Hey there.

Been a while since Jade Empire has been originally released. Back in the days, I recall people complaining of a number of things. I seem to recall complaints about bugs, also that the game had terrible graphics, boring story, exceedingly long dialogs, that kind of thing. From the trailer, graphics look sharp to me. I can't be sure about story or bugs.

Can anyone give me some insight in how the game plays these days?

I would be very interested in a game focused in martial arts, particularly if combat is dynamic and varied, perhaps with different fighting styles that evolve over the course of the game. An example of game that shines in this respect is Sleeping dogs, but I'd be plenty happy with something like Gothic 1-2, Witcher 1-2, where you have different combinations or learn different effects over time, and have to time your defense with precision to win. That's very different of Gothic 3 for example, where whoever clicks the attack mouse button faster, wins.

I'd also like a classic RPG with a great story/atmosphere. Again, Gothics and Witchers come to mind.

Other than that, how's the game aged? Are controls good overall?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, I can heartily recommend Jade Empire. Don't know who would have complained about the graphics. They are good, I think (on the PC at least).

But more importantly it is a good action-RPG. In a cool, unusual setting. It has been ported very well to the PC. Improved graphics, added content and working keyboard controls. It is not of a complexity like a Baldurs Gate and not as gritty or free as a Gothic, but it has a nice story (which is a bit linear, true), charming companions and best of all: really cool martial arts combat.

I think in short it is best described as: it feels like playing a kung-fu movie.

I am enjoying it right now. It is a great game.

I looooved Jade Empire. Awesome stuff!!!!

At the time it came out there were a ton of complaints about the game, but they all pretty much boiled down to "Knights of the Old Republic was better" People couldn't help but compare the games at the time, but now its all irrelevant.

Had a blast with the game.

It's not the same as classic Bioware RPGs, but if you can adjust to a "new" game setting you should have nice game experience.

The game looks quite nice actually. it might not have been "state of the art" back when it was released, but nor was it bad. From a technical standpoint, it was about average for a big-budget game. Art style is really good though.

The game plays more like KOTOR than Gothic or The Witcher.

As far as story goes, it is nothing special, one of the weaker ones from Bioware (still better than NWN though), but the setting does on the other hand feel fresh & interesting.

Oh, yes!

Jade Empire was the first Bioware RPG developed primarily for consoles. As such, its combat is much more action-based than previous ones and the story is more linear.

If you can stand that, the game is good, with an interesting setting and a decent story. The graphics are slightly better than KotOR IIRC, and I don't recall any bugs in the PC version, which is the only one I played.

Well the combat IS action oriented but it's very stiff and once you're able to stun lock enemies the fight is over bar a few more minutes of thumb exercise.

As for everything else, it's just like any other Bioware RPG following its particular formula to a fault, without all that much to distinguish itself, apart from the chinese inspired setting.

It's still an okay game, I'd say if you really liked Kotor you would probably like this one as well.

Shamus Young certainly can: http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1046

The PC and XBox versions of KotOR were developed concurrently, and quite frankly KotoR feels more or less like a traditional PC RPG. Note I said developed "primarily" for consoles.

OTOH, Jade Empire wasn't even supposed to have a PC version until Bioware fans asked for it, and the game is much more obvious about its console roots.

Fair enough. I personally didn't think it felt much like a PC RPG. It certainly didn't feel like a JRPG either though, and at that time JRPGs were about the only RPGs on consoles. To me it felt like something entirely new, and that's mostly because of the formula changes that had to be made for a western PC style RPG to work well on a console.

It's a great game, I played through it a few months ago. I didn't have any problems with the controls, but I was pretty terrible at doing combos to make powerups appear.