This whole video is such a masterpiece, its been 3 years since its release and proud to say i saw when it got released for the first time, still keep coming back. Also the way you explain things and your way with h words are just remarkable
I love how you gave the in-game moments time to breathe so as to let it speak for itself. That line about “The Impossible Adolescent Fantasy” really put into words the indescribable feeling that Shenmue provides. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
Wonderful video on Shenmue 2. Until this day it is the most immersive world ever created in a video game. The last part of the game with Shenhua is the best game level design I've ever played. Loved how you ended the video with Shenhua saying to Ryo; "Let's go. It's this way." The Story goes on...
There was a moment searching on Novaria in Mass Effect, in a space queue in XWing Alliance and going to meet Bastila in KOTOR, are the only other games where I felt like I was there. I haven’t watched the video yet I am still watching his last one, but I agree about the immersion.
Another great retrospective. I still remember being laughed at after returning to school in January 2002 as I told friends that Shenmue 2 was greater than anything on PS2. Of course there’s plenty on PS2 that’s great but not many had Shenmue 2’s level of detail. It’s one of my favourite games ever made. It loses the intimacy and familiarity of the first game in exchange for Jackie Chan style adventure action, but even with the fourth disc epilogue it’s so well paced and engrossing. I’ve revisited it many a time. In fact, last time I revisited it was for the PS4 back in 2018, something weird happened. After finishing it, I was overcome with emotions and memories of all the time that had passed between the time was first released and the present day at the time. It encompassed half of my lifetime, and I thought about all that happened in the world and in my life. And I became so overwhelmed I broke down in tears. While I have my doubts about games being art these days, moments like that give me pause for thought
This and your Shenmue 1 video are fantastic. I am so glad I got to vicariously live through your depictions of playing these games as a shitty stoner teenager, it brought me a lot of catharsis. I think I spent the majority of both videos in tears cuz you just manage to keep nailing exactly what is so so special about these games. I first played these games in 2019, thinking I was just gonna play for a few hours to understand what the buzz was all about, but boy, did I fall head over heels in love. I just finished replaying 1 + 2 last night and I some how feel even more smitten with the series. I grew up with a PS2 and used to regard it as my favorite console, but the love I feel for Shenmue as me reconsidering that haha. I've even started collecting the DC versions of games over their PS1 counterparts. It's been a few days since I watched your Shenmue 1 video, but as I walked through Guilin last night, "Let's make a game with so much love..." kept repeating in my head. Thank you for these videos.
Shenmue 2 is my all time favourite game as well. I honestly agree with every word you said. When my time will come, my brother and my best friend knows that I want to be buried along those two dreamcast cases wrapped by a cardboard. That important it is to me. Just that. Nothing else.
Without a doubt. I think we would have got up to the conclusion or at least close to the conclusion of the series. Idk if we'll see the conclusion of the Shenmue series after Shenmue 3 but Shenmue 1 and 2 hold a special place in my heart. An experience I will never forget and nothing quite like it.
Wow. Phenomenal video. Best I've seen on Shenmue all these long cuts and personal musings really encapsulate the experience of playing this game in those halcyon days. Pack of dog eared King skins in the last remnants of the analogue era. Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was heaven!
I bought Shenmue II on launch day on the Dreamcast, the only game I've ever bought on launch day in my life. I was such a huge fan of the first game & remember seeing Shenmue II on the cover of the Dreamcast sometime in October/November of 2001 & thought to myself: "Oh it's actually being released" & just read the magazine in the shop & wrote down the release date from the magazine. I think it came out sometime in November, I was also at 6th form at the time, but wasn't paying much attention to school, & cared a lot more about video games. I remember waking up at 6 am, I believe it was a Saturday morning to walk into town & buy, not even being sure they'd have it anywhere as the Dreamcast was fast vanishing from the shops at the time, I sat waiting in McDonald's from like 7am waiting for the shops to open. Went & waited outside game at like 8.30am, I was the only one there, & luckily they had, got it home again by about 10am & sat & played it for 12 hours that day& then 12 hours on Sunday until I finished it. It was everything I wanted it to be & more, improved on the first game in a lot of ways, bigger, more characters, story was better, probably in my top 3 video game experiences ever still & I'm 39 now, think I was 17 when I got Shenmue II
that trailer brought back memories!!! I had that magazine and remember watching the trailer and being blown away, I was at my local game store the day it came out, expecting it to be sold out, but there was loads of copy's, I was abit younger than you cuz I'd not discovered resin by then.
