Jade Empire

Moby ID: 17863
Xbox Specs
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A young apprentice of the old Master Li, a martial artist in the town of Two Rivers, is close to complete his or her training, when a group of ghosts led by a mysterious person attacks the town. Master Li explains that the leader was a member of the Lotus Assassins, a special force serving the Emperor of the Jade Empire, who also happens to be his brother. The student is revealed to be the last in the line of Spirit Monks, whose abode was destroyed several years ago by the Emperor's army. The student ventures into a nearby cave to retrieve a part of an ancient amulet; meanwhile, the assailants burn down the town and abduct Master Li. The student and a few companions decide to go all the way to the Imperial Capital and explore the Jade Empire in order to rescue the master, find the truth about the past, and discover the dark secrets of the Empire's rulers.

Jade Empire is a role-playing game set in a fantasy world which has strong similarities to China of the Qing dynasty (within some steampunk elements), incorporating not only classical elements of Chinese culture, but also supernatural beings and forces. Similar to other BioWare RPGs (such as Knights of the Old Republic) in general concept and features, the game has overall simpler gameplay and a somewhat smaller world.

The combat in the game is action-based, relying on various martial art techniques and moves performed by the protagonist. The player has direct control only over the main character, although other characters join the party; one of them can be selected to help the protagonist in battles, either for purely supportive purposes or as an additional combatant. The player character has three attributes: Body, Mind, and Spirit, which control the secondary parameters of Health, Focus, and Chi, as well as the conversation skills Charm, Intuition, and Intimidation. Focus energy is needed to fight with weapons (swords and staves), while Chi is used to heal the protagonist or perform supernatural attacks comparable to magic spells. Experience points are obtained from completing quests and vanquishing enemies, and allocated by the player to increase the protagonist's aforementioned attributes.

Quest and conversation system bears more similarities to previous BioWare RPGs than combat and character customization. There are many side quests in the game, some of which can be solved through dialogue, applying the main character's conversation skills. Many quests, including plot-related ones, can be solved in different ways. The protagonist may embrace either of the two major philosophies of the Jade Empire, Way of the Open Palm or Way of the Closed Fist, roughly corresponding to "good" and "evil" ideologies, respectively. Pursuing one of these ideologies rather than hesitating between the two may award the player character with various bonuses. The protagonist can also romance some of the companions, including same-sex relationships.

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Credits (Xbox version)

395 People (355 developers, 40 thanks) · View all

Lead Animator
Game Animation
Lead Cinematics Animator
Cutscene Art and Animation
Director of Animation
Motion Capture Performance and Choreography
  • The Smashcut Action Team
Motion Capture at
  • Giant Studios
  • Syncrude Center for Motion and Balance
Art Director
Artists
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 88% (based on 41 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 32 ratings with 6 reviews)

A good game that actually was still ok compared to the glory of BioWare's KOTOR

The Good
The story line was very fun and the twist in the plot got the story going. The graphics and sound of the game were second to none. The different combat styles made the game fun to play. The characters were very fun to play with and kept the game going. The areas were large to explore and made the game interesting. The interesting plot made the game replayable.

The Bad
The combat got a little repetitive since some creatures would all go down to the same combat moves. This games storyline seemed a bit too short compared to KOTOR. The music was ok but i think they could have done a bit better. There weren't a lot of weapons to choose from and the weapons that were there weren't that good. if they made another one of this (i wouldn't expect them to) they should add more weapons.

The Bottom Line
Defiantly for all BioWare fans, RPG fans and people who want a game that goes along with Chinese mythology.

Xbox · by Todd Bello (28) · 2006

Fun RPG that unfortunately lacks a little

The Good
- Wonderful immersion in Chinese styles of dress, architecture, etc., although who knows how accurate it is considering it's a video game

  • Stellar musical score that sounds like Basil P.'s score from Conan the Barbarian, but with an Asian twist

  • Controls are not too difficult

  • John Cleese's voice cameo! Pretty good voice acting.

  • Nice assortment of NPCs

  • The arena battles, a la Thunderdome or the Roman Empire!

    The Bad
    - Too short for an RPG

  • Linearity kicks in big time, especially at the end. Not much free ability to travel where you want, when you want

  • Even though 20+ fighting styles are available, it is more or less impossible to max them all out, let alone a few

  • Fighting develops into a simplistic hitting of one button and jumping around an enemy to gain position, hard to really fail in a battle

  • Simple character development and lack of equipment leaves you wanting.

  • Camera angle can get kind of funky during battles

  • Mini game (up-down scrolling shooter) is uninspiring and probably not needed

    The Bottom Line
    In the spirit of the KOTOR engine, Jade Empire follows the path of a martial arts student as he discovers his lost past, as well as his destiny! Your master has a mysterious use for you, but he is captured before you can find out what that use is for. Travelling to other towns and cities, you fight and charm your way to learn more about the Empire, its history, and why there are so many conspiracies within conspiracies. You must ultimately save the Water Dragon God from the clutches of the power-hungry Emperor, but who is really pulling the strings?

