| Shenmue II | |
|---|---|
 European Dreamcast slipcase | |
| Developer(s) | Sega AM2[a] |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Director(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Yu Suzuki |
| Designer(s) | Eigo Kasahara |
| Programmer(s) | Makoto Wada |
| Artist(s) | Takehiko Mikami |
| Writer(s) |
|
| Composer(s) | List of composers
|
| Series | Shenmue |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure, life simulation, social simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Shenmue II[c] is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega and Microsoft Game Studios. It was directed, produced and written by Yu Suzuki.
Like the original Shenmue (1999), Shenmue II consists of open-world environments, brawler battles and quick-time events. It features a day-and-night system, variable weather effects, non-player characters with daily schedules, and various minigames. The player controls the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki as he arrives in Hong Kong in 1987 in pursuit of his father's killer. His journey takes him to Kowloon and the mountains of Guilin, where he meets a girl who is part of his destiny.
Some of Shenmue II was developed alongside the original Shenmue, which was the most expensive video game ever developed at the time. It was released in Japan and Europe for the Dreamcast in 2001, while an enhanced version was released in Western markets for the Xbox in 2002. The Dreamcast version was not released in North America, where Microsoft secured console exclusivity for Xbox. Shenmue II received acclaim for its story and scale and has appeared in several lists of the greatest games of all time. Reviews of the Xbox version were less positive, with critics finding its graphics lacking compared to other Xbox games.
Shenmue II sold poorly and further games in the series entered a period of development hell lasting over a decade. In December 2006, Shenmue II was released on Xbox Live marketplace for the Xbox 360. In 2018, Sega released high-definition ports of Shenmue and Shenmue II for Windows, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Shenmue III, developed by Suzuki's company Ys Net, was released in 2019 following a successful crowdfunding campaign.
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