If kotor 2 gets 8.5 whilst Jade Empire get 8.4, greg must be book nerds or kungfu hater. This game is awesome!
User Rating: 9.4 | Jade Empire: Hisui no Teikoku XBOX
Story: - The game is carried out in a new world, with centered at the Jade Empire. This setting is inspired by Chinese myth. In my opinion this can be an ambition on Bioware’s part to create a new RPG’s setting, maybe as big as the Forgotten Ruin or the world of the ElderScroll series. Through the various lore that you can find in the game, Jade Empire is just a very small part of this setting. If this is true then I hope they will success. - The story itself circles around the struggle of nature balance and the foolish ambition of men. After playing through the game 3 times to cover all the dialogue and lore that I can from the game, I’m happy to say the story contains no flaw. The entire story is very well crafted as a whole. The main plot may not be as surprise as the one in KOTOR. But you’ll get surprise by number in Jade Empire. I can say Bioware totally abuses the strength of Kotor’s plot style to its fullest, and in a good way I might add. The main story is told during the game in a very encrypted way and yet still makes sense once you understand it. It also gives out some hints here and there, enough to keep the story going, but not enough for the players to see what will be coming. - A good thing is the story’s element is told in a non-recursive way. Meaning if you choose a choice, you will get the info for that choice and move on, so unless you do a reload for each dialogue (which I did not), you won’t be able to see the entire picture in one game. That’s why it took me 3 plays to fully understand the story, and see how good it is. People who do not cover all the options, you won’t fully understand the game and you may even think the story has flaw. As I said, the game gives you enough information to understand what you need to follow the game, but you won’t understand it until you already gather every single pieces of the puzzle. This is a good thing, and I do hope Bioware’s games in the feature will follow a similar style. Gameplay: - Here is where the challenge begins. As I said this is the first action RPG that Bioware makes, no matter how good you are, there is always a chance you will do something wrong when trying a new thing. If you have been on the official forum during the pre-release period, you could see both an exciting and somewhat anxious attitude from both fans and developers regarding the new combat system, which form the new core of Jade Empire. Sayonara to dice roll, turn base, and complicate level up system. So, is it good? - As a reviewer, I’m required to keep a neutral ground, so I’ll try. The new combat system and the price that comes with it will be depend on how a player plays the game, where does the player coming from and how much afford a player wants to put into the game. Hard core RPG may find the level up system in Jade Empire is a little too simple for the average taste, but it has its reason. The 3 main attributes are Body, Mind and Spirit. And the game will automatically distribute the affect to 3 secondary skills, instead of letting you customize it yourself. Jade Empire is very self-controlled in most respects. You no longer have an inventory except a Quest Item inventory, new weapon automatically replaces its lesser form when bought…etc…This to some people is a heavy price to pay for the new system, I know lots of us enjoy the customize of the inventory and micro managing of our characters. But, on the bright side, this new system offers a smoother gaming experience. The things that were taken out are integrated into the game. You no longer have potion, but you will have the mean to refill yourself in combat for example. - Now, to the combat itself. First let me introduce a comparison. I know this is a weird way to compare thing and maybe not many people who play Jade Empire also play this game, but I’m comparing it to The Sims. Because to me, this is a good way to say the combat is good or bad. Jade Empire has around 30 styles, 4 transformation styles and the rest are divided into Martial Style, Support Style, and Magic style. Each style has 3 different moves: a light attack move that can be used in a 3 combo by itself, a power attack, and an area attack, plus a Chi shield to block. Well, to be frank, as you can picture this is a simulation of a rock-paper-scissors model, and when thing looks simple, thing gets bored, pretty much the same deal for Jade Empire. And you can go through the game this way. Use the same attack pattern on all enemies; use the different moves when they’re required. But the question is: is that all to the story? - Back to the story of The Sims, no matter you played this game or not I think you know The Sims to some decree, even maybe only its name. The Sims is a very big title and has one of the biggest communities for itself. Yet lot of people can not stand the game for more then the first 2 hours. Because they think the game is too repetitive, you go through the same thing every day of your Sims, so on, so forth. And these people wonder why someone can play The Sims for months. But hardcore of The Sims know that the true strength of the series is the player’s creative mind. That’s all what it take to keep someone for 1 hour or for 1 month. The game won’t be repetitive, and it will be very addictive and colorful once you put some time exploring the gameplay. - Same deal here for the combat system of Jade Empire. As I