Jade Empire, upon announcement, was unique against the many First Person Shooter (FPS) games on the platform.   Fans of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic could experience something similar but not a rip-off. Something new and intriguing.  Microsoft needed more exclusives and Jade Empire was one of the better ones they had available.  Ancient China never looked so good in gaming.

Similarities abound

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and the Light/Dark Side direction to guide players. Jade Empire offers Way of the Open Palm and Way of the Closed Fist respectively.  Philosophy plays a big role in Jade Empire, much like how it was handled in Star Wars: KOTOR. You are not necessarily good/evil when on either side of the median.  This leads to some interesting conversation trees and character interactions as you progress in this game .

Real Time or Turn Based action

Unlike Star Wars: KOTOR though, combat in Jade Empire is in real time, not turn based.  You are in direct control of your character and have to make decisions on the fly. Actions such as guard, attack, etc are all in your hands.  There is no waiting for your turn or “breather room” either. I like to call this taking longer than normal to make a decision in combat.

Expanding the definition of RPG

Jade Empire also does the romance option for your character and the non-player characters (NPC).  You are free to work on romantic relationships with many of the characters in the game. Even the same sex characters if you so choose.  This brings up the sexuality aspect. This is something that has not been addressed all that much in gaming outside of scantily clad females.  It doesn’t really change the game. It is cool that Microsoft was allowing this open ended aspect in their games from 10 years ago.  Are there any other games that offer this level of interaction?

There is far more to Jade Empire than I could write about here. You should check the links below if you are interested in ancient China or Bioware style games.

Check eBay and Amazon for a deal on Jade Empire. For more role-playing games check out our coverage here.

Carl Williams

It is time gaming journalism takes its rightful place as proper sources and not fanboys giving free advertising. If you wish to support writers like Carl please use the links below. https://www.paypal.me/WCW https://www.patreon.com/CarlWilliams