Review: Jade Empire
- Thread starter Hey Joe
- Start date
I personally love Jade Empire. I know I'm more forgiving than most when it comes to games but I don't really get where all the negative opinion comes from. I mean, you yourself only seemed to highlight three flaws:
1) Accents are wrong.
2) Squiffy difficulty curve.
3) Crippled progression.
Which are far from game ruining, surely? And personally, I reckon the RPG that doesn't let you do everything in one run through is the good RPG. I know you did end with a recommendation, but still. Strikes me as a little funny.
1) Accents are wrong.
2) Squiffy difficulty curve.
3) Crippled progression.
Which are far from game ruining, surely? And personally, I reckon the RPG that doesn't let you do everything in one run through is the good RPG. I know you did end with a recommendation, but still. Strikes me as a little funny.
I kind of agree. I'm actually very forgiving with the western accents because it is an western RPG. It's similar to all of the aliens speaking english in Mass Effect. There are just some things that have to be accepted in a game for the sake of easing the general public into the game. The progression issue forced me to think very carefully about what styles I wanted to focus on and weigh their strengths carefully. To me that was a good thing.Singing Gremlin said:
I am in agreement with the final recomendation however. If you didn't play this on the X-Box, get on live and DL it as an X-Box original. It was great fun.
You mean racist people? XD
It was a relatively amusing game, but I think they sort of failed with what they themselves set out to do with the open palm/closed fist philosophy thing. At the beginning it sounds like they've really given it a great deal of thought, but in the end it's just same good/evil as in all similar games. Sure, you can have your character now and then say crap like "I'm only bashing your fuckin' head in for your own good!" but that's a paper-thin veil, and it's not like there's an "evil" ending and a "closed fist" ending
Speaking of endings, the plot is possibly the most predictable in any rpg I have ever played. I mean, when you figure out most of the coming plot twists after the tutorial it's pretty weak. Don't get me wrong, I liked the premise (although the final execution of it is a bit stupid), but they hint at it way too much, even early on.
I love that game! The only problem is the combat is easy as all hell, you basically break it down to a simple pattern: attack, dodge, block, dodge enemy's power attack, attack, dodge...
But still a great game! I might give it another play...
But still a great game! I might give it another play...
I recently picked this one up myself - and I've been pretty sad I didn't grab it before. Amazing story, possibly my favorite from BioWare, which ought to say something. I thought that, while most of the game is easy, its largely due to an imbalance in the powers that causes it. Once you get a few of the obscenely overpowered styles (*cough* storm dragon *cough*) a lot of the game becomes a cake walk. Still fun though.
I also loved Jade Empire. I'm a fan of Bioware in general, or, at least, I buy an awful lot of their products - NWN, Mass Effect, and JE. I got it late - only last year - and also wished I'd paid attention to it long ago.
I thought the voice acting was spot on, and probably the best in any game I've played save for ME. It was intended for english-speaking audiences, sure, but also had elements of asian thought and philosophy as well as lore.
The game has problems where Bioware games often do, in the difficulty curve. Once you've learned the game's mechanics it becomes far too easy. As Arrakiv mentioned, there's also some overpowered styles that make the game a cakewalk (Storm Dragon, Paralyzing Palm).
Still, it's a bargain price these days, for a very fun game.
I thought the voice acting was spot on, and probably the best in any game I've played save for ME. It was intended for english-speaking audiences, sure, but also had elements of asian thought and philosophy as well as lore.
The game has problems where Bioware games often do, in the difficulty curve. Once you've learned the game's mechanics it becomes far too easy. As Arrakiv mentioned, there's also some overpowered styles that make the game a cakewalk (Storm Dragon, Paralyzing Palm).
Still, it's a bargain price these days, for a very fun game.
Plus, the xbox version has the funniest credits I've ever seen. Well, heard.
"And punch a mountain. In space."
"And punch a mountain. In space."
The thing I can't help but think when I play Jade Empire is: "Why can't playing a monk in Neverwinter Nights (1 or 2) be this much fun in combat?!"
it was a good game, but why did they do a review on a game that came out in 2005? Did this game hide on the shelf for so long from these guys that it took them 4 years to find an old xbox game, or was it because JE showed up on xbox live marketplace in July 2008?
What's next on their apparently dated list of reviews? Maybe they'll take a "sneak peak" at the 1933 version of King Kong, or maybe they'll talk about that new fangled thing called electricity and how chocolate costs a nickel at the Piggly Wiggly.
What's next on their apparently dated list of reviews? Maybe they'll take a "sneak peak" at the 1933 version of King Kong, or maybe they'll talk about that new fangled thing called electricity and how chocolate costs a nickel at the Piggly Wiggly.
It's a gaming site. Especially bearing in mind it's a guest review, I think they're allowed to look back at good games people might have missed. Not all gaming sites have to stay on the cutting edge. I'd say publishing reviews of old games is a good thing, and shows actual interest in gaming itself, rather than a dry contempt for anything dated.
We don't normally cover older games in any form, but given that this is available as an Xbox Original, I felt it was appropriate to run as a Guest Review. Your mileage may vary.
Jade Empire was a fun game mechanically. Conversely the difficulty was wonky. A long stint of easiness followed by a SHORT set of good difficulty then a hard slog with dwindling resources. I gave up when I was in the spirit world (IIRC) and didn't have any healing left.
Fair review. Keep it up.
Fair review. Keep it up.
I would have liked you to mention the Way of the Open Hand and the Way of the Closed Fist, which are a nice take on the usual "alignment-o-meter" and its understanding of good or evil.
Briefly mentioning how the Open Hand follows its path in harmony with its surroundings, while the Closed Fist rather serves mainly itself and faces its challenges head-on (thank you Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_Empire#Philosophies] for saving me the time coming up with my own summary ;>), would have added a little something to the "typical" review and its observations.
Otherwise nice review with its fair share of debatable points. =)
Briefly mentioning how the Open Hand follows its path in harmony with its surroundings, while the Closed Fist rather serves mainly itself and faces its challenges head-on (thank you Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_Empire#Philosophies] for saving me the time coming up with my own summary ;>), would have added a little something to the "typical" review and its observations.
Otherwise nice review with its fair share of debatable points. =)
I think your recounting of the number of styles is wrong.
4 martial styles
4 support styles
4 magic styles (of which any 1 character can learn 3, depending on alignment)
Sword style
Twin Axe style
Spear style
Gun style
about 4 different transformation styles
that's 20 styles
The game has a silly amount of depth in that department.
4 martial styles
4 support styles
4 magic styles (of which any 1 character can learn 3, depending on alignment)
Sword style
Twin Axe style
Spear style
Gun style
about 4 different transformation styles
that's 20 styles
The game has a silly amount of depth in that department.
I loved this game. People keep telling me the plot twists were ridiculously predictable, but i never saw any of them coming.
I can't believe I missed this! Congrats Hey Joe, I would have done one myself if you hadn't.
For me, it was an excellent game, but had some little issues that I could nitpick. Otherwise, it comes in #2 of my favourite Bioware games, the first being KOTOR.
For me, it was an excellent game, but had some little issues that I could nitpick. Otherwise, it comes in #2 of my favourite Bioware games, the first being KOTOR.