said, you can play how you want and a simple tactic can still earn you the credit screen. But you will be missing a big part of the game, the true beauty of the combat system. There is a reason the game has more then just a few styles, there is a reason that the style switching is made butter smooth in the game. However these are just the tools, you will have to find a way to use them to see the combat flourishes. The real time combat system and a smooth style switching offer you a unique experience: pulling style combo. After put in some exploration, observation and try some creative idea, you will find the combat is very nice, exciting and by no mean boring. I have been able to form many style combos, even 4 style combos and these combos allow you to attack on a none stop rate. If you have the right sequence and right timing, in short, if you have the key, you will be able to unlock the real treasure. And trust me, this key is not very obvious. When you bring a man down, make sure you can say “Man, I have style”. - Another feature of the gameplay is the Harmonic Combos. Remember earlier I said some feature is integrated into the gameplay? Here is an example, you won’t have potion to refill your bars, but you will have a mean to refill yourself in combat by these Harmonic Combos. The Combos require an initial style, and a finish style, enemies who are killed by Harmonic Combos will drop Health, Chi, or Focus Essence, and these are your mean to refill. It makes the game have a more strategy elements to it (as it should for a RPG). The essence will be varying by the combination of the Initial and Finish styles. Depend on how high is your skill, Harmonic Combos may become a mandatory if you don’t want to see the loading screen a lot. Because fighting without Harmonic Combos may become similar to jump in a fight without some health and mana potions. Graphic/sound: - Well, although I know I have to keep a neutral ground for review, but that doesn’t mean I can not say the true can’t I? The Graphic and Sound of Jade Empire are super. The voice act is very well done. 120000 lines of dialogue by over 90 actors last time I heard. This is just adding another reason to read the well done dialogue in the game. The graphic is absolutely stunning. I was a little disappointed when I heard some preview said the graphic is on KOTOR level. But I’m glad to find out my worry is for none. It tops Kotor by any mean. While Jade Empire's world is not meant to satisfy the urge of interacting in term of if I can touch it, I can do something to it, it’s not static by any mean. The grass, the flower, the water, the wind…etc… Jade Empire's world has a touch of life to it. And if you’re the type who take your time, you will be finding yourself spend some time admiring the beauty of the environment of some area. - The cutsceens are also very well done; I’m both on the gamefaqs and Bioware boards and haven’t been able to find a person to object his. Some scenes not only have good graphic and music, but also very emotional. The downside is the give good feeling but the feeling doesn’t have enough time to last. The amount of cutsceens in Jade Empire can be called plenty, but you will hardly find one with a decent length. Replayability – Buy or Rent. - Jade Empire has a very high replay value. You will need at least 2 plays to cover everything the game offer. And if you’re the type of rushing through, you will miss a lot of goodies in Jade Empire. The game, to be frankly, shorter then other Bioware games, but it’s still warrant a 20+ hours of solid gaming. Also most of the quests have multiple outcomes, plus the variety of combat, the game replayability is high. And when that is true, it means Buy in my book, so you can get enough out of the game. But if you have some doubt about the combat system, rent it first, it’s not something everyone can easily get into and get used to. Personal Note: - Jade Empire is good, but of course there is still room for improvement. Certain styles are way overpower that may ruin your experience if you decide to abuse it. - Certain features are not used at its fullest, I feel a little sad that some features that have great potential to add a new dimension into the game, but are not used enough. - The loading time is long, but reasonable consider the size of the world it loads. At certain area you may find yourself playing for an hour without worrying about loading time. But, at some point you can say the loading screens can really pull some nerves. Well, at least the background looks good enough. - Jade Empire is an action RPG, with the emphasize RPG. Bioware did a good job, as least at good as they can to make the game appeal to both fans of 2 styles. But as a Jack of All Trade, it can not be as good as a specialist. If you’re a hardcore action gamer and come to Jade Empire in looking for a pure action game, I can say you won’t find much, but if you have an opened mind, Jade Empire will offer you a chance to get into RPG. None-RPG players will find Jade Empire easier to swallow then KOTOR or Baldur Gate. And RPG players, you will still find what you want in term of story and strategy element of a RPG, but it’s up to you to decide if you can get used to the new system that Jade Empire introduces or not. - Last but not least, I don't know what triggers this or Biowarians were just simply in good mood when making Jade Empire, this game offer a good deal of hilarious situation, more then any RPG I have played so far. But don't think the game is not serious. 
