Dragon's Dogma 2
Dragon's Dogma 2
Game
Game2007
Jade Empire™: Special Edition
Developer BioWare
Jade Empire is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare, originally published by Microsoft Game Studios in 2005 as an Xbox exclusive. It was later ported to Microsoft Windows personal computers (PC) and published by 2K in 2007. Later ports to macOS (2008) and mobile platforms (2016) were handled respectively by TransGaming and Aspyr. In a world inspired by Chinese mythology, players control the last… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
212 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Mastodon, Bluesky) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
78
LovedLoved
145 positive · 41 negative
95% range 71–83%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 145 | 41 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 19 |
| Bluesky * | 4 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
1,289 of 1,719 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
80% recommend · 146 yes, 37 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 183 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (1,587 of 2,091 positive).
Players praise the game's story, characters, and world, calling it a classic BioWare RPG. [1][2][3] Many reviewers note the game requires troubleshooting to run on modern systems. [4][5][6] Some players express frustration with the PC port's bugs and lack of official support. [7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
It's pretty shocking that this game is being sold on Steam. I've spent hours trying to get it to work, since I loved the original and never got to finish it. Steam doesn't take any responsibility for fixing this game, so you're on your own or get a refund. Once every year or so, I spend another afternoon trawling the web trying to look for fixes, but probably I'll just refund it eventually.
- [1]
Jade Empire showcases early Bioware at its absolute best. The immersive world, clever and impactful story and memorable characters are why it's one of my favourite RPGs. The two paths your character can take makes replayability enjoyable as well.
- [3]
This game still holds up even today, the Chinese martial arts KOTOR. This was back when Bioware was one of the best videogame developers. I still have a hard time finding many companies as good as Bioware when they were in their prime. The story is amazing, the soundtrack is well done, and the world is one I always go back to. One of Bioware's best and one of the best rpgs ever made. I highly recommend Jade Empire. …
- [2]
Good old Bioware! This game is fantastic. Great setting, great characters, great gameplay! If you liked KOTOR, then you'll love this.
- [4]
This game is really good. Unfortunately, it doesn't work right away. You need to follow these steps to get it working: 1. Install the game. 2. After installation open your steam path and copy the "Steam.dll" and paste it in the Jade Empire game folder. 3. Before launching it for the first time, navigate to the game folder and rename “JadeEmpireLauncher.exe” to “JadeEmpireLauncherBackup.exe” and “JadeEmpire.exe” to …
Summarised from 34 of the 207 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked Jade Empire™: Special Edition talk about great story and memorable characters; those who didn't talk about requires manual fixes to launch and run. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Computer and Video Games spoke highly of the game, saying that the game's accessibility would attract those introduced to BioWare's Knights of the Old Republic, calling Jade Empire "imaginative, accessible, beautiful to look at and incredibly immersive to play". Rob Fahey of Eurogamer praised the aesthetics and replay value, but noted that the combat's lack of depth and limited customization options would be negatively viewed by some players. GameSpot's Greg Kasavin was positive overall, his only complaints being issues with combat balance and the game's short length. Will Tuttle of GameSpy lauded every aspect of the game, calling it "the best [RPG] to ever hit the Xbox". IGN's David…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 212 · most liked firstThis game is really good. Unfortunately, it doesn't work right away. You need to follow these steps to get it working: 1. Install the game. 2. After installation open your steam path and copy the "Steam.dll" and paste it in the Jade Empire game folder. 3. Before launching it for the first time, navigate to the game folder and rename “JadeEmpireLauncher.exe” to “JadeEmpireLauncherBackup.exe” and “JadeEmpire.exe” to “JadeEmpireLauncher.exe.” 4. Start the game once and set the desired resolution.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic game, but to get to launch I had to follow these instructions I got from Reddit: * Copy and paste "steam.dll" from your Steam or Steam Library Folder and put it directly into "SteamLibrary\\SteamAppps\\common\\Jade Empire". **If your game still doesn't launch but the "fail to find" error is fixed, this is what you do.** 1. Open notepad. 2. Don't write anything into it. 3. Save it as "SystemInformation.xml" 1. It must be saved as a blank notepad. Do not put anything in it. 2.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's pretty shocking that this game is being sold on Steam. I've spent hours trying to get it to work, since I loved the original and never got to finish it. Steam doesn't take any responsibility for fixing this game, so you're on your own or get a refund. Once every year or so, I spend another afternoon trawling the web trying to look for fixes, but probably I'll just refund it eventually.