31 replies to this topic

[Cal Jones]

I bought this for something to do. Strictly speaking, my PC is at the minimum end of the sys requirements but it does run it, so I'm going to see how it goes.
Anyway, any opinions on this game, and is there anything I need to look out for as a first time player? Tips, best character to try on first runthrough, etc?
Cheers chaps.

[Pain Elemental]

Actually quite simple, Just try the styles at the beginning and see which you like best. And forget about Thousand Cuts, seriously.
Also, think about what alignment you want to play and what kind of romance you want.

[Choo Choo]

A good enough game. Two-dimensional, boring NPC's, but save for that, the game's alright.

Also, I'd recommend Dawn Star as your companion for the very most part, since she replenishes your Chi.

[Anaximander]

I'd recommend Dawn Star as your companion for the very most part, since she replenishes your Chi.

Agreed. Dawn Star was the only companion I ever traveled with in Jade Master mode.

I enjoyed Jade Empire overall. The most common complaint I see about the game is that the companions weren't very interesting. That didn't bother me so much. I was more interested in the story surrounding the protagonist and your master than I was about the other characters. Story wise, I think the only ones really worth talking to are Zu, Dawn Star, and Silk Fox. Although, I would recommend exploring Kang's wind maps at every opportunity.

If you plan on taking the same character through the game again on Jade Master, there are some styles I strongly recommend you try to master on your first time through:

Your starting style
Iron Palm - Try to get this on your first run. Getting it on Jade Master is possible, but infinitely more difficult.
Long Sword
Storm Dragon
Jade Golem form
Ice magic if you're good, Tempest magic if you're evil

If you're not interested in trying Jade Master mode, then it doesn't really matter. Pick whichever styles you like the most.

[Cal Jones]

I shoved some extra RAM in my PC so this plays quite nicely now, but I'm having a hard time getting my head around the controls. All the swinging around with the mouse is rather disorientating and there are too many buttons for fighting! I am rather poorly coordinated at the best of times, but ouch. I hope I can get used to it, but I find this a bit of a nightmare after the simplicity of KotOR.

[Eleima]

This is kinda spooking me, Cal Jones, we're looking at the same games almost at the same time!! I've had my eye on Jade Empire for a couple of weeks, but can't decide if it's worth it.
So the controls are though to get a hang of, but is it any good story wise? I heard there's a nice romance option for females, any truth to that?

Edited by Eleima, 09 November 2008 - 07:51 AM.

[Cal Jones]

Umm, I dunno yet, I've not managed to get past the first fight with the pirates.
The male love interest is romanceable by male or female PCs, though. I'm sure someone else can tell you about the romances.

[Yovaneth]

I'm having a hard time getting my head around the controls. All the swinging around with the mouse is rather disorientating and there are too many buttons for fighting! I am rather poorly coordinated at the best of times, but ouch. I hope I can get used to it, but I find this a bit of a nightmare after the simplicity of KotOR.

Me three. What probably makes me look even more stupid is that I have a Merc Stealth keyboard with the programmable lefthand keypad and I'm still getting my ass handed to me on a regular basis. I'm not that far ahead of either of you two, having only just gotten out of Two Rivers. I put a whole bunch of style points into Long Sword and I'm partly regretting it now; they would have been better put into Legendary Strike *especially* for when you come up against spirits. You Have Been Warned Advised.

Jade Empire is the first game I've ever played as a female protagonist but the dialog (such as it is) so far reeks of having been written by a male author.

-Y-

[Cal Jones]

Heh. We seem to be in the same place. I've just arrived at Tien's Landing. I got fed up with the fights and turned the difficulty down to "student" (well, I want to play an RPG, not a beat 'em-up, to be honest). I did put a few points in longsword but most in legendary strike so I guess I made a good choice there.
I'm playing as the nice chap with the tattoo, for the eye candy, you understand.

[Eleima]

Jade Empire is the first game I've ever played as a female protagonist but the dialog (such as it is) so far reeks of having been written by a male author.

Ouch... That doesn't bode well *at all*! Probably just as well, I'm having a hard time finding it out here in the "dub everything and everyone" country...
Guess I'll have to wait til my next trip in the States so that I can hit a Best Buy or Comp USA. (I'm too cheap to use Amazon, those shipping rates to the Old World can be a killer! )

[Cal Jones]

You could try amazon.co.uk - might be cheaper than shipping it from the US.

[Crazee]

Just my input about the controls ...

