Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 53
 Excellent game, a must have for Xbox owners April 16, 2005
T. A. Clark (Spring Valley, MN United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
Amazing RPG September 6, 2005
B. Ryan (Villanova, PA United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
 What The Hell Happened? September 17, 2005
Jonathan P. Smith (Chattahoochee, Fl)
4 out of 14 found this review helpful
I was so stoked about this game after all the great reviews, that I went out and BOUGHT AN XBOX,JUST TO PLAY THIS GAME!
I GOT HOSED!!
I started this game and loved it, until about my 3rd hour of dialogue that is damn near impossible to avoid! Dont get me wrong, I have no problem with well written dialogue in a story, (See Clerks!!, Or any other Kevin Smith Movie for a great example of hillarious dialogue!!!), however, I dont need hours on hours of script in a game!
What the hell is up with the long load times?! I remember games like Twisted Metal 2, and the Original Tomb Raider, that had load times like this!
These load times are sick in this day of Next-Generation systems!
So some pluses and minuses!
+ Amazing Graphics!
+ Fantastic Characterization
+ Amazing Character Developement
+ Amazing Monsters (Demon Toad, Demon Elephant, Etc)
+ Great Concept
- Lousy Villans..(Seemed Disney Evil)
- Damn LOAD TIMES
- Cheesy Story
- Fighting System is very stiff, no fluidity
- DAMN LOUSY LOAD TIMES!!
- This game pissed me off so badly with the Load Times, and Endless, Endless, Dialogue, that I couldn't even finish this.
I am returning this game the DAY AFTER I BOUGHT IT!
I'm sorry gang, I was so stoked that I bought an XBOX just to play this! I'm returning this game and buying "God Of War".
I hope Bioware can get it right on a second go around!
Easily the game of the YEAR!! April 20, 2005
Ryan D. Gilbert (Huntington Beach, CA USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
Boring game ever played September 9, 2005
Sumant Kalvala (Ohio)
3 out of 17 found this review helpful
I am fairly new to the xbox domain but i had played a lot of pc games earlier. I had played games like tomb raider ,max payne recoil to name a few earlier and then decided to jump into xbox since i got a job recently and i could afforf it. But once i started the game i just cudnt stick with it for long. I was bored right from the day one. I couldnot retain any damn interst. Its so damn boring. the main problems are:
The combat is very boring. The demons or whatever are way to easy to kill. Just keep hitting the A button and some where they will die for sure. No strategies nothing.
The story is kinda boring. I never got into its long verbose dialogues. You wont believe me but the dialogues run for almost like 5-7 mins and then a short combat scene and another 5-7 mins of dialogues. I m not a big fan of listening to the story when i am ther to play.
No strategies or planning required unlike many other games. When u compare it with games like Tomb Raider and Max Payne you will realise what i am talking about. You need some skill to clear the levels in those games. In this you just need patience to sit and keep listening to the dumbass crap spoken by the characters.
Fighting styles etc are no big deal. You can kill the enemy with just one or two default styles and since you get used to it from the begining of the game you dont feel like switching to the other new styles which have no better effect.
As I said earlier the game is way tooo easy for some looking for some action to play. Moreover the verbose conversation literally SUCKS!!!
ITS BY FAR THE MOST OVERRATED AND HYPED GAME OF THIS YEAR.
I bought GTA and Ghost Recon and i ended up playing the same map again and again in it. Thats the kind of interest it generated.
GHOST RECON rocks seriosuly! but if only we had more maps in it. Otherwise its awesome!
In a nutshell. If you are looking for some action better not go with this game. It sucks big time. Go for some real action packed games like medal of honor, halo etc..but definetely not jade empire !
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