Step into the role of an aspiring martial-arts master and follow the path of the open palm or the closed fist. In this multi-award-winning action-RPG, your choices and actions will determine the fate of the entire Jade Empire. Will you prevent the destruction of this beautiful land, or will you c...
Step into the role of an aspiring martial-arts master and follow the path of the open palm or the closed fist. In this multi-award-winning action-RPG, your choices and actions will determine the fate of the entire Jade Empire. Will you prevent the destruction of this beautiful land, or will you crush it beneath your heel? Are you a warrior who uses his strength and fighting mastery to bring peace, or will you instead use your power to bring pain and ruin?
The choice is yours.
The Original Award Winning Jade Empire
An incredible, engaging story that makes you the noble hero or the treacherous villain!
A wealth of fascinating characters to interact with.
Beautiful, mysterious lands to explore, discover, and save...or conquer.
A rich blend of role-playing and exciting real-time combat.
New monsters and enemies.
New fighting styles.
Customizable, intuitive controls including support for game-pads and keyboard/mouse.
Increased graphics resolutions and new visual effects.
Really enjoyable RPG. It sits a bit uncomfortably between the older BioWare cRPG and the more modern, console-first ones (think Mass Effect), but it's definitely leaning more towards the second in gameplay and presentation. Small but quite dense levels that manage to evoque a huge world thanks to clever writing and a unique atmosphere. RPG gameplay is heavily stripped down, leaving only the essentials, but that means everything you encounter is hand-crafted, useful and thoughtful. Try doing every quest, enjoy your companions' company and don't spoil yourself.
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.
I've originally played beaten this game on the Xbox around 2007.
This GOG version works on Windows 11 and has the added benefit of much shorter load times and higher-resolution graphics (albeit with some occasional stutter and some grainy FMV sequences) in comparison to the Xbox original.
Its a fun mix of an RPG, a 3D fighting game, and a 2D overhead shooting game.
Its rare to have a setting in ancient China; complete with its mythology, traditional instruments in the music, and some funny dialogue, it makes the game very memorable.
Even playing it again now in 2024, its still very fresh, engaging, and fun.
While the graphics are technically dated, the environments still have lots of detail, variety, and are stylistically beautiful.
So this game has definitely aged well.
I finished this game when it came out, so I don't have a lot of time on it here.
In the broadest strokes it is an interesting blend of a linear RPG like Gothic or NWN but with a combat system more akin to Tekken. Your characters get moves, different fighting styles, etc. It is sort of if Soul Calibur had an actual RPG section.
Sounds interesting, and it is. I don't remember too much of the story, but it is both linear and very immersive. Although you follow a set path, you have the usual Bioware-style choices between good and evil with some interesting twists along the way. Especially towards the later part of the game, where you get the option to enslave the minds of your companions in order to bend them to your will if they get uppity and try to leave the party.
THAT was something I wish we had in way more games. It gives the game a very unique feeling and immerses the player in the story like few other mechanics can.
So, why only 3 stars you ask?
Well, like I said in the description, "classic bioware ending". You know how it is, you spend the entire game having a nuanced position between light and dark, carefully weigh each decision, and then you get to the end and the game asks you one question and POOF! The entire alignment system becomes obsolete. WTF. Why did Bioware think this is good game design?
But that would be okay if the game wasn't so short. They could easily have added two more acts. Remember that awesome mind slave mechanic I mentioned? It is really cool, but it happens right at the end of the game so it feels like it doesn't matter.
And it actually doesn't. That's why this game only gets 3 stars, because it teases you with one of the coolest things in RPG history and then immediately takes it away again by ending the story. It's as if the devs wanted to troll the players.
So, TL DR: This is an awesome game, but it has some big flaws. Still worth the play, 100% recommended. A beautiful game that wasted a lot of potential.
I made a lot of the many bad experiences other people have described them. However, after reading through some guides and applying some mods ... I enjoyed a wonderful 24 hours.
As many other, I found the combat system not very fulfilling. If you feel the same: switch to "easy" difficulty and add "Papagamer Mod Pack" from Nexusmods. This certainly kept the fights reasonably entertaining, yet rath short, until the end of the game.
I also used other mods, as the "Stuck in Waterdragon Fountain (Chapter8) Fix" or some retexturing of the main characters.
I like the extensive voice acting and most of the dialogs. Some of the followers are mildly interesting, but I really love the follower Dawn Star. In her dialogs and style she reflects the darkness of the story, a world of men and spirits in imbalance, a tragedy of cosmic dimension.
The main story as many of the side quests are typical "high fantasy" stuff. You are the hero and need to stop the super-villain who has enslaved some god or whatever. It is quite meaningless, but nice to look at and it keeps the story rather simple. God and Bad are obvious choices.
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