Others say...

"Fantastic Game, Fantastic Story, Fantastic Everything!"
I'm not one to review games because, well, I think that most games don't deserve to be reviewed. All the "phenomenal" games are great and all, but after playing this game I felt like I had just read a really good book. The story and character development that come along in the game as you play it through is amazing with beautiful scenery, history, and culture within the game as well. The game keeps track of how long you've played and it said I had played a total of 19 hours to finish the game from start to end while doing whatever quests I got on the side. I really started to feel connected to the characters and now that it's over I'm actually a little depressed. Pathetic I know, and I'm not really a huge fan of video games most the time, but this one was just... different

"Immersive with Great Storyline"
I just spent the last week playing Jade Empire, created by the developers of Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR). On two occasions, I started playing KOTOR and just couldn't finish it--poor battle system and I just got plain bored. No such thing with Jade Empire. Had a difficult time putting it down (unfortunately,I have to earn a living and had to go to work between gaming sessions). It's immersive, has beautiful graphics, and has an interesting twist in the storyline. As a girl gamer, I liked having the choice of being a (cool, tough and intelligent) female or male character AND having the ability to develop a love interest. (Sky's hot.) As for the battles and arena fights, they're challenging enough to keep a player on her or his toes. If you let the credits role through to the very end, you'll hear some of the game characters speak as if they were real people acting in a film, similar to the end credits of Monsters, Inc.

"Great game with some flaws"
Jade Empire is an adventure Role Playing game in a complete fantasy world of magic, weaponry, and martial arts. You begin your journey as a young student of the martial arts after your village came under siege and your master was kidnapped by an unknown enemy. In your travels to locate your master, you discover that your homeland, The Jade Empire, has fallen into complete darkness and despair, incomparable to the idyllic environment of your village nestled away on the boarder. As you come to discover the mysteries of your heritage, and shed light on your darkened past, you find that you are destined for great things and that the very salvation of mankind depends upon you as the last Spirit Monk.

The best thing about this game is its story, and I tried not to give too much of it away, but the story is far from being the only great thing about this game. In addition to fighting and leveling up numerous martial and magic styles, there are about a hundred side quests you can undertake which will determine the characteristics of the protagonist. In short, you can pursue one of two philosophical ways of life: the way of the Open Palm or the Closed Fist. The way of the Open Palm is a belief system of harmony, and protecting the weak; while the Way of the Closed Fist is the worship of strength. A follower of the Way of The Open Palm will go out of his or her way to help people who are in difficult situations and don't know how to help themselves. This can range from helping an old lady see through the forgery of an Imperial Writ threatening to claim ownership of her teahouse, to saving someone being stormed by thugs. The Closed Fist follower will do just the opposite. Instead of bringing peace to peoples lives, a follower of the Closed Fist will bring chaos, but he or she will do so to see if this person is strong enough to not fall into complete ruin. If the person dies in the process, then that is good, for that person is weak and only the strong should survive and be worthy of anything. It is because of this that the Closed Fist scheme is often interpreted as evil, and is a far more dangerous path, for you will make twice the amount of enemies. Side quests all deal with people and their individual problems. You can either solve these problems for them or worsen them. To deal with them all is really the girth of the game, and most of them are in plain view and not easy to miss. So, it is not like you will need to search for them.

Another great thing is the game's numerous locales. There is the village where you begin. Tien's Landing, a town suffering from the opening of their Water Dam and a swarm of troublesome pirates. A pirate's camp on a deserted island. A haunted Forest. The Imperial City. The Lotus Assassin fortress beneath a huge Necropolis. You venture into the spirit world among other strange places. All superbly displayed on your TV screen in excellent Xbox graphics. Side objectives in addition to your main quest can be found in each location, which makes this game very engrossing, and very long. Only game that may be longer than this would be something like Final Fantasy.

Now that I am done praising this game, it is now time to mention its quirks. This game is obviously inspired by Chinese myth (inspired, not taken directly) and it is made to look like China, with upturned eaves on houses and pagodas in the mountains. HOWEVER, they all speak in English and have American accents. This annoyed me to no end. They couldn't at least find some Asian voice actor with an accent? I would have preferred reading subtitles and listening to real Chinese than what I got.
The people you meet throughout the empire are the same characters again and again, just with different voices and wearing different clothes. This was so cheap.

When people speak in Tho Fan, a fictional language of the prosperous East in the game, they use the same words (or sounds) perpetually, when they are supposedly using different words which you see in the subtitles below.

Among these nagging problems this game has, are the huge historical and religious inaccuracies. Although there is a wheel of Life belief in China, it is not governed by a Water Dragon. The Chinese Dragon is simply an elemental creature, often residing in the sea. They are not even considered Gods. Another huge blunder was the game's depiction of the Imperial City, which I am left with no choice but to assume that this is supposed to be the Forbidden City of China, which, during an emperor's reign, they would never allow common folk to tread its stone roads (that is, if they wanted to keep their heads). But in the game the city has a poor quarter, a common folk district, and a rich district, which borrows from the social strata of medieval monarchy of the west.

But what dose it matter? The gaming experience is great and I enjoyed it.

"Perhaps the best Xbox RPG"
Let's face it. The Xbox RPG landscape is pretty barren. Hyped hits such as games like Fable and Sudeki were disappointing, and in the ladder's case, even lousy. Prior to Jade Empire's release, the only real RPG worth mentioning is KOTOR (Star Wars- Knights of the Old Republic), made by Bioware, who of course made jade empire as well.

Let me make this crystal clear: If you've played KOTOR and didn't like it, don't buy this game. There are too many similarities between the two. Dialogue system, graphics, even storyline (the plot twist was surprisingly KOTOR-esque) and gameplay innovations such as the dark-light system utilized in KOTOR are back in Jade. Perhaps the only legitimately different aspect of Jade vs. KOTOR is the combat.

However, if you didn't enjoy KOTOR then I have no idea why you'd even consider looking for another Xbox RPG. This is as good as it gets. There Anyways, assuming you did love KOTOR like us vast majority, you'll find Bioware's design to be advanced and put in a similar, but still engaging environment. The Chinese backgrop, while not necessarily true to Chinese culture, is a cool one. Combat can be repetitive in general, as the strategy is usually the same in many non-boss fights, but is both visually appealing and fun. It's a good system, surprisingly entertaining from a classically 'dice-rolling' rpg maker.

For some reason, this game wasn't as popular as it should be. It's a great RPG, either the best, or second to KOTOR, depending on your preferences. There are faults like all games, but if you're stuck with xbox rpgs or are simply looking for bargain great games, pick up a copy of Jade.

"Best RPG ever on a console"
If you like RPGs and have played many then this is right up there with Neverwinter Nights. The story is really cool with great support characters and plenty of options for how to develop your character's fighting style. There are a variety of hand-to-hand, support, weapons, transformation, and magic styles to choose from and to build up. Switching between styles is not difficult at all and can be even more fun if you really get creative with which set of styles you use in each battle. There are tons of side quests and the romance options are a trip. My only complaint is that you cannot build your own character's look and you have to choose from a set of pre-made characters with their pre-determined starter packages. So if you want to start with a specific fighting style then you have to choose a specific looking character. Hopefully JE2 will be different in that respect. Still, this doesn't hinder your ability to change course in your martial arts training.