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Astounding with some problems

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 67 / 69
Date: April 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

From the people who brought us Knights of the Old Republic comes another genre-blending game with a fabulously twisting plot. If you own an Xbox, you should own this game. It is not only the best Action RPG on the Xbox but one of the best RPGs played in recent memory.

For those who have played KOTOR, this game will be instantly familiar. At the offset, you pick a character and are thrust into a world of moralities. Unlike KOTOR, the morality system is a little more complex for the most part. Instead of focusing on good and evil, your character has the choice of being endlessly helpful, understanding and tolerant of everyone (in other words believes in the power of the human spirit) or someone who reveres strength. As an example of this strength concept, there is a decision early on about a dam that is open and has caused problems for a town because the sailors are land locked. A wine merchant wants the dam to remain open so he can make a killing off of the sailors. If you follow the Way of the Open Palm you would probably close the dam so that the town can prosper in what is should be doing. If you follow the Way of the Closed Fist, on the other hand, would decide that if the town were strong they will survive this current hurdle and that it is only that, a hurdle. It gets a little more tricky than that and does open some areas for roleplaying your character and deciding what you would really do in that situation. Bioware is also wonderful at making you think about your decision as they give you new information just as soon as you make a decision that might change how you feel about the situation.

My only complaint with the system is that while they say that the two paths are different from looking at things as good and evil, there are still some instances where there is a "good" and an "evil" way of doing things. I might have rationalized why I would be doing something that way, yet I would get points from the side I didn't want because it was clearly delineated as "good and evil choice." So, that's a bit frustrating given that their system isn't supposed to be good and evil. But, overall the system works well and really makes you think.

I didn't really care for KOTOR because of the battle system and that is probably the reason I'm enjoying Jade Empire much more. The fighting system is simple yet deep. As you progress you will learn different martial arts style that you can map to the D-pad for quick and easy access. And you will be constantly changing your styles as the techniques to defeat enemies will constantly evolve. Some monsters are immune to certain attacks so you will have to experiment and find the best ways of devastating your foes.

On the simple side, the combat is really about rock, paper scissors. You have a quick attack and a time-consuming attack (and a knock back attack that really only helps when you are surrounded and need some space). When someone blocks you use your time consuming attack, otherwise you mostly use your quick attacks to offset their own long attacks. It's pretty simple and easy to used to. However, some battles can become a button masher either way you look at it. But it's still exhilarating and fast with many ways of deciding how you want to play. Do you want to focus on using weapons, martial arts, magic, transformations? A little of the above? It's all up to you.

The game is beautiful most of the time. The art style is impeccable and really helps create a full-flesh universe. Since it's based on oriental myth, it doesn't take place in the Orient as we know it but a mythical world that incorporates themes from oriental culture. Because of this, the desiginers are free to create whatever their imagination can make. And it's beautiful. There are some places that I stood for awhile and just looked because it was so surreally beautiful and soothing. It made me wish that sometimes our world wasn't so industrialized and that we could go back to what was a more simple beauty. It was that affecting. However, sometimes, the backgrounds look painted on. Some of the hills and areas that act as blockades for where you can't go aren't that well designed. Also my character's body type makes me laugh because his pecs are super large and his abs are indented in his body that I laugh whenever I see it.

The game moves impeccably fast as well. Your character runs and I mean runs through the areas. The framerate is great. But, like KOTOR before it, the game stutters sometimes when you are running and turning the camera. When the camera pans, the game flutters sometimes as it tries to take in everything that happens. In battles, the game hardly ever stutters. And the battles can end up having a good dozen or so enemies fighting you and your partner so they can get pretty hectic and the graphics engine does a great job keeping the motion moving.

Aurally, the game is a treat. You will find some cameo voice actors that are immediately familiar (look for John Cleese in a hysterical role). The music is well done and has a wonderful oriental bent to it (of course). Also, Bioware hired a real linguist to help create the fictional language used in the game. It is very familiar to oriental language but isn't real. It was created solely for this game. And that's amazing.

