Jade Empire
I remember purchasing this twenty years ago. As I was purchasing it, the guy at the register wholeheartedly recommended it saying "I really like this game!". It made me eager to play it. As soon as I got home and placed the disk in the drive and began playing, I was very well pleased. Jade Empire is an enjoyable action/adventure game with some RPG elements in a setting that doesn't take place often enough in video games.
Teenage Tragedy
I played this game to the very last mission. Then tragedy struck. My Xbox console died and could no longer play anything. I don't recall what caused its death, maybe the cpu just simply expired. In any case, I was no longer able to continue playing Jade Empire or Splinter Cell (I was playing them concurrently) and see those games to the end. Talk about a case of blue balls; double, in fact. Now, twenty years later, I am able to finish what I started all those years ago. I still had the same amount of fun and I still find the setting fascinating and it should be used more often.
The Great Wall
I mentioned the setting repeatedly. It's because it's awesome. It takes place in that old imperial China. It was a time of emperors, dynasties, swords, spears, martial arts, the great wall, chi, magic, dragons, ghosts, ogres, gods, demons, and flying machines. Obviously, some of that stuff is drawn from mythology. Also, the flying machines didn't exist yet. Nevertheless, this fantasy world can be viewed as parallel to the traditional fantasy setting of elves, swords, knights, kings, and sorcerers. The one in Jade Empire is clearly inspired by East Asian, particularly Chinese, mythology. While the general sword and sorcery found in Lord of the Rings is clearly inspired by European mythology. We get plenty of European high fantasy. We definitely need more East Asian high fantasy. Or any other type of high fantasy, for that matter.
Engaging Quests
The side quests are highly engaging. Many with their own surprising twists that make them satisfying to play through. The main story has a twist, but it's not the most interesting and feels contrived. A fun example of this is a small quest in which a farmer asks you to search for and rescue his "flower of the fields". You go in thinking he's referring to his wife, but no. He was talking about his water buffalo. More serious ones involve characters that have died but manage to influence live people from beyond the grave. I don't want to spoil anymore than I already have. Rest assured, you will actually have fun completing many of the quests. The decisions you make during these quests have some meaningful impact.
Main Dish
The main quest is also interesting. It is a typical chosen one, savior of all type of story. There is nothing original there. However, it's the inidividual milestones along the way that make it memorable. Take for example your immediate rivalry with one of the jerk students or the catastraphic events that ensue immediately upon defeating him. At one point, you must vanquish his father as part of a quest. There are other quests that are even more memorable than these. I don't want to spoil anything even if the game is two decades old. There's one plot twist that feels contrived once you reach the stage where you rescue your master, but even so, every event prior to and proceeding that twist are engaging and it feels totally satsifying to finish the game.
Kung Fu
I enjoy a good martial arts flick. I watched many a Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li film growing up. There is no doubt in my mind that this was influenced by martial arts movies of yore. Just like there was many different fighting styles in the movies constantly struggling for supremacy, there are many different fighting styles to use against your enemies and your enemies to use against you. It's not just traditional hand-to-hand styles, either. You can select weapons, magic attacks, and even transform in to a horse demon. Using a weapon drains your focus meter, so you can only use them for a limited time. You can also activate your focus to slow down time. Magic attacks drain your chi meter. Activating your chi makes your attacks deal more damage. There are also transformation styles that allow you to temporarily turn into a giant toad, a horse, or a golem. There's also the possiblity of chaining different styles and completing what is called a harmonic combo. Just like an excellent kung fu film, emphasis was placed on the fighting. And the fighting system in Jade Empire is surprisingly deep. My only complaint is that it's a bit dated. You're spamming the quick strike button most of the time while blocking, dodging, and summersaulting about. There is a strong attack designed to break through blocks, but it's increadibly slow and not good for much else. None of the fights where difficult. I played on normal mode.
Final Boss
I played it on the original Xbox back in the day and completed in on the original Xbox recently. It's also available on PC if you prefer convenience over nostalgia trips. In fact, I believe the PC version offers extra content not available on the Xbox. You're guaranteed to have fun either way.
Comments
Post a Comment