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love the game. Great game. But i should not have to install mods just to get the game to work correctly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is good. However, you need to fix it before you play it. you need to spend 20 minutes and have just a bit of knowledge of how files work to fix the finding the file error and the FPS error. I think it's worth it, but it's absurd it's sold in the state where you have to fix it before playing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was having such a great time with this game! However, the PC port is garbage and I ran into a very common bug (pirate lair bug, if you're interested) which made progression literally impossible. There is no workaround for it. So, I'd say skip this one on PC, you'll get frustrated not being able to finish this otherwise extremely entertaining game. Come on, EA.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Jade Empire showcases early Bioware at its absolute best. The immersive world, clever and impactful story and memorable characters are why it's one of my favourite RPGs. The two paths your character can take makes replayability enjoyable as well.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolute junk PC port. To get it running I had to add a dll file and an xml file to the game folders that aren't included with your game files. Then when you get it running it has super choppy frame rate, so I had to close the game and edit the configuration file to allow a higher frame rate. I launched it a second time after editing the configuration, and the game had now changed up the controller configuration from what it was the first time I launched the game. Hopefully Steam will approve…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game but unfortunately unplayable. Installs with multiple missing files for it to even launch. Then runs 5fps when you get it to launch. It would be easier to install an emulator and find an .iso than to get this version of the game running.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly, even though this is BioWare from their golden age, the game is a technical mess. Constant control bugs, black screens after cutscenes, and tons of other issues make it almost unplayable and really hard to enjoy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Such an underated hidden gem from the creators of Dragon Age and Mass effect (Bioware). A bit janky and outdated for today standards but if you can put up with it you gone have great time. It definitely needs a remaster or remake
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Works fine on deck. No crappy EA launcher either.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I absolutely love this game, and dearly hope it sees a modern remake (it's probably too archaic in design for a remaster) some day. But this version is barely playable, and requires pretty extensive modding to function as intended. The modding tools are just as ancient as the game is, so getting it all to work properly can be a real test of patience. I can't recommend it in its current state, and highly doubt they'll ever fix it. If its sold on GOG, I might check it out there instead.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolute wonderful game with great music, excellent combat, wonderful story with hilarious moments despite how to get it started. I would love to see it get a remastered or get a sequel from Bioware.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great story and loved this on the console back in the day | Played it again on IOS years ago and now I'm back to have another play through on PC. Mouse sensitivity is unreal so you'll need to sort that out | Game wont load for some people so what you'll need to do one of the following if you get the failed to find steam error 1. Make sure your you have a copy of 'Steam.dll' in your JadeEmpire install folder. You can find the steam.dll in your main steam install folder, for example…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good old Bioware! This game is fantastic. Great setting, great characters, great gameplay! If you liked KOTOR, then you'll love this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty good martial arts focused action rpg game (and i mean actual rpg with dialogues and choices) - Story, characters, dialogues and the world is pretty good. Pretty much why you wanna play this game. - Combat is a bit shallow, pretty easy to exploit and not much depth to the styles, you will be doing basic attacks and strong attacks, combined with some spells throughout the game. - It's a 2005 game so there are some jank stuff, like camera going crazy and only way to fix it, reload a save…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bioware 2024 has become toxic, they don't deserve consumer support.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is broken and requires jumping through some hoops to get it running on modern systems. Buy the GOG version if you're interested. I'm still amazed Valve is allowed to sell games on the Steam store that are completely broken when you click play. With that said, you could argue Jade Empire occupies a spot near the bottom of BioWare's catalogue. Mashy, uninspired combat and a bland story. It's not offensively bad, but it's not great. A 6 or 7 out of 10 if you're being generous. The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would actually recommend this game, but its incredibly annoying to get the steam copy working. get it on GoG or something waaaaay easier to deal with
