Jeesus Astro.. I live in BFE Indiana where we barely get any video games at all.. and if we do it\'s usually Sony products.. and yet I got Shenmue 2 way before you did. What\'s you\'re excuse?? We should string you up and have Altered beat you with a rubber hose. Christ dood, couple more weeks and the Xbox version would be out.
Anyhow.. as far as you points..
This game story and themes moved me in a way no other videogame has done since FF7, Lunar, SUikoden I and a few other compelling rpg classics of the mid or late 90\'s. - Astro
Agreed. The storyline is top notch. In Shenmue 1, it was marred by horrible voice acting which really destroyed the sence of atmosphere it built up imo. In Shenmue 2, you didn\'t have that problem. It was all subtitled.. which I think they should have done with Shenmue 1 also. Hearing them speak in Japaneese really helped set the mood. It\'s like, if they had used some cheese Native American accents for the Souix in Dances with Wolves.. the movie probably wouldn\'t have made such an impact on many people. It\'s a mark of sophistication.. which I\'ll get to later. I guess if you wanna get picky, you could bytch about how everyone in Hong Kong China speaks perfect Japaneese.. but to my untrained gaijun ears, it\'s all oriental sounding to me. They couldda been speaking Vietnameese for all care.
What im getting at is that this game IMO is much more mature than Resident Evil for example. There\'s a lot of "mature" rated games that seem pretty childish to me. Blood and guts, crude language, polygonal breasts, etc doesnt make a game Mature IMO on the contrary these are just gimmicks to attract gamers into thinking they are playing something "mature" when they\'re really not . - Astro
Big knockers, lots of blood, cursing, implied sexual innuendos.. those are marks of a mature game. There\'s a huge difference between mature content and sophistication. Just becaue a game lacks sophistication and culture, dosen\'t mean it\'s appropriate for children or any less appealing to adults.
The number of people u kill in SHenmue 2 is 0. Yup the bodycount is 0. - Astro
Tru.. but how many people do you beat to edge of death? How many people did Ryo probably put in the hospital. Jus because there\'s no death, dosen\'t mean there\'s any less violence in this title. The game just dosen\'t revolve AROUND violence like so many other do. Actually, I was dissapointed a bit in this title since it seemed like fighting was much more a part of the gameplay than the original.
I think this is the first third person adventure/action game where u dont kill anything. - Astro
I can make a list longer than than this thread just of Adventure games where you don\'t kill anyone. And if you do, it\'s simply the finale to the game... and really.. there isn\'t even much action involved in it at all.
I think when u play this game (and few other quirky games) u will realize the endless posibilities videogames could offer. Genres that have never been done before can be made. - Astro
I think Seaman and Samba De Amigo are better examples. Shenmue\'s genre has been done to death actually.
How about a videogame comedy? - Astro
Again, I could probably make a list as long as this thread full of comedy games. Jus off the top of my head, try; The Monkey Island Series, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Leisure Suit Larry Series, Legend of Kyrandia Series, Les Manly Series, Leather Godesses of Phobos, Freddy Pharcus Frontier Pharmasis, Willy Beamish, and the Space Quest Series.
A game where u play a doctor! - Astro
There\'s already been one made. Try the Emergency Room series for the PC. It\'s a game where you play a surgeon and must evaluate patient correctly and administer the proper medication and/or operate on them.
but who would\'ve tought making a fat italian plumber jump into a turtles head would end up being fun? - Astro
Shegiro Myamoto(sp?)
Some more non traditional games are needed and as a 22 year old gamer who has been playing games since i was 2 years old im frankly getting bored of games where A button is to shoot/punch, B is button is for kicks/jumps, etc. I still love these games as much as the next guy but i think people should start supporting non tradional games more so we can really get something new instead of the same \'ol stuff packed differently. - Astro
Sounds to me like you just need to get away from console gaming for awhile. Many of these "new ideas" and "innovations" have been around for a very VERY long time on the PC. Like.. well.. Shenmue for example. It\'s an Adventure/Action game... although a slightly different breed of adventure that replaces item puzzles with dialog puzzles. If you want games like it.. then look for PC adventure titles from Interact, Sierra, Dynamix, and LucasArts. The Zork Series is also a legendary series that should not be missed. Most of the newer Adventure games are hybrids.. mostly with a bit of action in them like Kings Quest 8 (Cough* Tomb Raider in Daventry *Cough) and Quest for Glory 5 (Adventure/RPG). Try the older titles for a more true "pure" adventure experience. I think you\'ll find that even Shenmue\'s realtime day-night/weather transitions and impressive interaction have been done already.. sometimes as far back as the 80\'s or even before.
Oh.. and you should also try CountDown, Martain Memorandum, Mean Streets, and LucasArt\'s The Dig.
BTW: I think that if you\'ll go through and play all those titles, I think you\'ll find that as an adventure game.. Shenmue fails pretty badly. It\'s story line is top-notch yes, but it\'s adventure elements are weak as hell.. and it\'s fighting elements are too few and far between to support the game on. For a console adventure.. it works wonders. As a member of the same Genre as Gabriel Knight, Leisure Suit Larry, Monkey Island, The Grim Fedango, and The Longest Journey.. it\'s mediocore.
Props go to Sega for doing something none of these other companies have been able to do before.. make an adventure game on a console that\'s actually FUN to use a controler with.
