Jade Empire Limited Edition

Reviewed by thegenrom99 on September 22, 2006  |  report this review

Great story based game. Be warned, this game is more about discovering and exploring the jade empire and less about action.

Jade Empire follows the same principles from KOTOR, but don't expect THAT game.

Reviewed by ebayermog on October 06, 2006  |  report this review

First off, let me say that Bioware did a great job with this game. My review may seem a bit harsh and that I didn't like the game, but that's not true. I did enjoy the game; it just didn't live up to my expectations of what I thought it was going to be.

Graphics
Everyone that's played KOTOR knows that the graphics were not that spectacular. Jade is the same way. The cut scenes are very good, very nice to watch but the overall gameplay is somewhat bland. The scenery is nice in the game and mixes the environment of the storyline well, but certain things take it down a notch. Images are a little rough and the ability to run through monkeys still astounds me. Also, aside from a heavenly area that you explore in the game, everything is kind of bland color wise. Nothing really sticks out.

Learning Curve
Ah, the learning curve. I'm never really sure how to rate this, as many people learn differently. However, I feel that Jade does take a bit to get used to, as far as the fighting goes. When I first started the game, I probably died three or four times through the first three hours of the game, trying to get fighting down. Once I learned how to dodge attacks and flip over enemies, I never died again until the end boss. Once you learn how the fighting controls work, the game becomes somewhat easy, as you can go in for a couple of hits, roll out of the way, flip on the other side of the enemy, and hit them some more, usually killing them.

Replay Value
There is some replay value to Jade Empire, mostly for the fact of being able to choose your path of ‘Open Palm’ or ‘Closed Fist.’ There are many different scenarios that pan out through the game, depending on the choices you make. So, yes, there is at least a good reason to play through the game twice, just to see both sides. Other than that, no, not really -- play KOTOR instead.

Sound
The music blends well for this game. Flows very nicely with the overall environment and gameplay. However, when you get to the end of the game, it seems somewhat repetitive, but nothing that warrants muting the TV.

Gameplay
The cream of the crop in a game. The overall gameplay of Jade is great. I really enjoyed this game and have played through it twice, just to see both sides of good and evil. However, I was expecting the game to have a few more RPG elements in it and it does not. You cannot customize your character's appearance, only the moves and stats you start with. No armor. There are weapons but only two, so that leaves a little to be desired. Many different styles can be used, but I found myself personally only sticking with one, as it takes a lot to get them leveled up.

Your companions that you pick-up cannot be customized, except in one area. You can have them either attack or support. In support mode, each one does something different; such as replenish your health, your magic, and your focus. Overall, I found this game to be much more ‘Action/Adventure’ oriented rather than ‘RPG.’ I guess you

Killer Game

Reviewed by kamino63 on November 15, 2006  |  report this review

Jade Empire is really off the hook. Tons of fun and lots of stuff to do and different paths to take. If you like a martial arts based fighting style with magic thrown in, this is a must have. Definitely worth getting!

It is a good game

Reviewed by redefendini on January 15, 2007  |  report this review

Bad Things:
There is a lot of talking during the game.
Doesn't have a lot of action and when you get into the action, it ends quickly.
You can't swing your sword(s) if you are not in battle, you can't kill people in the streets and you can kill pretty easily your foes.
It shows you a map, but you can only go to three places. You can return to your previous places but you don't have extra stuff for going back.
You have a lot of fighting styles but you have to develope a few and then use them in the rest of the game. The rest of the styles are just a waste of space.
Cheesy ending.

Good things:
The game shows you with different choices from were your aligment chance. Think in Fable. The actions start with a dialogue and then it moves to the actual action.
The game has a good fight system, it's a shame that you can't use it a lot. In the fighting system you can use different martial art styles and different weapon styles. The styles have different strenghts and weaknesess.
Good story and good learnings.

Veredict:
Buy the game, play it and swap it. I you like to play games with constant action I recomend Fable and Sudeki, then if you have time play this one. It's not pretty good but it's not pretty bad. I was expecting more from this game.

Limited Edition:
Only adds a different style and a monk. Plus you can watch the making of Jade Empire and play some demos that aren't compatible with the Xbox 360, yet.

Good RPG!

Reviewed by SonnyBotto on May 09, 2007  |  report this review

If you know who Bioware is or of the Knights of the Old Republic games, than you should play Jade Empire.

Based in ancient Asia, you start out as a student at a martial arts school. You than head on an adventure of a life time.

The story has many twist and turns, but is easy to follow.

Great RPG elements like weapons and learning new techniques.

Once again, if you like Biowares style or the KOTOR series, get this game!

Its not KOTOR and you won't be spending more than 20 some hours playing, but it is well worth it. Especially seeing as it has a great amount of replay value with multiple storylines

Is JE the successor to KOTOR? No, because it basically is KOTOR

Reviewed by ZoraKing on August 19, 2007  |  report this review

Bioware, a nice, smart, good Canadian company that makes outstanding RPG's. In '03 they created an amazing RPG set in the Star Wars universe called Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR for short). Anyways, now they create another RPG very, very, very similar to KOTOR, but simpler and set in an Ancient Chinese setting. So now that you know the how start of the game, let me tell you about it's plot.

The plot, I would have to say is...OK. Nothing great. You start out at a school learning the Chinese battle arts, starting with a basic fist to fist fight with another student, where you learn the controls of the game, involving the three attributes. Anyways, while "Studying", you're village gets attacked back on the beach. You go down there and find out that these guys who are attacking you are part of a giant army, led by your teachers evil brother. (Spoiler: So after your village is destroyed you are sent out to take out this army)

Graphics 10/10
I have to say as a huge fan of KOTOR, the graphics were what disappointed me most. Luckily the game makes up for them here.

Plot 9/10
Like I said earlier the plot is not very grand, but like KOTOR they're hundreds of sidequests and about 9 party member sidequests.

Gameplay 10/10
In every review I say I stink at rating Gameplay, because I do. So I'll just come out and say the gameplay is good and the same rating as KOTOR.

So in my opinion with multiple stories, light and dark side stories, hundreds of items, different chi moves, and the choice of boy or girl, I say get this game.

game

Reviewed by david623 on September 09, 2007  |  report this review

this game is awsome evcept for the fact that u dont fight enough after level three