Jade Empire (spoilers possibly)

[EvilElitest]

I finished the game, and i really liked it. The third ending was amazing

Personally i think it well devolved, interiging, consistent, well rounded and logical, with cool characters (mostly the non playable ones, like the Lotus Assassins) cool side quest, cool villain, and an interesting aligment system
I was elated, looking forward to a great game


Then......it ended. Really really really quickly. I mean, i was simply shocked how quickly the show ended. It was simply too small and not fleshed out enough. :smallmad:

Bad form, simply bad form. They had a giant map with lots of mentioned places, and i only get to visit like three places. The world was not at all fleshed out like i expected Grrrrrr


I hope the Jade Master expands more

So what did you like/dislike
from
EE

[Blayze]

I hope the Jade Master expands more

Jade Master mode is simply the same game, but with a higher difficulty setting.

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Stuff I Didn't Like About Jade Empire
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The "Closed Fist" alignment was, despite many claims to the contrary in the game itself, basically the Evil one. The choice you made to determine the ending of the game was simply Good or Evil, regardless of whether or not your Closed Fist actions had been encouraging people to stand up for themselves.

Lord. Lao's. Furnace. I thought we'd evolved *beyond* the "travel the world and recover random useless items to get a benefit" quests.

More will come if I remember it.

[Trazoi]

The "Closed Fist" alignment was, despite many claims to the contrary in the game itself, basically the Evil one. The choice you made to determine the ending of the game was simply Good or Evil, regardless of whether or not your Closed Fist actions had been encouraging people to stand up for themselves.
This was by far and away the bit of Jade Empire that disappointed me the most. I too was hoping for the "Closed Fist" alignment to be expressed as more of a philosophy that people needed to have the power to stand up for their own problems. Instead it tended to be expressed in terms of basic thuggery, similar to that of the Dark Side in the Knights of the Old Republic games. I'd really liked to have seen some ways of transcending the usual alignment system and being a good Closed Fist, or maybe even an evil Open Palm.

I loved the Chinese flavoured theme, but I also felt the game felt a bit too much like Knights of the Old Republic. I guess that's what everyone was expecting, but you've got the same elements cropping up again: the strange language (that conveniently allows the writers to reuse sound files and rewrite dialogue :smallwink:), the characters who are rather obviously introduced to be love interests, the major plot twist that you are half-expecting, etc.

[EvilElitest]

I played Closed Fist, and i rather liked it actually. It basically was the evil option, but it was handled in a mature way. If you think about it, the most logical choice in most of the situations was the closed fist. Want to win that competition? Give the girl fake healing herbs (cheap ones as well) and watch her hurt herself and win. It seemed to me just a name for doing things the smart way

I'll second Lord Lao' furnace
form
EE

[Jayngfet]

personally I seem to gravitate to open palm...

same with light side in Kotor

[EvilElitest]

personally I seem to gravitate to open palm...

same with light side in Kotor

I normally play the game twice so i can explore all of the options
from
EE

[Mewtarthio]

I played Closed Fist, and i rather liked it actually. It basically was the evil option, but it was handled in a mature way. If you think about it, the most logical choice in most of the situations was the closed fist. Want to win that competition? Give the girl fake healing herbs (cheap ones as well) and watch her hurt herself and win.

That actually bothered me. What, exactly, does that have to do with the philosophy of the Closed Fist? She's paying for the herbs herself; you're just her errand boy. The Closed Fist never seemed to actively state that it's goal was "Win by any means."

But what do I know? I played Open Palm all the way, which is odd since I normally go for neutral-with-good-leanings when I play RPGs. I guess it's because I didn't feel like a complete Mary Sue when I followed the Open Palm: Just a nice guy who happens to be really powerful. Compare an OP character in Jade Empire, who's willing to be nice to everyone and helps people in trouble out, to an LS character in KotoR, who gives all his money to beggars and shows every villain he encounters the error of their ways (after dismembering them, anyway), and you can see my point.

[Attilargh]

My thoughts on Jade Empire: I so wanted to see the Wall. Goddamn Toad Demons. The combat got a bit repetitive after a while. I hate Toad Demons. Jade Golem rocked the socks off that last fight. Toad Demons are b0rken, whine.

