Combat in the game is really detached from standard RPG fare and feels more like the style of an action game with a lot more structure. On the other hand, when not looked at as an RPG, Jade Empire is fairly entertaining, if not a bit troublesome in a few aspects. Most of the time, they die, only to stand back up at the end of combat. Likewise, although you often fight alongside AI allies, you have almost no control over them, and once combat starts, they do their thing. Character management in Jade Empire is limited to spending a few experience points among your three stats and then upgrading your fighting styles, and while deep in the sense of potential outcomes, it doesn't 'feel' like an RPG. For instance, while Neverwinter Nights had in-depth character management and KOTOR had party and tactics management, Jade Empire has both of those aspects stripped. Sure, there are experience points, categories of stats (essentially health, chi, and focus), and quests, but the whole affair feels a lot less in-depth than Bioware's previous offerings. On one hand, Jade Empire really isn't any more an RPG title than any other action game that has an inventory and basic status screens. However, the gameplay is what will undoubtedly throw the biggest fence up among different types of gamers. The story does buy into a few clichés at its start, but once it gains a little momentum, the plot really takes a life of its own. The player's past is shrouded in mystery, the discovery of which being one of the primary plot threads of the title. The title takes place in setting reminiscent of ancient China, in which the player starts off as a student in a secluded martial arts school run by a wise and powerful master. Jade Empire is the latest title from Bioware, and the first from the studio that is based on completely original content.

Jade empire sword or staff