It sounds like a good idea for BioWare to follow-up on KotOR with an Eastern fantasy RPG. Since the Star Wars mythology was largely inspired by Daoist and Chan Buddhist ideas, this seemed like a step closer to the root. But honestly, playing this now felt like it was, on the contrary, a further divergence from the ancient Eastern philosophies.
I started the game off reading all the texts and listening to all the dialogues before I quickly got tired of that. In addition to their very dualistic, very traditionally Western perspective, they seemed to say very little of value. I suppose KotOR probably didn't have the best writing either, but the lore itself was so rich and developed that I didn't mind the expositionary nature in which it was conveyed. And though the characters in KotOR were also mostly two-dimensional, the Star Wars mythology itself allowed for a lot of flexibility in the interpretation of their actions.
Most importantly, I think the reason I wanted to keep exploring the world, talking to people and progressing through the story in KotOR was that I love Star Wars, and the game was a loving recreation of a movie-like Star Wars experience, which I think it succeeded at. However, the universe of Jade Empire isn't based on any existing property, and unlike with Mass Effect, I didn't find it very interesting. In fact it felt very orientalist to me. When Asian aesthetics are placed on top of philosophically Western storytelling, it comes off as a fetishization of the exotic. A superficial look at Eastern cultures and blind copying. The thing this game most reminded me of was Avatar: The Last Airbender. And I understand that, for people who love that show, this game is probably perfection. But I never liked Avatar.
I did like a lot about Jade Empire though.The game is just really well-made all around, but I especially liked the graphics, which are astonishingly beautiful. The gameplay is mostly the same as in KotOR, just more simplified, and I think, as a simple Asian-flavored action-adventure, it serves its purpose. The voice acting is great, and the mini-games (at least the ones I encountered) weren't infuriating like KotOR's mini-games. I found the combat a little clunky though. Like you're always locked onto your enemies, so you're always facing them. And there's a dodge button, but you can't dodge towards your enemies. For some reason, when you get closer, you jump over them instead (and they instantly turn towards your new position). Which means the only way of approaching them is walking into their fists. But there are ways around it. Thankfully, there are a lot of different styles and ways to modify them through upgrades, so you can get a little creative and outsmart your foes. But still, I thought KotOR's combat was much better.
At the end of the day though, despite its polish, I was struggling to maintain interest in this game. I caught myself drifting off and missing some entire dialogues because I was bored with the exposition. Considering how long RPGs tend to get, I decided that I didn't wanna invest 30-40 hours into something that I'm on the edge about. I already did that with KotOR 2 (which ironically is also stripped of Daoist and Chan Buddhist concepts) and regretted it.
I started the game off reading all the texts and listening to all the dialogues before I quickly got tired of that. In addition to their very dualistic, very traditionally Western perspective, they seemed to say very little of value. I suppose KotOR probably didn't have the best writing either, but the lore itself was so rich and developed that I didn't mind the expositionary nature in which it was conveyed. And though the characters in KotOR were also mostly two-dimensional, the Star Wars mythology itself allowed for a lot of flexibility in the interpretation of their actions.
Most importantly, I think the reason I wanted to keep exploring the world, talking to people and progressing through the story in KotOR was that I love Star Wars, and the game was a loving recreation of a movie-like Star Wars experience, which I think it succeeded at. However, the universe of Jade Empire isn't based on any existing property, and unlike with Mass Effect, I didn't find it very interesting. In fact it felt very orientalist to me. When Asian aesthetics are placed on top of philosophically Western storytelling, it comes off as a fetishization of the exotic. A superficial look at Eastern cultures and blind copying. The thing this game most reminded me of was Avatar: The Last Airbender. And I understand that, for people who love that show, this game is probably perfection. But I never liked Avatar.
I did like a lot about Jade Empire though.The game is just really well-made all around, but I especially liked the graphics, which are astonishingly beautiful. The gameplay is mostly the same as in KotOR, just more simplified, and I think, as a simple Asian-flavored action-adventure, it serves its purpose. The voice acting is great, and the mini-games (at least the ones I encountered) weren't infuriating like KotOR's mini-games. I found the combat a little clunky though. Like you're always locked onto your enemies, so you're always facing them. And there's a dodge button, but you can't dodge towards your enemies. For some reason, when you get closer, you jump over them instead (and they instantly turn towards your new position). Which means the only way of approaching them is walking into their fists. But there are ways around it. Thankfully, there are a lot of different styles and ways to modify them through upgrades, so you can get a little creative and outsmart your foes. But still, I thought KotOR's combat was much better.
At the end of the day though, despite its polish, I was struggling to maintain interest in this game. I caught myself drifting off and missing some entire dialogues because I was bored with the exposition. Considering how long RPGs tend to get, I decided that I didn't wanna invest 30-40 hours into something that I'm on the edge about. I already did that with KotOR 2 (which ironically is also stripped of Daoist and Chan Buddhist concepts) and regretted it.