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It took me 20 years but I finally beat it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game still holds up even today, the Chinese martial arts KOTOR. This was back when Bioware was one of the best videogame developers. I still have a hard time finding many companies as good as Bioware when they were in their prime. The story is amazing, the soundtrack is well done, and the world is one I always go back to. One of Bioware's best and one of the best rpgs ever made. I highly recommend Jade Empire. Can we get a remaster that would be awesome.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It does require some troubleshooting before running flawlessly, but tbh I got there fairly quickly. This game is my childhood along with KOTOR and Fable! 7/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yes i whole heartedly recommend it. Jade empire is a story based RPG set in the jade era of ancient China. It has heavy themes of scholarism Spirituality and myth. It is a martial arts fantasy game With a karma systum (the way of the open palm and way of the closed fist) Enemies include ghosts Toad Horse elephant rhino and bull demons. As well as bandits soldiers pirets and Mercenarys. To be clear the game takes a bit work to get running as its pretty darn old its not alot of work though just…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game is an underrated classic. such a complex and immersive world for its time
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i love this game, its one of my favorites of all time however due to the numerous bugs and crashes in the PC port i cannot recommend it. sad that such a great game didn't get the port it deserves
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this game is insanely fun for no reason, unironically some of the most interesting and engaging combat from a game that i've ever played. One of my favourite parts is that everyone who voices this predominantly asian setting game is your standard english salaryman.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game wont run, no ports on this app are playable. waste of time and money. DO NOT BUY
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A great Bioware classic! You have some [url=https://www.reddit.com/r/bioware/comments/18g7b4z/ive_done_it_ive_gotten_jade_empire_se_to_work_if/]hoops to jump through if you wanna get this working but once you do them you're golden. (Or just buy the one on GOG) Shorter than I remember from replaying this a bunch when I was a kid, but the writing and story are just as good as I remember!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The BioWare big three on the original Xbox were KOTOR, KOTOR II, and Jade Empire. BioWare had already won me over with KOTOR, so when I saw the same company release this game back in the day, it was an instant buy. I didn’t regret it at all. For its time, Jade Empire was incredible. The fighting is simple, but still has a learning curve, and it felt fairly interactive compared to a lot of RPGs from that era. Your character is flipping around to dodge attacks, switching between multiple…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Loved this game for a long time, just putting it out there that I've been playing it on the steam deck with no issues and no fiddling with settings of configs or anything.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A big nostalgia game for me, so bear in mind a heavy level of bias. I love this game. I love it so much. The story is amazing, the combat is super fun, and exploration is rewarding. The companions have excellent arcs, if you pay attention enough to talk to them every story beat! An amazing example of BioWare at its peak. My tiny gripes: There aren't a whole lot of respawning enemies, but those that are there annoy the snot out of me (cough Necropolis cough) The moral choices between the Way…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unfortunately, it isn't adapted to modern systems, which often makes it a hassle to play. I expected the same quality as Knights of the Old Republic, which came out two years earlier, but Jade Empire doesn't come close. So far, the story has at least been entertaining.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First played this game when it came out in the early 2000s. Loved it, put hours into it. Got again on Steam recently and once again loving it. Let's start with the bad, what little there is - the game is over 20 years old. By today's standards it may come across as clunky. The graphics are... well... early 2000s. Not bad for Early 200s and still better than some stuff that comes out today - but still, early 2000s Now the good: The game was made during Bioware's early golden age and people…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Launch isn't launching, audio isn't audioing, save isn't saving, bioware isn't fixing...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Click the Guides tab on the game page to learn how to make the game function, its basically running the game in windows vista sp2 compatibility mode and copying and pasting some files. It is a shame it doesn't just work but this classic gem is worth the minor hassle.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →10/10 game, been playing it ever since it released on the OG Xbox back in the day, BUT there are a few hoops you gotta go through. First you need to copy the steam.dll file from your steam install into the game or it will not launch at all. Second you need to rename the launcher as JadeEmpireLauncherBackup and the exe file as JadeEmpireLauncher. then you are good to go. graphics are a bit dated now but plenty of Nexus mods to smooth out the jagged textures and make the cutscenes prettier. -RR
