What are your thoughts on Jade Empire?

[TWEWYFan]

The semester is almost done for me and I was thinking of trying a new game. I was looking through the Steam store and noticed Jade Empire was available. Now, I'm a pretty big Bioware fan but for various reasons I missed it when it was first released. It seemed like a good opportunity to fill this gap in my game library but on the other hand I don't know as much about this game as I do its siblings.

Now granted it's a Bioware game that was released before the dark times, so I'm willing to bet it was pretty good for its day. For those of you who have played the game, do you think its still worth taking a look at now or should it stay where it is?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Fun game, definitely not on par with Bioware's most acclaimed series, but it has a bit of the old magic there. It is rapidly aging, though, and should be approached with that in mind. Make sure your tolerance for a retro gaming experience is at least moderately high.

 

[Zhukov]

Kinda pretty but with ageing graphics, cool setting, fun characters, terrible opening, repetitive but kinda okay combat, story is... alright I guess, dialogue fluctuates wildly between good and terrible, as per usual for Bioware.

It took me three tries before I managed to force my way through that intro and get into the game proper. Had fun with it, but it never really grabbed me.

 

[Mikejames]

Kinda pretty but with ageing graphics, cool setting, fun characters, terrible opening, repetitive but kinda okay combat, story is... alright I guess, dialogue fluctuates wildly between good and terrible, as per usual for Bioware.

It took me three tries before I managed to force my way through that intro and get into the game proper. Had fun with it, but it never really grabbed me.

I think my first response to the game was thinking that the rival being ticked at the school's favoritism was probably justified. Ten minutes in and I was already tired of the fan-worship.

But yeah, give it a chance to open up to the world proper and it could get interesting.

 

[Windcaler]

Its pretty good. Even today. The graphics are the only thing that I think is aging. Really good and unique story, memorable and well written characters, really fun combat that promotes switching martial arts styles on the fly, very interesting world. Its stellar across the board and IMO one of their best games along with Mass effect 1, Dragon Age: Origins, and Knights of the old replublic. The only complaint I have is its a bit to easy for my tastes

So yeah, go buy it. Its a great game

 

[Mullac]

Pretty damn good. It deserves much more fame than it recieves. Although the combat can become a little repetitive, the story, characters and atmosphere are wonderful! It isn't as good as KotoR (since it's the best game ever) but it deserves a play.

 

[Launcelot111]

Solid game, standard Bioware, combat is a little iffy from time to time, graphics are nice, a little shallow overall but still fun

 

[IllumInaTIma]

I'd say it's really different from most RPGs out there. Very interesting, but a little bit iffy, combat system and awesome setting. Also, you can romance two chicks at a time and they won't mind it, *winkwink

 

[BreakfastMan]

It was okay. Not one of Bioware's best (in fact, I would say it is one of their worst), but still okay. It is mildly enjoyable the first time through and has a nice twist. I would recommend playing something better, but Jade Empire isn't an entirely terrible choice.

 

[Xanex]

The game contaning one of my favorite Bioware characters. Hen-pecked Hou. Some of his lines had me rolling.

 

[Catie Caraco]

I'd definitely recommend it if you're a fan of Bioware. I've enjoyed it every time I've played it. The story isn't as predictable as you'd think, and there's a wonderful surprise cameo from John Cleese that made me a happy girl the first time I played it.

 

[Vern5]

Now granted it's a Bioware game that was released before the dark times, so I'm willing to bet it was pretty good for its day. For those of you who have played the game, do you think its still worth taking a look at now or should it stay where it is?

It's your standard Bioware story: Your character is special for some reason or another and they need to save the world from absolute peril.

You team up with a bunch of flat characters who are later revealed to have hidden depths if you bother to talk with them. You travel from place to place solving other peoples' problems because "why not?" for experience points. The action is sometimes broken up by bizarre minigames that have no reason to be there other than to spice up the experience but are ultimately unnecessary.

