Style: Video game music
Primary Emotions/Themes: the continuation of Ryo's journey in musical form
Thoughts: Shenmue was/is always supposed to be multiple games. Game one was chapter 1 and this game spans multiple other chapters. I think at this point we can assume that the game's scope is too ambitious for how well it sold. Shenmue III was a miracle that was arguably squandered since it did not conclude the story.
Shenmue II however was made before all of this junk happened. It was back in the glory of the Dreamcast days and none of the 18 years in between games was even on peoples minds yet. But what about the music? How could it possibly live up to the epic that was the first game?
Well in many ways it does not. It incorporates much of the same music that the first game has, but includes quite a bit more of traditional video game music into the fold. The score is has a more epic scope than the original game as we are progressing the story at an accelerated pace at this point.
Is this soundtrack as good as the first entry? Absolutely not. Is it still good? Absolutely. The music continues the score in a direction fitting of the story and by the end of it we actually know what Shenmue means.
The game and music feel like a relic of a long lost time, a game that could only have been made when it was. This and the first game's records feel like we are looking back in time. A time when games were less grandiose than they are today. A period where games like these could be made, a time where someone like Yu Suzuki could create a game that is so unique and get the full backing of Sega. Those times are long gone, and we may never see a game like this ever again.
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