Optimizing Ethics
So, just finished Jade Empire. It was an overall enjoyable experience (minus several crash bugs :(
Jade was a nice mix of action and RPG, with an indepth story/world. Pretty high production values too.
My only real complaint is that the good/bad system really begs you to make a single choice and "optimize" your role-playing in that direction.
When I first started playing, I said that I'd seek the way of the Open Palm (ie, be good), but that I'd say the witty/smart-alecky lines of dialog. That is, I'd role-play as a character with a sharp tongue but that actually was good hearted. The problem is that those are mostly mutually exclusive choices. If I want to be Open Palm and get the benefits of Open Palm (ie, access to new skills, gems, weapons), I had to do AND say the "good" things.
Not a big deal, but I was hoping for a more nuanced approach to good vs bad (ie, spectrum instead of absolute polars).
This approach of optimizing ethics also made dialog painfully boring over time, as the "good" choice were pretty evident and usually listed first.
(Also, I am kinda disappointed that I ended up kissing Sky in the end. I was trying to court Silk Fox, but I guess I screwed up along the way. Maybe she goes more for the Close Fist type. Oh well ;)
Anyway, overall a fun game and well worth the money/25-hour investment. Kudos BioWare!
Posted on May 5, 2005 08:06 PM
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Posted by: Adalmin at May 7, 2005 09:30 AM