Jade Empire: In Which a Thread is Created, A Post is Made, and a Discussion is Had

CaptainNemo

Jade Empire is an action RPG by BioWare, that unstoppable jugggernaut of excellant gaming. The game is set in the eponymous Jade Empire, a massive land beased on Chinese mythology. You play as a young martial arts student who's teacher, Master Li, has been kidnapped by the Emperor's mysterious and terrbile enforcers the Lotus Assassins. The Lotus Assassins, led by the powerful Death's Hand, now hunt you as you and you companions attempt to unravel the darkest secrets of the Empire.

Here's the offical site:

http://jade.bioware.com/specialedition/

And here's the wiki:

http://jadeempire.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

TL;DR - It's really, really good.

DarkPrimus

I actually enjoyed it, but I can understand why a lot of people couldn't get into the real-time combat control scheme.

I have no idea how well it plays on the PC.

surrealitycheck

I have no idea how well it plays on the PC.

Perfectly well. Probably better than on a console I'd imagine.

I liked Jade Empire. Lot of dislike for it though

CaptainNemo

I'm playing it on the 360, and it controls like a dream. The only two party member system is a little wonky, but once you get used to it it works like a breeze.

TrippyJing

Played it on the XBox, loved it. Now I have it for the PC, but I'm a little weirded out because things seem to be moving...faster than they should. It may just be in my head though, mostly thanks to speed-up issues in other games I've played.

simulacrum

I remember loving this game when I first played through it.

Was really disappointed about how short it was.

CaptainNemo

So, what's the general consensus on which kung fu is the best? I've been using Legendary Strike and Crimson Tears mostly, and they just aren't doing it for me.

WotanAnubis

I love Jade Empire. It's probably my favourite Bioware RPG and I'm pretty sure I've played them all.

Except the Sonic one. But I don't think that one could possibly be as good as Jade Empire.

Because Jade Empire is really very good.

---

As for which kung fu is best... I always found Leaping Tiger to be the 'best', but because I think the Wolverine claws look kinda silly, I usually go with Legendary Strike or White Demon.

Actually, I usually go with Thousand Cuts, because Radiant Jen Zi is my 'default' hero and Thousand Cuts is her default style, but that one's so not my favourite. The lack of forward momentum really hurts it.

CaptainNemo

I experimented with Thousand Cuts, but the punches just looked silly on my screen. Leaping Tiger had the best combination of punches and kicks, but the claws look dumb. What does White Demon look like?

WotanAnubis

White Demon... let's see if I remember right... you're kind of crouched forward (sorta) and you mostly punch in long, powerful horizontal arcs with your fists closed.

It's all about the brute force.

bentacos

Thank you for reminding me that I need to get back to this game. I picked it up during the steam holiday sale, got through chapter one, then gaming ADD kicked in and I started playing something else.

Darlan

I seem to remember the Internet being lousy with Jade Empire 2 rumors a few years ago, and then nothing. I do hope they get around to making it, a game with Mass Effect 2's visual and storytelling fidelity + Kung Fu action just sounds too awesome not to happen.

Blackjack

I always found the style that is purely focused on kicks to be the best martial arts style.

But really it's all about powering through the arena asap to get dual swords, anyway.

CaptainNemo

The game suffers from BioWare First Chapter Syndrome, where the first chapter is dull as shit and the rest is a shining golden god of a game. Look at Taris and the Citadel.

Blackjack

CaptainNemo wrote: »

The game suffers from BioWare First Chapter Syndrome, where the first chapter is dull as shit and the rest is a shining golden god of a game. Look at Taris and the Citadel.

I don't mind the first chapter, actually, and think it does a fairly decent job of setting everything up -- it's the giant slog through the second chapter that I can't stand, or at least the first half of it. If I can make it through the dam without stopping I'm usually good for a full playthrough.

CaptainNemo

I liked Tien's Landing, but the Imperial City is just amazing. Plus it has John Cleese.

WotanAnubis

Blackjack wrote: »

I always found the style that is purely focused on kicks to be the best martial arts style.

But really it's all about powering through the arena asap to get dual swords, anyway.

The kicking one is Legendary Strike. Which always kind of confused me.

