, you should play Shenmue 2. It's a completely different kind of "life simulator." It's more like trying to live as a loner in a foreign land. It really should be emphasized that Shenmue 1 is just the prologue. Realistically everything you need to know happens in the very first cutscene of the game. Everything that makes Shenmue, the series, what it is, comes from Shenmue 2. The reason people were so hyped about Shenmue prior to Shenmue 1 was because it was sold as being the culmination of the entire Virtua series of games that Yu Suzuki had been directing for nearly a decade at that point. But the earliest trailers very specifically highlighted this epic, grand story with sweeping cinematics which really only came in Shenmue 2. Also, the $70 million thing isn't true, and Yu Suzuki has said numerous times that the revenue Virtua Racing, Daytona USA, and Virtua Fighter 1-3 brought in eclipsed the budget of Shenmue many times over.
This was such a fun video! I was really surprised to see the low view count when I finished, you absolutely deserve much more attention. Keep it up!
Wait wtf this video doesn't have like 1mil views??? But it's so good aaaaa, thank you for such a wonderful video!!
Had fun with this video great work
342 subs for this level of quality is WILD
If you haven't yet, check out Way of the Samurai. It's a bit different from anything here, but I think you'd enjoy it.
If you've only played Shenmue 1, you really haven't played shenmue, although for the purpose of this video focusing on life simulation, Shenmue 1 is most appropriate. But Shenmue 2 is really nothing like Shenmue 1, and it's pretty much the template for modern AAA games. Shenmue, the story, is broken up into 16 chapters. Shenmue 1 is solely chapter 1. Shenmue 2, by comparison, is chapters 3-6 (with chapter 2 being a comic). You really don't get what makes Shenmue fans go crazy if all you played is Shenmue 1, because all the great story elements happen in Shenmue 2. Shenmue 1 doesn't even introduce most of the main cast of the story.
However, the sprawling nature of Shenmue 2, plus the feeling it tries to evoke of being a fish out of water, means the place is much less intimate. Something most people don't know is that every single character in Shenmue 1 has a name and backstory which can be found in the official guides. Shenmue 2, by comparison, uses generated nameless crowds of people. Shenmue 2 is more concerned with building a living, extremely intricate city, than the lives of people. Shenmue 2 attempts to recreate Kowloon, the densest city to ever exist, which was so dense you couldn't see the sky. It was a 24-hour city, so the time limit isn't as imposing.
Combat also only makes sense in the context of Shenmue 2, because there really isn't any combat in Shenmue 1. A good chunk of Shenmue 2's plot involves you participating in an underground fighting tournament and moving up the ranks to get information. There are also random fights that can happen with locals and muggers, and you meet a martial arts master who trains you for a bit. And scraping by to get money is a much bigger problem in Shenmue 2, which means taking illegal fights for wagers is an easy source. There is also several spots dedicated to training, which lets you practice and level up your moves. Something they don't communicate in Shenmue 1 is the leveling system, the more you train a move, the stronger it gets and it branches out into new moves. The combat intentionally feels clunky at the start of Shenmue 1 because you're low level. If you train, the combat system becomes as fleshed out as Virtua Fighter. The climax of Shenmue 2 revolves around Ryo mastering a technique he was shown earlier in the game at an absolutely crucial moment while Lan Di watches; prior to that Lan Di paid no attention to Ryo at all as he was beneath him but seeing him do that specific move makes him take notice. They attach actually narrative weight to the moves Ryo learns throughout Shenmue 2, such as the Tai Chi he practices. It's really cool and you become a lot more intimate with it all in that game. It gives life sim depth to the martial arts part of the game that Shenmue 1 lacks.
Really, you should play Shenmue 2. It's a completely different kind of "life simulator." It's more like trying to live as a loner in a foreign land. It really should be emphasized that Shenmue 1 is just the prologue. Realistically everything you need to know happens in the very first cutscene of the game. Everything that makes Shenmue, the series, what it is, comes from Shenmue 2.
The reason people were so hyped about Shenmue prior to Shenmue 1 was because it was sold as being the culmination of the entire Virtua series of games that Yu Suzuki had been directing for nearly a decade at that point. But the earliest trailers very specifically highlighted this epic, grand story with sweeping cinematics which really only came in Shenmue 2.
Also, the $70 million thing isn't true, and Yu Suzuki has said numerous times that the revenue Virtua Racing, Daytona USA, and Virtua Fighter 1-3 brought in eclipsed the budget of Shenmue many times over.