The combat is repetitive and somewhat difficult to control. It's the sort of thing you have to get used to over time but it could have been made a lot better. The Asian aesthetic is interesting to look at but lacks the depth of an actual culture or civilization and so misses out on its great potential.

Biggest gripe: The morality system. Bioware was still working around the idea of polarizing morality bars based off of the Light and Dark Sides from Star Wars games of old. To this end, they created the morality system of the Open Palm (Good) and the Closed Fist (Evil). The Open Palm dialogue choices are terribly moral and the Closed Fist choices are hammiest of evil ham. Take from that what you will but the whole system comes off as ridiculous especially now that we can compare it to the Paragon (Idealistic) and Renegade (Pragmatic) choices of Mass Effect.

Overall, not a terrible game but certainly not a good one. There are better and similar projects on the market and your enjoyment will not be reinforced by nostalgia so the game's age will be a more obvious problem. Choose wisely.

 

[gamernerdtg2]

I'm super critical - I didn't like the combat b/c it was too floaty. I like my kung fu to be gritty as opposed to ballet-like.

 

[Requia]

Biggest gripe: The morality system. Bioware was still working around the idea of polarizing morality bars based off of the Light and Dark Sides from Star Wars games of old. To this end, they created the morality system of the Open Palm (Good) and the Closed Fist (Evil). The Open Palm dialogue choices are terribly moral and the Closed Fist choices are hammiest of evil ham. Take from that what you will but the whole system comes off as ridiculous especially now that we can compare it to the Paragon (Idealistic) and Renegade (Pragmatic) choices of Mass Effect.

This is exactly what comes to mind when I think of it. And its all the more aggravating because they describe a choice of two paths that both have serious merits (teaching others to do for themselves but limiting your effectiveness as a result vs doing for others but being controlling) and then almost totally ignore that.

 

[Mister K]

Aside from old graphics and bad morality system, it is a really fun and interesting game. I recommend it.
And a tip: when choosing your first martial arts style, pick Leaping tiger.

 

[Rariow]

My personal favourite BioWare game, to be honest. Really unusual setting, a plot that's a lot better than it seems at first glance, an actually decent combat system in a BioWare game for once (nothing to write home about, but OK) and a lovely aesthetic (Which I'd say still looks great today). Has its fair share of flaws (Way too short, combat DOES get very repetitive towards the end, the morality system is critically flawed and most of the characters don't get much development), but I feel like it's BioWare's magnum opus.

*Runs into hidden bunker, prepared to fend off the hordes of Baldur's Gate and KotOR fans*

 

[dyre]

It's...alright. If you can get past the first few hours, the rest of the game has a certain charm to it, with some interesting and cool looking environments. The characters weren't that memorable (or at least I don't remember any of them, while I certainly remembered many characters from BG2, KOTOR, DA:O, and the ME series), but the story was well-paced enough and the combat was pretty decent. I remember it had a fairly epic final few hours, though you'll roll your eyes at the "twist."

Hmm actually, I think it had enough positive things going for it that it might be worth another playthrough.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I thought it was a unique game in and of itself. Yes I am aware it follows the BioWare format for RPGs but I'm talking about its gameplay. The styles, switching between them during combat is fun and engaging. Also to me the morality system is a bit better than other games, its not really a good/evil thing to me, its the dynamic of different approaches to the same goal, the Yin/Yang dynamic.
I also love the John Cleese cameo. Seriously awesome. Oh also Nathan Fillion, nuff said.

 

[DSK-]

It's an alright game. I didn't enjoy it or like it a great deal, but I wouldn't say it was time badly spent. Just wasn't my cup of tea, particularly after I played KOTOR 1 & 2.

 

[Echopunk]

I really enjoyed Jade Empire. While it did follow the basic Bioware formula, it had a different feel to me. In Bioware games with space ships, I spend time between missions/areas chatting up my team mates for character development and opening random containers for xp gains.

In Jade Empire, the objectives flowed almost seamlessly, so I didn't spend any time at the bases/hangouts/landing areas with my team until later. It wasn't until my second playthrough that I realized how much content I had skipped past without noticing.