Jade Empire

[Reaver]

I just got my Limited Edition copy of this today, and so far I'm loving it. I've only played a couple of hours, but thus far I can safely say that the game is visually lovely, the sound is fantastic, and the gameplay is wonderful. Not so fast and furious that you'd think if was Ninja Gaiden, it is certainly more quick and intense than what we had in KOTOR. Much more hands-on. I had a tough patch with fighting at first, but then I learned the beauty of blocking, and that really opened things up. I look forward to learning more styles.

Anyway, anyone else playing?

[MJZ]

I have been following this game and now await its PAL release which is 22 April, so we have to wait a little bit longer to play it.

If/When I get it, it will most likely be the Limited Edition version.

[MooglePorn]

It looks fun but I bought two games last week at full price, and I usually buy like a game a month, so that hit me hard. Plus, I never finished KOTOR because I got bored, so I should probably wait until this gets cheaper.

Oh, and no 16:9 = Ass

[Reaver]

Finally tonight I was able to sit down and finally play for several hours. Made my way to the Imperial City and then worked quickly through the Black Lepard School. Not all that hard, really, and I love the new techniques I'm learning. Plus, now I'm finally getting some good gems. This game is really something extremely special.

Gao, both Greater and Lesser, yer both my bitches.

[lopper]

Got this on Friday and started to play on Saturday. I haven't stopped since.

What an amazing game. It's easily my favorite game on the Xbox, and may actually become one of my favorite games of all time.

This may be one of the first games that I'll replay from start to finish multiple times. I'm avoiding buying certain fighting styles this first time through so there'll be a little something new for me to discover.

So far my only real complaint is regarding the load times, which are kind of long and can occur pretty frequently in some areas. But everything else is tits - the game's gorgeous, the music and other sound effects are very nice, and the controls are spot on. I'm even paying attention to the story for once.

And I hear that the bonus character that comes with the LE is awesome. I'll probably use him next.

[MooglePorn]

Is this more like KOTOR or Morrwind?

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by MooglePorn

Is this more like KOTOR or Morrwind?

A bit of both. It has the flavor of KOTOR, and the 3rd person perspective, but the combat is in real time, so I guess you could say that was a touch of Morrowind. But, it is definitly a Bioware title.

Oh, and, w00t! I am the King (well, Queen) of the Arena! Grand Champion, and I didn't lose one single bout! No reloads on this one. I'm pumped! 16 hours in, and I feel like there is so much left to do. I love this game the more I play it.

[MooglePorn]

I read in one review it gets really linear after the first few hours, but maybe that was a bunch of shit. Who knows anymore. If it's a lot more like KOTOR than anything else, I'll wait until it's cheaper.

Look forward to reading more comments about it though...

[Reaver]

I certainly wouldn't say it's linear. Tien's Landing is quite open, and so far the Imperial City is fairly open too. They don't know what they're talking about.

[lopper]

The game gets very linear after the Imperial City.


I just finished the game last night with something like 18.5 hours of playtime, which is not a bad thing since I get bored with these kind of games very easily.

Now there was a strange little occurance toward the end of the game where I somehow went from being almost totally evil to being almost totally good. The indicator on the bar at the character screen went from the bottom of the bar (the red part) all the way up to the top (the blue part). I'd apparently done somehthing very good, although it was totally by accident. All this took place during a cut scene - when it started I was evil and by the time it was done I was good. Go figure.

I'm still trying to figure out why that happened.


Other than that it was an excellent and surprisingly bug-free game. I played with the bonus character a little while last night and he seems very cool. I'll give it a week or two before I start playing through again.

["The Dude"]

This is a really DUMB ASS question,but what do you guys mean by real time fighting? The only RPG I've played is KOTOR and the only thing I don't like about it is the fighting aspect of the game.I hate it when you focus on an enemy,the game will pause and then you select a series of melee attacks to use against them.

Is that what you're refering to? Is the fighting more like a normal action game like Ninja Gaiden and GOW( as examples)?

[lopper]

The real time combat means that when you push a button your guy punches/jumps/dodges/etc. - it all happens in real time. You don't have to select all of your actions and put them in a queue like in KOTOR.

So, yeah, it's more like Ninja Gaiden and God of War than KOTOR.

["The Dude"]

Thanks Lopper.That's what I thought,but just wanted to make sure.I just might have to give Jade Empire a try.

I'm in the same boat as Moogle.I've bought 5 games over the last 3 or 4 weeks - way more than usual.Plus I have a couple of games on pre-order that will be in stores in the next two weeks.So it'll have to wait until it goes on sale.

[lopper]

It's most definitely worth checking out, so I'd highly suggest you do so ASAP.

I'd tell you to give it a rental to save you some money, but the game is just too damn good to not have a permanent home in your collection. However, the game could pretty easily be finished in a rental period should you find it too hard to wait for a sale.

[Reaver]

I finished the Open Palm ending tonight, and that was a goddam satisfying game. For me it eclipses KOTOR. The only thing I missed was having a lot of options as far as weapons and armor goes. I enjoy being able to buy and sell items, customizing my look and abilities, and I wish you could have done more of that here. But, that aside, JE is a fantastic game is just about every respect. I look forward to going back and exploring the Closed Fist path.

Oh, and might I say, the Jade Golem transformation style = instant Pwnage.

[sub780lime]

Originally Posted by lopper

However, the game could pretty easily be finished in a rental period should you find it too hard to wait for a sale.

really, how many hours of gameplay?

[Reaver]

Originally Posted by sub780lime

really, how many hours of gameplay?

My first play through was a touch over 25 hours.

[lopper]

Originally Posted by sub780lime

really, how many hours of gameplay?

My total was something around 18.5 hrs through the first time. It may be a bit higher than that, but not much.