And you don't have to power through much of the Arena to get Crimson Tears. You just have to beat the bronze division.

Also, I think I'll always remain fond of Mirabelle. Partly because it's just hilarious, but also because it taught me some very important lessons about range that made me a much more effective magic user.

Of course, my magic of choice is Stone Immortal which isn't exactly the best choice because its strong attack can't hit floating targets, but whatever. My point about range stands.

SoundsPlush

Hey, I was just searching for a thread on this game this past week to see what people were saying about it. I bought it during Steam's Christmas sale and only got around to playing it last week, marathoning through twice. Despite a lot of flaws like highly uninteresting party members (except Silk Fox and Zu) and combat which I think gets pretty boring before long, I'm really fond of it.

Leaping Tiger was my favorite style just because the others seem to have zero range. Also, the wolverine claws look fine on Scholar Ling, who is obviously the best character.

Blackjack

If there was a way to just get rid of the cemetery, the Imperial City would be flawless. But no, you gotta fight those stupid ghosts with the shields that float so your earth magic charged attack can't even hit them.

WotanAnubis wrote: »

And you don't have to power through much of the Arena to get Crimson Tears. You just have to beat the bronze division.

Oh, it's just bronze? I thought it was silver for some reason. Well, either way, it's clearly the way to go for melee. :P

WotanAnubis

SoundsPlush wrote: »

Leaping Tiger was my favorite style just because the others seem to have zero range. Also, the wolverine claws look fine on Scholar Ling, who is obviously the best character.

Scholar Ling? You heathen. Radiant Jen Zi is where it's at.

Ah well. At least you don't prefer Lu the Prodigy. He should've been renamed Blandy McBlandbland. He's so forgetable I actually had to look up his name.

CaptainNemo

Imma hate to interrupt you, but Wu the Lotus Blossom is the best spirit monk of all time!

Blackjack

I generally always pick the guy with the dragon tattoos.

I go for Lu, though, when I don't feel like looking at manly boob muscles for the whole game

But I generally tweak the starting stats anyway, so it's really all about the models for me.

WotanAnubis

Blackjack wrote: »

WotanAnubis wrote: »

And you don't have to power through much of the Arena to get Crimson Tears. You just have to beat the bronze division.

Oh, it's just bronze? I thought it was silver for some reason. Well, either way, it's clearly the way to go for melee. :P

Yeah, it's Bronze. Crimson Khana teaches you the style, after all, and she's the champion of the Bronze Division.

Iron Soldier is head of the Silver Division and he's a dick who doesn't teach you anything.

Although he will throw the fight for you if you poison Crimson Khana. But why would you poison Crimson Khana?

And while I also like double sabers for the double sabers, I do have to put in a good word for the basic longsword. It's pretty fast, covers a lot of ground and the basic version, Fortune's Favourite, doesn't consume any Focus at all once you've upgraded its Focus Reduction as far as it can go, allowing you to use it pretty much forever.

SoundsPlush

WotanAnubis wrote: »

Scholar Ling? You heathen. Radiant Jen Zi is where it's at.

Ah well. At least you don't prefer Lu the Prodigy. He should've been renamed Blandy McBlandbland. He's so forgetable I actually had to look up his name.

Lu the Down Syndromy.

I'll accept Jen Zi as second best female, but she just looks like she's 15. Then there's Tiger Shen, who I did my callously CF game with and couldn't stop thinking of him as Sloth from the Goonies.

And Crimson Khana was awesome and I wish you could get her to join your party.

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WotanAnubis

SoundsPlush wrote: »

I'll accept Jen Zi as second best female, but she just looks like she's 15. Then there's Tiger Shen, who I did my callously CF game and couldn't stop thinking of him as Sloth from the Goonies.

I used Monk Zeng for my first Closed Fist playthrough.

That was a pretty weird experience.

SoundsPlush wrote: »

And Crimson Khana was awesome and I wish you could get her to join your party.

Same here.

She says she goes back to seek out new challenges, but then you don't get to tell her she'll have plenty of interesting challenges if she joins your team?

TrippyJing

I roll with Furious Ming, but dammit, I wish he would wear a shirt.