Unfortunately, my problem with the dialogue in the game is the same problem I had with KOTOR. It's great and all but all too often the plot developments and dialogue becomes a "talking head" type situation where anyone who has something important to say gets a close up of their face while their lips move and the dialogue is heard. This is unfortunate for me because I get impatient sometimes and will just read the subtitles and skip through most of their dialogue. It's never "dynamic" in cutscenes like in some RPGs I've played (hands down the best use of dialogue in an RPG goes to FFX that used dialogue to move the plot but it wasn't a novel dialogue; it was more of a movie dialogue). The dialogue in Jade Empire is sometimes like a novel. So, for those who aren't interested in talking heads delivering dialogue this might get annoying after a time. But the dialogue is genuinely well voiced and excellent.

My only other complaint is the load times. While not as annoying constant as Fable where each and every small zone no matter how small had to be loaded for a good 5-10+ seconds, it still is a pain when you have to go through zones for a quest. For instance, in the beginning of the game you have to go through the town to the school (a load screen) to get a quest, go back to town (load screen) to talk to someone, then back to the school (load screen). And it's unfortunate because the actual quest takes maybe a minute, but a good 20 seconds of the time is spent in load screens. That's a uncharacteristic load time though as generally the areas are big and don't usually require many loads. Although another incident where it is very noticeable is in an arena combat situation where before and after each arena battle it has to load for a good 5-10 seconds. The kicker is, some of the arena battles are over in about a minute or much much less and yet you have to deal with two load screens comprising a good 10-20 seconds. So, in some areas it can be annoying and definitely pulls you out of the game when you should be pulled further in. And, it becomes especially annoying considering that games like Halo 2 are seamless after the original load.

Overall, though, this game is gold. It's perfectly plotted and paced and has Bioware's trademark in excellence stamped all over it. It ranks as one of my favorite games this year so far along with God of War and Psychonauts. I would definitely recommend buying this game. There are some problems that I have noted but you know regardless of the problems, this is an excellent game with an excellent story. And, at 22+ hours, this adventure is worth taking.

**NOTE: You should definitely pick up this, the Limited Edition of it if you can still find it. For the initial run they are all Limited Edition and after they are gone, you will only be able to get the standard game. The Limited edition has a new character and weapon and a making of as well as some other fun things. Same price, so definitely check this one out if you want the game.

Highly recommended!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: June 28, 2005
Author: Amazon User

If you enjoy RPGs, then Jade Empire is definitely a game for you! The graphics are gorgeous, the storyline is great, and the atmosphere is intricate and well developed.

First, the basics. You are a young martial arts student who is sent by your master on a quest, in a fictional Oriental land. As you move through this world, you encounter a wide variety of people and situations. The choices you make help to shape the world around you and your skill progression.

The graphics are simply *beautiful* to look at. Each area has its own look, and the details are just stunning. There have been other XBox games in the past that looked quite nice, but with Jade Empire I really think they've hit the top. We'll have to wait for the next XBox to see anything more lush than this.

The sounds show that same attention to detail. The voice actors are great, and the background sounds really shine. The soundtrack is well done, too. The developers poured a lot of energy into the sound atmosphere in which you explore, and it really shows.

Gameplay is very smooth and fun. You can balance three different aspects of your "health" - i.e. physical health, magic power and focus - through your choices in combat. There are a wide variety of styles, and certain enemies are resistant to certain styles of attacks.

There is a main plot line, and numerous side plots. Sure, if you have a walkthrough, you can zip through the game in only 15 or so hours. That's true for pretty much any game. The joy of an RPG is to take your time, explore, talk to people. It's the difference between fast-forwarding through a DVD to see the end, vs actually sitting back and enjoying the entire ride. Compared to how much money you pay for a 1.5 hr movie, you're getting an incredible bargain here!

