Jade Empire: Special Edition

game is fun what more can I say I like the good and evil mechanics I like being all the way good and having a little halo

Great game just getting back into it after a long time!

I'll give Bioware this: the characters on this game are, for the most part, really interesting and well written. The conversation are great, all the main cast has depth and interesting banter. It kept me going for most of the game, almost to the end. Sadly I didn't make it to the game because the game play got in the way and the plot just wasn't gripping enough. It's the "magic-orphan-chosen -one fights evil techno-magical empire" you've probably played a million times, only Dragons are now good instead of evil, and the chain-mail bikinis are switched by silk hot-pants. As for game play, well, say good bye to whatever finger you use to press the attack button. Specially in the late game, most of the enemies are only really weak to being stun locked to death as you try to get rid of their increasingly ridiculous life bar, even before they start healing... There is also a moral choice system, and like any of them, specially for that time, your only options are super saint hero of the land or captain Satan, and with the the game actively rewarding going one way or the other but nothing for the neutral path. As much as I did enjoy the characters, and the game is functional (although I had an occasional bug that messed the camera upon loading a new map) I just didn't finish it. After spending the whole game upping my HP the second to last boss still was able to two-shot me and searching for help revealed that the only good strategy is to stun lock him with rapid attacks until he was dead; which I wouldn't mention on a review but that was most of the fights by the endgame, and there a are a LOT of them, and by that point if you have any experience of RPGs you will have spent the last few hours playing the "oh I know where this is going" game with a sadly high level of accuracy. The game has its high lights, but I can't recommend.

Jade Empire started off with enjoyable gameplay, but the challenge quickly diminished as any skill required was overshadowed by the strength of your stats as you leveled up. As I progressed, I found myself just spamming left-click and healing, with little need to time hits or block. What kept me going was the appeal of exploring its charming world and a surface-level intrigue about how the plot would unfold. ...But as a Bioware game, you shouldn’t expect Fallout 2 levels of player dialogue and world interaction. Most of your progress is going to be linear, with dialogue options often limited to the classic 'good guy' or 'evil jerk' choices. I mostly feel that the setting is a waste, and as quickly as the game "opened up" it threw you straight to its ending. I would have liked it more if everything had unfolded more slowly. I can’t just excuse all its flaws as a 'product of its time' when other games from the same era managed better. Jade Empire's flaws feel more like the result of a company awkwardly trying to release a 3D RPG with limited time and funding. You've got gameplay that devolves into "turn my brain off" levels of spam, along with a plot and setting cut short in the third act. It's just sad that itscharming setting is now left to be forgotten and collect dust. Overall, it's an okay 3.5/5 with a score of 4 being too generous.

As both an RPG and martial arts lover, this game was too good to miss, once I eventually found it. Somehow this game got brushed under the carpet, which seems bizarre, I played this game well beyond it's release and still found it to be one of the all time best RPG's I've played. Very similar elements to the knights of the old republic games, but gone all kung fu on your ass. Good story, nice character array and interactions loads of mini-games and side quests, as well as a great linear plot. Thumbs and big toes up for this one