Jade Empire (Xbox): Review
Kristophe, 2005-06-07

"A Company is only as good as the people it employs". I've always made that particular statement the basis of my corporate beliefs, and even went so far as to share that particular thought some years back with the good folks at BioWare by sending the Chief of their Customer Service Department an e-mail that began with that same particular statement after one of their Customer Service people went way out of his way to help me with a gaming problem. Needless to say, over those years BioWare has proven itself not only to exemplify that particular philosophical thought, but has shown itself to be also a tried and proven "haven" for some of the most talented individuals in the gaming industry - not only in the kudos it has received as a business entity - but for the consistently outstanding quality of the games they have developed. This has led me to alter my corporate philosophy somewhat to express my gaming philosophy insofar as Role Playing Games...

"A Role Playing Game is only as good as the characters it employs". My gaming philosophy comes to mind - and holds very true - for the latest in epic, role playing games that BioWare has created (this one ported for the Xbox) entitled Jade Empire. Though I'd had some little exposure to Asian culture (courtesy of the U.S. military) - I had originally thought of seeking out some qualified help to co-author the review for Jade Empire - but my Mother (who was born in Harbin, China, and therefore obviously far more knowledgeable than I on Eastern culture and such) was too busy celebrating her 80th birthday; my gaming wife refused to help, citing the only thing she knew that related to China and Chinese culture was the "House Special Lo Mein" that the local Chinese restaurant served; and my guinea pig merely looked at me and "reeped" for more, fresh "Chinese" veggies. And so it is destined that you, dear reader, will have to settle for me as the sole tour guide into the wonderful world of Wu the Lotus Blossom and the Jade Empire.

In the beginning...

The legendary Emperor, Sagacious Tien, founded the Jade Empire - an enormous and powerful empire reaching from the rich and fertile land of the Golden Delta to the coastal trade cities of the Prosperous East. Currently ruled by the Emperor Sun, the land seems to be existing in harmony; though stories of ghosts being commonplace, bandits roaming freely about the countryside, and whispers of the dreaded Lotus Assassins do tend to make some question the actual harmony. As the story begins, your hero/heroine is a highly talented and gifted student at the Two Rivers School for the Martial Arts, under the tutelage of the highly honored and revered Master Li. And so your epic journey begins.

Right from the very start, you must pick out your player character - for which you are given the choices of 3 males/3 females (unless you bought the Limited Edition Jade Empire - then you get a bonus male character). You may stay with the pre-made characters, or you have almost complete freedom to customize the one you would wish to play - either way, all player characters begin the game with 2 starting styles - one you may choose, and one that is pre-chosen for every PC and cannot be changed (that being Heavenly Wave). The following is a quick listing of the PC's available for you to utilize:

(1) Lu the Prodigy (Male) - a Balanced warrior starting out with the Legendary Strike style.

(2) Wu the Lotus Blossom (Female) - a Balanced warrior starting out with the Legendary Strike style.

(3) Furious Ming (Male) - a Fast warrior starting out with the Thousand Cuts style.

(4) Radiant Jen Zi (Female) - a Fast warrior starting out with the Thousand Cuts style.

(5) Tiger Shen (Male) - a Strong warrior starting out with the White Demon style.

(6) Scholar Ling (Female) - a Magic warrior starting out with the Leaping Tiger style.

(7) Monk Zeng (Male) - a Magic warrior starting out with the Leaping Tiger style (Limited Edition Bonus Character)

The creation of a Legend...

Jade Empire is an not only an epic saga, but an ongoing series of choices you make throughout the game that determines not only how your final character will turn out, but encompasses many other facets of the game as well. Throughout the game you will level up by accomplishing in game goals, by fighting, and by performing deeds and successfully completing sub-quests. As you level up, you will gain experience and gold enough to allow you to take your PC to whatever style and skills (within reason, of course) you wish to have. There are 5 "styles of fighting" available in Jade Empire:

(1) The Martial Arts Styles - consisting of the Drunken Master, Thousand Cuts, Leaping Tiger, and White Demon styles.

(2) The Support Styles - consisting of the Storm Dragon, Heavenly Wave, Paralyzing Palm, Hidden Fist, and Spirit Thief styles.

(3) The Magic Styles - consisting of the Dire Flame, Tempest, Ice Shard, and Stone Immortal styles.

(4) The Transformation Styles - consisting of the Horse Demon, Toad Demon, Red Minister, and Jade Golem styles.

(5) The Weapon Styles - consisting of the Long sword, Dual Axes, Dual Saber, Staff, Mirabelle, the Improvised Ham and the Improvised Table Legs styles.