I didn't grow up with these games nor the period. I struggled to really appreciate Shenmue I when first going through it in around 2017, at the age of 17. Then I played Shenmue II, I was absolutely floored. Even with everything that has come since, when getting off the pear and wandering in to town, quarter after quarter, I was shocked at how far the game kept going. Every time I thought "alright this must be it right ?" Hong Kong got even bigger. Another thing I loved about the game, despite it being old and less detailed than some modern games, I felt that the art direction really conveyed a quite genuine picture of Hong Kong, it felt truly authentic in a way other games have touched on less. To think they put this all on a Dreamcast... I still think about it.
I've really enjoyed your candor and personal stories in these Shenmue videos, you have a really unique, personal and chill style. I hope you get 'round to Shenmue 3 one day :)
Im high as fuck watching this beatiful video i really enjoy the calm tone of your voice and the breaks with music and images. Greatings from Argentina. Im currently playing shenmue 3
Whatever I may think of Shenmue III, I'd love to see part IV come out some day. So many burning questions.... -Will Ryo ever avenge his dad's murder? -Will he (correctly) conclude that revenge doesn't solve anything? -Will we get a completely different ending from what we expect? -If Ryo does kill Lan Di eventually, then what? What would Ryo decide to do with his life afterward? What meaning would his life have without his primary motivation in life? Would he have an existential crisis without Lan Di? -How would Lan Di's own relatives (ex: a son, a daughter) react to Ryo murdering Lan Di, assuming he does kill Lan Di? Would this continue a vicious cycle of hatred and bloodshed between 2 families? I'll even be satisfied if we just get a manga or a novel instead of a 4th video game.
Great comment , I often wonder about these questions too , what does Suzuki have in mind ? God knows.. I always picture ryo walking through doubita again making his way through sakuragoaka and up to yamonose to be greeted by his family.. I see him continuing his dad's legacy of being master of the dojo .. vengeance like you say is ultimately pointless but sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do
These are all good questions. We dont know what Yuzuki has in mind, but there are quite enough hints in Shenmue 1 (Iwao's dying words possibly telling Ryo to just stay home) and in Shenmue 2, that seeking revenge is an evil act and may indeed doom Ryo even if he succees. Shenmues story is quite heartwarming and the characters are quite stray forward, but I wonder if there's room for a plot twist for Iwao actually been responsable for Lan Di's father death. How would Ryo react? Would he start seeing Lan Di as a reflection of himself and what seeking revenge would do to his own soul? We can just wonder, for now.
Though Shenmue 1 echoes with me more, personally, Shenmue 2 is unquestionably beautiful and unforgetible experience, vital part of the whole. Looking forward to the third chapter.
I like to think that S3 never happened and it all ended here. I was one of the few who didn't celebrate when they announced part 3 as I've known for sure that they'll not be able to replicate the magic of older classic games. How did I know ? Too much time had already passed. Because it never works this way in music or movies. Many bands try to replicate their best classic albums but all fail to do so, especially after 20 years gap. No movie remake of older classic film was any good too.
After playing the recent "most epic realistic game eva" Starfield I had a desperate urge to play Shenmue II again and I did. And wow, oh my god. It's actually insane how much more epic and realistic Shenmue 2 is than something like Starfield or CP2077. And bearing in mind it was the year 2000 it blows my mind even more. In fact S2 just never fails to impress me even after all these years. Great great video you made I watch it again and again sometimes. I'd love to see a part 2 with even more in depth analysis of why it's so special
I just beat the Kowloon part. Omg it was amazing. The graphics looks super cool, a little too much quick time events but other than that was epic epic epic!
Iove your videos and this one especially. Shenmue 2 is my favorite game of all time. It was also my first shenmue and I got it around launch in 2001 when I was 16. The thing is the game was sold out everywhere here in the Netherlands. So I could only get a copy in the 2nd badge a week later, but during that time I got to borrow the first 2 discs from a friend who was already at disc 3. Rarely has a video game ever gotten me in such a flow. I would like to argue the best way to play shenmue today though. I use berharbros vga box with hdmi to vga converter of the highest quality and and Marseille mcable hdmi. It adds post processing anti aliasing. I then play it on my 77 inch oled lg g1 tv which has insane levels op up scaling older materials. The only thing you still see is the lack of mit mapping. However on an old crt several things go missed, or unnoticed. Most notably the insane lighting this game has during the nights and especially inside the buildings.