A pretty fun game that's worth a play, but by the time you start getting into it, the game is over. Really not a true RPG because of linearity. I was looking forward to a massive world to explore (I mean, it is called Jade EMPIRE!). But only a few locales to visit. Again, a good game, but not something I would put in my top 10.

Xbox · by lado (25) · 2007

Sweet

The Good
Maybe the best part of the game are graphics and music. They fit each other so well. They graphics are really Chinese style. The music is not completely Chinese, but sounds very good.

The story is also very Chinese! Such a tale is typical for Chinese stories and movies. There is a big surprise in the middle of the game. But I could guess what this surprise will be! Because it is such a typically Chinese story. Generally, I liked the story.

I think the characters are very interesting. The princess is so beautiful! There are some parts of the story which are very touching. When people give their lives for you. Death's Hand is also a very interesting character. And there is a very beautiful story with the Water Dragon.

The story is not as simple as it looks in the beginning. Some things will happen that you will maybe not expect.

The gameplay is very simple, not so complicated. It's easy to remember your moves. There aren't so many things you should think of at the same time.

There is a very interesting "Good/Evil" system, so many times you should make different decisions that lead to different results. And there are many quests in the game.

"Jade Empire" has different endings. I love watching endings. They are very interesting and completely different. One of the endings is like Mao Zedong's time... if you know what I mean.

And there is a lot of humor! For example, how Black Whirlwind said: "When I was a child, I sucked my mom's breast, like all other men. I mean... like all other men suck THEIR OWN mothers' breasts".

The Bad
The battle system is very simple, but not very deep. There aren't so many choices in what you do during the fights.

My husband told me too many things about the game's story! So I guessed some of its surprises... or maybe I'm just too intelligent?

The Bottom Line
For people who don't understand Chinese culture and want a classic Chinese story, it's a very suitable game. I myself found the story a bit too typically Chinese. But the game is still very good and very fun to play.

Xbox · by Melody (48) · 2007

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Jade Empire appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Language

Jade Empire, a Chinese-themed game with Chinese characters set in a mystical Chinese world, has no Chinese language in it whatsoever. All the signs and titles in the game have characters that look Chinese but in fact say nothing (both in modern cursive script and old disused ones). The old tongue "Tho Fan" used by certain characters (like the first weapon maker) is not Chinese but a constructed language developed by Wolf Wikeley, a Ph.D. candidate in linguistics at the University of Alberta.

References

  • In the town Tien's Landing, one of the commoners will tell you he doesn't foresee any trouble for the town (despite the opening of the dam which seriously threaten's the town's existence). One of the dialogue options you receive then is "I find your optimism... disturbing". This is a reference to Darth Vader's famous phrase "I find your lack of faith... disturbing" in the movie Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and a hint at Bioware's own Star Wars games, Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel.
  • During the credits of the game, the characters are talking as if they were actors. One quote is from Dawn Star, who says "There are four lights!". This is what Jean-Luc Picard yells at his captors in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Chain of Command" from season 6.
  • Some of the stories mentioned in Jade Empire are indeed myths from ancient China. One of the game characters is associated with the myth of Wan Hu. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Wan apparently constructed a chair with rockets attached to it that enabled him to fly to outer space. Other accounts treat this story as historical true but with a different outcome: Wan blew up into a thousand pieces that may or may not have made it to outer space. This story was a segment entitled "Ming Dynasty Astronaut" on the Discovery Channel show Mythbusters (Dec 5, 2004).

Soundtrack

On June 13, 2005, Jack Wall's in-game music was released as a Audio CD of 75 minutes, divided over 31 tracks. The CD is available in select retail outlets in cooperation with Sumthing Else Music Works, Inc.

Voice acting

Even though many high-profile actors lent their voices to the game, the majority of the actors used in the game were actually actors from the Edmonton theatre community, the Canadian city where Bioware is located. It should be noted that there exists a certain amount of overlap in the case of such actors as Nathan Fillion, a well-known television star who happens to have been born in Edmonton.

Awards

  • GamePro (Germany)
    • February 23, 2006 - Best Console RPG in 2005 (Readers' Vote)
  • GameSpy
    • 2005 – #9 Xbox Game of the Year
    • 2005 – Xbox RPG of the Year

Information also contributed by lasttoblame, Nathan Taylor and NxCmp

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Unicorn Lynx.

Xbox 360 added by Parf. Xbox Series, Xbox One added by andri_g.

Additional contributors: Jeanne, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack.

Game added May 29, 2005. Last modified March 27, 2024.