Outlaw

Well its finally out (3 days early) after 2 years of waiting, I heard this game is supposed to be 3 times bigger than the first. Mine's in the mail on its way here I can't wait!!! Anyone get theirs yet?

mmconhea

I haven't pre-ordered it, but I want it. I'll wait to hear from you to see if it's worth it. Please keep us updated.

mljones99

I have mine ordered from from gameplay.com. I hope it has shipped (i haven't received a notice of shipment yet)

happypants

I received the game Tuesday and played it for a couple hours. Control scheme seems a little different to me. I'm annoyed that you can't change the zoom feature so pushing up makes the camera go down (e.g. like a flight sim). I'm so used to games doing cameras this way I still confuse up and down with the way it is implemented in Shenmue 2.

You now can buy maps of areas and mark places of interest on the map. Graphics seem a little better. Dialog is in Japanese with or without English subtitles. I recommend "Game Mode" as "Shenmue Mode" displays text only if dialog is not playing.

If you have a Shenmue 1 save you can import it at the beginning of a new game. And if you have lots of toys, they'll come in handy as you can sell them in pawnshops. I believe your fighting stats also come over from Shenmue 1. I didn't have a save so I can't comment on everything that came over to Shenmue 2.

Storyline is excellent and Ryo gets a new friend early in the game (the red haired girl). I'm not going to give any more away!

The game comes on four discs in two CD cases. I guess the type of case is common for Sega Europe cases as the two in this package are the same as the Headhunter case.

All in all WELL worth buying it!

IC_Freeze

so this game will work w/ a vga adapter?

happypants

I don't have one so, no idea.

I'm using the Utopia boot disk to play this game.

happypants

Here's photos of the game:

Box Front

Box Back

CD case front

CD case back

CD 1

CD 2

IC_Freeze

ok thnx, i thought u would have issues w/ the euro version since the pal/ntsc issue exists. do u have a usa dreamcast playing it ok?

mljones99

PAL/NTCS isn't an issue... it gives you the option of how you want to play it.

happypants

Yes, non modded USA Dreamcast.

Here's what I do:

1. Start up with Utopia Bootdisk 1.1
2. Pop disc out when prompted and put in Shenmue 2 disc 1
3. Enjoy!

the_dude8

happypant, is your shenmue II the american version or japanese?? on page 34 of the latest gamepro mag with harry potter on the kover, they reported that there will be no US dereamcast version of shenmue 2.

happypants

It is the European release. I imported it from http://www.gameplay.co.uk. Since it is European (Region 2) you need to use a bootdisk or a modded Saturn to get past the region check and play the game.

There isn't any NTSC/PAL setting. The game automatically senses NTSC and displays correctly.

Shipped to the U.S. it is 31 pounds (~$45 U.S.) I also bought Headhunter in the same order, so it made it somewhat more economical to ship from the UK.

The main difference between Shenmue 2 and Shenmue is Shenmue 2 has Japanese audio dialog with optional English subtitles. If you don't mind reading subtitles, and you enjoyed the first chapter, then I'd recommend the game.

I figure I'll be able to Ebay this game in a couple years and easily get my money back

mmconhea

Anyone know who has the best price on Shemnue 2?

mljones99

gameplay.com is the best I have seen

Outlaw

Thanks for the tips and impressions happypants, so your saying your saved game from US Shenmue 1 will work on the PAL Shenmue 2 then, this is awesome news if its true? I hope it works, on the IGN board some people are saying it doesn't work but its hard to know if they're right over there.

As for the toys, I remember when I first played the toy machine and got a sonic figure I thought it was pretty cool, got a Nights one too.

UncleGramps

I'm not really up on importing video games these days, so maybe you could help me out...

What is the "Utopia Bootdisk 1.1" and how can I get one?

Thanks for the help!

happypants

It is an .iso image, so you need a cdr burner and burning software which can handle .iso files.

Just do a search at Yahoo or Google and you'll find it. I'd post a link but I am pretty sure it would get pulled.

Or, you can buy a DC-X from Lik-Sang which does the same thing.

happypants

I'm now on disc 2 of Shenmue. Weird thing happened when I finished disc 1. Shenmue wouldn't recognize the second disc!

I remembered you can boot off of each disc as you get farther into the game, so I restarted the Dreamcast with the Utopia boot disc, swapped it for Shenmue disc 2, and was able to continue. Whew!

For a minute there I thought I was stuck with an unreadable disc 2!!

The story picks up a bit on disc 2.

tommy28

I saw the first double disk of shenmue for 19.99,

is the first one any good?????

ts

Original Desmond

Shenmue and Shenmue 2 are 2 of the best games around on any system right now

get it, you won't be disappointed

Shenmue 2 marks the end of the AAA titles for the DC

Even though the DC is a dead console, it's game library is still excellent . i just love mine !

Apocrypha

I ordered Shen II and Headhunter from Gameplay last week I am still waiting for them to ship. Anyone order from these guys recently what is the situation on your orders? I am worried that they are not going to be able to fufill this order and I should get these someplace else.

happypants

This is who I ordered from. It took around a week to two weeks after the order was filled for me to receive each game. Both were shipped separately (becuase Shenmue 2 wasn't out when I ordered), but I was only charged once for shipping.

When each item was filled the status changed to "completed"

Outlaw

Mine finally came in the mail today!!!

Its pretty cool, I like the big packagaging and the pictures on the cover are neat looking. The good news is that is plays exactly the same as the first Shenmue (there's a few differences though). The bad for some is that it plays exactly the same as the first shenmue. Unlike the first though, the intro isn't even that long because if you played the first one, you already know what happened and you are thrust into the gameplay right away!

I was surprised how many characters they fit on screen. In shenmue 1 people would fade out(disappear) when more than 4 or 5 people got on screen. In the very first area there are around 10 people on screen at the same time talking to each other, walking, you can even hear their conversations if you get close enough. The graphics are also very detailed and realistic. This game better look really good on the X-Box considering the Dreamcast can put out a game like this. The load times also seem to be a bit shorter than the last which is impressive considering that the number of onscreen characters and size of environments is larger than the first game.

Finally, Happypants how did you get your savegame file from Shenmue 1 to work on shenmue 2? I couldn't get mine to work it said it wasn't found on the memory card even though it was there?

happypants

In my first post in this thread, I said I didn't have a save file to verify if it worked or not.

I checked my inventory later on and saw I had a ton of toys! I think the game gives these to you if you start a new game.

squidget

you US save file will not work with shenmue II uk version. you will need to a)start a new game. which isn't so bad because they give you lost of toys anyway. or b)download a cleared uk version
here you can download directly to the vmu or if you have the vmu serial cable that works too