Original Release: Apr. 12, 2005 for XBox. Version Reviewed: XBox, 2005.
THE PLOT:
Master Li's school of martial arts is the centerpiece of Two Rivers, a small town on the outskirts of the Jade Empire. Li is a wise and gifted teacher, revered by his students and respected by the townspeople.
On the day that his most gifted student is set to graduate, Master Li reveals that, twenty years earlier, he had been known as Sun Li, "The Glorious Strategist" - and the emperor's brother. He reveals that the student is actually a Spirit Monk, the sole survivor when the emperor wiped out that order. Li tells his student that he turned against the emperor during the attack, rescuing the infant monk and fleeing the devastation.
The Spirit Monk has little chance to absorb this information. Two Rivers comes under attack by Imperial forces, led by the emperor's Lotus Assassins and their leader, a masked figure who calls himself "Death's Hand." Master Li gives himself up in an attempt to save his students. An unsuccessful attempt: After taking Li into custody, Death's Hand wipes out the school and the village with the same ruthlessness used against the Spirit Monks.
The hero survives, as does Dawn Star, a fellow student with an affinity for spirits. Together with Sagacious Zu, a fugitive former Lotus Assassin, they embark on a quest to free their master and get justice for their destroyed home. But there is much more going on than they could foresee, and soon their path will shape the future of the Jade Empire itself!
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| The Emperor and his sinister enforcer, the masked figure known as "Death's Hand." |
CHARACTERS:
Master Li is an interesting and multilayered character. He makes a strong impression early in the game; and while it takes about 2/3 of the running time to reunite with him, he remains a well-drawn character at the end.
Unfortunately, many of the actual playable characters are shallow and tropey, particularly in comparison to Bioware's best-known works. "Good girl" Dawn Star is the default love interest for male characters, and she is earnest and moral to the point of tedium. "Bad girl" Silk Fox, a potential love interest for either males or females, is slightly more interesting, if only because she has a personality, but she still falls into familiar tropes.
Of the supporting cast, Sky, a rogue who is a potential love interest for both males and females, has a decent backstory, but one that's revealed entirely through exposition. His past never reverberates in the story's present, and as a result he never sparks as a character. Sagacious Zu is the untrustworthy ally with a mysterious past, and he also never evolves beyond that basic label. Other companions largely fall under the heading of "comic relief."
They're still above-average for video game characters... but compared to the characters in Dragon Age or Mass Effect, they seem a bit lacking in depth.
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| The player character does battle with the spirits of the dead. |
GAMEPLAY:
Jade Empire is very much a Bioware RPG. You travel among multiple settings: the school and village; a larger town beset by pirates on one side and a haunted forest on the other; Dirge, the site of the Spirit Monk massacre; the Empire's capital city; and the Imperial palace itself.
As you explore each setting, you will pick up quests from NPCs and get into conversations with your companions. You'll be allowed to make choices, both in quest resolution and in conversation, that will determine your alignment as Open Palm or Closed Fist (think "light side" vs. "dark side"). Conversation choices will also shape your companions' ultimate fates and can determine which character (if any) you end up romancing.
This is a game heavily rooted in martial arts epics, and your character will engage in martial arts combat throughout the story. This aspect of the game... is a bit clunky. Too often, I found my character insisting on attacking the thin air right in front of enemy's face rather than the actual enemy. Weapon and projectile attacks tend to work better than hand-to-hand combat... but both attacks rely on resources ("Focus" and "Chi") that will deplete as you use them. In addition, certain enemies are immune to these attacks, so you'll too often end up having to rely on hand-to-hand combat in any case.
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| Dialogue options shape your character - and may alter the fates of your companions. |
BACKGROUND:
Jade Empire was released at the end of the original XBox's lifespan, which likely harmed its sales. Yes, you can play it on an XBox 360 (I did)... but in late 2005/early 2006, a gamer with a brand new 360 probably wasn't going to buy an original XBox title over one of the new generation of games. As a result, and despite excellent reviews, Jade Empire sold below expectations.
This didn't particularly hurt Bioware. After the success of Knights of the Old Republic, the company was in the process of developing multiple original IPs. Between 2005 and 2007, the company released in rapid succession: Jade Empire (martial arts), Dragon Age: Origins (fantasy), and Mass Effect (science fiction). Jade Empire's sales may have been soft, but the latter two were hits that led to full franchises.
It's also remembered today as a minor classic. It was re-released on the PC in a "Special Edition" that featured new combat styles and a couple of new side quests, and this version was eventually even ported to mobile (though I have no idea how the combat system would work on mobile when it sometimes barely works with a controller). Making this a financial disappointment that has gone on to enjoy a fairly successful afterlife.
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| Surprising visual polish for a game of its age. |
OTHER MUSINGS:
Likely because it came so late in the XBox's life cycle, Jade Empire is a surprisingly good looking game. Settings are detailed, with the Imperial City particularly vivid.
The age and technical limitations show in the maps, which are much smaller than in modern games. But the developers make up for this by linking maps together geographically: Leave Tien's landing to the north and you will enter the haunted forest, for example; leave in another direction, and you will enter the ruins of the old city, recently uncovered by the closing of a dam. Each new setting brings a new group of linked maps, each one larger than the last until you finally reach the Imperial City, by far the largest area of the game and one that you can easily spend hours exploring.
The world of Jade Empire feels vibrant and alive, and setting and story feed each other to superb effect. The plot gathers momentum and complexity as it goes. I was hooked long before I finished in Tien's Landing, the game's second setting. By the time I reached the Imperial City, I found myself playing for far longer at a stretch than intended, with the "just one more side quest" syndrome firmly kicking in.
Unfortunately, to get to that point was a bit of work. The first few hours are slow - even a touch boring. NPCs in the game speak either English or the pseudo-Chinese "Old Tongue," but all of them are fluent in Exposition. Reams of descriptions of the Empire, its history, and the politics of the local areas await you as you explore your surroundings, until you want to plead with NPCs to please just pare it back to what's immediately relevant.
I usually love dialogue-heavy games, but even I found myself skipping through large chunks of dialogue. It compares very negatively to the more attention-grabbing openings of Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origins, and Mass Effect, all of which balanced action and exposition in ways that kept the world-building from getting boring. Those openings were designed to suck you in - whereas I suspect the tedium at the start of Jade Empire chased a fair few gamers away from what is otherwise a very fine role-playing game.
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| The player character and Dawn Star, in the wreckage of their shattered home. |
OVERALL:
Jade Empire is a very good game. It offers surprising visual polish for its age and platform. The world is well-realized, the story is good, and there are some genuine surprises along the way.
It falls a little short of its potential, however. On a story level, the characters are less interesting than they should be, while the pace at the start is very slow. In terms of basic mechanics, the combat is clunky to the point of frustration.
All of the areas of weakness improve as the game goes on, and I found myself thoroughly hooked by the 4-hour mark of a 30+ hour game. Still, getting to that point required gritting my teeth through some dull stretches, and impatient gamers may have a tough time with it.
That aside, Jade Empire holds up better than I'd expected. Even accounting for its weaknesses, it remains well worth playing. It isn't the masterpiece it might have been - but it's still a fine game overall.
Overall Rating: 7/10.
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