Jade Empire: Special Edition

I never experienced any bugs with this game. I know a lot of people had issues, bugs, even game-breaking bugs, or the game would simply not start for them. I think the GoG version is the best version of the game, but be warned. When it does work though it's an amazing action game, the martial arts aspect is surprisingly deep and balanced with many different fights challenging your mastery in various ways. The choice of which martial arts styles to focus on feels very meaningful and deeply impacts how the gameplay feels. This makes the game surprisingly replayable. The story is hard to surpass. This action game has a better story than most "story-rich" games published in the last decade. The downsides of the game (bringing it down from a hypothetical 7 stars to a mere 5 stars) in my eyes are: The end game railroads you a bit which is an unwelcome change after the very free, hub-based early and mid-game that offers a lot of choice. I know a lot of games do this, but I felt the balance was a bit off in JE, perhaps the game could have used one last hub somehow combining the areas of the 5th and 6th chapters. The new game + feature (Jade Master) is generally fun, but especially the bossfights involve a lot of repeated moves that are hard on the fingers. Still overall an amazing game and well worth at least one play-through!

This is my favorite game. Great story, a vibrant kung-fu fantasy setting, and gameplay focused around learning and combining various fighting styles. The soundtrack is amazing and the graphics, while certainly outdated, hold up even 20 years later. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on Windows 11 at all, but I've managed to run it on Windows 10 without issue. Underrated both as an RPG classic and as part of BioWare's portfolio. If you enjoyed the Knights of the Old Republic games, you will find Jade Empire to be familiar ground. Give this hidden gem a spin if you haven't already!

.... is that it was WAY too short (and that's the only reason it got 4/5).. The music was absolutely amazing, the story was great (though predictable) and there were some really emotionally touching moments. A brilliant RPG!

When I was a kid I watched kung fu theater on channel 17 religiously. So if you like kung fu this game is well just plain fun. :-D

I won't bother about the story since it's laid out in the description. But I will explain a few things. This is an action RPG set in the... honestly I don't know when this is set in, but seeing as though mythological creatures still exist it must be way back in the times of China. The structure of the levels are fairly linear, you come across an event you solve it, you come across another even you solve it. A couple times you'll come into a town where there will be side missions. Combat is kung fu style based, you pick a style and you associate your moves to that style, and they all stem from what karma you choose (good/evil), and you can get friends to be party members along the way. I do believe there is also magic and weapons you can use/buy. What I like: 1: Mythology. I do see some games based in China, but none of them ever touch on the myths that have been a part of that land for thousands of years, and it's so refreshing to see some of that. What I don't like: 1: Story. It's just a product of the times, it used to be cool back when but now it's just predictable. And considering this is Bioware, that's a bit disappointing. Everything else is ok and works fine. Give it a shot if your wanting something different.