Jade Empire 2 is coming!

…eventually. From the tell-us-something-we-didn't-know department, the Mercury News has a friend whose cousin knows someone who saw some code from Jade Empire 2, so now we know it really is coming. No, really:

Here’s an opportunity for BioWare to get it right and for all of you fans out there to rejoice. Rumors have been swirling about the possibility of a sequel to BioWare’s Xbox hit, “Jade Empire.” For years, people have predicted it would come and Ray Muzyka, co-CEO of BioWare, even spilled the beans of something coming back in 2005. But I talked with someone who saw code for Jade Empire 2. It’s coming for the Xbox 360, and it’s real. It’s not much as far as scoops go, but I’m on vacation. What do you expect? Happy New Year.Jade Empire was BioWare’s second big game for the Xbox, following the exclusive Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic title in 2003. It will be interesting to see if Jade Empire 2 will remain an exclusive for the Xbox 360, now that Electronic Arts has agreed to acquire BioWare/Pandemic.

More information.

I'd be jumping for joy if the rumor was KOTOR 3, but Jade 2 ehhh. Still not going to buy a 360 to play this, even if the rumor is true.

I truly enjoyed the first Jade Empire so I think this is good news. However I would agree that KotOR 3 would have been better. Especially if the could include a tool set.

Good news .

I guess that's the second XBox 360 game I am interested to play, and the second game I expect coming to PC soon enough anyway.

it means bioware might make a second half-decent game!

This game and Mass Effect 2 will probably come out before Dragon Age.

We might even get Duke Nukem Forever before Dragon Age, and that says quite a lot..

Wish I could be excited about this one… but the first one just bored me. I slogged through it because I really used to love Bioware games, and I still have respect for them as developers… but… for me it was just a real pretty… real boring game.

I'll most likely pass… as slow as I am at finishing games I probably won't be done with the lot that are waiting for me to play them right now anyway

Dragon Age hasn't been in development for nearly as long as DNF, so what's the bitching about?

Hopefully they can make the game longer than 14 hours this time.

Jade Empire is a very good game and I'd be glad to see JE2. I agree that JE was somewhat shorter than KotOR but I can't fathom how people could get through JE in under 20 hours unless skipping through dialogue and rushing through the game (which is not at all the way I play) -- just skipping through the story and dialogue I could see where the game would be considered boring but then in my view that's mostly true of KotOR (which is about the best game ever).

Anyway, Bioware hasn't made anything less than a good rpg ever since BG1 so I look forward to any rpg they are working on including JE2, Mass Effect 2, KotOR 3 (we all wish), and Dragon Age.

JE sucked.

Nobody else thinks this smells familiar? Remember what EA wanted off BioWare in terms of revenue? The only way to do that…milk franchises.

I can't wait for JE XIII!

Originally Posted by Korplem
Dragon Age hasn't been in development for nearly as long as DNF, so what's the bitching about?

There is no game that has been in development longer than DNF.

Dragon Age hasn't been in development for as long as DNF, but it has at least been in pre-production since the summer of 2002 (when Bioware announced that they were working on a new IP). That was five and a half years ago. Since that time, Bioware has completely built and released two console games (albeit not on new engines). We still have seen next to nothing on this game, and they aren't even trying to hype it right now.

Originally Posted by bjon045
Hopefully they can make the game longer than 14 hours this time.

Would you rather have 14 solid hours, or 14 solid hours plus 36 hours of padding? It's damn hard to make a 50-hour game that isn't half padding; that's why we're seeing so few of them.

Personally, I don't care how long or short a game is, if its length or lack thereof is justified.

Originally Posted by Eron
JE sucked.

No it didn't. Neener neener.

Also, my daddy's tougher than your daddy.

Did some people fly through Jade Empire on purpose? 14 hours is pretty fast unless you completely skip the side content. I thought that the length was perfect, actually.

I think it takes me about 10-12 hours nowadays, but that is after completing it X times. I have to admit, I have already played through it a lot more than I thought I would, despite only considering it an "above average RPG". Maybe I should re-consider my initial evaluation - the replayvalue of Jade Empire is actually very high. The only drawback is the limitations in the world (the atmosphere is great, so I always feel like exploring the cities and the sorrounding lands) and the lack of good non-weapon combat forms (the marshal arts forms are cool, but not very viable in most cases).

I believe that if the game had been somewhat larger, with more areas to explore, it would not only appeal more to players who like exploration, but would also make the game seem longer (even if the main quest wasn't changed at all). Especially the 2nd half of the game could use some more open areas where you get to do sidequests.

Good news as long as it eventually makes it to the PC… I'm only half done with the CE for PC, and that's on hold due to The Witcher, but it's been a real treat so far.