April 26, 2005 - BioWare. The name alone commands respect among gaming circles. Few companies have been able to develop quality game after quality game, always giving rabid fans what they want, but also revolutionizing and innovating, in leaps and bounds, how games are played and how they are perceived in our culture. Once upon a time, RPGs were for the “hardcore” gamers only. The mere mention of those three letters brought on visions of pocket protectors, D&D rule books, magic spells, dragons, orcs and ogres. But times have changed.

But what is an RPG? What makes an RPG an RPG? We seems to stray further and further from the traditional definition each year as game developers try to intermingle every genre under the sun within each new game. Once perceived as a very rigid, very strict, rule-based affair for PCs only, RPGs (and RPGs on console) have become more and more mainstream thanks to games like Final Fantasy VII, Fable (everyone I know wants to play that “chicken punting game”) and of course, Knights of the Old Republic.

Racing games are about physics, cars and tracks. Fighting games are about move-sets, combos and modes. First Person Shooters are about graphics, control and multiplayer mayhem. But RPGs are, and will always be, about imagination, locations, memorable encounters, epic battles, tongue-in-cheek dialog and a sense of higher purpose. While other genres may try to up the multiplayer limits encouraging more and more people to play them together, RPGs are personal. They are, generally, to be played alone. Slowly. Exploring every last inch of every town. Enjoying every last word of dialog. Finding new and creative ways to abuse the class systems, the weapon upgrades and the player leveling scheme. Each adventure, regardless of branching story paths, open-ended gameplay, dialog trees and the obligatory multiple endings, will be unique. Each fight will vary from the next. Each play-through will pose its own challenges and inspire its own sense of discovery. An RPG’s greatest strength lies in its personal connection with each person playing it. It’s about visiting old friends, about making new ones and usually, generally, most often, saving the world at the same time. In this respect, Jade Empire is worth its weight in gold, and is an RPG in the truest sense of the word.

Jade Empire is easily described as the heir apparent to Knights of the Old Republic. Anyone who has played the Star Wars masterpiece will feel right at home with this new offering. The dialog trees, the morality issues of right versus wrong, the overall game engine and the gameplay mechanics are identical for the most part. The story is not set in a galaxy far, far away however, but instead rooted in Asian culture at an unspecified time. The plot centers around an orphan raised in Two Rivers, a training school of sorts, who sets forth into the majesty of the Sun Dynasty in search of answers, redemption and revenge. The plot is epic in scope, varied and intelligent in design and completely satisfying in breadth. Every possible care was taken to craft a world that feels as real as that of Morrowind’s, where every scrap of paper, every book and every sentence should be carefully contemplated and enjoyed. In the Grand Tradition of BioWare, there is the mandatory “plot twist” that is so well conceived and constructed, it is almost impossible, expect perhaps in hindsight, to truly see it coming. The highest praise I can give it is that it is completely logical, intelligent and expertly executed (once again).

When embarking on your journey, you will have a choice of various characters to play as. Much like all great RPGs, these vary enough to allow you to play through the game with your own personal style. While many like balanced characters or pure fighters, there is always something that can be said for a very powerful magic user. Characters vary greatly in primary abilities (body, mind & spirit) and secondary abilities (health, focus & chi). While this may seem daunting to newcomers of the RPG genre, they are handled expertly and allow an advanced user the ability to manipulate them to a great extent while allowing the uninitiated to carry on without really having to worry about them either. RPG purist don’t despair, the game does contain experience points, leveling, ability and style points, status effects, power ups, essence gems and the like. Unlike in other games however, it is handle in a completely user friendly way that is never intimidating or perplexing.

Your character will then, as expected, engage in multiple conversations with various dialog trees (various possible responses and actions will affect your moral standing: open palm or closed fist), take on quests, finish them and further the story along. There are lots of optional quests, many characters to travel with and an engaging story-line to experience.

What separates Jade Empire from Knights of the old Republic and possibly every other RPG that has come before it however, is its combat. Not content with the traditional pen and paper D&D rule-set, BioWare has given us true martial art combat to abuse instead. It is not only fitting, considering the influences of the game, but wildly entertaining and rich in possibilities. What may seem like a very easy and boring fighting system at first only grows and grows to become a veritable arsenal of fighting styles and magic use. There are more attack combinations in Jade Empire than in many traditional RPGs combined. And take my word for it, the fighting engine is sublime: the speed and smoothness alone will make you feel like you’re playing a Dead or Alive game and not a stuffy old RPG. The only drawback is that, with the fighting game mentally deeply rooted in my brain, I often found myself trying to “dash” towards my opponents and then remembering that I was playing as Wu the Lotus Blossom and not Kasumi.