Highly recommended - 5/5

Welcome to the world of Jade

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: October 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Jade Empire - Circa 2005

GOOD:
- Good/Tight controls
- Nicely balanced gameplay (some might think it's to easy just go to the difficulty setting and crank up the difficulty)
- Lots of different and interesting fighting styles to earn and choose from
- An original story with some twists and turns for you to discover (by talking to people). The story also has multiple endings (either good or bad outcome)
- Variety of different locals to travel to (all done in nice detail)
- Action RPG with lots of story (told through character dialogue) and real-time action

BAD:
- Not a traditional RPG or a traditional beat-em-up (like Final Fight), so it might upset people looking for more of either
- Slightly liner gameplay
- Dialogue trees might be to long for some that want more of an action game
- Some complain of long loading times, but Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic and fable had loading times just as long

IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- Has mythical/medieval Chinese theme
- Action RPG with real time fighting (like in Fable), no turn based fighting (like in final Fantasy X) and no "partial" turn based fighting (like in Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic)
- Light RPG elements, think of this as an RPG for people who like RPG's but hate tracking statistics and complex weapon/armor upgrading. Great for people who like action/adventure games (like Onimusha) but want a lot more story
- Lot's of story and dialogue if you ever played Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic one or two you'll know what I mean.

GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Fable
- Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- This special version has a bonus disc with a new playable character, weapon and a making of the game video (made by G4's show Icons)
- After you beat the game and during the credits, you get some really funny dialogue from the game's main story characters

OUTSTANDING Single Player RPG!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Just finished this game, and it simply blew me away. It is deffinetly my idea of a near perfect single player RPG.

-Very good well written story.
-Great characters.
-Great voice acting.
-Awesome fight system that is really fun.
-Terrific soundtrack that fits whatever is happening perfectly.
-Tons of subquests to do.
-Lots of choices that WILL effect the outcome of the game, as well as relationships with other characters.
-Many different unique fighting styles, ranging from martial arts, to weapons, magic, or physical transformation.
-The way the player behaves during the game shapes their character, and the path he/she follows.

A few minor camera angle problems during some of the battles is pretty much the ONLY flaw I found with this game.

If you enjoy RPGs, do yourself a favor and buy Jade Empire.
Really an fantastic gaming experience.

More of the same...in the best way possible.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: April 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Okay, I don't know if I'm really qualified to write a review for this game yet seeing as how I'm only 10 hours into it, but damn, I feel I have to add to the positive input that should convince people to buy this game. This game has sucked me in. Goodbye Halo 2 (for a little while anyways), goodbye social life, goodbye girlfriend (just kidding--I still see her on the weekends ;) ), hello Jade Empire. This game is so gorgeous that I can hardly begin to describe it. It feels like every blade of grass, every tile on every roof, every statue in every town, has been there for centuries and belongs there. I love jumping into a game with an already lived-in feel, as if everything makes sense because of being crafted by years of experience. I love the fight system and the good/bad polarization that has carried over from KOTOR (which I always thought was one of the best replay elements a game could have). But the visuals are what drew me in the most. The architecture, the color, the feel of this game astounds me. Do yourself a favor and buy this game, even if you're only a partial fan of kung-fu movies and rpg games. If you have a small interest in the ancient chinese culture, possibly piqued by movies like Hero, Crouching Tiger, or House of Flying Daggers, this game will most definitely be your cup of tea. If you don't like good action games with deep storylines (and I haven't even finished it yet!) and beautiful visuals, then don't buy this game. And stay away from me...you freak.

Excellent game, a must have for Xbox owners

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: April 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Despite inevitible comparisons to the KOTOR series, Jade Empire really stands on its own as an extraordinary game.

It can be similar to Knights of the Old Republic in some respects; the conversation system that worked well in KOTOR is back here, with similar good and evil paths that you can follow (Open Hand and Closed Fist for good/evil respectively). The dialog is top-notch for a game, in standard Bioware quality, and the voice acting for it is also great. It is a bit awkward at first since I was expecting a more chinese-sounding voice set, but I think their decision to stay away from badly imitated accents was ultimately a good one.

Gameplay is also very good, and the difficulty is readily adjustable. Combat is a series of combinations more on par with the Dynasty Warriors style of fighting than with Tekken, but it has a flavor of its own that makes it interesting. Different styles of fighting and different weapons are available to change up the action, and each has its own feel and animation set. Fun and challenging, but not weighed down by being overly deep or bogged down in RPG statistics. Very accessible to players not trained on hours of arcade fighters, but still fun for those people on higher difficulty levels.

