II is a much faster game but the classic Shenmue slow burn is there. How much do you like 70's/80's Hong Kong Kung fu films like Drunken Master or Police Story? Shenmue II is that, but in game form.
There is a lot there in Shenmue when you explore but it doesn't use the same rule sets of other games of its type. For instance, in I there is no dialogue tree so you can only ask what or where or who something is depending on the status of the story. But when you're not looking for something Ryo will talk to people about their current life, and you can see how their lives are going as the game progresses. It's done in two modes: 1. Quest mode (asks questions related to quest) and 2. Exploration more (asks questions based on the locale and Npcs lives. There is a surprisingly amount of depth and stuff to be found in I but it's really laid back. The stuff is there to provide a setting and locale, and not to be a playground for the player to have wish fulfillment like other games do. So it depends on how much you enjoy the story and characters.
I suggest playing the DC version of II but IIX is still good. Expect bugs on 360 though. If you want to play the DC version you just can arrr it.
