I was really disappointed. I really tried to like it, and gave it six or seven hours. but found myself quite frustrated with the skin deep combat. In terms of action I felt you could really play only one way, and would get toasted upon trying something remotely different. You had to adapt yourself to one successful formula, and it was frustrating if you didn't like it. I thought the system overall was extremely amateur and probably the worse I've come across.
If Bioware intend to develop Jade Empire 2, I think they need to find a good Japanese development team to handle the combat. Whereas interface, controls, polish, camera angles and logical game mechanics seem second nature to American/European developers, it is the Japanese who seem to be able to put together fighters with ease. While Shenmue was a really crappy title, that sunk in its own pile of overblown hype, it had a solid combat system.
It is a pity that I was so turned off by the game mechanics of JE, because Bioware are my favorite development team, and I've finished all their games (except Jade Empire) many times. I hear it has a good story too.
One other issue it had aside from the horrid combat system was the severe consilitis it suffered from. Unlike any other Bioware game, the world was extremely restrictive and overly simplistic. While there was plenty of great dialog and storytelling, there was little depth in looting, and modifying character stats. It often felt more like an action adventure than an action RPG.
I guess I should have played it when it came out. When I finally got to play it on the PC, it was a title older than KOTOR, and it showed.