I was 16 when I played the first game. It'll always stay with me. Thanks very much for watching. We'll have to agree to disagree on that one! Haha. I do think you can make it look really nice on an OLED, but the assets just don't really hold up on such a massive, high resolution display. I think on a good CRT, in RGB of course, you "miss" detail that isn't actually there in the first place, but the texture and tone (and the lighting) is retained. Have you played it on a CRT with an RGB scart lead? Makes a hell of a difference over composite/RF.
@@retromuel yes. I have always played it on rgb. My first time in vga was in 2011. I now use an Marseille mcable from my g1 77 inch oled. It has to be seen to be believed.
@@drunkensailor112 I use a Panasonic JZ2000 oled. RGB scart upscaled by the retrotink 5x with CRT filters. Oh and black frame insertion for perfect motion. That's my flavour. Still slightly prefer the CRT though!
It's the trailer on the disc from issue 20 of the UK Dreamcast magazine. That's all one long video from 3.30 onward as far as I remember. There's an ISO out there somewhere.
I played one on Dreamcast, and two on Xbox. I don't remember much of two though, so I either never finished it, or just don't remember. I just bought all three on sale, time to play nostalgia catch up!
One of my all-time favorite beloved video games ever Shenmue- Getting to play Shenmue when I was 15 in the year 2000 on my brand new Sega Dreamcast as a memory I will absolutely never forget! It is because of such the amazing and simplistic experience that I got out of it, for the reason it holds such a special place in my heart!! It is far more than just a game! I have only made it about halfway through the second one, but I think I’m going to rethink things and go ahead and finish it!! I did not like Shenmue2 as much as I liked the first one and maybe that is because I didn’t get to play the second one until 2018 when they release the two HD ports for PS4 and Xbox one?
I love the Shenmue series exactly how it is would not want it any other way , but I wonder if Chapter 1 was cutdown and Shenmue 2 was the first game and released closer to the Dreamcast launch if things would have turned out different from a business perspective.
I'm not sure what the track's called to be honest. It appears on the trailer just as you hear it. Dont think it's featured on the OST but I could be wrong. Perhaps someone else here knows?
I believe that song is used for the scene where Fangmei tells Ryo about the orphanage. I also think a slightly remixed version appears on the Shenmue 3 soundtrack but I don't believe it's actually used in that game.
Lovely to here your experience. I think Shenmue was important for me and tied in with what I wanted to be, which is ridiculous really seeing as a full crisp packet will eventually defeat me, I was serious once. I always tell people Shenmue II is best game ever made, but I am excluding Street Fighter II which I count a something different, I suppose it should be the other way around. I loved a part where you couldn’t tell whether a homeless student had given up or not. How many other games make you think these things. I love Star Wars and KungFu films and I do wonder if that makes people more receptive to Shenmue. 12:48 Start a movement for analogue only. 26:59 Yay for Borth and Aberystwyth? and also service stations in my case.
