Jade Empire: Special Edition

Biowares first attempt at an action RPG, which they would perfect with Mass Effect. Combat is basic and not that fleshed out but serviceable. Story is interesting enough and the game is a decent length if you do a lot of side quests. The RPG elements are pretty light in terms of character customisation and it lacks the interesting characters and story variety of Mass Effect. You won't feel ripped off at the price of the game as it is but its not one of those games that offers much reason to go through it again

A good old school bioware game. While the graphics and combat is dated the RPG elements still shine through

this game does have it flaws with the combat system but outside that it is a very enjoyable rpg when you want something a tad different.

The story and voice acting is stellar, possibly Bioware at its peak, and allows for what is easily my pick for the most satisfying, narratively cohesive evil protagonist storyline in any RPG I've played. If you choose to go the evil route, be warned: it is NOT for the feint of heart. Your decisions will be defensible, but you will end up on a path that gets darker and more morally challenging as you continue. You won't be wrong, but you will feel wrong. The combat system is fun for a time but, given the game's length, does repetitive even with all of its freedom. It plays a bit like Witcher 3 with stances that are situational, you can block, dodge or do light and heavy attacks and occasionally deal with ranged enemies. Team mates can fight beside you or hang back and buff. You can learn permanent passive buffs and additional fighting stances, but NG+ is needed to learn everything and some abilities are just permanent debuffs that stick with all future NG+ with no pay-off so be warned. You might want to be the hero, but that can come at a cost. Enemy variety is great, but due to the character limit of this post I will just say you won't get bored by the enemy types. Fighting stances can be combined into one-two combos that have very useful and interesting effects including paralyzing, poisoning or even exploding enemies. Or turn into a creature. Or wield weapons. The best stances are locked behind moral choices, so if you are doing a pure good/evil run you will miss out until NG+. The moral system is a big let-down. Marketed as being complex and based off of Eastern philosophies and transcending good and evil, the idea is basically compassion vs independence. So when you encounter a deserter, is it compassion to let him go, or does it encourage independence? In reality the system is just kindness vs cruelty. It would be difficult to actually apply these philosophies to a binary video game system, which is why it got boiled down and does not allow nuance.

An all time classic, combat can be wonky at times, but the story and style is on it's own level