Jade Empire is beautiful, interesting and fun...all at once.
Jade Empire completely surprised me - I'd never expected such a game as this! One of my favourite things is the diverse dialogue options; there is never a dull conversation to be had with NPCs. There has been a great deal of attention paid to this part of the game, and it really shows.
The environments are another amazing thing - they're all very believable and beautiful. If the sun is setting in the sky, golden light will shine through the grass. Little things like that can definitely make one stop to have a look around.
The only things that didn't appeal to me were the combat system and the leveling system. The combat starts out extremely hard, and then becomes easier after a short time. The way combat is so hard in the beginning could be a deterrent for some gamers, so BioWare will want to be careful with that when making Jade Empire 2.
The leveling system is probably alright, but I personally don't have the time to mess around with all that crap in every game I play. What games like this need is an optional tutorial that quickly and efficiently explains how to achieve the results you want from the leveling system, so you don't have to level with trial-and-error. That way, people who want to experiment with leveling don't have to use the tutorial, and those who would like to know everything they can going into the game are also set. Both parties would be happy that way!
For what it is, Jade Empire is a really good game. Xbox owners have been given a nice treat with this one!