Let's talk about a more well known game this time. Bioware is most known for their 3D RPG series Mass Effect and Dragon Age nowadays, but in the past they created isometric RPGs like the Baldurs Gate or Neverwinter Nights series. So how did that transition happen? Well, they published 2 games between those periods that helped them find their formula for 3D RPGs. While the first one was Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which fits more to Dragon Age:Origins due to the pausable real time combat system with multiple party members (which I couldn't play till now due to gamebreaking bugs), I want to talk about their second intermediate game today: Jade Empire.
Many of the elements found in Mass Effect were implemented first and tested in Jade Empire: RPG character development but real time action combat sequences, a group of companions of which a few are romancable and a great epic story with many twists, where the player can influence the outcome somewhat.
#Combat
The combat and character development was build around 3 ressources: health, chi and focus. Health is self explanatory, chi is mana and focus is a third ressource for activating time slow mode or special weapon styles. You can choose between different weapons and magic attacks (ranged or melee) and also later transformations, which were really awesome. Nothing like transforming into a giant golem and smashing the ground to attack all enemies around you. You can also select one companion to follow you around and into combat.
#Companions
The companions are one of the highlights of Jade Empire. By fighting with them side by side they will reveal their past to you and also comment on your actions regarding their own orientation regarding the Way of the closed Fist or the Way of the open Palm. For example The berserker like Black Whirlwind will congratulate you on a well done ambush but will scoff if the solutions don't involve at least 2 murders. The characters are all a joy to experience. They even included a romance for three of the companions.
#Way of Fist/Palm
The way you could influence the main and side quests is also with a unique twist: You have the Way of the Open Palm, which stands for friendliness, understanding and helping each other BUT it could also mean you just want to squeeze a little higher reward out of people with problems by being chummy with them. The opposite concept is the Way of the Closed Fist, which stands for autonomy, strength and doing things YOUR way, but also for teaching people to stand for themselves instead of cowering. Both paths can be used selfishly or for helping build a world more fitting to your ideology. I haven`t really seen that concept elsewhere, in that the normally "evil" way is not only selfish, but rather wants to instill strength in everyone worthy.
#Story
While Jade Empire is set in a faux east asian world, it is an amalgam of many different concepts and best described as east asian counterpart to standard kitchen sink western fantasy with sword, magic, orcs & elves. You are a young spirit monk and after the destruction of your order in the tutorial actually the last one of your order. Due to your training you can interact with the spirit world, which is a highly sought after ability, since the spirits of the recently departed don`t leave the world any longer but linger around. Your goal is to find out why your order had to die and how you can help the spirits move on. The story contained some great executed twists which give the story a nice flow. And it is I think the first game I played, where you can agree and join the antagonist in lieu of a boss fight at the end.
Story spoilers:
As it turns out, your dear Master Li who raised and trained you is in fact the brother of the emperor and the master mind behind the attack on your order in the first place. The spirit monks were the monks of the water dragon and the emperor needed the water dragon (or rather its never ending blood, which is pure water) to end the drought that was plagueing the empire. But with the psychopomp removed, the spirits of the dead had no guide to the afterlife anymore, bringing a lot of unwanted side effects with it. When you attack the emperor, Master Li reveals his decade long scheme and kills you and his brother, making him the emperor instead. The water dragon saves you with its last bit of power and setting you on the path to dethrone Emperor Li, restoring the water dragon and thereby the natural order again. But you can agree with him in the end and subjugate to him, which was something I hadn`t seen before in games.
While this game is by no means a forgotten gem, I don't really see a lot of discussion about it online. So if you haven't played it yet, I highly recommend it, especially if you like Mass Effect.
I played it a long time ago, but still recall how the way of open fist and closed fist symbolized I guess concepts
Closed Fist, was a philosophy selfish desire and domination with the ideal of only the strongest getting to make the rules
Whereas open fist was selflessness with the ideal that one's strength is only as strong as the weakest link
The morality was binary choice with the environments changing somewhat accordingly, but I recall it having a more noticable effect on the "kung-fu" you could learn and it was an interesting mechanic to try and match one's fighting style to the philosophy one follows.
I recall open-fist felt more disciplined and "soft" in its impact whereas closed-fist had a more viseral feel with the intent to cause harm and show superiority
Although the choice was either open or closed fist it did leave a stronge impact on how different the ending sequence played out which at the time was something I really felt impressed with as the difference in tone during the last moments - showcasing that both paths can achieve the goal.
I think Mass Effect probably had its early roots, in regards to morality system, from Jade Empire with influence from KOTOR as well.