Arcania: Gothic 4 vs Jade Empire
Arcania: Gothic 4
Arcania: Gothic 4 returns as the fourth and possibly the final installment of the Gothic series. This time, you take on the role of a nameless hero who just had his village destroyed by the king's paladins. However, as you set off on your quest of vengeance, you gradually realize that this event is driven by a malicious hidden power. The storyline is so much better in this installment due to the many surprises, plot twists and cliffhangers, and it does have a pretty nice combat system.However, many players put some flak to this game mainly because the game isn't exactly "Gothic" but pretending to be by using the "Gothic" name, but partly because the game does have some boring quests. That said, the game is still a pretty decent RPG.
Jade Empire
Jade Empire is a martial arts-themed action RPG where you get the freedom to choose to become either a noble hero or a treacherous villain. The game also provides you with a vast open world to explore and a host of interesting characters to interact with. As you play an aspiring martial arts master, you'll have access to a wide range of nicely-animated fighting moves and styles that you can mix and match. While you increase in your proficiency of the martial arts, your enemies' difficulty level will scale up accoridngly as well, so every battle you engage in will be as challenging as the next despite having better gear and skills.However, being a rather old game, the combat sequences may feel a bit choppy and awkward today. The graphics looks weathered as well. And if you want to play this game for its story, you might want to reconsider. Jade Empire is famous for mainly its cool moves and well-made combat system back then, and having a completely original and immersive plot isn't one of the selling points.
That said, there isn't a lot of oriental-themed RPGs out there and Jade Empire happens to be one of the best ones. If you love martial art games, you might want to try this game out.