Jade Empire Preview
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If all this effort at realism does for Jade Empire what EA's efforts did for Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, BioWare may spark a new trend in the world of RPGs. Don't get worried that Jade Empire will stray too far from its fantasy RPG roots, though. Developing your character's abilities, such as "Chi power" and the aforementioned "Focus," will be as important as learning the fighting styles. You'll still be offered the opportunity to play the game as a good or evil character and interacting with the various NPCs you encounter will still play a vital role in your adventure. While you won't have companions, you will collect followers that can be sent on important missions. Deciding which minion to send is important because failure can have long-reaching consequences (such as affecting the prices of items you can buy in villages). Some of these characters will already be interested in helping your cause, but others will have to be defeated in combat before they'll swear fealty. One intriguing projected scenario has your character besting a demon, who then moves into your stronghold to beef up its defenses.
Although the developers have been very tight-lipped about plot details, brief glimpses like the demon scenario seem to indicate that Jade Empire's story line will receive as much of their attention as the physics of the hero's rippling hair has. Since BioWare presumably knows that the majority of gamers won't possess Quentin Tarantino's level of obsession with kung fu movies, it should be safe to assume that they will try to make sure that Jade Empire will allow all the would-be jedis and druids a way to live their dreams, as well. With a projected ship date of 2004's holiday season, though, any or all of this information may change.
From the little glimpses they've allowed us, it looks like BioWare is ready to come into its own with a completely original and innovative RPG experience. I have to admit that I'm intrigued by the concept and I hope to find more detailed information about the combat system in the near future. Until then, I'll be practicing my "horse stance". You can interpret that in any way you wish.
