Volourn's Final Jade Empire Review: I Am The Law!

[Kalfear]

Um... You do that by opening it anyways sicne you have to dela with them one wya or the other to reach it. Opening or closing the dam doesn't effect that.

 

Ahhh but by closeing it you send a clear message to their masters as well that you do not fear them.

 

Thats definately something a CF would do!

 

Remember, Smileing mountain said "the REASON" for the act is what dictates op or cf.

 

a op would close it to help the villagers

a cf would close it to insult his enemies!

a thug would leave it open to hurt the villagers for no appearent reason or gain. (should note: the only reason in game to leave it open is financial gain (yet again), thats the only situation that effects your reasoning on leaving it open or closeing it)

[Volourn]

"Come on, Lotus Assassins are trained soldiers as Tien's Landing population is most of fishermen, dockworkers and merchents."

 

Then the townsfolk should learn how to fight. Afterall, Kung Fu Skewls seem to be pretty common in the Jade Empire. Plus, the town had its share of Kung Fu experts. In factm they had access to two masters at lkeast of the amrtial arts craft./ Not to mention the gang, the ogre amongst others. They were all just too lazy.

 

 

"Ahhh but by closeing it you send a clear message to their masters as well that you do not fear them.

 

Thats definately something a CF would do!

 

Remember, Smileing mountain said "the REASON" for the act is what dictates op or cf.

 

a op would close it to help the villagers

a cf would close it to insult his enemies!"

 

True; but a CF might also close it access the powerful gem, to gain the profit from the merchant, or to tough up the citizens into soem sort of action to save themselves.

 

I think we all cna agree that there are alwayus ways to twink and/or improve the system... It's not like they had unlimited time to add every single way of doing everything possible.

[Kalfear]

"Come on, Lotus Assassins are trained soldiers as Tien's Landing population is most of fishermen, dockworkers and merchents."

 

Then the townsfolk should learn how to fight. Afterall, Kung Fu Skewls seem to be pretty common in the Jade Empire. Plus, the town had its share of Kung Fu experts. In factm they had access to two masters at lkeast of the amrtial arts craft./ Not to mention the gang, the ogre amongst others. They were all just too lazy.

 

 

"Ahhh but by closeing it you send a clear message to their masters as well that you do not fear them.

 

Thats definately something a CF would do!

 

Remember, Smileing mountain said "the REASON" for the act is what dictates op or cf.

 

a op would close it to help the villagers

a cf would close it to insult his enemies!"

 

True; but a CF might also close it access the powerful gem, to gain the profit from the merchant, or to tough up the citizens into soem sort of action to save themselves.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

LOL Volo,

 

Think your grasping at straws here to be honest

 

The only reason to leave it open (far as actual game content goes) is financial from the wine merchant.

 

But there is financial gain to be had by closeing it as well.

 

So really comes down to just causing strife for no reason. If they had put in the arguements in game about toughening up the villagers I could agree but they didnt. Which brings us back to thuggery.

[Volourn]

I think we all cna agree that there are alwayus ways to twink and/or improve the system... It's not like they had unlimited time to add every single way of doing everything possible.

 

 

There is a CF rational for opening it. This is undisuptable.

[Drakron]

Err, no.

 

Those two masters just play there every year, they dont live there and the gang is a gang.

 

The ogre is from a nearby farm.

 

Another thing is the town is supposed to be under the emperor protection and so it sould rely on the empire military for defence.

 

Problem is when the people that are supposed to defend us turn again us, that was what happened in that town since the dam was build.

 

Their place is not go around training, the world cannot be composed of fighters ... there is a need of other people with diferent skills.

[Volourn]

The LA weren't after the town nor were they attacking it.

 

 

"Those two masters just play there every year, they dont live there and the gang is a gang.

 

The ogre is from a nearby farm."

 

Still a part of the town. Perhaps you should ask why the OP Master wasn't getting involve with that? Hmm..

 

 

"Another thing is the town is supposed to be under the emperor protection and so it sould rely on the empire military for defence."

 

This would be a legit if the LA were attacking the town. The LA were helping the Emperor. that's their job.