The problem was the lacking sales of the dreamcast. To be successful,basically almost EVERY dreamcast owner would have had to buy shenmue 1 and shenmue 2. That would be impossible, not even super Mario and sonic can get such a share in the market of their own console. The Xbox version of shenmue 2 then had three of four main issues to fight with, avoiding to get good sales. Despit been a decent port with improved graphics,, it were mostly those worst knowing shenmue who bought it anyway. Xbox was more sold in the USA and Europe, and those don't knowing the dreamcast version didn't have any connection to this game.the movie recap was OK, but it's not the same, you don't get emotionality attached to the characters through that movie. Also, graphics weren't that impressive anymore when the game was released, so it lost the wow effect even appearing on the xbox. Plus, market share of the Xbox war rather lackluster. In my honest opinion, sets could have had good sales not giving exclusivity to Microsoft, but raising the game on the PS2, which was the joint on the video game market. Shenmue could have sold millions of copies back then if they'd have polished the game up a little for the PS2 console, and maybe shenmue 3 could have happened much earlier. Another example of failure to give exclusivity to Microsoft, just as Nokia did later on. You can't give exclusivity to a product that is not dominating the market, unless the production costs are low and even low desires still would bring benefits. If she's would have released in the PlayStation, the whole story would've been very different. I'm sure Sony would have been interested to get exclusivity for Sega titles on their consoles
The QTE’s are the absolute worst I have ever experienced in a video game in Shenmue2!! It is the reason I made it to halfway and quit playing the game and have yet to beat it!! It started when you are escaping from that skyscraper motel building with that other guy and you’ll have to jump to another building and it flashes the QTE on the screen and it happens so quickly you can’t even tell what the fuck it wants you to hit?!?! I just could not believe that it was this difficult because I reloaded the game at that spot like 20 different times before I finally recorded the footage and then went back and watched the footage in slow motion!?!?!? It really pissed me off that they would have some thing in the game so brain dead that would so greatly detract from the overall experience when the first one in my book is an absolute masterpiece!! Even with all of its “four minutes here, and four minutes they’re waiting around“ you’re really not waiting around for anything if you’re playing the game the right way-
Are you playing the original or the remaster? They're dreadful in the remaster. About 10 times harder than they were on Dreamcast for some inexplicable reason.
@@retromuel yeah I’m playing the remaster because I no longer have my copy for my dream cast… But it wasn’t this bad in the first one, the second one is just?!?! Unbelievable-
@@turismofoegaming8806 Yeah I mean those particular QTE's were a bit of a pain in the Dreamcast version but generally speaking I enjoyed the others. I do remember making notes on paper back in 2001 to get across those Ghost Hall building ones later on though! The remasters though...wow. I don't know if it's input lag or a bug or what but they were really no fun at all. The sound is also pretty low quality compared to the originals and there's some frame pacing issues on Steam too. I'm not a huge fan of them to be honest.
Just beat shenmue 1 and 2 on my ps5 , last time I played these games was back on my Dreamcast lol
Just as amazing now as it was back then !!
I see ;)
Oh man oh man what a video what a journey. I watch this video once a year one of my favourites i always share with friends. Congrats and thank you.
This whole video is such a masterpiece, its been 3 years since its release and proud to say i saw when it got released for the first time, still keep coming back.
Also the way you explain things and your way with h words are just remarkable
I love how you gave the in-game moments time to breathe so as to let it speak for itself. That line about “The Impossible Adolescent Fantasy” really put into words the indescribable feeling that Shenmue provides. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.
shenmue 2 is why i visited HK.
Me too!
Me three
I wish
Another excellent video. I just beat Shenmue 2 and watched this to decompress.
Thank you so much. Hope you enjoyed it.
Wonderful video on Shenmue 2. Until this day it is the most immersive world ever created in a video game. The last part of the game with Shenhua is the best game level design I've ever played. Loved how you ended the video with Shenhua saying to Ryo; "Let's go. It's this way." The Story goes on...
There was a moment searching on Novaria in Mass Effect, in a space queue in XWing Alliance and going to meet Bastila in KOTOR, are the only other games where I felt like I was there.
I haven’t watched the video yet I am still watching his last one, but I agree about the immersion.
Last part with Shenhua best level design? It was basically a corridor walk. I love the game but I've always felt that last part was pretty boring
@@alex.starostin I agree
Shenmue 2 is a special game.
Best video on shenmue 2 I've seen here. Thanks for uploading this.
Another great retrospective. I still remember being laughed at after returning to school in January 2002 as I told friends that Shenmue 2 was greater than anything on PS2.
Of course there’s plenty on PS2 that’s great but not many had Shenmue 2’s level of detail.
It’s one of my favourite games ever made. It loses the intimacy and familiarity of the first game in exchange for Jackie Chan style adventure action, but even with the fourth disc epilogue it’s so well paced and engrossing. I’ve revisited it many a time.
In fact, last time I revisited it was for the PS4 back in 2018, something weird happened. After finishing it, I was overcome with emotions and memories of all the time that had passed between the time was first released and the present day at the time. It encompassed half of my lifetime, and I thought about all that happened in the world and in my life. And I became so overwhelmed I broke down in tears.
