Three Jade Empire Previews

A small handful of previews for BioWare's newly announced Jade Empire are now available. The first can be found at GameSpy (which includes a full interview):
Q: Who will be composing the music for this game? How will you approach audio in this game?

A: We haven't yet made a final decision on the composer for the game, but we have been taking particular care in choosing a style of music that will suit both the world, and the gameplay of Jade Empire. Our approach to creating the audio tapestry for Jade Empire will draw on the experience gained in our previous games to create a very lush and engaging audio framework. In building Jade Empire we believe we are creating a world and gameplay experience like no other, and as a result we have very high standards for every element we create, especially the audio.

The second is over at IGN:
To get an idea of what the combat in Jade Empire is like, we'll take you through a fight shown to us in a demo. First, the opponent summoned a number of horse demons to surround the player. After defeating them using the Willow fighting style, the main opponent jumped into the fight himself using a Centipede fighting style. Then, after being kicked into the wall by the lead character, the adversary then used a dirty fighting technique to stun the hero, and then used a magic attack to knock the player into the far wall. The impact of the attack caused the wall to shatter, consequently creating an improvised weapon: fighting sticks. Seeing this, the opponent charged at the player but not before the player executed a focus mode that is very much like bullet time in any other game. After having been humiliated by the player, the opponent flies off in a grasshopper ship of some sort. Really.

And the third is at GameSpot:
Your stronghold will serve as a sort of home base throughout the game. You'll amass a collection of followers, or agents, that will hang around at this base. Some of these agents can be sent on missions, while others will passively enhance your abilities, and still others will go out and affect the game world on their own. It sounds as though the agents will in fact be able to serve all kinds of roles through the course of the game. You'll also be able to bring back a variety of monsters, either alive or in the form of statues, that you've defeated during your travels. The living monsters will even serve as guards of sorts inside your stronghold.