 

You are giving reason why an OP would help the town; not a CF.

[Fairplay]

"Jade Empire isn't China. Why are people expecting China?"

 

I think in the "making of" video one of the guys said the Jade Empire was like ancient China if all the myths and legends were true.

 

Also, they obviously went out of their way to make things Chinese. There are even Buddha statues in one area, which I thought was inappropriate since it isn't supposed to actually be China and including a real world religious figure seems inappropriate.

 

They also name it the "Jade Empire" with jade being a Chinese obsession.

 

As I said before, almost all the names are Chinese. Sun, Li, etc. That alone makes me think this is supposed to be Sinoesque <---if that's even a word. That and I have eyes.

 

On an unrelated subject- didn't the story to this game remind you of Final Fantasy x? Except, sadly, FF's was better.

[Fairplay]

Just to clarify my earlier gripe about the story... ancestor worship isn't limited to just China but is common throughout China-influenced cultures, even today. Thus it would seem like an appropriate approach to take towards spirits instead of the "go into the light" approach.

[Kalfear]

"Jade Empire isn't China. Why are people expecting China?"

 

I think in the "making of" video one of the guys said the Jade Empire was like ancient China if all the myths and legends were true.

 

Aye, in the video they admit its based on LORE and FABLES (IE: Loosely based) on China.

 

I read the whines on bioware site about how bioware being disrespectful to chinesse and I just dont get it. I thought it was very respectful of their lore and ancient customs and tales.

 

 

Also, they obviously went out of their way to make things Chinese. There are even Buddha statues in one area, which I thought was inappropriate since it isn't supposed to actually be China and including a real world religious figure seems inappropriate.

 

LOL, why? Whats wrong with Budda?

 

They also name it the "Jade Empire" with jade being a Chinese obsession.

 

As I said before, almost all the names are Chinese. Sun, Li, etc. That alone makes me think this is supposed to be Sinoesque <---if that's even a word. That and I have eyes.

 

lol, yas made yas point heheh

 

 

On an unrelated subject- didn't the story to this game remind you of Final Fantasy x? Except, sadly, FF's was better.

 

heheh disagree there. FF (all of them) really dont impress me. Havent played them all but have tried some here and there when RPG times were lean and really wasnt impressed what so ever. I think JE is far better then any FF game.

 

All comes down to personal opinion tho.

[Fairplay]

About the OP/CF debate....

 

The obvious answer is that Smiling Mountain was kicked out of Phoenix Gate for spouting BS philosphy that didn't make any sense. He's a darkside master trying to corrupt jedi away from the lightside by confusing the issue.

[Meshugger]

On an unrelated subject- didn't the story to this game remind you of Final Fantasy x? Except, sadly, FF's was better.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Do you mean the whole sending/Farplane business? That's sounds a bit far fetched IMO, almost every RPG seems to contain a spirit realm of some sort.

 

But yes, Jade Empire is no Final Fantasy VII, VIII or X for that matter. But it's still a good game though.

[Volourn]

FF7, and FF10 are nowhere nar as good as JE. FF8 is as good, and in some ways better; but then again it's not a RPG. Or at least not the same type of RPG. Afterall, it lacks the fundament aspect of being able to play your character in multiple ways. That's why I prefer JE over FF8 even though I LOVE FF8 so I'm not gonna bash it to make JE look good.

 

As for the whole JE = China. Sadly, that's plain wrong. The Jade Empire is Jade Empire. Does it share some (or even a lot of) similarities of China? Sure; but it's not China.

 

No more than Faerun = Medival Europe.

[Meshugger]

FF7, and FF10 are nowhere nar as good as JE. FF8 is as good, and in some ways better; but then again it's not a RPG. Or at least not the same type of RPG. Afterall, it lacks the fundament aspect of being able to play your character in multiple ways. That's why I prefer JE over FF8 even though I LOVE FF8 so I'm not gonna bash it to make JE look good.

 

As for the whole JE = China. Sadly, that's plain wrong. The Jade Empire is Jade Empire. Does it share some (or even a lot of) similarities of China? Sure; but it's not China.

