There are a lot of reasons why Jade Empire should be allowed a sequel and ways the series could even expand into a cross-media franchise. Some styles also tie into the player’s Open Palm or Closed Fist alignment. When the player gains a level, they can modulate these stats as well as upgrade his/her fighting styles accordingly. Charm, intuition, and intimidation stats also come into play and effect dialogue options. Using weapons drains focus, while using magic styles draws from chi, which can also be used to heal. Skill points can be spent to improve the three important statistics, health, focus, and chi. In fact, sometimes it feels like an Avatar: The Last Airbender game, as characters throw fire and ice or create dragons out of ash. The game’s fluid, adaptable combat system, which does away with the turn-based model of past BioWare games, allows a character to switch between four styles, including ranged weapons, magic, and martial arts, with the press of a button. This is a signature trait of many BioWare games – writing that is paced in such a way so that the characters seem to grow and learn along with the player. His backstory is revealed as the player discovers the nature of the Lotus Assassins. Other characters are interesting because they’re intractable: the former assassin Sagacious Zu follows the player loyally no matter their choices, but often expresses his own pragmatic, sometimes vicious views. The princess Lian dresses in a ninja-like outfit and mask to move among the common people without being spotted, and does not believe that her father the emperor could be a villain. The player gets the sense of living in a mythological world.īioWare has always been good at creating many varied characters, and Jade Empire brought us princesses, swamp-dwelling sages, mad scientists, rogues, and demons.

Whether good or evil, these realms are part of Jade Empire‘s unique philosophy. The imperial palace is sculpted with slightly fungal, unnatural beauty. There are also supernatural realms within the Empire – the beautiful Heavens, and the Spirit Plain where the dead reside. Pink and orange skies hand over the smoky, ghost-infested Necropolis. The scenery and landscape of the game is almost a character unto itself. Gameplay, setting, and character design also made Jade Empire a welcomed entry in the Western RPG world. I might be getting a little ahead of myself, but this framework could easily support tie-in novels, comics, and movies.

Jade empire sagacious zu