Jade Empire

[semillama]

I didn't see any posts about this game in the five pages i scanned through, so here's one.

On the recommendation of a friend, I finally picked up this game. I had looked at it for a while, but martial arts games aren't usually my thing, so I passed on it for a long time.

That was a mistake.

This is a really engrossing rpg, with incredible detail and characters. The game play is a cross between KOTOR and Fable, taking the best elements of each (easy controls for fighting from fable, while the rest of the game is based on the basic form of KOTOR). The good/evil paths are characterized as the way of the open palm (good) or way of the closed fist (evil), and how you treat people effects which way you go on the scale. It's a blend between KOTOR and Fable in this aspect as well.

The variety of fighting styles is cool, as well as numerous interesting side missions and humorous characters. It took me a while to figure out the harmonic combo, but it's worth it, especially for taking out enemies quickly when you have multiple opponents.

The story line is good, kind of the stereotypical track down the corruption at the top while saving your master thing. The graphics are a big step up from KOTOR, similar to Fable but more realistic in style, less fantastic.

I'm playing Lu the Prodigy on my first time through. I'm thinking about the Scholar character next, or maybe trying to go all evil. It's so much aharder to play an evil character though.