Jade Empire

[mad_alien]

I have been  searching and searching for an RPG that would actually keep my interest. I played a lot of D&D when I was younger and I think I was so hardcore into it that it made me very jaded when it came to CRPG's.
 The last RPG that I've actually finished was Fallout. That being said I picked up a used copy of Jade Empire from gamestop a month or so ago for about 10 bucks. For some reason this game has grabbed me. The setting is just what I was looking for. I understand this game is very RPG-lite and I think that is what I'm happy about, it's got just enough to tinker with and still enjoy the game without having to number crunch, I feel like the character is actually developing for some reason and not just a collection of numbers I'm adding up.
 The story is pretty interesting, so much so that I can't wait till I get to the next stage and strangely enough the game actually got me to feel some emotion. It has been so long since I've been actually interested in the NPC's. I guess I just want to recommend this game to someone who wants an action game with a little rpg thrown in the mix, the game definitely has some flaws but I'm just having a blast with it.  A couple of parts have me scratching my head and are a little cheesy but I have to give it 2 thumbs up.

[ATB]

Glad you like it.  I couldn't stand Jade Empire.  One of the most disappointing gaming experiences I can remember.  My mini- self review:

Was an absolute struggle to complete this game.  Bioware is now on the watch and wait list.  No heart.  Didn’t care about my character. Ugh, very disappointed.

[Knightshade Dragon]

I enjoyed it quite a bit.  It may be a bit biased due to my love for Martial Arts, but I was hooked from the word go.

[Hapfloyde]

Same here.  My only problem with it was a number of ridiculosly tough boss fights.  I'm actually considering playing through it again, maybe doing evil for once.

[DamageInc]

I picked it up to play on my 360. I always wanted to play it, but never had the original Xbox.

[Autistic Angel]

I enjoyed Jade Empire quite a lot.  It seems like many people complained that the combat was simplistic, but compared to that of Knights of the Old Republic where you almost never had to interact with your characters at *all* during combat, Jade Empire's basic martial arts combos are still a step up.

(KOTOR is a great game which I've played from beginning to end on more than one occasion, so I'm not bashing it in any way.  I'm simply sharing my opinion that interactive combat beats out non-interactive combat.)

As far as Jade Empire's storyline goes, I'll confess that I didn't care much about the fate of my own character, but I *did* grow to care quite a bit about the other members of my party.  Dialogue and character backstory have always been some of Bioware's strong suits, and this game didn't disappoint.

Actually, there was one party member who was really lame....

Spoiler for Hiden:

...and that's Skye.  I was never even clear on why he would have joined the group in the first place, much less what was supposed to make him an interesting or compelling choice of characters.  Even his backstory goes nowhere!  That guy was as dull and generic as they come, but I really liked everybody else.

-Autistic Angel

[CeeKay]

I picked it up to play on my 360. I always wanted to play it, but never had the original Xbox.

I tried playing it on the 360 but the frame rate seemed to stutter alot.  They haven't gotten the emulation quite right yet  :cry:

[Calvin]

I picked it up to play on my 360. I always wanted to play it, but never had the original Xbox.

I tried playing it on the 360 but the frame rate seemed to stutter alot.  They haven't gotten the emulation quite right yet  :cry:

I was just about to ask about this-are load times any better on the 360? They were terrible on the XBox.

As for the game, i am now 3 abortive attempts to play it-I like it, I find the gameworld interesting, the combat fun, etc, but I just cannot throw myself into and just get it done. I am definately going to do it though after I get through some of these newer games.

[olaf]

I couldnt finish it.

It game felt very KOTOR (a good thing, for me) BUT...with bad action combat and NPCs I didnt care about.

olaf

[CeeKay]

I was just about to ask about this-are load times any better on the 360? They were terrible on the XBox.

Honestly, I never really payed attention to the load times on the X-Box, but I did notice it seemed to take awhile to load on the 360.  I chalked it up to emulation difficulties but I could be wrong.

[Purge]

Beat it on Xbox initially, went with the Way of the Open Palm (as opposed to the cold survival of the fittest closed fist). There is also a more vendictive / cruel / evil behaviour which doesn't hold true to the closed fist.


I'd like to explore the closed fist, but I can't see myself playing twice in a row. I'm going to give myself another year and then MAYBE play it on the 360. We'll see.

As to combat, it was pretty awesome as long as you challenge yourself. There are easy roads through all combat, (jump behind-attack-dodge then lather-rinse-repeat) or you can truly use different styles.

