Review IGN unwraps Jade Empire: Extreme Collar-Grabbing Edition

[suibhne]

Tags: BioWare; Jade Empire

A week ahead of the rest of us Windows-using schmucks, <a href="http://www.ign.com/">IGN</a> got to play <i>and</i> <a href="http://pc.ign.com/articles/765/765776p1.html">fully review Jade Empire: Special Edition</a>. The verdict is an enthusiastic but tempered <b>8.6</b> (and includes an amusing jibe at the IGN console reviewers' original rating of <b>9.9</b>: "While it's apparently quite easy for a good RPG to turn the heads of our console editors and leave them gasping for superlatives, the fact is that the RPG market on the PC is considerably more competitive").
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According to IGN, those looking for actual, you know, <i>role-playing</i> should focus on JE's ethical system:
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<blockquote>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.
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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.</blockquote>There's little mention of how the game reacts to player choices. "Money" and "fighting styles" aren't exactly real consequences, at least outside of Bioware-land (oh, wait...), and only XBox players know at this point whether the aforementioned "story elements" work out as a logical gameworld response to your actions. Still, it's refreshing to see a review that sees the "role-playing" potential in something other than stat-juggling.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/765/765776p1.html">IGN</A>

 

[Volourn]

"the fact is that the RPG market on the PC is considerably more competitive")."

O RLY?

WTF?

Wut competition?

Oblivion? MAde for xbox as well, and coming soon to PS3.

NWN2? Got around the same rating?

G3? A Codex favorite; but nearly uniformly trashed or at least a mild positive reaction from most 'professional' reviewers.

Wut he tukin' 'bout Willis?


From the Review:

Pros: - PC version is 'superior' to the xbox version in every way except roler-playing and story which remain exactly the same

Cons - it's a port to a 2year old xbox game


So... outside of the con, and the fact it's a different reviewer, there is NO reason for the game to get a lower score.


Again... though... WTF? Wut competition?

 

[Nedrah]

I played it on my xbox at the time.
Don't expect anything choice&consequence'ish or any levels that differ too far from what you'd expect from KOTOR. However, fighting is fun and the story, allthough hardly anything to get exited about, still manages to make for a fun time. I'm not sure how good it's going to be without a gamepad, as this clearly isn't a game that would profit from Keyboard+mouse - it worked perfectly well as a console game.

 

[Volourn]

"Don't expect anything choice&consequence'ish or any levels that differ too far from what you'd expect from KOTOR"

It's no FO in terms of choice and consequences; but it absolutely CRUSHES KOTOR in this aspect and nearly every other aspect.

 

[sabishii]

"the fact is that the RPG market on the PC is considerably more competitive")."

O RLY?

WTF?

Wut competition?

Oblivion? MAde for xbox as well, and coming soon to PS3.

NWN2? Got around the same rating?

G3? A Codex favorite; but nearly uniformly trashed or at least a mild positive reaction from most 'professional' reviewers.

Wut he tukin' 'bout Willis?


From the Review:

Pros: - PC version is 'superior' to the xbox version in every way except roler-playing and story which remain exactly the same

Cons - it's a port to a 2year old xbox game


So... outside of the con, and the fact it's a different reviewer, there is NO reason for the game to get a lower score.


Again... though... WTF? Wut competition?

I agree... what competition is there really on the PC? The only main competition in terms of sales is Oblivion, which is also on consoles, and then when you look at consoles there are JRPGs to compete with.

For the score, though, it's probably lower mainly because it's a different reviewer, and he's scoring the game more accurately. I don't mean that it's a poor game, but even considering that you think it's the best of Bioware's RPGs, do you really think it deserves a 9.9?

 

[made]

I think I will download the... demo. KotoR in ancient China sounds pretty cool. I'm curious how they realized the obligatory lava <S>level</S> planet.

 

[Monolith]

Perhaps worth a download. Although I'm yet to be convinced...Volourn, is it better than NWN 2? I assume it's combat heavy, so is combat at least enjoyable? Unlike...combat in NWN 2.

 

[Volourn]

"but even considering that you think it's the best of Bioware's RPGs, do you really think it deserves a 9.9?"

To me, no game is worth a 9.9. Not even my all tiem fave games of BG2, FO2, NWN1 (TTP), or MVP Baseball 2005 are 9.9. I'd rate those about 9.5, and that's with the inherent biasness of those being my fvaorite games so it's easier for me to overlook (but not ignore) their faults.

JE is around 90ish for me. 8.6 would be a fair rating; but IGN unlike m are more high rating friendly (as most professional reviewers are compared to me) so their 8.6 is more akin to an 8ish for me.


"I'm curious how they realized the obligatory lava level planet."

They don't have levels outside of characetr levels, and it's one planet dumbass. They due have various areas; but no lava area. Or ice area either.


"Volourn, is it better than NWN 2?"

Yes. Though, it does have forced npcs too; though not as annhoying as NWN2.


" I assume it's combat heavy, so is combat at least enjoyable?"

It has lots of combat; but it's no more combat heavy than the majority of RPGs to be hoenst - though, according to the review the PC version has more combat. Don't know why.

I enjoyed the combat. More than KOTORs by far. Despite NWN2's easiness; I still prefer D&D rules for combat. But, JE's is different and lots of fun, imo. If you like RT combat very loosely based on character stats and largely based on player skill.

It's simple, relaly. If you like, even midly, BIO RPGs; I'd be surprised if you don't like JE since it is a BIO RPG through, and through. If you absolutely abhore BIO games, JE is not the game that's going to change your mind.

