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The game demo was great1

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 7
Date: April 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I played the demo of Jade and it was awesome! You can do martial arts and weapons and for some reason the game is rated mature and has little blood! Its very cool so you should get the game!

Bioware does it again!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 12
Date: April 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have played this game for a good couple hours (6+) in it's full form, not demo, and I have to say that this game is amazing! Great story, fun fighting styles and easy to get the hang of. Beautiful graphics as well! I am looking forward to getting my hands on a copy to play beyond where I got before.

I would suggest you buy this game.

Perfect

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 14
Date: April 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is exellent in every way, the lush graphics and scenery, the choice talking, and the fighting style, this lives up to Knights Of The Old Republic 1&2 by far! Way to go Bioware!

The Best RPG Of All Time!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 22
Date: April 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Jade Empire is going to be one of the best RPG's of all time. The graphics are phenominal with mindblowing visuals. The sound is great and the game contains more than 300 voice overs. The fighting system is all new. It looks great and runs very fluently. The story of Jade Empire is based on Chinese myths. An evil ruler wants to take over all the nations and "you" have to stop him. This game is somewhat just like Fable, with all that upgrading your player. You upgrade your character by killing beasts and enemies. You also use magic and you change into beasts that make you kill them faster. So overall you should get this game and if you don't...WELL...TO BAD!!

An Asian Odyssey

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

After creating the 2003 game of the year, what would you expect from Bioware? Well it's not what I saw coming, passing up the chance to make the sequel to KOTOR they decided to finally make a game that they've imagined for nearly a decade, an RPG in an ancient-China like land with plenty of kung-fu elements.

Jade Empire is not your standard RPG, it's far from it, but with it's improvements on the genre it very well may become the standard. The first noticeable difference in the gameplay is the innovative fighting style allowing you to fight in real time, but it's a change for the better. It's truly new feel is based around the d-pad, setting a different fighting style to each direction so that while in battle it is simple to change between them. This allows for many moves with various twists making it easier to navigate attacks. Bioware was correct in saying that for the player to be a kung-fu master they must feel like one as well, this is what the system of fighting does over a turn-based so common to RPGs.

I will not ruin the story, but it leads for action-packed sequences that will have you on the edge of your seat. You will easily find your self immersed in the story of this world. If you have played "Knight's of the Old Republic" you will know that Bioware's storytelling is top-notch and they only improve with Jade Empire's plot. The scenes have been pondered and perfected, the mythology is in-depth and brings an incredible realism to the world, and the architecture and newly-developed language are the icing on the cake.

On your quest there is plenty of customization available, mini quests to go upon, and lands to explore, all the while your choices having consequences leading you down the path of The Open Palm or The Closed Fist. You also constantly upgrade your character with the experience you gain over time, mastering different ways of fighting.

I have not enjoyed a game this much in a long while, and even if your are not a fan of the RPG genre this game can draw you in. It is an almost certain for RPG of the Year and a definite contender for Game of the Year.

Bioware's attention to detail, the over 320 minor characters have full voice-overs, and superb gameplay earn Jade Empire
A Bliss of 9

4.5

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: April 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

this game is better then knights of the old republic gameplay wise. but it is more fun to play star wars then asia gameplay. this game is way to short unlike knights which took 20 hours this takes a small 12 hours to finish. for noobs it mite take about 20. i would give this game a 9/10 but i cant because you can only give it out of 5 stars. the game has flaws where your desicions of things to say in conversations dont always give you good points or bad points when you same something kind or evil. also it is literally impossible to get fully good or fully evil until the end of the game because of the lack of side missions. also it doesnt let you randomly kill innocent people like knights. there are only 5 cities you get to explore on this game unlike knights where you get about 8. But this game is very fun to play. the characters are great and the fighting styles are fun to get. this is a good game and if you liked knights or fable you will like this one.

Great game, but WAY too short.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: April 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Bioware has once again shown their stuff in making Jade Empire. I was torn in how to rate it exactly, the game itself is really fun, using aspects for its battle system from Knights, only making it real time. Different strategies come into play, and each style has its pros and cons. Graphics are solid and beautiful. You see wind blowing grass and clothes. Detail is solid, and animations are smooth and clean. I have yet to see in problems with lag or clipping issues. Controls are easy to use, and customizable. So it won't be hard to suit them to your needs.
The major problem though, is that the game seems to end quickly. Even with doing all the side quests and spending time just leveling up. It takes only 15-20 hours to beat if you just skim through most of it. Another issue I had is that the camera would sometimes zoom in when I moved by walls during battle and in town movement. This can be annoying in battle, because you can't see and have no idea where things are. The sounds are decent, with music and full voiceovers for all characters. Though the music gets repetitive, and though this is me nitpicking, some of the character voices just get irritating.
Besides that though, this is a great game for the Xbox, and a must have for any RPG fan. If you don't mind it being short, then there is lot to be found in Jade Empire.

Worth the price of admission

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 24, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Jade Empire is from the people of Bioware, who gave us such wonderful games as Star Wars KOTOR and Baldurs Gate II. These guys know how to tell a story.

That being said, this is not a traditional rpg...think of it as an action rpg. There is virtually no inventory, and you do not upgrade your follower characters. You do get to customize your character, and I will say that with the sheer amount of fighting styles on top of the good/evil/neutral paths, it has replay value.

The fights are fast and fun, but the main reason to play the game is the story. Bioware creates a world that is just plain cool to travel through. You walk through the cities and talk to everyone just to find out more. I would stop and admire views, the graphics are wonderful. As with KOTOR, you just get pulled along by the story and you can't wait to see where it takes you.

Astounding with some problems

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 45 / 47
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 like 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 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 this, the standard game. The Limited edition has a new character and weapon style and a making of as well as some other fun things. Same price, so definitely check out the limited edition over this version if you want the game.

Best RPG for XBOX Yet

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 02, 2005
Author: Amazon User

A latter-day Knight of the Old Republic for those who either don't follow or don't care about Star Wars. This game excels in certain areas where its predecesor misses out. With an in-depth story-line that can change and twist according to your own responses and actions and a more involved fighting style, this game is sure to retain a special place among the XBOX greats.

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