Point 3 on my 'beat my games' quest
Another game finished. I felt like going with something colourful and shiny after Bioshock, so I picked Jade Empire. This was my first experience of Bioware multi-platform action-RPGs - I do own KoToR but ... well you know the story.
If Planescape:Torment was like playing a novel, Jade Empire is rather like playing an animated mini-series. Not that I'm comparing JE to PS:T. Because all the NPC dialogue in conversations is fully voiced and quite extensive, talking to anyone takes a while. There are also lots of narrative cut scenes particularly as you move into areas. So a lot of your time is taken up with watching the screen.
When you're not watching, most of what you're doing is fighting. The emphasis is very much on fantasy martial arts action using a variety of fighting 'techniques' (I tended to rely on one or two though). The RPG element is pretty much limited to deciding which styles to put points into when you level up, and whether you're going to be 'good' (I was) or 'evil'. You can collect gems that alter your stats as well. You get followers, but only one can fight with you at a time - you don't have a 'party' as such.
I realise that all this makes the game sound like arse, but actually I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story is good and the characters are engaging. I was quite happy to play for hours and hours at a stretch because I wanted to find out what happened next. And I thought the fighting was fun. I played as a zen monk character called Zhen Li, who happily leaped and spun around kicking ass in very pretty surroundings. The game looks great - I love that 'Oriental' aesthetic, and it's done very well.
I picked up Jade Empire ages ago in a sale at Game so I didn't pay a lot for it. I had a lot of fun playing it and looked forward to firing it up when I got home in the evenings. Result. It's made me want to get Mass Effect, which I wasn't interested in before, which is not so good because I mustn't buy new games. KoToR has jumped up my 'to play' list.
(I noticed in the end credits that the guy who voiced the Emperor was the same person who did such a great job as Andrew Ryan in Bioshock. Apparently he plays Quark in Star Trek or something. Well done him.)
If Planescape:Torment was like playing a novel, Jade Empire is rather like playing an animated mini-series. Not that I'm comparing JE to PS:T. Because all the NPC dialogue in conversations is fully voiced and quite extensive, talking to anyone takes a while. There are also lots of narrative cut scenes particularly as you move into areas. So a lot of your time is taken up with watching the screen.
When you're not watching, most of what you're doing is fighting. The emphasis is very much on fantasy martial arts action using a variety of fighting 'techniques' (I tended to rely on one or two though). The RPG element is pretty much limited to deciding which styles to put points into when you level up, and whether you're going to be 'good' (I was) or 'evil'. You can collect gems that alter your stats as well. You get followers, but only one can fight with you at a time - you don't have a 'party' as such.
I realise that all this makes the game sound like arse, but actually I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story is good and the characters are engaging. I was quite happy to play for hours and hours at a stretch because I wanted to find out what happened next. And I thought the fighting was fun. I played as a zen monk character called Zhen Li, who happily leaped and spun around kicking ass in very pretty surroundings. The game looks great - I love that 'Oriental' aesthetic, and it's done very well.
I picked up Jade Empire ages ago in a sale at Game so I didn't pay a lot for it. I had a lot of fun playing it and looked forward to firing it up when I got home in the evenings. Result. It's made me want to get Mass Effect, which I wasn't interested in before, which is not so good because I mustn't buy new games. KoToR has jumped up my 'to play' list.
(I noticed in the end credits that the guy who voiced the Emperor was the same person who did such a great job as Andrew Ryan in Bioshock. Apparently he plays Quark in Star Trek or something. Well done him.)