While I have my doubts about games being art these days, moments like that give me pause for thought
Highly underrated channel
This and your Shenmue 1 video are fantastic. I am so glad I got to vicariously live through your depictions of playing these games as a shitty stoner teenager, it brought me a lot of catharsis. I think I spent the majority of both videos in tears cuz you just manage to keep nailing exactly what is so so special about these games. I first played these games in 2019, thinking I was just gonna play for a few hours to understand what the buzz was all about, but boy, did I fall head over heels in love. I just finished replaying 1 + 2 last night and I some how feel even more smitten with the series. I grew up with a PS2 and used to regard it as my favorite console, but the love I feel for Shenmue as me reconsidering that haha. I've even started collecting the DC versions of games over their PS1 counterparts. It's been a few days since I watched your Shenmue 1 video, but as I walked through Guilin last night, "Let's make a game with so much love..." kept repeating in my head. Thank you for these videos.
I can’t believe the moves Ryo does in jeans 😂 Jeans must of been made different in the 80’s 🤣
the south carmain qr. theme as opening was pure bliss.
Shenmue 2 is my all time favourite game as well. I honestly agree with every word you said. When my time will come, my brother and my best friend knows that I want to be buried along those two dreamcast cases wrapped by a cardboard. That important it is to me. Just that. Nothing else.
Wonderful job. I got a bit misty eyed I must admit. I feel that I understand why shenmue 2 is your favorite in the series a bit more now.
Loved both your videos about Shenmue I and II. Brought me back to these days.
Your videos on the topic are simply the best I've ever found. Thank you again to let my relive this wonderful experience called Shenmue.
Thank you so much, Sir. So glad you enjoyed it.
What if the Dreamcast never failed... Man we'd have more of this I bet
Without a doubt. I think we would have got up to the conclusion or at least close to the conclusion of the series. Idk if we'll see the conclusion of the Shenmue series after Shenmue 3 but Shenmue 1 and 2 hold a special place in my heart. An experience I will never forget and nothing quite like it.
IDK if we would still have a conclusion though because of how much money they had to invest into this game...
Definitely have a super impressive dreamcast catalog.
Wow. Phenomenal video. Best I've seen on Shenmue all these long cuts and personal musings really encapsulate the experience of playing this game in those halcyon days.
Pack of dog eared King skins in the last remnants of the analogue era. Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was heaven!
I bought Shenmue II on launch day on the Dreamcast, the only game I've ever bought on launch day in my life. I was such a huge fan of the first game & remember seeing Shenmue II on the cover of the Dreamcast sometime in October/November of 2001 & thought to myself: "Oh it's actually being released" & just read the magazine in the shop & wrote down the release date from the magazine. I think it came out sometime in November, I was also at 6th form at the time, but wasn't paying much attention to school, & cared a lot more about video games. I remember waking up at 6 am, I believe it was a Saturday morning to walk into town & buy, not even being sure they'd have it anywhere as the Dreamcast was fast vanishing from the shops at the time, I sat waiting in McDonald's from like 7am waiting for the shops to open. Went & waited outside game at like 8.30am, I was the only one there, & luckily they had, got it home again by about 10am & sat & played it for 12 hours that day& then 12 hours on Sunday until I finished it. It was everything I wanted it to be & more, improved on the first game in a lot of ways, bigger, more characters, story was better, probably in my top 3 video game experiences ever still & I'm 39 now, think I was 17 when I got Shenmue II
that trailer brought back memories!!! I had that magazine and remember watching the trailer and being blown away, I was at my local game store the day it came out, expecting it to be sold out, but there was loads of copy's, I was abit younger than you cuz I'd not discovered resin by then.
I didn't grow up with these games nor the period. I struggled to really appreciate Shenmue I when first going through it in around 2017, at the age of 17. Then I played Shenmue II, I was absolutely floored. Even with everything that has come since, when getting off the pear and wandering in to town, quarter after quarter, I was shocked at how far the game kept going. Every time I thought "alright this must be it right ?" Hong Kong got even bigger. Another thing I loved about the game, despite it being old and less detailed than some modern games, I felt that the art direction really conveyed a quite genuine picture of Hong Kong, it felt truly authentic in a way other games have touched on less. To think they put this all on a Dreamcast... I still think about it.
