When Sega’s classic Dreamcast console is brought up, Shenmue is one of the games that is bound to come up in that discussion. The advertised Dreamcast killer app from Out Run and Virtua Fighter designer Yu Suzuki, Shenmue was a major and innovative step forward for the medium as a whole. With Shenmue, Suzuki and studio Sega AM2 created or otherwise popularized many genre tropes seen several times today. With the tone of classic Chinese cinema, Shenmue was among the first to show off a 3D open world environment, focus on the mundane everyday activities, and quick-time events. This combination created a beloved cult classic, with a story that left players with a cliffhanger. Only a few years later, the series would continue with Shenmue II. Released on the Dreamcast in 2001 and the Xbox in 2002, Shenmue II continued the gripping storyline started in the previous game while keeping the gameplay mostly identical. The result is a great sequel that, like its predecessor, was unfairly skipped over.

Shenmue II keeps the graphical style of the original, but moves it to a different setting. While the original was set in and around a small Japanese village, the sequel moves it to the bustling streets of Hong Kong and the mountainous regions of rural China. The attention to detail with the graphics can not be underestimated, as each environment is still packed with an attention to detail rarely seen in games today, from busy nightlife markets to seedy gambling dens. The technology of the game has not aged badly either. While some textures are blurry, some models are relatively low-polygon, and lip syncing is laughable at times, Shenmue II still goes to craft a beautiful looking world on the Dreamcast. This visual quality does improve on the game’s Xbox port, which increases the detail overall, especially on character models, while also providing a higher framerate. But either way, Shenmue II will still provide a treat to the eyes.

Sound is also a fairly polished aspect of Shenmue II. Environmental effects in particular do a great job at bringing the player into the world. Whether it's abundant chatter in an Aberdeen market or the electronic music of an arcade, Shenmue II does an excellent job at making every environment feel real, in contrast to many open world games where the world feels like a flat land for the player to destroy. On the soundtrack side of things, three of Shenmue’s composers return. Composed by Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yuzo Koshiro, and Ryuji Iuchi, Shenmue II’s soundtrack is once again a stunning, atmospheric, and beautiful series of tracks, with the returning theme song being a strong highlight. But on the downside of Shenmue II’s sound is the English voice acting. The only voice acting option available on the Xbox port, the English voices still seem largely rushed. While Corey Marshall does a mostly good job once again as protagonist Ryo Hazuki, the other voices come off as cheesy or downright bad in some cases.

The story of Shenmue II wastes no time into getting back into the story, continuing Ryo Hazuki’s quest to avenge his father’s death at the hands of a man named Lan Di. Starting as Ryo arrives in Hong Kong in his search for Master Lishao Tao, he soon finds himself digging deeper into the mystery of his father’s death as well as a destiny he is due to follow.

Saying any more of Shenmue II’s story would be a crime, as it continues to be as deep a story as Shenmue before it. Once again full of twists and turns, moments of tense action and calm reflection, and full of interesting characters and mysterious antagonists, Shenmue II constantly has a grip on the player and keeps them playing just to see what happens to the characters next and whether Ryo gets closer to avenging his father’s death. The only issue is the game’s sudden start, which can leave new players in the dust. Thankfully, the game includes a digest movie, which summarizes the major points of the previous events. The ending also suffers from a cliffhanger hanging the likes of which only really matched by Half-Life 2: Episode 2.

In many ways, the gameplay of Shenmue II is not changed much from the original Shenmue. Like the original, Shenmue II places players into a living environment that they are not meant to wreck like other open world games. The crux of the game lies on this feeling, and thankfully it accomplishes this once again. The city of Hong Kong is sprawling, and the player will always find something to do. Getting a part-time job at a pier or gambling booth, buying capsule toys and pawning off sets to make money, going to the arcade to play Out Run or Excite QTE 2, and making money in arm wrestling and fight clubs are only some of Shenmue II’s activities; and like the original game, these are all merely side activities. With the exception of a few parts, these are not required to beat the game. These activities, along with the world as a whole, make Shenmue II feel like a living place and, at the same time, give the player tons of side activities to follow. However, there are several improvements made that make Shenmue II a bit easier to get into. For example, Ryo can now ask bystanders for directions to specific locations, which some even leading Ryo to the location themselves. There’s also the ability for the player to pass time while waiting for more time-critical points, such as waiting for a character to appear or for a store to open, making some objectives less of a boring waiting game.

The rest of the time, the player will be fighting or coming close with the series’s signature quick-time events. Fighting is straightforward, carrying over the Virtua Fighter-esque fighting system seen in the first game. Like the original, fighting in Shenmue II feels great. Mastering how Ryo moves and what moves he can pull off give the combat loads of depth, which is helped by all the moves Ryo himself can learn. While it does take a bit of getting used to, especially when compared to the fighting systems of other 3D fighting games, it starts to feel natural very quick. Then there are the quick-time events, which have since become somewhat of a gaming staple. However, these quick-time events are often difficult. There are many are very fast, but manageable. Then there are others which are sometimes tests of patience that will likely take multiple tries. It can be a cause of frustration at some points.

Shenmue II does have a few other small faults outside of the occasional frustration. First are the controls. Playing on the Xbox, the game defaults to the directional pad for player movement and both thumbsticks for camera movement. There is no option for the more traditional third-person movement system. This can cause some frustrating attempts to move Ryo around corners, even after the control scheme feels more natural. The second complaint comes from the moments where the game comes to an absolute slowdown, as the game all but forces the player to earn a certain amount of money to continue. This does only happen about once or twice through the entire game, but it is slightly irritating, especially when it can be difficult to earn large amounts of money.

But overall, it is quite surprising how well Shenmue II holds up over a decade later. Even after so many games have tried to follow similar gameplay ideals, there are few that still do it was well as Shenmue II. By creating a wonderful story and believable world, and seemingly crafting the game around those two principles, Yu Suzuki and Sega AM2 have continued an amazing series with a title that improves on the original in subtle ways while still being an engrossing and immersive game that still remains a niche classic deserving of such a legacy.