2 is just as good as 1

They are quite different games but i love them both equally.

2 grew on me but then it switched to Kowloon and at this point I feel like I'm just powering through to get to 3.

Why don't you like 2 as much?

2 is great Ryo hits mainland China and the plot expands right outwards into new grounds i think it was just as well made as 1 if not better, the systems improved and there is more intractable items in the game than in 1.

i may be biased because i did first play Shenmue 2 on classic Xbox and it was the first time i had played a Shenmue game i loved number 2 at the time and then i went back to play 1 later on, i like 1 just as much but it feels a lot smaller than 2 in terms of "Universe" imo.