The Legacy of Master Li
Spoilers ensue for the Xbox game Jade Empire. It is a really good game, but it's a couple of years old by now, so it's probably safe to talk about- if you were going to play it, you probably have by now.
So I beat Jade Empire again on the Xbox. Since I've got the 360 now, it doesn't make the hideous, soul-numbing static noises, which was a large part of why I wanted to play Jade Empire again- at the very, very end of the game, Master Li's voice appears in the credits, but I could never make out anything beyond the line "I recall that, once, when you were a child..." due to the static.
Now, this was very intriguing. The rest of the credits have very funny voice-overs, with supporting characters talking about their schticks (finally hearing the oft alluded to wife of Henpecked Hou, Dawn Star's misleading "early career" act, and, my favorite, Sagacious Zu's discussion of his acting career: "I'm doing some arthouse stuff now, trying to broaden my repetoire. I don't want to get typecast in the loner enforcer role. Uh, by the way, check me out in 'Lone Enforcer 9: The Bloodening.' I've been told it's the best in the series.") But Master Li was a highly intriguing character, starting out as the player's mentor and ultimately becoming the game's villian, who had a very distinctive personality and a very complex motivation. Giving him the final lines of the game- particularly one that started like that- seemed very cool, and possibly would allude to a sequel or some early childhood thing that would mesh up with the events of the game- a synecdoche, a part for the whole. I dig that kind of thing.
Anyway, I beat the game again, and finally got to hear Master Li's final speech.
It concluded with, "and then, you will punch a mountain. In space!"
*sigh* No sense of drama whatsoever. Oh well.
-E
So I beat Jade Empire again on the Xbox. Since I've got the 360 now, it doesn't make the hideous, soul-numbing static noises, which was a large part of why I wanted to play Jade Empire again- at the very, very end of the game, Master Li's voice appears in the credits, but I could never make out anything beyond the line "I recall that, once, when you were a child..." due to the static.
Now, this was very intriguing. The rest of the credits have very funny voice-overs, with supporting characters talking about their schticks (finally hearing the oft alluded to wife of Henpecked Hou, Dawn Star's misleading "early career" act, and, my favorite, Sagacious Zu's discussion of his acting career: "I'm doing some arthouse stuff now, trying to broaden my repetoire. I don't want to get typecast in the loner enforcer role. Uh, by the way, check me out in 'Lone Enforcer 9: The Bloodening.' I've been told it's the best in the series.") But Master Li was a highly intriguing character, starting out as the player's mentor and ultimately becoming the game's villian, who had a very distinctive personality and a very complex motivation. Giving him the final lines of the game- particularly one that started like that- seemed very cool, and possibly would allude to a sequel or some early childhood thing that would mesh up with the events of the game- a synecdoche, a part for the whole. I dig that kind of thing.
Anyway, I beat the game again, and finally got to hear Master Li's final speech.
It concluded with, "and then, you will punch a mountain. In space!"
*sigh* No sense of drama whatsoever. Oh well.
-E