Jade Empire COULD have been interesting as there are so few western takes on an Oriental setting (another example being Prince of Qin). It's a shame it's just KOTOR in an eastern wrapper.
On the other hand, the Japanese have many games where elements of western history/religion/philosophy/mythology are used - Shadow Hearts, Vagrant Story, Valkyrie Profile, Xenogears, Xenosaga, etc. They recently even dabbled in Tolkienesque fantasy with Dragon's dogma.