Original, and an Early Console RPG of the Year Frontrunner
User Rating: 9.7 | Jade Empire: Hisui no Teikoku XBOX
Granted, this is not another installment that Bioware has created from the Star Wars Universe or the Realms of Dungeons and Dragons, but the originality of the world of Jade Empire and its story, combined with excellent gameplay, graphics that just make you want to just stand around for about a minute and take in the spectacular scenery, superb voice acting which we’ve come to expect from Bioware, and excellent replay value makes this game worth the wait and the hype among those who love a good role-playing game. Let’s start with the originality of the game. Rather than work up another story from the Star Wars Universe or the Dungeons and Dragons Realms, Bioware has worked up the world of Jade Empire from the ground up. As mentioned in recent reports, the world of Jade Empire is like a page taken from Chinese Mythology, as most of the names do sound like they are of the Chinese variety. In this case, you’ll create a character using one of six (or seven if you have the Limited Edition) pre-made characters or you can customized one of those pre-made ones to work that one to fit your style and character. For instance, you could create a strong, powerful martial-arts and weapons specialist in the body of a Wu the Lotus Blossom or Scholar Ling, or use the Tiger Shen avatar and make a magic and focus specialist. The choices are many, which can make some aspects of the game easier or more challenging depending on your preferences and the difficulty setting. The difficulty setting for both its main game and its shoot-em-up mini-game are variable, though as mentioned in recent reviews, the battles tend to be made easier by players who can counter enemy styles with the right combinations of styles and attacks and can evade or block if needed. Flying first a stolen Mosquito, then the Marvelous Dragonfly is a bit of an extra challenge, but the rewards are nice in the form of additional experience, silver pieces, and some items you can craft near mid-game. Like in many Bioware role-playing games, the difficulty setting can be changed to fit the needs of the player. What really separates Jade Empire from previous Bioware games are its graphics and the spectacular scenery. The buildings and architecture are what you would expect from a world based on Chinese Mythology, while the scenery of the surrounding countryside can be spectacular for those who love a good scene. You’ll see the common citizens in their usual peasant clothes, while others are adorned in their silk robes. There is even a mysterious outlander from the Mysterious East (or to the real world, a Westerner) that you’ll see in your travels. The sound is excellent, despite the fact that most of the voice acting were done by Westerners. The aforementioned voice acting is excellent, as you’ll hear characters show emotion, fighters grunting while they fight, and your characters calling out the skill or style being used, as it was the case in those classic Kung-Fu movies. The background music is excellent as well, from the theme music, to the classical Chinese music you’ll hear in buildings. This adds to the originality of the game. As mentioned earlier, there are many possibilities for customizing your main character. Since you can pick any one of the six or seven avatars, set up their starting stats, and choose the starting martial style–as your character will also start with the Heavenly Wave support style. Over the course of the game, you’ll find magic styles, transformation styles, and weapons styles to try out. You can master in a single style from each class, or have some specialty in a variety of styles. The choice is yours, and that adds to the game’s replay value. Overall, Bioware has made yet another excellent role-playing game. It may not bring Bioware up to the upper echelons that are shared by top developers like Blizzard, Bungie, Valve, and Squaresoft Enix, but Jade Empire has certainly made Bioware one of the industry’s premier developers for role-playing games. The game will have its heavy supporters and those who found it disappointing, but leave no doubt about it. If you love an original storyline with excellent gameplay, superb graphics and sound, and great replay value, then you will love the experience from the original world of Jade Empire. 
