Jade Empire is the new portray into the RPG world from the people of Bioware (aka the KOTR Kids). This time the story takes place in an Ancient Asia. A world full or mythological beasts, magic and secrets, you are a senior student for Master Li in Two Rivers. Soon to graduate your town is destroyed and only you and 2 friends manage to escape the destruction of your city. Now you are on a journey to find your Master who is still alive and to uncover the secrets of the empire and your past.
Jade Empire is what a lot of Action RPG's should be and what they should do. Tons of areas to explore, lots of quests and connectable characters. One strong point are the battles and strategy involved. There are literally tons of martial art styles for you to choose from and master. From your basic attack styles, support styles and your weapon styles. The combinations are endless. Battling is easy as well, all your styles are mapped to the d-pad simply press the d-pad in the direction of the style you want and like the wind you can change styles effortless in the high moments of battle. A second upside is the ability to decide your fate. Throughout the game completing quests in a certain way will affect your moral meter. If you do something evil then your meter falls down to the Way of the Closed Fist (which is evil0. If you do something good than your meter goes up to the Way of the Open Palm (which is good). These decisions greatly affect a lot of dialogue, scenes and situations in the game. People will react and respond differently to you in the game. Which is nice because it gives you the feel that you are doing is actually effecting the outcome.
There are also some nice little things as well, like recruiting new followers to help aid you in battle and a nice variety of mini-games. Aside from the main quest missions there are tons and I mean tons of side missions and quests as well. There are so many that you will forget a lot of them in your first time through and not even realize it.
The real downside to this game is that in the beginning it is very slow pace may take a good hour or two to actually delve deep into what the game actually has to offer. Also there are weapon upgrades but there doesn't seem to be a need for them and you feel like you're wasting your money on them. Also at some points combat can get a little repetitive.
Overall Jade Empire is a solid Action RPG. Even with it's flaws the positives far out way the negatives. An interesting story, multiple endings, tons of missions, good morality meter, good combat, tons of replay-ability with different combat styles and morality decisions. In the end this is a must own for the Xbox.
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