Jade Empire: Special Edition

I liked pretty much everything: very good story, beautiful graphics, awesome characters and voice. Lots of side quests, not too big areas so you don't run too much. Interesting combat - I had challenge pretty much until the very end. Certain fights are easily won using certain styles. It took me ~28 hours in-game to beat it (I tried to do everything). Would recommend it to anyone who likes a good story with some RPG elements.

This is a really great martial arts RPG. This game is one of the few RPGs that I know of that have an entire Asian cast. This game as a rich lore and characters. Jade Empire has a high replay value as I have done multiple playthroughs and never got bored. If you want to play a immersive and very fun action RPG than Jade Empire™: Special Edition is a great choice.

Forget the same old European medieval mage/barb carnage or year long char build and dialogue fuzz. This game takes you to good old China, with plenty of brainless conversations and Kung Fu fighting! The overdone good/evil path has now been replaced by a normal guy/complete sociopath alignment system, where you can outlive your wildest fantasies of being a complete a-hole and still be a kung fu hero (imagine nwn turned into a 70's kung fu movie). The game should probably not get more than 4, since the dialogues tend to be a bit off and fit oddly with the alignment system, while having a sloppy storyline with rather random use of "old tongue" (biowhare got lazy and replaced some voice acting with the same "o kana, yu ku si odu" giberish track). With that being said, the game managed to entertain me like no other. Both fighting and char-building is really simple, so you'll get started quickly without considering too much. Simplicity is really the strenght in this game, since you'll get to feel the flow of the combat more than just micromanaging skills. I was actually surprized by how differently you could manage those three atributes you have and the few skills that are worth investing skillpoints in (spoiler alert: basic weapons+axes and viper!) while still getting a rather differering (but well working) character build. Aside from the actual gameplay, theres plenty of extra stuff like flying in a little aircraft and completing weird alchemy puzzles. Your companions a rather fun too. I found myself to be a cold and beatiful woman with an evil toad demon fella and a gradually colder and badass princess lover (yes you can be a cold-ass gay kung fu fighter with a gun and two double axes! Whats not to like?!) Did i mention John Cleese has a little role in there too? Long story short: The game is not deep, nor complex or very well narrated. It's just full of it's own little odd suprises and it's funny as F...K!

Great blend of action and story in Bioware's signature RPG style, the balance leaning towards action gameplay. Most impressive is the mind-body-spirit character progression dynamic with a strong emphasis on balance or purposeful lack thereof. Think Knights of the Old Republic with fluid multifaceted martial arts, or Mass Effect with a spiritual side. This game feels well finished and flows well, though some may feel the story lacks serious challenge.

A great, unique take on an otherwise ho-hum game. I would classify this more as an action game than an RPG, the RPG elements are very few and very, very shallow at best. what I like about the game: - graphic, excellent graphic for its time, a good blend of cartoon-realism, smooth - uniqueness, love the uniqueness of the setting - realistic kung-fu form, I'm pretty impressed how true to form the actions are to the original kung-fu form - plot, not the most original but does its job and gets you involved - characters/NPC; a good cast of NPC that aren't just flat, hood ornament - the mini game is a nice addition what I thought could be improved on: - view; very limited view of what you see - character movement, especially during combat; limited, not very intuitive, hard/frustrating to control at times especially with the automatic camera angles - very limited character customization; character customization is basically just your 3 attributes, gems and fighting techniques ... not something you would want for an RPG type game - too linear and very limited storyline/plot/world. And just like many food Chinese restaurants, very rushed. In summary, Jade Empire offers a unique take on an action RPG, along with its beautiful graphic, fine gameplay is worth the try - a great pickup at under $5 in my opinion. But one can't help wonder what the game would be like if they actually go all out and make the game (and the game world) deeper, I felt they're just scratching the surface with this game. It's like going to an all you can eat buffet boasting over a hundred items but only the bread is available. It's a very good game, but when you realize its potential, can't help but be bummed out as well.