Quote Originally Posted by Batcathat View Post
Still beats the games where morality and reputation are the same score, like Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, which leads to oddities like the whole world apparently learning about what you do in complete secrecy and the evil companions hatred of being hero-worshipped (you'd think they would love the chance to exploit it).

On another note, this discussion reminds me that I've never tried Jade Empire, maybe I should get around to that at some point? Would people familiar with it say it's likely to hold up even without nostalgia?
Depends a bit on your tolerance for 2000s-era Bioware writing because it's very that (especially in regards to the 'good/evil' route, despite what the game tells you about Open Palm/Closed Fist). I personally find the style a bit tedious these days, but if you're into it you shouldn't have a problem. It does do a couple of things with the main plot that are a bit more interesting than its immediate peers, although nothing I'd say that elevates it much beyond being, well, a 2000s Bioware plot. Gameplay-wise it's, well, functional (although the steam version does have a couple of significant glitches that can happen). Combat's not hugely challenging if you know what you're doing and what options to avoid.

A couple of other notes is that it's the first Bioware game to have same-sex romance options for male and female players characters, and the first (and possibly only?) Bioware game with a poly romance option, although only for male PCs.