And, if you are SW/KOTOR fanboy, you'll probably hate JE just on principle alone.

 

[Nedrah]

It actually performs pretty well in the combat section, as you can customize your character pretty nicely to fit your playing style. You won't like it if the very idea of using powers and changing stances etc. in realtime turns you off, I guess.

Not sure about it being better than Kotor, they do sare a lot of simmilarities but at the same time especially the combat and overall feel of the game were extremely different to me - a bit apples and oranges'ish.

 

[Texas Red]

Volourn, wait. Are you telling me that you actually enjoyed NWN 2 OC combat?

 

[elander_]

If you like, even midly, BIO RPGs [translation if you are an idiot]; I'd be surprised if you don't like JE since it is a BIO RPG through, and through.

If you absolutely abhore BIO games [translation you need a brain transplant], JE is not the game that's going to change your mind.

I agree.

 

[Drakron]

I played JE ...

Its weak and not worth the 13 gigas of installation size.

 

[suibhne]

Well, I'm guessing I'll get a kick out of it. I'm a big fan of wuxia literature and movies, and I'm not expecting a deep role-playing game; I'll be satisfied with a fun action-adventure filled with real-time martial-arts kickassery. So yeah, I pre-loaded it via Steam.

 

[KreideBein]

JE's looking like a rather tempting potential purchase. I'll probably pick it up after I finish Gothic 3 (or before, depending on how long I can tolerate the combat), and once the price comes down a bit.

13 gigas of installation size.

The system requirements say 8GB, but that's still obscene. What the hell is taking up all that space?

 

[peak]

It's an action game with some stats, choices and piss-easy combat system. No, it's not worth the download. Not even considering that the PC doesn't have a decent action game (the Xbox has Ninja Gaiden which completely and utterly crushed Jade Empire to bits in every way). It's just not much fun.

Jade Empire was it for me, by the way. Until then, from Baldur's Gate 2 and counting, I had thought that I was just not enjoying Biowares games as much as I should because I kept comparing them to BG2. With Jade Empire, I finally understood that I was no longer a part of Biowares target base, and hadn't really been starting with NWN.

 

[Volourn]

"Volourn, wait. Are you telling me that you actually enjoyed NWN 2 OC combat?"

Yes. It's D&D. It takes a lot for me NOT to enjoy D&D combat even when it's too easy or chnaged a lot.

R00flers!

 

[obediah]

JE's looking like a rather tempting potential purchase. I'll probably pick it up after I finish Gothic 3 (or before, depending on how long I can tolerate the combat), and once the price comes down a bit.

God, are they charging $50 bucks for it? You might be able to buy an X-box with the game for that much.

 

[Veracity]

If the press is to be believed at all, this deserves some credit for making the 'evil' choices at least plausible, motivation-wise. Still sounds like by-the-numbers dualism at its heart, but a step up from 'Happy to help/Give me money/:collargrab: DIE!'. I don't imagine the setting is more than a second-rate Crouching Tiger knock-off, but at least there won't be elf boobies. Scary, but given what else is on the shelves, slightly less idiotic than usual character choices and an elf-free zone are enough to make this kind of tempting.

Just how easy is the combat? Is fiddling with stance settings and the like necessary to proceed, or can you muddle along just mashing attack and blocking the occasional telegraphed real threat? I don't expect the action to be actually good, since I very rarely get along with action-RPG hybrid systems, but I'll give it a miss if you could train a monkey to do it for you.

 

[kingcomrade]

What the hell is taking up all that space?

Because of the exponential nature of games with serious choices and consequences the game had to be abnormally large.

 

[Nedrah]

Enough monkeys playing JE for a sufficient amount of time could definitely pull it off, however I thought combat was pretty entertaining, I don't remember ever having felt particularily challenged, though.

The evil path is indeed somewhat more plausible, although it obviously doesn't leave the realm of the... well, obvious.

 

[Greatatlantic]

Looking at the Steam preload (which I haven't bought yet), 4.24 gigabytes are in the movie folder, 1.34 gigabytes in the data folder, and 1.05 gigabytes in the sound folder. I guess that should answer your question. One would hope they'd have a partial install options where movies are kept on the disc, but obviously that isn't an option for a steam download.

Oh, and the price currently listed at Steam is $36 American, and I think other retailers are at $40. Still a bit much for a 2 year port, though if the review is to be believed they did a good job bringing it up to PC standards. I especially like the paragraph about how the M/KB combo is better then a gamepad.

 

[doctor_kaz]

Over 4 GB for movies? Don't tell me this game has a bunch of those really shitty ugly movies that are pre-rendered in the game's engine and then compressed so that they look like absolute ass?

 

[suibhne]

Over 4 GB for movies? Don't tell me this game has a bunch of those really shitty ugly movies that are pre-rendered in the game's engine and then compressed so that they look like absolute ass?

According to the IGN review...yes. Yes, it does. Crappy cutscenes seem to be a recurring theme in console conversions.

 

[Volourn]

PC games have cutscenes to. To blame it on consoles is retarded.

 

[suibhne]

Wow, again with the piss-poor reading comprehension. You're on a roll!

If you'd actually read the message I was quoting (which is to say, if you read all of my [extremely long] message), you would have understood that we're referring to cutscenes with extremely poor compression - typically rendered in-engine at very low resolutions, packaged for a standard-def console image, and then transferred to PC a year or two later with lots of visual artifacts resulting from execrable compression. PCs aren't immune either - witness Gothic 2 - but this is a recurring theme of console conversions.