[Prustan]

Loved the game - have the Special Edition for the Xbox. Found it too short, Lord Lao's Furnace was annoying, and the shooting minigame was too. A shame about the other characters is that you never knew whether or not they were getting any better, and when you finally found a new weapon for them it was too late to be useful.
What really bugged me about the final fight was the Elephant Golems before facing the BBEG. Spirit Thief didn't work on them, so tough luck if you ran out of chi.

Favorite Jade Empire tactics? Mine is simple - flip behind enemy. Smack enemy around a couple of times. Repeat.

[Blayze]

Favorite Jade Empire tactics? Mine is simple - flip behind enemy. Smack enemy around a couple of times. Repeat.

Mine's simple, too. Simply equip Mirabelle. Having finished the game once already, I can attest to its enemy-slaughtering powers. I was trying to get through the Arena normally the first time, then I hit a certain sticky point.

I tried, and I tried, and I tried. Eventually, I gave up (I was trying for a "no Style points" run), whipped out Mirabelle and breezed through the rest of the game with ease.

Edit:


A shame about the other characters is that you never knew whether or not they were getting any better, and when you finally found a new weapon for them it was too late to be useful.

I can't remember ever using any of my followers in Attack mode. Support mode was all the motivation I needed to use them only ever to improve my chances.

[The Rose Dragon]

Big fan of Jade Empire. And it should definitely have a sequel (or a prequel).

BUT...

The combat was too easy and too straightforward. There should have been more combos, rather than "Light strike, light strike, he blocks, heavy attack, area attack, light strike" all the time. And with a fast character that maximized Mirabelle (for the Dark Si... I mean, Closed Fist players) or Double Sabers (for the Open Palm players), the game was ridiculously easy. There should have been more disparity between styles, as I found Legendary Strike to be the strongest of the beginning styles and Viper to be annoyingly powerful, even though you get it late in the game.

Also, this is a wuxia game - why the hell can't I jump out of combat, run on walls or many other stuff you'd expect from wuxia?

It also definitely needed more towns and a longer play time.

Lord Lao's Furnace was bland, and I found it to be a pain just to "free" Lord Lao.

Trying to play Closed Fist as Smiling Mountain describes it results in getting to finish to side quests or finishing them to get Open Palm points.

There should have been a reason to actually keep the sidekicks in Combat mode, rather than Support - and a reason not to keep Dawn Star. Her ability to regenerate your chi is the greatest Support mode, as it helps replenish two stats at once. I also expected them to be more useful out-of-combat, like they did in KotOR, with their own side-quests and stuff. Wild Flower (and that only indirectly) and Silk Fox were the only ones whom you could really change.

Yeah, and to see the noble guy in the forest alive after hearing his demise in the hands of cannibals was really not cool.

But it is also one of the games I would play over and over again, because there aren't many wuxia games in the market.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I must say, despite how short it was, I loved Jade Empire. I played through the game about four or five times (Open Palm each time, since I'm such a paladin), each time with a different character type and romance.

I too didn't like the whole shoot-em-up minigame, but I was able to survive it with enough practice.

What really made the game great were the characters. You had Dawn Star, the shy psychic childhood friend; Wild Flower, the innocent child torn between powerful supernatural beings; Sky, the clever and noble rogue; Kang, with his crazy mutterings and wild appearance and The Black Whirlwind. Just. . .The Black Whirlwind! Man, that guy's stories always cracked me up just because of how he was so hilariously stupid!

Plus, BioWare did an excellent job of creating a believeable and cohesive world, avoiding the common problem of mishmashing the various cultures of Asia together. You didn't see a single samurai in Jade Empire!:smallbiggrin:

Plus, the atmosphere's were fairly decent as well. In the Great Southern Forest and Old Tien's Landing, I was actually pretty spooked because of all the ghosts. And then there were the cannibals. Who here wasn't freaked out by those guys?!:smalleek:

I'll admit that it wasn't as strong a game as KOTOR or Baldur's Gate, but it was Bioware's first attempt at an original game, and it was a very solid attempt. The fact that I could play through it multiple times without getting bored proves it.

[The Rose Dragon]

And then there were the cannibals. Who here wasn't freaked out by those guys?!:smalleek:

Me! Me!