Anyone remember Sir Roderick?

edit: Holy crap he was voiced by John Cleese.

Blackjack

CaptainNemo wrote: »

Imma hate to interrupt you, but Wu the Lotus Blossom is the best spirit monk of all time!

Minus Five for incorrect use of meme. :P

It's "I'm really happy for you, and I'mma let you finish, but..."

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WotanAnubis

TrippyJing wrote: »

Anyone remember Sir Roderick?

Man, who doesn't remember Sir Roderick Ponce von Fondlebottom the Magnificent Bastard?

And Mirabelle.

Blackjack

That was, by far, the best quest in the game. I never really used Mirabelle just because it was one of those things, like Jade Golem form that is just too powerful, but damn if I don't love getting it every single time.

CaptainNemo

Holy shit this game is gorgeous. I just got to the palace.

WotanAnubis

CaptainNemo wrote: »

Holy shit this game is gorgeous. I just got to the palace.

Ah yes.

The palace.

The place where [redacted for awesome].

Blackjack

Can I just change the topic for a minute to talk about how grateful I am that this game had a male/male romance that wasn't with a stereotypical guy, and that wasn't treated as a joke? Because I am really grateful for that.

The fading to black before the kiss thing is bullshit, but the rest of it is good stuff.

SoundsPlush

The Lotus Blossom is great...if you like prostitutes. Hey-oh!

Khana was way more interesting than half the people that join you, and I enjoyed her conversations a lot more, too. Maybe it's just a consequence of how quickly you can go through the game making it more obvious, but a character like Black Whirlwind seems to have the shallow surface plus one historical detail.

(I'm drunk and dumb and I like fighting and nooooo brooothhheerrrr).

Hen is pretty much as advertised, and I found Kang way too "wacky!" for my tastes. I liked Silk Fox the most because she mimed my choices based on whatever path I set her on, which was consistently satisfying.

But god I'm really pining for a sequel. Maybe after ME3?

TrippyJing

Threesome.

WotanAnubis

SoundsPlush wrote: »

Hen is pretty much as advertised, and I found Kang way too "wacky!" for my tastes. I liked Silk Fox the most because she mimed my choices based on whatever path I set her on, which was consistently satisfying.

I like Kang, because... well because he is wacky. He reminds me of Leonard of Quirm. Also, he represents a very sensible theological position. Kind of.

As for Silk Fox... I tend to be an Open Palm player, but I prefer to romance her Closed Fist-style. The Empire really does need a bit of shaking up and besides, when I gotta choose (or help a fictional character choose) between freedom and tradition, I'm gonna go with freedom every time.

SoundsPlush

TrippyJing wrote: »

Threesome.

Okay, that too, but I'm thinking more of the many lines she chips in during late game conversations when someone disagrees with you for being CF (if you made her CF, too).

Also, speaking of CF, holy balls does this game have the most evil "evil ending" for a Bioware game ever or what? I felt bad the whole time. Damn!

HenryVape

I really dont know how good i really think this game is, it still looks good and the fighting system is pretty cool, but the areas felt so incredibly limited and it didnt really like feel i was actually on a long journey, but was merely waltzing around the imperial city and its subburbs. It felt so incredibly anticlimatic to me. Also i didnt really like the party system, it sort of felt like i was merely bringing along a buffbot. Though it was really hilarious to roll around with the stun fighting style, NO ONE except for the demons were immune to it, so i really dont actually know how either deaths hand,

the emperor

or the last boss are supposed to fight. They ended up just standing there twitching while i wailed at them .

Blackjack

SoundsPlush wrote: »

TrippyJing wrote: »

Threesome.

Okay, that too, but I'm thinking more of the many lines she chips in during late game conversations when someone disagrees with you for being CF (if you made her CF, too).

Also, speaking of CF, holy balls does this game have the most evil "evil ending" for a Bioware game ever or what? I felt bad the whole time. Damn!

This is my biggest problem with the game, I think. For 99% of the game, Closed Fist is just a "chaotic good" path.

Then all of a sudden you're some sort of Evil Overlord, all murdering everyone that voices the slightest dissent and, like, sacrificing puppies to your dark lord and shit.