Jade Empire: Special Edition

Don't buy this on Steam, buy it here, the Steam Version is bugged and unplayable on a lot of systems. Jade Empire is a Kung Fu Action Role Playing Game with a great cast of characters and a lot of moral decisions that influence the story and ending.

If you played Mass Effect or KOTOR, you would have no trouble getting into this game - all of the time-proven Bioware features are present, including character archetype clichés, plot twists you can see a mile away and moral choices that are presented as deep, but are really the same "help the poor or beat them for laughs". Despite that, the game combat mechanics is fun, and the oriental mythology theme really pulls the atmosphere through. If you like Bioware games with solid narrative and Bruce Lee style head bashing, this is just a medicine for you. I would strongly suggest you check out the modding scene for the game, as its combat-oriented design provides ample opportunities for tweaking. One of those is Jade Empire In Style, which re-hauls some of the vanilla combat styles and adds many more, normally unavailable to your PC. This, along with New Game + implemented in the game, allows quite a bit of replayability.

I LOVED this game on Xbox and was excited to revisit it on PC with better graphics etc. I was extremely disappointed that it doesn't include gamepad support, of any kind. I tried playing with keyboard but just couldn't get the hang of it. Very disappointing -- this game was designed for Xbox, it just doesn't play right without a gamepad.

This is peak Bioware. You remember peak Bioware, right? Back when they made the most amazing games imaginable. The games that transported you to a new place and a new time and introduced characters and enemies and settings that you're still thinking about 10+ years later? Where did peak Bioware go? Please bring them back, k? Anyway, I loved this game. It filled the hole that KOTOR left pretty nicely for the time. It was an interesting game with interesting lore, fun enemies, and fun companions. The port isn't as good as the original Xbox release was, but I still love this game. The mini games were kinda fun, and I played through it with different moralities multiple times. Basically: If you love KOTOR, you'll love this.

It's one of those games that's really stuck with me. One of those games that was almost perfect. One of those games that deserved more. Jade Empire is special. It's a rather unique game with an uncommon setting. The story and world are brilliant*. I liked the companions a lot. The fighting mechanics are more akin to a brawler combined with light RPG than KOTOR or Dragon Age - there's so many styles to gain as you progress. The music is also really great. Why the *? That's because it's brilliant to a point. I'm not aware of the development cycle for the game, but it feels unfinished, like time ran out. I was fully expecting a certain outcome given the general themes of side quests throughout the adventure, but when you reach what's expected to be the finale, you get a twist and the last arc begins. Am I sour my expectations were subverted? Not at all, I just felt like the game would've made more logical sense to end in a similar way to what I'd envisioned, but instead it continued with something very middling and ended with something less than a bang. The journey was far better than the destination. Missed potential is a common thread through the game when you reflect on it, honestly. You get access to a transport akin to the Ebon Hawk from KOTOR but no locations to really visit with it. You hear a lot about the main city of the game, but really (due to the limitations of the target platform if I had to assume; the Xbox) it feels even smaller than Taris. The ending is similarly lacking, with text screens being all of the send off you get for you and your companions. The plethora of styles is also a little more limited than I'd like, and once you invest in two or three staples, it's hard to justify swapping absolutely everything out. The gems could've also been a bit more interesting than mere stat boosts. It's definitely worth a play for Bioware fans or if it looks interesting to you, but if you're like me, you'll definitely lament over what could've been.