I was more freaked out by... umm... OK, I don't know a single thing that freaked me out. Possibly except fighting three clones of myself.


I'll admit that it wasn't as strong a game as KOTOR or Baldur's Gate, but it was Bioware's first attempt at an original game, and it was a very solid attempt. The fact that I could play through it multiple times without getting bored proves it.

Oh, it's a good game, alright. It could still be a lot better, in my humble opinion.

And until they make a wuxia game where you can wire-fu to your heart's content, it'll be a game I'll play often.

[Hadrian_Emrys]

I'm suffering fro a bit of amnesia at the moment. All I can remember is something about the power attack of Mirabelle cracking me up, and exploding people with harmonic combos. That game was such a gorefest.

[TheThan]

I played through it and enjoyed it.

However I too was put off by the relative ease of the combat. I maxed out legendary strike and spirit thief and breezed through the game without using weapons on most enemies. I must have missed a few side quests since I don’t recall any cannibals.

[The Rose Dragon]

I must have missed a few side quests since I don’t recall any cannibals.

That's literally impossible. You need to meet them to finish the game. In the Great Southern Forest, in the Pilgrim' Rest Inn. Those guys are cannibals.

[TheThan]

That's literally impossible. You need to meet them to finish the game. In the Great Southern Forest, in the Pilgrim' Rest Inn. Those guys are cannibals.

oh those guys. I smashed them so fast I must not have realized what they were.. heh.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Did they transform or were they still in disguise?

[The Rose Dragon]

Did they transform or were they still in disguise?

They always transform. Even if you choose the path of the Closed Fist and not kill them.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Then how'd TheThan miss them?! Did he skip through all the dialogue or something? You aren't supposed to do that in a Bioware game!

[ZeroNumerous]

I enjoyed the game as well, but I hated the combat parts. They were just too easy, in my opinion.

If your enemy wasn't a Golem, then a fully-charged Storm Dragon + Thousand Cuts harmonic combo auto-wins. If they're immune to harmonic combos(IE: bosses), then a straight up Storm Dragon Light + Thousand Cuts Light auto-wins. If they're a Golem, then whip out whatever sword(s) you wanted and go to town. :smallsigh:

[The Rose Dragon]

If your enemy wasn't a Golem, then a fully-charged Storm Dragon + Thousand Cuts harmonic combo auto-wins. If they're immune to harmonic combos(IE: bosses), then a straight up Storm Dragon Light + Thousand Cuts Light auto-wins. If they're a Golem, then whip out whatever sword(s) you wanted and go to town. :smallsigh:

Thousand Cuts? You're kidding, right? Thousand Cuts is one of the least effective martial styles in the game. Storm Dragon is followed by either Viper or Legendary Strike (mostly Viper because it's power attack is so friggin' fast).

It looks cool, yes, but in terms of efficiency it is... lacking.

[TheThan]

Oh they transformed and I did read the dialogue , I just took them for being possessed or something. Which is a little different than just being cannibals.

[Trazoi]

Thousand Cuts? You're kidding, right? Thousand Cuts is one of the least effective martial styles in the game. Storm Dragon is followed by either Viper or Legendary Strike (mostly Viper because it's power attack is so friggin' fast).

It looks cool, yes, but in terms of efficiency it is... lacking.
But since the combat is on the easy side, looking cool becomes more important than raw efficiency.

I usually used weapons in my play through(s); mainly the single sword due aesthetic reasons.

[Prustan]

I always went Open Palm all the way. Used Leaping Tiger, Spirit Thief, Double Sabers and Stone Fist(? The earth chi attack anyway). Never got the whole 'harmonic combo' deal, but then again I played on easy both times so didn't really matter. And I never put the auxilary character into support mode - usually Silk Fox or Dawn Star.

[Closet_Skeleton]

My thoughts on Jade Empire: I so wanted to see the Wall. Goddamn Toad Demons. The combat got a bit repetitive after a while. I hate Toad Demons. Jade Golem rocked the socks off that last fight. Toad Demons are b0rken, whine.

I used Toad Demon transformation style, just because the idea of a cute girl turning into a giant toad and ramming her belly into enemies was too stupid to miss.