Poll: Jade Empire or Secret World?

[shrekfan246]

So, as is wont to happen with Steam, I've come across a rather dire situation: Namely, I've got $30 burning a hole in my Steam Wallet and I'm trying to decide what to spend it on. Currently, the two games catching my eye are the ones named in the title.

Jade Empire has my interest because it's an action-RPG from Bioware, their only game post-Knights of the Old Republic that I've never played, and has a character voiced by Nathan Fillion (yes, that is one of my reasons).

The Secret World has my interest because it looks like it's built a rather unique world with some excellent atmosphere and interesting story-lines for an MMO.

The chances are very high that I wouldn't actually end up playing either game any time soon if I bought one of them now, due to extenuating circumstances, but that $30 is just sitting there doing nothing at this point.

So the question becomes - Which game should I look into? Or what recommendations for other games are there? Or should I hold on for the inevitable crushing tide of a Steam Sale?

 

[Fappy]

Jade Empire doesn't run very well on PC/Steam. I'd stick to the OG Xbox version honestly. I never beat it, but it's a good game otherwise.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Buy Binary Domain. It'll probably only use up about half of the $30 anyway (it cost £10 for my brother a while ago)

But that game is really quite fun to play, with a fun story too

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Jade Empire had its moments, but it's getting pretty aged at this point. Combat in particular was quite clunky, and I found quite a few of the characterizations lacked Bioware's usual panache. Still...it wasn't a bad game. Just a game that had aged out of relevance. Worth the $2 I paid for it.

The Secret World is in a sad and steady decline. I generally do not recommend MMOs that are on notable downturns in terms of population, and this is no exception.

So the question becomes - Which game should I look into? Or what recommendations for other games are there? Or should I hold on for the inevitable crushing tide of a Steam Sale?

That's a pretty wide open question. I could recommend a billion things, but I'd need some more context. What kind of game, specifically, are you in the mood for? Let's start there. And then I recommend a bunch of stuff you've already played.

 

[Saviordd1]

So, as is wont to happen with Steam, I've come across a rather dire situation: Namely, I've got $30 burning a hole in my Steam Wallet and I'm trying to decide what to spend it on. Currently, the two games catching my eye are the ones named in the title.

Jade Empire has my interest because it's an action-RPG from Bioware, their only game post-Knights of the Old Republic that I've never played, and has a character voiced by Nathan Fillion (yes, that is one of my reasons).

The Secret World has my interest because it looks like it's built a rather unique world with some excellent atmosphere and interesting story-lines for an MMO.

The chances are very high that I wouldn't actually end up playing either game any time soon if I bought one of them now, due to extenuating circumstances, but that $30 is just sitting there doing nothing at this point.

So the question becomes - Which game should I look into? Or what recommendations for other games are there? Or should I hold on for the inevitable crushing tide of a Steam Sale?

Wait, Fillion was in Jade Empire? How the hell did I miss that?

ON a side note, go for Jade Empire, much better use of your money.

 

[shrekfan246]

Buy Binary Domain. It'll probably only use up about half of the $30 anyway (it cost £10 for my brother a while ago)

But that game is really quite fun to play, with a fun story too

Tried it out back when it first launched, the PC port was pretty "eh". I did hear there were a few patches that tightened it up, though...

Jade Empire had its moments, but it's getting pretty aged at this point. Combat in particular was quite clunky, and I found quite a few of the characterizations lacked Bioware's usual panache. Still...it wasn't a bad game. Just a game that had aged out of relevance. Worth the $2 I paid for it.

The Secret World is in a sad and steady decline. I generally do not recommend MMOs that are on notable downturns in terms of population, and this is no exception.

Thanks for the information.

So the question becomes - Which game should I look into? Or what recommendations for other games are there? Or should I hold on for the inevitable crushing tide of a Steam Sale?

That's a pretty wide open question. I could recommend a billion things, but I'd need some more context. What kind of game, specifically, are you in the mood for? Let's start there. And then I recommend a bunch of stuff you've already played.

