Shenmue I & II (2018)

Great game. About as close to a five stars as can get, but some things do hold this game back. Several things would be nicer to be fleshed out. The main one I think is how there are TONS of shops but you cannot actually buy things from most of them (similiar to GTA 4) and the ones you can buy generally have only a little bit in them.

This is not a vaporwave simulator! And don't suggest it is and make Mr. Yukawa Cry!

It might seem like a small thing, but the many empty shops/filler buildings are probably the biggest flaw in shenmue 2. It just makes the gameworld feel a bit lopsided at times and bust up the sense of immersion compared to a real seamless feel for the presence of everything in the first (The fact it is like this is the kind of thing that hints at reaching for something that just didn't happen due to budget or time.) In addition to this, there is also really no point to buy things.

The first game gave a real manic feeling of shopping/collecting because everything had a contest of some kind associated tangly-tie-in with it (every purchase got a raffle, every soda scratch off the label for another free soda!) The fact this is all completely missing despite there obviously being a lot of thought put into the presentation of the first is also something I suspect that hints of unfinished game design.

There are also so many NPCs in this that they don't carry the same backstories or observable schedules and foot paths so as to give them that same unique small town feel that magically makes them seem like people (but that is partly due to the setting, but they even boast about the BIRDS having super real AI in the first game, and the birds would behave in similar fashion!) Ultimately, this makes shenmue ii feel bigger in a 'bigger and better' sense but not in a unique/ground breaking sense due to skimping on some of the small details that made the first game so impressive and holistic feeling. I loved twirling things in my hands, or combing through drawers, in direct immersive exploration, but for the most part this has been taken away except in more isolated circumstances involving specific puzzles. Still, despite these complaints, so many of the gameplay aspects are streamlined or improved in ways that are much more player-friendly and accessible. (Overlooking technical age) This feels less like a quirky experimental gem and more like a modern game.

However, the game adds new bits that are nice and features a bit of somewhat Kojima-esque silly fun:
Manic Street Pachinko!
Bumbly Carry Crates!
Slavishly airing out the books!
The occasional not paying rent and a general lack of showers!
Catching Leaves!
Shopping for the perfect pet bird in Mega City One (well kind of)

There is a certain art in taking the idea of a mundane activity and implementing them or presenting them with a certain light within the context of media in such a way, so as to make them interesting or amusing, and this game is every bit as good at that as the first in that sense. And I absolutely love it.

The game has limits and rails, however. And the big bustle of the city often did get me reaching in such a way that I began to feel them as a player. But despite not being able to sit down in Kowloon Walled City to sip oolong tea with a talking parrot on my shoulder asking questions to passing NPC's, In the end this was what I expected it to be: Ryo's big vacation in a big(ger) adventure-game in the big(ger) city. Fun to look around and explore and chip away with progress without needing any kind of gamefaq.

And, just like the first game, NPC interactions are wonderful. I absolutely love the way these games let you talk to NPCs and ask them for random quest-advice, and in a way that doesn't feel too unnaturally robotic in some janky Bethesda way. So far, I have yet to play a game that bothers to implement or emulate this idea the way it's done here, and I would think it would be a standard by now.

The final observation is the ending of this game. And the final closing segment which leads to it. The final act is a very unique part of the game, (perhaps the best part of it because it feels quite fresh despite the simplicity of it). However, I feel both Shenmue I and II are both adapted from a particular movie-like formula and presentation, and that the narratives are modelled off them. Accordingly, in this sense the pacing of the final segment is quite a bit off due to it's unusually long length, considering how the previous act is a climactic roof top battle. This isn't bad, its just very odd and suddenly does not feel like the Action/kung-fu movie you have been playing.

I cannot imagine waiting 20 years for a third game that continued this very mysterious story. My condolences to those who did. That is kinda rough!. :o