Speaking of animations, they're outstanding. The character models are well made, and the fluidity of the motion has the grace and beauty that kung-fu display should. Very well done, and worth a separate mention on their own.

The story is very well done as well, probably the key element for a role-playing game; characters are interesting and well realized for their different traits and motivations. It has the feeling of an old style kung-fu movie, with a good mix of emotional material both funny and sometimes tragic.

Terrific game, a must buy for RPG and/or kung-fu movie fans.

Easily the game of the YEAR!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Rarely does a game so hyped up live up to it's expectations. They can be very good and serviceable, but they don't blow you away. This game blew me away after just five minutes. Having just experienced the awful second installment to KOTOR, I was jonesing for a good RPG. I really enjoyed Fable, but it was waaaaay too short, and it seemed liked it was a little rushed out to the market. It was still a very good game though.

Jade Empire blows it away. Everything that was great about Fable, is even better in JE. Everything that was lacking in Fable, they not only fixed it in JE, but they NAILED it. Let's go down to the specifics.

**I need to add this disclaimer as I have noticed distinct differences in game reviews based on the reviewers entertainment system configuration. If you don't have a system which can fully exploit all aspects of this game, then you might not rate it as high as someone who does. I fortunately have spent way too much money on my system, and can fully enjoy it in all it's glory.

Graphics:

It's about as good as it can get on the Xbox. For those of us who also play PC games, we have gotten a little spoiled with the amazing graphics that have been coming out on the current PC titles; but graphics are not just in the clarity and resolution. JE has AMAZING cinemagamophry. There are scenes that are truly breathtaking, where I just panned around taking in the amazing scenery. I found myself trying to find a print screen function to capture those pictures, like I was a tourist on vacation.

Audio

The sound is really, really well done. There were times that I thought I was hearing things outside my window, and was kind of embarrased when I found out it was just noises coming from the game. Ah, surround sound at it's finest. I did have to do some tweaking in the Audio options to really set the sounds to where I most enjoyed them, but it only took a few minutes and made all the difference in the world. I recommend to stop sometimes, enjoy the scenery, and listen to the ambient noises that have been added. Bioware really added a vast amount of wonderful sounds, that only adds to the depth and richness of this title.

Gameplay

This is where Jade Empire really excels. Fable had an enjoyable fighting system, but did not nearly have the same depth and complexity as Jade Empire. Jade Empire's fighting system will be emulated for many years to come. It really was able to setup a simple system in which a beginning user could pick it up and start fighting right away, while giving the advanced user the complex fighting system that we always yearn for. The fact that it automaticlly pauses the game when you want to switch to a style that is not set in your D-pad is such a huge improvement, that I think this will be the standard for all console games from here on out. Not only were they able to achieve this without taking away from the flow of battle, but Bioware was able to enhance it. Truly amazing.
Jade Empire has the same action, consequences system as Knights of the Old Republic, but it is a lot more in depth and rewarding. I also noticed there was a lot better opportunities for anyone who wanted to walk the Way of the Closed Fist(bad guy). I'm going to start all over again, playing as a Closed Fist character, to see the difference. I loved the fact that you could also romance both female leads, and get them at the end. Nothing feeling like a real hero, when you can convince two women that it's perfectly OK to date both of them at the same time without having to give your credit card number.

Overall

If you're an RPG buff, this is the game for you. If you loved KOTOR and Fable, you will worship this game as the new Messiah, who brings beauty and truth to your life. If your a Graphics Nazi, you might not get past the lower level graphics that are presented on the Xbox, and might feel that this is a negative. Until Xbox 2 comes out, this is about as good as it can get. This game has really set the standard for all current and future RPG. Knights of the Old Republic revived and renewed it, JE has perfected it.

Amazing RPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 06, 2005
Author: Amazon User

My purchase of Jade Empire was solely due to my love of BioWare's best known title, Knights of the Old Republic. I was concerned that I might not be so engrossed without the Star Wars factor, but I was quickly sucked into this game.