 

No more than Faerun = Medival Europe.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I was wrong comparing the FF-series to Jade Empire in the vein role-playing, but i still like VII, VIII and X more

 

Anyhow, i'm interested how Jade Empire 2 will turn out to be. Maybe we'll finally see Phoenix Gate?

[GhostofAnakin]

Is it confirmed there will be a JE2? Is that Obsidian's next project? "

[Kalfear]

Is it confirmed there will be a JE2?  Is that Obsidian's next project?  " 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

ROFLMAO!

[Volourn]

99.9% chance there will be one, and... there's a 95.5% chance Obsidian will make it....

 

As for Phoenix Gate, I figure with all the complaints about not being able to visit it in JE1; there's a 92.4% chance of visiting it in JE2...

 

 

"Anyhow, i'm interested how Jade Empire 2 will turn out to be."

 

I bet, even thoguh BIO hans't come out and say it, that there will be at least 2 followers in the party at once in JE2...

[Meshugger]

99.9% chance there will be one, and... there's a 95.5% chance Obsidian will make it....

 

As for Phoenix Gate, I figure with all the complaints about not being able to visit it in JE1; there's a 92.4% chance of visiting it in JE2...

 

 

"Anyhow, i'm interested how Jade Empire 2 will turn out to be."

 

I bet, even thoguh BIO hans't come out and say it, that there will be at least 2 followers in the party at once in JE2...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hopefully you'll meet Black Whirlwind, coming from the south muttering something about polar bears and penguins.

[Kalfear]

99.9% chance there will be one, and... there's a 95.5% chance Obsidian will make it....

 

As for Phoenix Gate, I figure with all the complaints about not being able to visit it in JE1; there's a 92.4% chance of visiting it in JE2...

 

 

"Anyhow, i'm interested how Jade Empire 2 will turn out to be."

 

I bet, even thoguh BIO hans't come out and say it, that there will be at least 2 followers in the party at once in JE2...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hopefully you'll meet Black Whirlwind, coming from the south muttering something about polar bears and penguins.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

LOL, I loved black Whirlwind!

 

Whats scary is I grew up with a FRIEND that was the identical twin of BW (just he wasnt black).

 

Since I grew up in Edmonton, one cant help wonder if Bioware had some strange encounter with my friend! LOL!

 

*PS: Whats scarier now is hes a 1-3rd grade school teacher over in Korea now!*

[jaguars4ever]

I also love the subtle touch of a deep and complex relationship between the Brothers Three.

The Brothers Sun, or the Brothers Sung? :cool:

 

----

 

ALSO: What happened to my J.E. ending(s) thread?

[Kalfear]

I also love the subtle touch of a deep and complex relationship between the Brothers Three.

The Brothers Sun, or the Brothers Sung? :cool:

 

----

 

ALSO: What happened to my J.E. ending(s) thread?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No idea, was about to post the answer to the question you had asked about and wham, its not here.

 

Anyways, if you destroy wheel rather then steal dragon power, the following happens.

 

1) You go from totally CF to almost fully OP in that one move

2) You get OP ending

3) all bios the same as normal op except one

you actually do get a Death Hands bio this time which tells you

 

Although people veiw the binding of Deaths hand to be cruel, DH comes to learn some peace and travels the land trying to redeem himself for all his prior bad acts.

 

All in all not impressed with this ending. Hated that all the evil deeds you did previously a re just wiped away like that.

 

Once again Bioware ignores the CF phisophy and goes with generic good or evil. I could see a CF destroying the wheel and setting the Water Dragon free as that in itself would bring balance back and allow those who a re strong enough to succeed on a even playing feild.

 

But thats not what happens.

 

Anyways, there yas answer Day late I know but I did get around to it! heheh

[jaguars4ever]

Thanks Kalf. :cool:

[Berserk]

I also love the subtle touch of a deep and complex relationship between the Brothers Three.

The Brothers Sun, or the Brothers Sung? :cool:

 

----

 

ALSO: What happened to my J.E. ending(s) thread?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

No idea, was about to post the answer to the question you had asked about and wham, its not here.

 

Anyways, if you destroy wheel rather then steal dragon power, the following happens.

