Whilst this approach is bound to disappoint the d20 worshippers, it will no doubt please the people who break out into a cold sweat whenever they’re confronted with a character sheet full of statistics. Jade Empire isn’t based on an existing pen and paper RPG game, so Bioware have built the whole game from the ground up, with not only their trademark attention to detail, but also with the intention of streamlining the traditional RPG numbers game to the absolute minimum. Jade Empire comes from the Bioware stable, developers of the universally acclaimed Knights of the Old Republic and Neverwinter Nights, and definitely falls into the latter of these two categories. RPGs come in many shapes and forms, from number-crunching stat-fests to more intricate story-led epics. Little did I know that all my hopes had been realised so spectacularly.
After the relative disappointment of Knights of the Old Republic 2, I had approached Jade Empire with an air of almost desperate expectation. This is the feeling Jade Empire gives me every time I play it.
Typically, it’s around 2am in the morning when you have work the next day, and the penny drops that you really have to stop and get some sleep. There are times when you play a game and know that you’re playing something just that little bit special.
