Part RPG, part fighter, Shenmue 2 is mostly an enjoyable adventure.
GAMEPLAY - 8 - The game plays in a third person view and does mix in a few genres. Most of your time will be spent walking around in cities and you can talk to anyone you come across for information. This takes up a majority of the gameplay. Talk to the right person for a clue, get to the right area after that and try to find the next clue as to where to go or who to speak to etc. This may seem boring but I found it quite interesting. The cities are quite alive, with many different people wandering around going about their tasks and a huge variety of buildings to look at or shop. Also, mixed in with this is occasionally a cut scene that progresses the story as well as QTE's, Quick Time Events. These usually happen if you are involved in a chase or a fight. These are the familiar reflex games, as it flashes either a direction or button (and sometimes both) on the screen and you must press it quickly within the allotted time frame. Fail too many times and you'll probably have to start the sequence over, but hit the button in time and Ryo will dodge obstacles in his effort to catch his opponent, while during fight scenes he'll pull off some moves to take out his foes. Despite their simplicity I found them quite enjoyable and a nice break from talking to people over and over again. There will also be times when Ryo is in Free Battle mode and usually he has to take on multiple opponents at one time. I've read the fighting is based on the Virtua Fighter system, and not being an experienced Fighting gamer I still found these sequences easy to understand and control. Also, throughout the cities you'll come across arcades where you can actually play some classics such as Afterburner, Space Harrier and Outrun.
GRAPHICS - 7 - Of course the first thing to keep in mind is that this is an Xbox game, not a 360 one, and it is also a port of a Dreamcast game. Still, the game actually looked better than what I had expected as many reviewers gave the visuals very low grades. The environments are very impressive with a lot of variety and detail. Give credit also to the fact that while in the cities Ryo walks past many different people and from what I could tell all of them were unique. One of the few negatives is that textures can get pretty blurry up close.
SOUND - 8 - Mixed results in this area. The music was very good and I was impressed with how many different tunes were included as each section of a city will have its own theme. Regrettably the game only offers the English translation, and overall it could have been better. Certain characters, including Ryo, tend to speak in a monotone as if they're half asleep. I do give credit to the fact that just as you'll see hundreds of different NPCs you can talk to almost all of them and it appears they used many different voice actors to keep everyone unique.
VALUE - 9 - Unfortunately the game didn't keep a timer so I don't really know how long this game took me to play. I've read that it can be in the 20 hour range and I feel that is about right. You should be able to get this for a decent price. I picked up a copy for $15 and definitely feel it was worth it. The only thing to be careful of is to be sure your game comes with the bonus DVD, especially if you never played the original, as I've seen a few copies with this missing.
STORY, TILT - 9 - Shenmue 2 is a very solid adventure and combined with the first game makes for an interesting story as you follow Ryo's quest. As he travels the street of Hong Kong and beyond he will meet many fascinating and amusing characters. This is a game that requires patience, and without that you should look elsewhere. For anyone that does not mind playing a game that at times can be admittedly slow paced Shenmue can provide a rewarding experience.