RF Generation Message Board

Jade Empire
[IMG align=right width=145]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-075/bf/U-075-S-01550-A.jpg[/IMG]
Week: 3.12.06-3.18.06
Game: Jade Empire
Console: Microsoft X-Box
Year: 2005
RFG ID: U-075-S-01550-A
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Bioware
Genre: RPG
Players: 1

Game Page Address: http://www.rfgeneration.com/cgi-bin/getinfo.pl?ID=U-075-S-01550-A&
Screenshot Page:None, submit some! (http://www.rfgeneration.com/cgi-bin/submitimage.pl)

Let me be frank. I don't own an X-Box, never played Jade Empire, and am a full fledged Nintendo Fanboy. But that doesn't mean I won't make a non Nintendo game the featured game! Here we have Jade Empire, an excellent RPG for Microsoft's X-Box. While I cannot say much of this game I hope the following excerpt from the overview gives you an idea of the game.

Jade Empire is a martial arts action/adventure RPG set in the huge and lush world of ancient China. As corruption in the empire becomes more and more obvious, your character must set out on a quest to find its root and eliminate it. From the makers of Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire is another highly-touted adventure game.

The full text from the back of the box can be found below:

Exclusive Character & Fighting System
Monk Zeng is the perfect example of the spirit enhancing the body. With his monk spade style, he uses his Chi, or spiritual energy, to augment his physical strikes and fuel powerful magics that manipulate both elemental and spiritual forces.

The Making of Jade Empire
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the "Making of Jade Empire", courtesy of G4 video game television.

Demos
Fozra Motorsport
Conker Live and Reloaded
MechAssault 2

That second set of things is only available on the Limited Edition one ;)

BTW can one of the members who has played thru this tell me the approx. time it would take to beat it?

I've always heard good things about this game.  In a matter of fact, my father actually played through this game, and he is exceptionally picky when it comes to games due to limited free time.  Personally, I've only played it a total of maybe 10 minutes, so I can't exactly judge the game, but I did have a fun time playing it.....maybe slightly too much dialogue in the game, but the fighting was great ;)

Well, it depends on if you want to do all the sidequests/minigames or if you want to just get to the end as fast as possible. If the latter, depending on skill level, you're still looking at at least 25-30hrs. If the former, more like 35-40.

It also has the dual morality system so there are significant differences in the abilities you can acquire and develop based on the morality you follow, as well as providing for different endings.

I've played through it twice and enjoyed it greatly both times. To get access to some of the bonus content/puzzle elements of the game, be sure to defeat all of the minigame missions.

There's a lot to enjoy in this one.  

This game is a blast to play. I think the controls are great. Has a great story and great visuals. One of these days I might even beat it.

Sadly, this is one of my back logged games that I have yet to play :-[

But I remember when tynstar was playing it, he had nothing but good things to say about it.

Move it to the front of the back log!!!!!!!

Definitely move it up the list! If you enjoyed the KOTOR games in any way, you should definitely like Jade Empire.

Tynstar, did you get through all of the minigame missions?

Can you go back and play the extra missions after finishing the game or do you have to ocmplete them as you go?

Also how many endings are there?
just 2 like Fable or multiple depending on how good or how evil you are?

There are 3 total endings. One good, one evil, and one neutral. The neutral one is really lame, though. The game is rather easy, so I'd recommend playing it at the higher difficulty level if you want a challenge.

It's best to play through the minigame missions as you go. I think they are only unlocked at the main menu if you get past them in the main game. It's worth doing so, too, because it opens up a new story element in the game (as well as riddle solving) that could not otherwise be obtained. Imo, it added to the overall enjoyment of the full game.

I don tthink so. I was to the big city where the fighting arena is.

There's a LOT to get into there, especially if you just got there.

I think I am on the third division in teh Arena. I got to the boss but he kicked my ass,

Sweet! Which character and weapon style are you playing? And what difficulty level?  

I think they did a really good job in casting Brian Doyle-Murray as the arena manager/promoter.