I actually found them alright. Of course, I had the game on the lowest difficulty setting possible, as I do with every game. This is due to my utter, utter incompetence with all things game-like. Even BG I still have on the lowest setting. You get used to them soon enough though, and they're even quite fun, in a refreshing sort of way. You'll get the hang of them soon enough, and after that, you're pretty much set for the entire game. I didn't lose once. And that's coming from me - your resident failure.

On the game as a whole, I really enjoyed it. The setting was wonderful, the environment was stunning, the all-voiced lines were appreciated and adored, and the characters were fun, if a little stiff. A good game, to be sure. I hope you all have as much fun with it as I did.

[Yovaneth]

Guess I'll have to wait til my next trip in the States so that I can hit a Best Buy or Comp USA. (I'm too cheap to use Amazon, those shipping rates to the Old World can be a killer! )

If there's any CompUSA or best Buy stores left open.... the two I used to visit in Huntingdon, KY (Best Buy) and Louisville, KY (CompUSA) are victims of company rationalisation.

I suspect the shipping prices from the USA are so high because they are sent via international courier (i.e. Fedex or UPS) so the parcels are traceable throughout their trip. I've just checked Royal Mail airmail to France and find that it's only £3.38 (E4.16) for a half-kilo parcel (way heavier than it would be in reality) but that's none-trackable. I've also just checked Jade Empire and international delivery on amazon.co.uk (good idea Cal) and find that currently you can get a new copy of Jade Empire delivered for under £8.0 (E10.00). Go for it!

-Y-

Edited by Yovaneth, 09 November 2008 - 03:25 PM.

[Icendoan]

French Amazon might be even cheaper.

Here for 17,00

Icen

Edited by Icendoan, 10 November 2008 - 02:48 AM.

[Eleima]

I know, Icendoan, but Amazon.fr sells its games in ***French***, which I absolutely can't stand, no matter how French my lineage may be. Have you ever tried BG2 in French. Awful. Horrible.

I'm going to look into the Amazon.co.uk option, which I had used a while back to get my BG1 + TotSC package. Bah, I knew I should've gotten more games last time I was in the US when you could have 1.60$ with one euro!
Thanks for all the tips, guys, hopefully, you'll get my two cents on this game soon, and then we'll be back on topic!

Edited by Eleima, 10 November 2008 - 03:08 AM.

[Icendoan]

Ah, now, I was just going by your location and assumed that your first language is French. Amazon.co.uk does seem the best option, then.

Icen

[Bluenose]

This is kinda spooking me, Cal Jones, we're looking at the same games almost at the same time!! I've had my eye on Jade Empire for a couple of weeks, but can't decide if it's worth it.
So the controls are though to get a hang of, but is it any good story wise? I heard there's a nice romance option for females, any truth to that?

Two out of the three romanceable characters are available to female PCs (that doesn't sound the way it's meant to ). Since there are people posting in this thread who may not know who they are, they're in a spoiler.

Spoiler

Sky, the rather roguish guy you meet in the pirates lair. He's got the traditional tragic past (murdered wife, abducted daughter) that Bioware romances seem to have.
Silk ox, the "ninja" woman who interrupts you a couple of times near Tien's Landing. When you reach the imperial city, she'll be there and will join your party. There's an even bigger spoiler about her.

I actually don't find the fights too hard, even on the higher difficulty levels. The key things are picking the style that's most useful at the time and trying to prevent a situation where there's multiple enemies around you. If the latter happens some of the styles have a double-button press for a "knock everyone away" type of effect. I'm a big fan of Storm Dragon and Spirit Thief for temporarily disabling enemies, allowing you to attack them with impunity. Oh, and generally my first weapon is the staff. It's not as good in most respects as the longsword, but it's got a longer reach than most weapons and properly used can prevent enemies getting close enough to hit you. Though in my case it's a temporary solution, since my preferred weapon styles aren't available unless you win some fights in the Imperial Arena. Double Sabers or Axes are lots of fun.

