XB Jade Empire (Limited Edition) review:5 stars (One of the best RPGs ever.) - I had only expected another "Fable" out of this game, but boy was I wrong!

I loved this game so much that I actually ended up playing it three times in a row. So what did I love so much?

First of all, Jade Empire took the gimmick that Fable used (the good vs. evil character development) and really ran with it. In one instance, alignment determines which of two spells you can learn. In addition, there are side quests available in the game that you can only complete if you are either good or evil (and you have to prove you are good enough or bad enough sometimes!).

I loved that your responses to people weren't limited, either. One time through the game, I successfully hooked up a callous woman with an artisan. On my next playthrough, I was annoyed with the picky nature of the woman and just outright killed her and her posse. Granted, I lost out on some experience points, but it was fun!

This game also has a high replay value. Not only so you can play through as good and then as evil and get all the sidequests that are particular to a specific alignment, but also because of the various fighting & support styles & weapons.

I would've given the game 4 1/2 stars simply because some of the dialogue and storyline can really drag, but when it got too "talk-heavy," I just skipped over it all. Once you've basically got the gist, that's about all you need.

I really loved all the secret sidequests, too. I won't tell about them so I don't ruin it if you haven't played yet, but suffice it to say that if you get bored with the main story line, there should be plenty to distract you...especially the tournament fighting!

Over all, I'd rank this game as one of the best RPGs I've ever played, coming in right along with FF8 and Kingdom Hearts!5 stars (A really good RPG. Chinese myth never seemed so ruthless.) - This game is rated "M" for mature, but I didn't find it to be nearly as bad the "M" is supposed to signify, so for all you parents out there, I would say that giving this one to young adults probably wouldn't be so bad. If it were up to me, I would have just taken out all little scenes of what blood they have in there and just labeled it "T" for teen to broaden my marketed audience, but for some reason they had throw in a little (and I do mean very little) blood in there so they had to slap an "M" on it.

Anyway...

The limited edition is cool because you can get a whole addtional character opition for your main character along with other little extras (interveiws, art, concepts, ect).

Anyway, the story in this game is awsome. If you didn't know much about Chinese mythology (I certainly didn't before I played this game) the "Jade Empire" is an ancient Chinese story. This game's story is more of a constructed sequel to that myth more than anything. You start off the prized student in a secluded martial arts school. One day little village surrounding the school is suddenly attack by some mysterious assasins, by what appears to be an accident. Stranger still, is the fact that they seemed to know your master when he shows up to help you and another student defend the village. From there the plot goes a little dark or light depending if you want to be bad, good or somewhere in the middle. The concepts of becomeing good or evil remind me alot of the KOTOR (Knights of the old Republic) RPGs so if you loved them then you'll love this one.

Graphicly, this game was beatuiful but unlike any of the KOTOR games the environments where not nearly as interactive for gameplay reasons. There are also scenes of blood and concepts for a battle with a bunch of cannibles that were probably the only reasons for the "M" rating.

Sound was nothing special, there was only on thing that bugged me about it. The theme of the game starts off as sort of a wailing noise. It's not that bad really, it adds intensity to the song, but for some reason they play this song constantly through the sotry with no real variation. So after hours of gaming and every time you achieve anything you are reward with something that almost seems like screeching after a while and it wasn't long before I hated that theme song.

If you are a fan of RPG storys and character building, this is deffinatly one you don't want to miss.
3 stars (What a disapointment) - This game was the bigest disapointment of the year. Every one kept sayin how great it was and all this hype about the best rpg of the year. Well you were all wrong this game is garbage. I hated it and it was soo dam boring i never even wanted to keep playing. But the worst part was that i actualy paied 50$ for it when its worth about 15$.I will even admit the story was prety good and it had a good idea but the story didnt stick together and the good and evil part was stupid. As much as i wanted to keep going evil its like it wouldnt let me even if i helped 1 person for money it still brought my meter up to the good side, it just didnt go good with the game.And the combat was horible it was the worst fighting ever it was like fighting on a ps1 game it was clunky and cheezy, and it seemed like i just kept doin the same moves over and over. It did sound cool that you could turn into a demon but that was even lame when u you get it, like who the hell wants to turn into a big ass ugly frog? The game is just straight up boring and every convo you have its like they make you think about every single answer you give even for the stupid convos , that just gets boring , Well over all it had a good story but it wasnt enough to save the game cuz this game was lame and boring and too repetitive. I might have liked it more if so many people didnt hype it up so much and i didnt pay 50$ for the dam game. My advice if you didnt play it , rent it or wait till it gets cheaper to get it. But if i was you id just stay the hell away from this boring game
XB Jade Empire (Limited Edition)Amazon Features:
Video Games
Xbox (x box)
Microsoft
Action
Adventure

XB Jade Empire (Limited Edition) is the Video Game version. The full version can be purchased by clicking on the "CLICK HERE TO ORDER" button below for around 29.95USD.