Yes, as by the end of Shenmue 1 you actually CARE about Ryo.
It's not a game for everyone, at its heart it's a pretty traditional, story driven Adventure RPG with some little innovative aspects that make it seem more revolutionary than it actually is. Shenmue is about the overall experience, if you can't cope with shitty controls and dodgey graphics it's not for you, if you can't see past the HORRENDOUS american voice acting that plague Shenmue and the Xbox version of Shenmue 2, it's not for you.
There shouldn't be TOO much wandering around, I'd played the original at that point so I knew exactly how the game worked, maybe if you jump straight into Shenmue II it's harder to work out. But please, bare with it for a bit longer, it's worth it. If not, get the original on DC and the sequal on DC as well as it is much much better.
( Edited on 26.04.2006 15:33 by Brenda )