 

1) You go from totally CF to almost fully OP in that one move

2) You get OP ending

3) all bios the same as normal op except one

you actually do get a Death Hands bio this time which tells you

 

Although people veiw the binding of Deaths hand to be cruel, DH comes to learn some peace and travels the land trying to redeem himself for all his prior bad acts.

 

All in all not impressed with this ending. Hated that all the evil deeds you did previously a re just wiped away like that.

 

Once again Bioware ignores the CF phisophy and goes with generic good or evil. I could see a CF destroying the wheel and setting the Water Dragon free as that in itself would bring balance back and allow those who a re strong enough to succeed on a even playing feild.

 

But thats not what happens.

 

Anyways, there yas answer Day late I know but I did get around to it! heheh

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I felt the same way regarding JE's "philosophy". I posted some questions about it before release and was told how it wasn't going to be the tired ol' Bioware good vs evil. But as usual they didn't even go halfway. There are some quests that can be considered OP or CF but mostly it involves being a thug, kicking puppies and extorting money from helpless people. Or if you go OP, sprinkle money around you to people and be as goody-two-shoes as possible.

 

Too bad that BIO doesn't seem to be able to shake that kind of view on morality in their games, especially when JE was supposed to give us a differet take on the old morality question. Oh well, better luck with DA (although I don't expect it to be any different in the morality departement).

[mkreku]

Ok, I've played a little Jade Empire on my cousins newly bought Xbox, and after only an hour or so into the game, I can with 90% certainty say that it doesn't belong among my Top Ten favourites of all time. There are lots of annoyances in this game that I'm sure not everyone likes. For example, lots of the maps aren't only static, they're worse! I absolutely HATE when I see a space between two rocks (for example) but I can't walk between them because the map is so confined that even though you're in a forest, it feels like you're walking in a corridor. Talk about immersion breaker.

 

Also, it took me 5 minutes to figure out the fighting. An enemy attacking you? Jump around! The enemy will then proceed to walk towards the last spot you stood on and then fruitlessly punch the air where you were 3 seconds ago. And this works everytime so far! I was attacked by 8 guys outside a village (one with a sword, I think) but only a few of them actually attacked me at the same time, so I kept jumping and getting the odd blow on someone every now and then, and finally I won. It looked and was ridiculous. The AI in this game is bad. Why didn't any reviews mention this?

 

The characters in the game are awesome though. Not only do they look human (for the most part), but they also lip sync well (not Half-Life 2 class, but good) and seem to have interesting back stories. I just helped and lost Dawn Star (I think her name was) but I'm sure I'll be seeing more of her next week, when me and my cousin plan to have another Xbox-evening.

 

So far a highly enjoyable game, but nothing jaw dropping or earth shattering.

[Volourn]

"I could see a CF destroying the wheel and setting the Water Dragon free as that in itself would bring balance back"

 

Eh. There is good enough reason to complain about CF as it isn't handled it perfectly; but complaining that it doesn't set the balance is silly. CF is neutrality or about balance.

[themadhatter114]

But Smiling Mountain said that a CF would help if the odds were stacked too high against someone. You were the only person alive who could save the Water Dragon, and yet you poisoned her. That's not CF, that's evil.

 

Also, I don't remember, but do you even get a chance to mention to Sun Li that you are simply stealing his power and not freeing the Water Dragon if you're CF? He'd be somewhat oddly surprised to learn that you've become evil.

 

Most of the things that get you CF points in the game are simply evil. The dam situation and the slave girl are the only quests I can think of that handle CF remotely well. That really didn't bother me much since I usually only play games as a super goodie goodie, but I at least like to see all the endings so I had to go back to my save and poison the water dragon just to see what would happen.

 

It also would have been nice if you could have spoken to Silk Fox about her father after you find out just how far he'd gone. The follower dialogue is pretty slim after chapter 4 (Abbot Song is AWESOME). Also, you won't find out about Dawn Star's past unless you make sure to talk to Zu a lot. The first time I played through the game he didn't reveal it to me, but in the second playthrough he told me that Sun Li's child lives, but not until I talked to the Water Dragon in the Spirit Realm did my character discover that it was Dawn Star.