Jade Empire continually asks the player to weight their actions and conversations towards one of two ethical extremes. Players who believe in helping the NPCs of Jade Empire will embrace the Open Palm philosophy while those who prefer to let these NPCs fend for themselves (or worse yet, actually take advantage of the helpless) will drift more towards the Closed Fist side of the spectrum... Adherence to one alignment over the other rewards the player not only with practical rewards like money but also with new story elements and fighting styles.

It's a very satisfying system because the choices for either side are usually reasonable and compelling. We'll admit that the Closed Fist choices are a bit obnoxious at times (or openly repugnant) but that's part of the fun of roleplaying. It is, in fact, pretty much the entirety of the game's roleplaying element. There are so many of these ethical decisions throughout the game that it's very easy for a player to switch from one extreme to the other during the course of the game. Similarly, it's entirely possible for a player to occasionally make decisions contrary to their overall philosophy without completely compromising their identity.​