@@零時茶 I agree. Shenmue 2 is such a different experience. It has aged phenomenally.
I've really enjoyed your candor and personal stories in these Shenmue videos, you have a really unique, personal and chill style. I hope you get 'round to Shenmue 3 one day :)
Excellent video! Found it through the Dojo.
Pretty much nailed why I think Shenmue II is the best game of all time.
Great video man, great attention to detail and nuance but this should be expected from a person who understands the greatness of Shenmue 👏
Thanks for letting me relive the memories along with you.
Absolutely beautiful video.
Here we go! Been looking forward to this!
Im high as fuck watching this beatiful video i really enjoy the calm tone of your voice and the breaks with music and images. Greatings from Argentina. Im currently playing shenmue 3
Whatever I may think of Shenmue III, I'd love to see part IV come out some day. So many burning questions....
-Will Ryo ever avenge his dad's murder?
-Will he (correctly) conclude that revenge doesn't solve anything?
-Will we get a completely different ending from what we expect?
-If Ryo does kill Lan Di eventually, then what? What would Ryo decide to do with his life afterward? What meaning would his life have without his primary motivation in life? Would he have an existential crisis without Lan Di?
-How would Lan Di's own relatives (ex: a son, a daughter) react to Ryo murdering Lan Di, assuming he does kill Lan Di? Would this continue a vicious cycle of hatred and bloodshed between 2 families?
I'll even be satisfied if we just get a manga or a novel instead of a 4th video game.
Great comment , I often wonder about these questions too , what does Suzuki have in mind ? God knows.. I always picture ryo walking through doubita again making his way through sakuragoaka and up to yamonose to be greeted by his family.. I see him continuing his dad's legacy of being master of the dojo .. vengeance like you say is ultimately pointless but sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do
These are all good questions. We dont know what Yuzuki has in mind, but there are quite enough hints in Shenmue 1 (Iwao's dying words possibly telling Ryo to just stay home) and in Shenmue 2, that seeking revenge is an evil act and may indeed doom Ryo even if he succees. Shenmues story is quite heartwarming and the characters are quite stray forward, but I wonder if there's room for a plot twist for Iwao actually been responsable for Lan Di's father death. How would Ryo react? Would he start seeing Lan Di as a reflection of himself and what seeking revenge would do to his own soul? We can just wonder, for now.
Beautiful video man, really enjoyed watching it!
And another one, thanks again. Will support and read your novels as well, while puffing on a nice Dutch joint.
I'd love to share a joint and play the Megadrive with this guy.
Though Shenmue 1 echoes with me more, personally, Shenmue 2 is unquestionably beautiful and unforgetible experience, vital part of the whole.
Looking forward to the third chapter.
Did you play the 3rd chapter yet? Its been out since the past few years.
Shenmue III wasn’t very good, IMO.
I still play shenmue on my dreamcast ❤
Magical retrospective.
Shemue 2 and resident evil. The 2 games i absolutely adored.
I like to think that S3 never happened and it all ended here. I was one of the few who didn't celebrate when they announced part 3 as I've known for sure that they'll not be able to replicate the magic of older classic games. How did I know ? Too much time had already passed. Because it never works this way in music or movies. Many bands try to replicate their best classic albums but all fail to do so, especially after 20 years gap. No movie remake of older classic film was any good too.
Shenmue III wasn’t very good. I don’t know what they were thinking with that awful “hunger” mechanic.
@@alex.starostin. Shenmue III was garbage, unfortunately.
@@alex.starostin you speaked from my heart pal and what a way sega’s classic era ended with two fantastic games shenmue 2 and sonic adventure 2
After playing the recent "most epic realistic game eva" Starfield I had a desperate urge to play Shenmue II again and I did. And wow, oh my god. It's actually insane how much more epic and realistic Shenmue 2 is than something like Starfield or CP2077. And bearing in mind it was the year 2000 it blows my mind even more. In fact S2 just never fails to impress me even after all these years. Great great video you made I watch it again and again sometimes. I'd love to see a part 2 with even more in depth analysis of why it's so special
Playing the Shenmue games on a Dreamcast with a gdemu is so awesome. I believe the loading is cut in half and slightly better performance.
I just beat the Kowloon part. Omg it was amazing. The graphics looks super cool, a little too much quick time events but other than that was epic epic epic!
