One of the finest RPGs on Xbox to date.
User Rating: 9.3 | Jade Empire: Hisui no Teikoku XBOX
In alot of ways, this game represents the culmination of everything Bioware has done since Baldur's Gate. The gameplay is simple and solid. Many fights end up feeling like straightforward button mashers on the default difficulty, however. Upping the difficulty makes the bulk of the fights feel more strategic, and it forces you to use styles and tactics you might not normally use. However, I felt that it made boss-type fights WAY too tough in comparison. After switching between normal and hard a few times to keep the challenge at a level that kept things interesting without being frustrating, I finally just placed it on normal, reasoning that general run-of-the-mill thugs never seem to slow down the hero in kung-fu movies anyway... Still, I felt that it could have maybe used another difficulty level between normal and hard. Fighting is sometimes hampered by a slow camera, but it's usually a simple matter to dodge a certain way and get it to recenter itself. I've seen worse cameras, but I've seen better, too. Graphically, the game is solid. It's a clear improvement over Knights of the Old Republic. The lighting effects are good. The bloom effects are overdone occassionally, but for the most part the game looks nice and maintains a solid framerate when the action starts going down. Sound effects and music are great, and I consider it a good value, as I'll probably play through it at least one more time at some point. All in all, it's definetly a good start for a new Bioware franchise. It's clear that the world itself is well developed, and many parts of the Jade Empire itself (along with foreign lands) are only explored through occassional dialog and in-game texts. There's still plenty of room for more adventures in the Jade Empire, and I, for one, look forward to the possibility of returning there in a future game.
