Jade Empire Video Game(A Look Back)

 It has been a long time coming, but this past weekend I finally got to finish a replay of one of my personal favorite video games ever, Jade Empire.

For those of you who do not know, Jade Empire was created by Bioware and was published by Microsoft Game Studios back in 2005 on the original XBOX.

The game was inspired by Chinese mythology and it follows a spirit monk who is the last of his kind. The main character along with his allies, are on a quest to rescue his Master from evil forces as well as save the Water Dragon.

One of my favorite features in the game is the moral system that has been put in place throughout the game where you get to make choices whether it be for good (Open Palm) or for evil (Closed Fist). Each choice you make during the game will heavily impact where the story will go where you will either become a hero to the people or become the very evil you sought out to destroy.

At the begin of the game, you get to choose between a male or female protagonist before heading out into the world. Basically the hero of the story will still have the same storyline where you were raised as an orphan by your Master who rescued you after your fellow Spirit Monks were killed by the forces of Sun Li.

I remember the first time I got to see the game, it reminded me of another game that was similar to this and it was called Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic (Which I also loved!). However this time, it was about Martial Arts.

Which leads me to the gameplay of the Jade Empire, it was incredible. I felt like I was in one of those martial art movies I enjoy watching so much. It really made you work on what matters to you whether it be your health, magic or your focus.

The characters were just as much fun as they were when I originally played the game. You got your friend Dawn Star, Sky, Silk Fox, Black Whirlwind, Wild Flower, Kang the Mad, Henpecked Hou, Sagacious Zu on the good side. On the bad side, I really enjoyed Death's Hand who is basically the enforcer for evil, he had a really cool look.

Whether getting into any spoilers, I really love the swerve I got near the end of the game. I also enjoyed the concept of romance between the characters as well. Each character also had their own personality which I had fun getting to know each of them and what their personal motivations were.

The only problem I honestly had with the game which to be fair wasn't that big of a deal, was that the game itself did not take very long to be. But remember games like this didn't have much to go on, it ain't like rpgs of today where you have a billion things to do lol. Either way I loved playing this game.

Speaking of stories, I learned how this game was inspired by many novels from back in Ancient China. Stories like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Lone Wolf and Cub, Journey to the West among many others.

This was a great joy for me to be able to play this game again, I love martial arts, martial art movies and now a video game. It honestly felt like I was starring in those movies. It is a shame that there was never a squeal or series build out of this game because it was a ton of fun for me to play.

Jade Empire was just as fun now as it was back when I first played it all those years ago. Who knows, give it a little time, I may get to play it again.

Until Next Time!

God Bless and Be Safe Everybody! 🙏🙏🙏