[Anaximander]

Some general combat tips:

* You need to use unarmed or magical attacks to harm spirits.
* You need to use weapons to harm demons.
* Use your AoE attack, and often! In higher difficulty modes, including Jade Master, I would do one full combo (3 hits) on my main target, and immediately follow up with an AoE, then chase him down again. It keeps enemies off your back, and your main target off his feet. Altnerate between a combo and an AoE attack constantly.
* Learn to watch the entire screen. If you can't see all the enemies, move around until you can.
* Dodging into an enemy will interrupt his attack and give you an opening to perform an attack of your own.
* Buy and put point into the Storm Dragon style ASAP. In my opinion, this is hands down the most valueable support style in the game. All Storm Dragon attacks leave enemies stunned for a good amount of time. The AoE stuns everything around you and sets up your target for a Harmonic combo. This can be used to decimate large numbers of enemies very quickly with minimal risk to yourself.

Some specifc pointers:

Against Lost Spirits: - the floating black ghosts with the white masks
Start the fight by entering Focus mode and rushing to the nearest spirit.
Block, block, block! These guys can be very difficult, especially in large numbers. But, you can block their green ranged attacks. Hold that block button down. When your targetted spirit starts charging up for a power attack (you'll see blue sparkles around him when he does this), attack! If another spirit starts charging up a power attack, wait for him to throw it and dodge out of the way. Then rush back in to your target again.

Magic attacks are another good option here. I recommend either Ice or Tempest magic. The power attack from either of those will paralyze the spirit and set them up for a Harmonic combo, which is an instant kill. Both Ice and Tempest offer great crowd control with their AoE attack as well. Ice slows all enemies on the screen, and Tempest holds them all in little tornados.

Against Demons:
Again, hold that block button down. You can block all but their power attacks, which are indicated by the blue sparkles when an enemy charges it up. Wait for them to charge a power attack, then dodge to the side and punish them with an attack of your own. Don't get carried away, though. They'll recover quickly. Remember, they're only vulnerable to weapon attacks. I strongly recommend the sword. It's faster and does more damage than the staff. Hit the demon twice quickly, then get your defense back up again. When face with multiple demons, consider using Focus mode to dispatch them quickly, but remember that you need Focus to swing your sword. Don't use it all up taking down one enemy.
Special note for Jade Master mode - Focus plus Jade Golem form. Round up all the demons into one big cluster, activate Focus mode, then go Jade Golem and demolish them.

Against Humans:
Humans are the easiest enemies you'll face, but in large numbers even they can be a problem. In my experience, here's the fastest and easiest way to take them down: Storm Dragon AoE. It will stun them all, and your target becomes vulnerable to a Harmonic combo. Perform a power attack (right mouse button) to kill him instantly. When he's dead, hit that AoE again. Rinse and repeat. As an added benefit, you get Focus orbs from enemies killed by a Storm Dragon Harmonic combo, so if you're tired from swinging your sword all day you should get plenty of Focus back from this.

There are some instances in which Harmonic combos don't work, like in the imperial arena and certain boss encounters. In those cases, stick to your martial or weapon style and alternate between combo and AoE attacks to keep your opponents off balance.

Having played through the game multiple times on Jade Master, I can offer some tips for specific encounters as well. Unfortunately, if your problem is the game controls then only practice will help with that.

[Cal Jones]

Yeah I'm basically mildly dyspraxic. I have slight problems with things like balance and spatial awareness, and learning new controls takes me a bit of time. Once I've got used to something I'm generally fine - I can touch type, for example, and I got good enough with the Quake controls to rocket jump, back in the day. I'm alright running around in the game now but I tend to forget to do things like heal or block if I'm concentrating on attacking. Turning the difficulty down helped a bit. I was getting tired of the constant reloading. Now I can just enjoy the game for its prettiness and for the story and humour.

[Eleima]

Well, I finally got my hands on a copy of Jade Empire, and I think it's worth it. The Eastern setting was a nice change from all the KotOR'ness I had been recently exposed to. Although the beginning of the plot was a bit too familiar: the whole orphan raised by the kindly old man discovers that her life is a bit more than she thought has been done to death (déjà vu, anyone?). But the events that unfolded after the initial attack on the village did catch me off guard. And the story so far is pretty nice and exciting (I'm already past the Imperial City, up to chapter 5).

However, concerning the difficulty... I usually catch up rather quickly on games, comes from decades of playing them, *but* to my dismay, I had to replay that section on the beach at least 6 or 8 times, before I decided to turn down the difficulty from Master to Student. Argh, the shame!! But the upside is that now I just play the game for the plot, and enjoy the ride. Not to mention my little fling between Wu the Lotus Blossum and Sky (can anyone say dead wife and daughter, and guy who tries to avenge them, anyone? What is it with those Bioware romances? ).

So thanks for all the heads up and advice, guys, it was really useful!