Yeah, I knew it'd be a loaded question. The problem is that the list of games I've already played is too long for even me to reliably remember at this point. Most of the high-profile games that have been made in the last five-six years, I've probably played at one point or another.

As for what I'm in the mood for, it depends and changes almost daily. Generally speaking, though, I don't much care for sandboxes or real-time strategy, I don't play non-MMOs for multi-player, and everything else is likely to be fair game. But even those have their exceptions; I thought Sleeping Dogs was a fantastic game, for example.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Yeah, I knew it'd be a loaded question. The problem is that the list of games I've already played is too long for even me to reliably remember at this point. Most of the high-profile games that have been made in the last five-six years, I've probably played at one point or another.

As for what I'm in the mood for, it depends and changes almost daily. Generally speaking, though, I don't much care for sandboxes or real-time strategy, I don't play non-MMOs for multi-player, and everything else is likely to be fair game. But even those have their exceptions; I thought Sleeping Dogs was a fantastic game, for example.

Yeah, this is the issue with game recommendations. We could sit here all day with me bouncing games off you you've already played the hell out of.

What about turn based strategy? You like TBS? What about retro games? How far back is "too far" for you?

 

[shrekfan246]

Wait, Fillion was in Jade Empire? How the hell did I miss that?

ON a side note, go for Jade Empire, much better use of your money.

He voices a guy called 'Gao the Lesser'.

Yeah, this is the issue with game recommendations. We could sit here all day with me bouncing games off you you've already played the hell out of.

What about turn based strategy? You like TBS? What about retro games? How far back is "too far" for you?

Well, playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown in turn led me to checking out the Disgaea franchise, so I'd say turn-based strategy is more interesting to me than real-time. I've never really had much of an interest in 4X games like Civilization though. Sins of a Solar Empire and Birth of the Federation were the only ones to really capture me.

And as far as retro goes, it depends on how clunky the mechanics of the game itself are. Mid-late-90's games like Final Fantasy or Banjo-Kazooie are fine, but I haven't been able to take a shine to older-school RPGs or hybrids like Deus Ex and Baldur's Gate (to my own detriment, I'm sure) because I get frustrated with the early-game combat.

 

[The Madman]

Jade Empire is... alright. It's got a neat setting and a well done (If predictable) twist mid way through that I thought was entertaining, but otherwise it's always just felt like a missed opportunity to me. You don't actually get to see all that much of the 'Jade Empire' and the companions come off as pretty one-note and forgettable. Combat meanwhile can best be praised as 'different' if not entirely good.

Meanwhile I've never played Secret World but I have heard good things about it. Story is supposed to be pretty well done and I love the idea for the setting. If you go in expecting another WOW however be prepared to be disappointed. A friend of mine says there's not really much in terms of 'end game content' so if you're looking for the classic raid & loot sort of MMO it's definitely not what you're looking for.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Well, playing XCOM: Enemy Unknown in turn led me to checking out the Disgaea franchise, so I'd say turn-based strategy is more interesting to me than real-time. I've never really had much of an interest in 4X games like Civilization though. Sins of a Solar Empire and Birth of the Federation were the only ones to really capture me.

And as far as retro goes, it depends on how clunky the mechanics of the game itself are. Mid-late-90's games like Final Fantasy or Banjo-Kazooie are fine, but I haven't been able to take a shine to older-school RPGs or hybrids like Deus Ex and Baldur's Gate (to my own detriment, I'm sure) because I get frustrated with the early-game combat.

Alright, since you enjoyed XCOM I'm going to recommend going to GOG and getting JA2. Grab the 1.13 mod/patch. And enjoy arguably the best tactical game ever made.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Secret World. Jade Empire is massively overrated and The Secret World is far more interesting in pretty much every way. Go with that one, I say.

 

[Smertnik]

Aside from leveling up those games have pretty little in common.

Jade Empire is a rather solid RPG. The combat isn't that great but decent enough, while the story and the characters are mostly in the style of other Bioware games. I enjoyed the game a lot, all things considered. It's certainly not the best of Bioware's works but definitely worth the ten bucks or whatever it costs by now as long as you like this kind of games.

