Shenmue let me go on an adventure in Japan when I was a kid, and I'll always remember it with love.
That being said, Shenmue is obtuse, strangely designed, and most of the voice acting is terrible. It's not fair to expect Alex or Vinny to be able to engage with it the way a teen did sixteen years ago, so I think folks should take a deep breath and try to enjoy this play-through for what it is -- a chance to spend time with these goofy boys.
I agree 100% with this. The game will always have a special place for me, but I am well aware of its shortcomings. I don't blame someone looking back on it to be disappointed in it.
I'm actually starting to come around on this game. The new stuff is weird to get used to as someone who loved the first one, but once you get into it, it's pretty addicting.
Not sure it's as good as the first one, but hey, it's still a good bit of fun.
For anyone wondering, this game is MASSIVE. You will think you're done several times, only to open up several more levels all the sudden. Not to mention the 6 pages of games you can buy in the shop.
Also there are 'hard' variants of a lot of the early games that are...quite hard. The game gets pretty damn challenging later.
dietomaha's comments