Cons: Some minor camera control problems during combat.
The Bottom Line: It's all the good parts of Fable and Kotor combined. If you like RPGs, I don't see what you couldn't like about this game. I loved it.
I haven't been drawn so far into a game in such a long time. I couldn't put it down. I played almost every waking moment since I bought it. Last night, I finished it. I can honestly say there was never a dull moment. As soon as I was done, I quickly began a new character to go through and find any of the side quests I may have missed. I would also like to revisit many of the beautiful locations.
The level of replayability is astounding. At the very beginning, you choose one of several characters whom you will play as through the entire game. Some are fast, others are strong. Some focus on magic, while others are balanced.
After choosing and naming your character, you select a starting martial fighting style. There are three main attribute that will define your character through the game: Body, Spirit, and Mind. Body governs your health. A higher body rating allows your character to take more damage. Spirit relates to the amount of chi energy your character has. Chi is used for magic, including projectiles and spells used in combat, transformation skills, adding magic damage to regular attacks, and healing yourself. Mind relates to the amount of focus you have. Focus is used for weapon style combat, evading various traps, and slowing time to both run and fight faster.
There are several ways to gain experience throughout the game. Completing quests, defeating enemies, solving puzzles, and reading books and scrolls. After enough experience is gained, your character levels up. Each level up, you are granted 3 points to be dispersed among Body, Spirit and Mind. You are also givin a number of points that can be used to improve the various fighting styles you will learn throughout the game.
Much of the game time is spent talking to various people. Thankfully, the voice acting is very well done. Often times talking with people will grant you experience and sometimes gems to augment your character, or even new fighting styles. Quests are almost always received by talking to people and some of the random people walking the towns have some very interesting or funny stories.
Occasionally, a person may join your party after you talk with them. There are several people that will aid you throughout the game. You can only have one "side kick" with you at anytime, but you are free to replace them with one another at any time during the game. Some of them are great fighters, while others can back you up in an argument, or use social and political connections to help further you along in the main quest.
Combat, although not the main aspect of the game, is definitely a big part of it. You will learn several fighting styles during your time with Jade Empire. The combat system is very fun and my only complaint with the entire game is that the camera is not always in the best place to see you enemies, and your character will not always go where you want them to go. This is minor though and it's only a problem about 5 or 10% of time.
You can map 4 different fighting styles to the D-pad and switch them at any time. Using certain styles in combination with others can yeild powerful harmonic combos that deal a greater amount of damage than if the attacks were done seperately. Some enemies are immune to certain styles. For example, a ghost can't be damaged by a weapon, you must use magic or hand to hand combat. It's good to have a variety of styles mapped to the D-pad in case you face a large group of enemies with mixed ranks.
The main currency of Jade Empire is silver. It's used to buy items like gems, books, and scrolls. Also, some vendors will offer training and you can purchace new fighting styles. Commerce is definitely nat a major part of the game, but having enough silver on hand to buy stuff that you want will not always be easy. Silver is found throughout the land by either defeating enemies, searching jares and vases and chests scattered about, or as payment for completing tasks for people.
The visuals were the highlight of the game for me. The graphics are good, but the use of color and light is utterly astonishing. Everytime I thought I'd seen something that couldn't get any cooler, I was wowed agin shortly after, right up to the very end. It is a treat for the eyes. Everything from the environments, to the characters, and the magic styles were beautiful to look at.
It's hard to talk about the story without spoiling anything. You start off at a martial arts school in a secluded village. You are a prized pupil and most people look up to you. Then some pirates dock nearby and threaten the peaceful town. Your master teaches them a lesson, but he knows they will be back with more people. Shortly after this atteck, one of your fellow students goes missing. You set out to find her and discover foul play is involved. After rescuing her, her captor tells you some bad news and things go down hill from there. The student was only a distraction, your master was the real prize. You're quest involves the rescue of your master, the truth about your own mysterious past, and correcting some major problems that have gone wrong in the world. Ghosts walk restlesly, gods and spirits are at war with mortal men, and a great evil is gaining strength.
Along your path to the end, you will meet many interesting people, learn several powerful techniques, and discover various secrets that were kept from you, and from the public as a whole.
I've never reviewed a game like that before, so I hope that helps. I loved this game and will probably play through it several times before ever getting tired of it.
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