Another choice you continually make throughout the game (which does affect game play) is in which of the two "paths" of life you chose to trod upon (i.e. the Way of the Open Palm [Basically Good], or the Way of the Closed Fist [Basically Evil]). Additionally, your in game choices can (and will, eventually) affect just who will, or will not, join your party. And finally, your in game choices will actually determine which of the game endings you will see upon completing Jade Empire (I could be wrong, but I believe there are up to three different game endings - I do know from personal experience that there are two).

Lastly, your choices throughout the game will have a direct affect on who you may (or may not) have a "romance" with. You have several options for romance - dependent upon what gender your own player character is. The romantic options looks something like this:

(1) Male PC - you can potentially romance Dawn Star (Female) and/or Silk Fox (Female); or Sky (Male).

(2) Female PC - you can potentially romance Silk Fox or Sky.

The mechanics of the Jade Empire...

First and foremost - I found the in game controls (and most especially - the combat controls) to be not only easy to understand, but even easier to use which, for one who is rather physically challenged - such as I, was a godsend; whether switching targeted opponents, utilizing combination moves, moving my character, controlling the camera, switching martial arts styles, customizing the in game controls, pausing the game, displaying the in game menu, etc.

Secondly, the in game menu allows you to easily control many aspects of the game and your character development and inventory - you can set the difficulty level not only for the game itself, but also for the mini-games within Jade Empire (the settings are Student [easy], Master [normal], and Grand Master[hard]). And yes, even though there are what I (personally) find most annoying in many of the games being produced in this day and age (i.e. the "mini-games"), at least Jade Empire not only gives you the option to accept or decline a mini-game before it begins without game penalty - you also have the options of both re-trying a minigame should you fail to successfully complete it; and of getting out of the mini-game without penalty should it prove too difficult (or too boring). In my book, the way BioWare handles the mini-games for Jade Empire is nothing short of outstanding.

Last (but not least) are what I call the "refinements" of gaming control; i.e. the easy targeting system the game employs to determine which opponent you are directly in conflict with (and the easy changing thereof), the character Health/Chi/Focus bars, the in game map/mini-map systems, the special event indicators, the fact that not only does the game save automatically after key events - but the fact you can manually save your game at any time (with the exception of when you are in combat), and do so without having to find specific game savepoints, etc.

I won't dwell for long on Jade Empires graphics and sound properties, but both can easily be summed up in one word - Outstanding. BioWare obviously placed a great deal of effort on making all of the game's environmental backgrounds very detailed; the characters were all clear, well defined, and interesting; the weather and environmental cycles well done and accurate; the spell affects and transformations all smooth and well done; etc. The soundtrack for Jade Empire was excellent, as was both the ambient/environmental sounds, and the voice acting. Loading times were not overly excessive, the cut scenes were well done - in other words, I had no problem playing this game from start to finish (and I thoroughly enjoyed the two times I completed Jade Empire prior to writing this review).

And as the sun sinks to the West...

Overall, I simply loved playing Jade Empire - and I have to admit that BioWare has, as usual, failed to develop a game that is anything less than a classic (at least, as of yet - fingers crossed). I found the 'mini-games" of Jade Empire to be easily handled and/or avoided according to the player's choice; actually, I did end up playing more than half of them throughout the game (on the "Student" difficulty, mind you). Combat proved to be an enjoyable exercise in switching and creating winning "combos", even for one as physically challenged as I - it sure never got boring throughout the game. Speaking of which, in my own, humble opinion - Jade Empire is (inclusive of all the sub quests, mini-games, etc.) neither too short, nor too long a game in which to play.

BioWare games have (to me) been legendary for their memorable characters (both PC, and NPC); for their outstanding storylines (and for their faithful adherence to those same, excellent storylines that comprise the game); for the plots, subplots, and plot twists and turns within the games they develop (and you will find all of those points abound in Jade Empire); and for the outstanding quality of the finished product they develop (i.e. voice acting, few if any hardware problems, excellent graphics and soundtracks, etc.). With all this said - Jade Empire is yet but one more BioWare Legend, and it rightly and richly deserves to branded as such.

As a final note - I really did try to find something that really upset (or at least bothered me) about the Jade Empire - unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon your point of view) I could find nothing with which I could criticize this game. I personally played Jade Empire twice: the first time following the Way of the Open Palm; the second time following the Way of the Closed Fist - and enjoyed every moment of the second game as thoroughly as I had enjoyed every moment of the first (which should give you an idea about how I felt about Jade Empire's replayability, and about its "fun factor"). I don't know if I actually managed to complete every sub quest within those two particular games - I rather suppose I'll find out when I complete my third Jade Empire game. For what it is worth though - Jade Empire is the first BioWare "franchise" - and I rather suspect that the success I have witnessed thus far for it will ensure that BioWare will continue with this series in the future (in addition to their other, upcoming "franchises" I am highly anticipating)... if so, I know what I shall be pre-ordering :-)