I only played Secret World for a short time during the beta, so I can't really say much about it but I remember the combat being crap even for a muhmorpeger and long monologues from quest givers while your character awkwardly stared at them, probably wishing s/he had a means to interrupt them. The setting is pretty cool, though. More games should take place in modern times.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I'd say go with Jade Empire. It has unique setting and pretty interesting battle mechanics. Plus, you can romance two females at once and they won't get mad at you!

 

[Zakarath]

Jade Empire's one of my favorite games. great story, awesome setting, and the combat's not too bad either. Go with it.

 

[Tactical Pause]

Normally I wouldn't recommend picking up an MMO, but The Secret World is honestly worth it for the cutscenes alone, not to mention the amazing skill customization. It's also very non-traditional in terms of leveling, so you can pretty much start the 'end-game content' whenever you feel like it and return to the badass quests at your leisure.

 

[Azahul]

I've been playing a bit of both recently, and I have to go with the Secret World. If you can force your way through the awful standard MMO combat, you get to explore a fascinating world with some of the best missions I've ever played in any videogame (solving an Investigation mission without a walkthrough is one of the most gratifying experiences I've felt in a game, even if it did involve spending two hours decoding a series of beeps from morse code). Jade Empire's combat is entirely insubstantial, and while it has an interesting setting the story is one you'll have played if you've played anything Bioware's made in the last decade. It's not even a particularly good rendition of it, and none of the characters in the game have really caught my attention. Compared to the Secret World, where I often find myself wishing some of the NPCs had more quests to give just so I could go back to them for a few more highly enjoyable cutscenes.

 

[Rob Robson]

Which game should I look into?

You're going to find a lot more game consumers on a mainstream gaming website who've played the prior rather than the latter. Thus you're going to get an overwhelmingly skewed answer just based on that. TSW is a niche MMO that you will love if you're already interested in it's setting and atmosphere. More so, it's a recent game with a fantastic community that will give you triple-digit hours of fun and more, and for $30 it's practically an unbeatable value.

Jade Empire is good, but considering it's age and breadth it's not that good.

Get The Secret World, trust me.

And to whomever said TSW is in decline, that's a truth with modifications. The population is currently stable, but it will bob up and down based on the launch of DLC packs. This latest DLC pack (Last Train to Cairo) also has some pretty exciting group content so I'm betting that this will be the longest lasting 'DLC population boost' so far.

 

[Raikas]

I'd save the money and wait for something that you're sure of.

That said though, I replayed Jade Empire a couple of months ago and actually thought it was better than I remembered it being. It shows it's age, sure - but I was entertained none the less.

 

[snave]

Jade Empire doesn't run very well on PC/Steam. I'd stick to the OG Xbox version honestly. I never beat it, but it's a good game otherwise.

I find this hard to believe. Its a rather old game now, and even a moderate amount of grunt overcomes most problems. The fighting mechanics do admittedly do seem tailored to controllers though.

Jade Empire to me was awkward because the first part of the game has diverse scenery, beautifully slow pacing and lots of side quests but is held back by a lack of player options leading to shallow, borderline luck-based fighting mechanics. By the time you amass enough equipment and party members to really start forming deeper strategies, the game is already into its final phase and you're being hurried along to the finish line.

 

[Fappy]

Jade Empire doesn't run very well on PC/Steam. I'd stick to the OG Xbox version honestly. I never beat it, but it's a good game otherwise.

I find this hard to believe. Its a rather old game now, and even a moderate amount of grunt overcomes most problems. The fighting mechanics do admittedly do seem tailored to controllers though.

Jade Empire to me was awkward because the first part of the game has diverse scenery, beautifully slow pacing and lots of side quests but is held back by a lack of player options leading to shallow, borderline luck-based fighting mechanics. By the time you amass enough equipment and party members to really start forming deeper strategies, the game is already into its final phase and you're being hurried along to the finish line.

From what I understand it just wasn't ported over very well. I ran into a lot of performance issues playing it on my PC mostly related to random FPS drops and screen tearing. The menus are pretty damn clunky on the PC version too IIRC.