A similar concern crops up among your entourage: a cold-but-righteous ninja babe, a crazy inventor who loves explosions, a young girl possessed by not one, but two demons, and more. They all deliver amusing dialogue, but some are so much more useful in battle than others that we found ourselves only using two or three regularly.

Of course, your preferences may vary. In fact, BioWare is counting on it. Like KotOR before it, Jade Empire sets up the scenario well: the star student at a small kung-fu dojo in a tiny village, you set off on a quest through an exotic, mythical Asian land in search of your kidnapped master. But it doesn't really tell you what kind of person you are; that's up to you. The player has frequent chances to be good or evil, and your choices affect which party members may or may not fall in love with you, which skills and items you can use, and which of the game's endings you'll get. The differences aren't as great as those in KotOR, but they make Jade Empire worth playing through multiple times.