Jade Empire

"One of the Best RPGs Ever Made!"

Jade Empire is an amazing new RPG for the Xbox. It combines a brilliant story, beautiful graphics, fun gameplay, intuitive controls, and breathtaking music, into one great package.

Firstly, the story of Jade Empire is simply amazing. It is one of the best stories in quite some time. You begin as a student at a combat school in Two Rivers. You learn that you have been at the school since you were just a young orphan. You are the strongest student at the school and many others envy you. Master Li, who is the school's master, thinks of you as his best student. He summons you, wishing to talk to you about your role when you finish training at the school. You learn that you are very important and Master Li is expecting great things of you. Pirates invade your village, so you must fight them off. You later learn that Master Li was kidnapped, and you set off to discover the conspiracies the Emperor and the other Rulers have hidden, while trying to save Master Li and discover the truth behind your past. I will refrain from spoiling more of the story, but believe me, it is simply amazing.

Now, the gameplay is superb. The game is very open, so you can do whatever side quests you wish and also the option you can choose in conversations is very varied. You can also be good or evil in Jade Empire. If you choose the way of the Open Palm, you can equip gems that are specifically for Open Palm, and you get along with everyone. But, if you choose the way of the Closed Fist, you can also equip some gems only for that path, there is a quest or two that only you can do, and you generally make people mad. Conversations are affected by whatever path you choose. The combat is very fun and exciting. You can have four different fighting styles equipped at any given time, allowing you to move between styles at the press of a button. Also, the combat is real time, so you won't be waiting for your opponent to make their move, you will be constantly fighting the enemies. The fighting is very enjoyable, being an easy to learn, tough to master, battle system. Fortunately, there are many enemies to fight, and there are many quests and side quests to undertake. There is always something to do, and each main quest takes you further into the world of Jade Empire and the story behind the Emperor and his followers. You will meet many evil people and ghosts along the way, and you will have many options of disposing them. There are also some different character types, so choosing each will produce a slightly different combat experience.

The quests in Jade Empire are quite varied. Main quests can range from infiltrating the ranks of the Lotus Assassins, to exploring a pirate's lair. Side quests are numerous and fun to undertake. These can range from acting in a play, to finding someone a husband, to even having a debate with an outlander. These are entertaining to participate in, and really make the experience more enjoyable. One of the best things to do in Jade Empire is to play the Flyer minigames. When you are about to travel to a new city, you can play the Flyer minigame. This is a game where you shoot down enemy Flyers, while trying to take as little damage as possible. These missions are fun, and later on in the game, you can use a Flyer to get cargo for a citizen of the empire. Once you complete quests, you get experience points and sometime money and items. The experience points are for leveling up. Once you get the set amount of experience, you gain a level. You can then use three points to upgrade your stats and then you can upgrade your styles. The stat points you can upgrade are Health, Chi, and Focus. Health is exactly what is says, it is your amount of hit points. Chi is used to regain health when it is low, and Focus is drained when you use Focus mode in combat and when you use certain fighting styles. The gameplay is so fresh and exciting in Jade Empire, that you will want to play for hours and hours on end.

The controls in Jade Empire are flawless. You use the D-Pad to change your styles in combat, and the A and B button are used for attacking, evading and blocking. Outside of combat, the controls are excellent and perfectly suit the game. It is tough to find anything wrong with the control system. The controls can only be summed up in three words. Incredible and intuitive.

The game look simply amazing, with lots of little details that really provide an atmospheric experience. The character models are well created and the world around you really looks like how it should. The game is set in China, many years ago, and the graphics convey this setting perfectly, from the buildings, to the environment and scenery. There is so much to love; words cannot describe the fantastic world of Jade Empire.

The music is astounding in Jade Empire. There are so many conversations and people in the world, and almost every person has a voiceover! It is incredible how much time was put into the voice acting in the game, as there is a lot of talking going on throughout the Empire. Also, the sound effects and musical score sound brilliant, a rarity in many of the games in the present day. The music is very good at showing that the game takes place in China, and the sound is amazing.

The game's one downfall is its length. You can beat the game in around 15 hours if you do little of the side quests, but if you do complete all side quests, listen to the conversations, and read the many books and scrolls that are scattered around the Empire, you can easily take over 25 hours to finish the game. You will also want to play the game through a second time, as the game differs depending on whether you choose good or evil. Ultimately, the game last quite a while, though it is short compared to some current day RPGs.

Overall, Jade Empire is a masterpiece, perfectly displaying the setting of Ancient China. The game is fun, while being incredibly deep. I recommend the game to anyone who likes RPGs or just want to have a good time. Jade Empire is worth every penny it costs to buy.

10 out of 10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/06/05