As someone who might have only recently thought to describe herself as a gamer, I am sorely lacking in the controller skills one might expect a real-time combat system to require. I was pleasantly surprised to find Jade Empire's combat more than accessible; I'd be so bold as to say I was quickly kicking major kung-fu butt :-). Seriously, the variety of styles, both in types (Martial, Weapon, Magic and Support) and the sheer number of available styles, made the fighting beautiful to see, and although there are no complex button combinations, the Harmonic Combinations, while never necessary to defeat an opponent, allow the player to rain especially gory death on his or her enemies.

The storyline just rocks. The larger, overarching action constantly beckons the player to continue, and the romance subplots are one feature significantly improved over KotOR, in my opinion. Both male and female PCs have more than one character available for love, and one's chosen can be converted to the PC's philosophic path, or suffer the consequences. As (I admit it) a sappy girl when it comes to romance, I found this aspect of the game contributed significantly to my immersion in the plot. This game can be beaten in a little over 20 hours easily, but the game experience can be significantly enriched by the many subquests. The first time through, however, the larger plot drove me to skip several of these quests, simply because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next.

Although the "morality system" is not perfect, I found the Ways of Open Palm and Closed Fist intriguing. There are several subquests where I felt like I was being given straight good or evil choices, but overall, the options given to the player when choosing how to deal with characters reflects divergent philosophies, rather than nice or mean options.

The most out of place element in Jade Empire is probably the flyer missions, although once you become immersed in this mythical world, rather than thinking of this as simply medieval China, the presence of the flyer becomes much more natural.

A large part of this game's success is definitely due to the quality voice acting. The voices were never dull or flat, and there weren't many obviously repeated voices. The followers' voices are just brilliant, too, particularly the more comedic characters. And despite a slight tendency to relate large amounts of background information in random NPC dialogue, the script was, on the whole, great.

Overall, I absolutely loved this game. If you're looking for a game that balances simple, yet deep Player Character statistics, enjoyable gameplay, stunning environments, and riveting plot, Jade Empire's it.

A great game with lots of room for customizing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is a great game to play. The graphics are well done, as well as the story line. This is truly a role playing game, and you can make many different decisions to truly make you in charge of what's happening in the world of the game. Although the game is kind of short there are many things in the game you can do differently to make it interesting to replay the game. You can for example, play as a different kind of character, be good if you were evil or be evil if you were good, use different followers, and choose different characters to be at the minigame in the end. All in all this is a great game, and if blood is something that bothers you there is an option that lets you turn it off.

I hate RPG'S but this game rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: April 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Like my title says, I am not a fan of RPG'S and have all 3 systems but this game delivers.I love fable and didn't mind KOTOR so I guess I like 3 rpg's.Now KOTOR is an amazing epic RPG but my only complaint was that you dont actualy fight or kill the badies yourself like in 95% of all RPG'S you just point and click on wich enemy to fight AND IT FIGHTS FOR YOU.BUT Jade Empire give you the freedom and to actualy fight and choose wich foe you want to attack as seen in Fable in real time fighting.This is the only way I can stand to play an RPG.I cant stand Final Fantasy and all these other weak games.nOW i KNOW lots of people love there rpg's like FF so if your like me and stay away from the RPG games you need to check this bad boy out, you wont be dissapointed.If you are into great story telling, great action, killer graphics and martial arts mixed with ancient chinese mythology you will dig this game.Its easy enough for basic gamers to just pick up and play and deep enough for hard core players to learn all the special combo's and magic attacks/transformations.Now I also recommend players to play Fable if you enjoyed this game.Now with the NEW Xbox just around the corner its good to be an Xbox owner with all the top notch games you'll be seeing from now till the end of the year like Conker-live and reloaded, Forza motorsport, Halflife 2, Farcry, Pariah,Advent rising,Destry all humans,Moto gp 3,GTA sanadreas,rainbow 6 3 lockdown,suffering 2 and many more.Most of those I mentioned are XBOX ONLY games.So go rent Jade empire for a few nights and see what its all about and decide if this is a game for you.I know I did and cant stop playing it.

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