The last boss fight was challenging if you didn't just keep freezing him, and offered many different death possibilities.

[MerianMoriarty]

my biggest obstacle when i started out playing Jade Empire was getting used to switching styles a lot.

by the end of it, i was using charged harmonic combos almost exclusively (usually Heavenly Wave / Leaping Tiger), unless i ran out of mana, and then i would switch to my fave combo of Storm Dragon / Spirit Thief to fill up again.  i also built my characters to be heavy on focus, though, so i was able to slow down certain crucial moments in the game. the final boss was only an annoyance to me, and only then because he was resistant to stuns and would break out of my Storm Dragon's effect before i was finished hitting him with Spirit Thief.

after my first playthrough and a half or so, i mastered the game from both sides pretty easily, and then i felt like the game was far too short.  (also, i feel that the final scrolling ship level for Kang's sidequest is disproportionately harder than any of the other scrolling ship levels).

[farley2k]

Personally I loved it.  I found the setting wonderful and different, I found combat fun but very easy and I thought the story was...well the story wasn't great but I loved the rest.

I liked just wandering around I found the whole art direction beautiful.

[Scoop20906]

I enjoyed the game but I got to the capital city and then got sidetracked and I haven't been able to get started again. Now, that I have the 360, the old Xbox doesn't even get started up. I don't know if I will ever get back to finish it up.

[Farscry]

I've recently started working on this title again and still love it.  Great combat, wonderful atmosphere, art direction, and music, and an intriguing story.  Of course, I'm a martial arts junkie so that probably makes a big difference.  

[rrmorton]

I loaded it up for the first time a few days ago and didn't like it. I guess I wasn't in the mood for such a slow start with long dialogue trees right out of the gate.

[Rob_Merritt]

I loved the story and the setting but oh the combat was awful. Worst combat system ever. The only way they could of made it worse was for me to hit myself in the nuts to pull off every move.

[rrmorton]

Then you're not gonna like Jade Empire II very much.

[Roguetad]

It seemed to embrace the worst gameplay elements of Kotor1&2.  Once I got  out the starter village I really enjoyed the game, including the combat.  I played through twice, once good and once evil.  I love Chinese mythology, so that probably had something to do with me sticking with it.  I've also always enjoyed watching Chinese martial arts, the styles seem so artistic and fluid compared to martial arts from other parts of the world.  I thought JE did a good job of capturing the look and feel of those arts (I'm no expert by any means, they just looked like the real deal to me).  Now if they could've tossed the horrible Kotor1&2 slow pacing in the beginning and middle parts of the game, I would've loved the entire experience.

[Harpua3]

Wow. Funny enough I just grabbed this to play for $20.00 and so far it`s WELL worth it! I`m not far at all, but it grabbed me from the start. I`m suprised how many people here and other places ripped this game apart. It rocks so far. Don`t hit me, but....................I couldn`t get into Kotor.....................I tried twice.................... :lol:  But, I`m lovingme some Jade Empire! Go figure :? . The combat is  certainly not like ninja gaiden or anything, but it`s WAY better than the combat in Kotor IMHO. I know I`ll be hated for what I said :wink: .

[mad_alien]

I finished this about a month ago, I loved it. The story got a little convoluted at the end, but I still enjoyed it. Most of the characters were interesting. The combat definitely needs some fine tuning, but it gives me something to look forward to in the sequel. It sure wasn't perfect but it did something right because I haven't had an RPG keep my interest since the late 90's.

[Roguetad]

by the end of it, i was using charged harmonic combos almost exclusively (usually Heavenly Wave / Leaping Tiger), unless i ran out of mana, and then i would switch to my fave combo of Storm Dragon / Spirit Thief to fill up again.  i also built my characters to be heavy on focus, though, so i was able to slow down certain crucial moments in the game. the final boss was only an annoyance to me, and only then because he was resistant to stuns and would break out of my Storm Dragon's effect before i was finished hitting him with Spirit Thief.

Those were the exact same combos I used, same with the final boss.  With those combos mastered, you could perma lock down most baddies and keep topping off during fights as needed.

[JasonConan]

Thumbs up from me.  The story and marital art action worked well.  I enjoyed the combat a lot at first, but a little more variety would have been nice.  It's been a while, but I remember the combat being pretty easy as long as I did the same cheap combo.  And I remember caring about the characters enough to be kind of mad when the plot twist hit.

It wasn't earth shattering, but the game entertained me until it ended.

I'm pretty easy to please.

- J