Iove your videos and this one especially. Shenmue 2 is my favorite game of all time. It was also my first shenmue and I got it around launch in 2001 when I was 16.
The thing is the game was sold out everywhere here in the Netherlands. So I could only get a copy in the 2nd badge a week later, but during that time I got to borrow the first 2 discs from a friend who was already at disc 3. Rarely has a video game ever gotten me in such a flow.
I would like to argue the best way to play shenmue today though. I use berharbros vga box with hdmi to vga converter of the highest quality and and Marseille mcable hdmi. It adds post processing anti aliasing. I then play it on my 77 inch oled lg g1 tv which has insane levels op up scaling older materials. The only thing you still see is the lack of mit mapping.
However on an old crt several things go missed, or unnoticed. Most notably the insane lighting this game has during the nights and especially inside the buildings.
I was 16 when I played the first game. It'll always stay with me. Thanks very much for watching.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one! Haha. I do think you can make it look really nice on an OLED, but the assets just don't really hold up on such a massive, high resolution display.
I think on a good CRT, in RGB of course, you "miss" detail that isn't actually there in the first place, but the texture and tone (and the lighting) is retained. Have you played it on a CRT with an RGB scart lead? Makes a hell of a difference over composite/RF.
@@retromuel yes. I have always played it on rgb. My first time in vga was in 2011. I now use an Marseille mcable from my g1 77 inch oled. It has to be seen to be believed.
@@drunkensailor112 I use a Panasonic JZ2000 oled. RGB scart upscaled by the retrotink 5x with CRT filters. Oh and black frame insertion for perfect motion. That's my flavour. Still slightly prefer the CRT though!
This video is fucking awesome. I love the personal commentary too - learning about shenmue 2 during a stoned football game.
Any chance of covering Shenmue 3?
Any plans on doing a shenmue 3 vid?
I will make one at some point, yeah. Thanks for watching.
What is and where can the trailer be found that starts at 6:45?
It's the trailer on the disc from issue 20 of the UK Dreamcast magazine. That's all one long video from 3.30 onward as far as I remember. There's an ISO out there somewhere.
great documentary.
I played one on Dreamcast, and two on Xbox. I don't remember much of two though, so I either never finished it, or just don't remember. I just bought all three on sale, time to play nostalgia catch up!
One of my all-time favorite beloved video games ever
Shenmue-
Getting to play Shenmue when I was 15 in the year 2000 on my brand new Sega Dreamcast as a memory I will absolutely never forget! It is because of such the amazing and simplistic experience that I got out of it, for the reason it holds such a special place in my heart!!
It is far more than just a game!
I have only made it about halfway through the second one, but I think I’m going to rethink things and go ahead and finish it!!
I did not like Shenmue2 as much as I liked the first one and maybe that is because I didn’t get to play the second one until 2018 when they release the two HD ports for PS4 and Xbox one?
I'd love to go back in time and visit Kowloon.
I love the Shenmue series exactly how it is would not want it any other way , but I wonder if Chapter 1 was cutdown and Shenmue 2 was the first game and released closer to the Dreamcast launch if things would have turned out different from a business perspective.
best game to play smoking
any chance of a Shenmue 3 review?
Will you be doing one on Shenmue III?
That game was terrible and ruined shenmue completely.
@@drunkensailor112 Much like Alien 3 ruined Aliens
@@FireTiger941 Like how Aliens ruined Alien turning a highly intelligent lethal organism into bugs that run into the line of fire
The Amazon link returns a fluffy dog.
Thanks for the heads up, Bud.
Shenmue and weed is a great combo
With a cup of tea you are lit
Yeh this guy is so relatable. Love it, these shared cultural memories across time and space.
Hey wanted to watch this again, also im about to start editing a Shenmue video on my channel....did you get copyrighted for the music?
Hi. No I didn't although I did get copyrighted for some Virtua Fighter 1 music that featured briefly, strangely enough. Thanks for watching.
damn man I had to replay the end like 5 times, so well written and exactly captures my feelings toward this game as well...
@@OpticLureProductions Thank you so much Man. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's a special game to me and I just had to say my piece about it! Take care.
@@retromuel Yeah you nailed it for sure...and thanks for the info
Best game ever
You get to see Kowloon in game form before they demolished it IRL.
4:15 Where's this song from?
I'm not sure what the track's called to be honest. It appears on the trailer just as you hear it. Dont think it's featured on the OST but I could be wrong. Perhaps someone else here knows?
I believe that song is used for the scene where Fangmei tells Ryo about the orphanage. I also think a slightly remixed version appears on the Shenmue 3 soundtrack but I don't believe it's actually used in that game.
@@havoc7069 that's a very nice song
Lovely to here your experience. I think Shenmue was important for me and tied in with what I wanted to be, which is ridiculous really seeing as a full crisp packet will eventually defeat me, I was serious once. I always tell people Shenmue II is best game ever made, but I am excluding Street Fighter II which I count a something different, I suppose it should be the other way around.
I loved a part where you couldn’t tell whether a homeless student had given up or not. How many other games make you think these things.
I love Star Wars and KungFu films and I do wonder if that makes people more receptive to Shenmue.
12:48 Start a movement for analogue only.
26:59 Yay for Borth and Aberystwyth? and also service stations in my case.
Thank you so much. Hope you enjoyed it. I believe it was Llandudno - it was a very long time ago, so I could be wrong.
I wonder why they didn't release it in north America to try to make back from of their money. Did shenmue 1 really sell that bad in NA?
@@WilfredBrimleyGaming no, it's because the game was released exclusively for the og xbox in the North america
The problem was the lacking sales of the dreamcast. To be successful,basically almost EVERY dreamcast owner would have had to buy shenmue 1 and shenmue 2. That would be impossible, not even super Mario and sonic can get such a share in the market of their own console.
The Xbox version of shenmue 2 then had three of four main issues to fight with, avoiding to get good sales.
Despit been a decent port with improved graphics,, it were mostly those worst knowing shenmue who bought it anyway. Xbox was more sold in the USA and Europe, and those don't knowing the dreamcast version didn't have any connection to this game.the movie recap was OK, but it's not the same, you don't get emotionality attached to the characters through that movie. Also, graphics weren't that impressive anymore when the game was released, so it lost the wow effect even appearing on the xbox. Plus, market share of the Xbox war rather lackluster.
In my honest opinion, sets could have had good sales not giving exclusivity to Microsoft, but raising the game on the PS2, which was the joint on the video game market. Shenmue could have sold millions of copies back then if they'd have polished the game up a little for the PS2 console, and maybe shenmue 3 could have happened much earlier. Another example of failure to give exclusivity to Microsoft, just as Nokia did later on. You can't give exclusivity to a product that is not dominating the market, unless the production costs are low and even low desires still would bring benefits. If she's would have released in the PlayStation, the whole story would've been very different. I'm sure Sony would have been interested to get exclusivity for Sega titles on their consoles
The QTE’s are the absolute worst I have ever experienced in a video game in Shenmue2!!
It is the reason I made it to halfway and quit playing the game and have yet to beat it!! It started when you are escaping from that skyscraper motel building with that other guy and you’ll have to jump to another building and it flashes the QTE on the screen and it happens so quickly you can’t even tell what the fuck it wants you to hit?!?!
I just could not believe that it was this difficult because I reloaded the game at that spot like 20 different times before I finally recorded the footage and then went back and watched the footage in slow motion!?!?!?
It really pissed me off that they would have some thing in the game so brain dead that would so greatly detract from the overall experience when the first one in my book is an absolute masterpiece!! Even with all of its “four minutes here, and four minutes they’re waiting around“ you’re really not waiting around for anything if you’re playing the game the right way-
Are you playing the original or the remaster? They're dreadful in the remaster. About 10 times harder than they were on Dreamcast for some inexplicable reason.
@@retromuel yeah I’m playing the remaster because I no longer have my copy for my dream cast…
But it wasn’t this bad in the first one, the second one is just?!?! Unbelievable-
@@turismofoegaming8806 Yeah I mean those particular QTE's were a bit of a pain in the Dreamcast version but generally speaking I enjoyed the others. I do remember making notes on paper back in 2001 to get across those Ghost Hall building ones later on though! The remasters though...wow. I don't know if it's input lag or a bug or what but they were really no fun at all. The sound is also pretty low quality compared to the originals and there's some frame pacing issues on Steam too. I'm not a huge fan of them to be honest.