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You have to go through so many hoops to just be able to start the game, and then trying to get 144hz or even just your controller to work correctly is such a hassle
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Launch game through the folder w the exe. Profit.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is broken on arrival. Won't even boot.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →DOES NOT RUN GAME IS BROKEN STEAM PLEASE FIX
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Heya folks, here's a 5th set of screenshots featuring Jade Empire by Bioware and Microsoft Game Studios. #jadeempire #videogames #retrogames #rpg #screenshots
neutral · AI labelView post →Boring gameplay, boring story. I was in to this game at first, entranced by the aesthetic and the KOTOR nostalgia. However, my enthusiasm eventually wore out. The gameplay seems barebones but strategic at first. So many attack types! So many styles! But your ability to use any weapon is hindered by your level, with which the game is quite stingy, so you will probably only be using two attacks the whole game. But then most enemies are immune to all but one attack type, so you will be using just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is ultra choppy after trying all fixes (Ie ClampFPS=0) and some other things but nothing works. Fix your games. It's not that hard EA
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I recommend this game for what it has to offer, but warn anyone who purchases it that it will not be fun getting it to actually launch. None of the work arounds had any effect. I'm actually fortunate in that it I could play by going into the files and hitting the launcher executable. That all aside, I love this game. It was one of my first xbox games and I have never understood why it didn't get more love from the company. It was a solid performer, that we never got a Jade Empire 2 is a tragedy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bioware... when they were still shaping reality like gods.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bioware cooked, very underrated game easily one of my favorites. Such a shame this didn't sell well on release.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The forgotten middle child of Bioware games and honestly I can see why...tho not for a lack of trying First off: this port has some real jank that you need to fix to get the game working (add steam dll to the folder, rename the launchers, the framerate being tied to how long you restarted your computer, etc.) which is frustrating but no big problems after you get the game rolling. As for the game itself, it's a very interesting one. You can see the transition from Bioware's pseudo turn based…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kung fu RPG that definitely feels it's age. I had technical issues and had to look online to get the game to run without crashing. What I saw was very charming and the story was surprisingly good. Even the kung fu was pretty fun but I didn't stick with it because I just have better games to play. Its not bad, and the idea is good enough that I would be interested in a Jade Empire 2 or a reboot or some similar class based magical kung fu RPG system, but I won't hold my breath
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Middling Kingdom TL;DR: An awkward piece of gaming history. Dated, uninteresting, and essentially abandoned. Do not waste your time or money on this. I played this on a whim in 2024 since I never got around to it back in the day. Now that it’s nearly 20 years old, I was curious to see how it held up. I was mildly entertained during my time with this idiosyncratic title, but unless you’re really curious about Bioware’s history, I can not recommend Jade Empire. Developed just after the success…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Truly one of Biowares gems they should have continued to support instead of dropping it at EA's behest. I would give anything to see a sequel to this game and make it a trilogy if possible.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Before anything else, the Steam version of the game is bugged as hell and honestly when I’m in the final act, I don’t really wanna go through the game files just to fix a bug. It kinda breaks the pace. Besides that, the game is great. The combat system works well (aside from the camera getting stuck in walls sometimes), the companions are mostly good, the atmosphere is incredible, and the story is very well written. However, I regret that in the first part of the game (the first three…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is about 6.9 gigabytes and is an original classic to be held in high regard. Dragon Age Veilguard is 92.7 gigabytes and is a DEI atrocity, a multicolored s.hit mark on the planet. Both games are made by the same companies. What the f.uck happened?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played it after disappointment in DA:Veilguard. It was the only BioWare game I haven't played yet. And it is good. It is okay so far. And comparing to the last two DA games it is masterpiece. I've fully completed Jade Empire and I'm satisfied, even though I don't like Japanese setting. What I really enjoyed: - characters are different and interesting. - quests can be completed in different ways and some side quests are really good and funny. - choices matter and they have an impact on your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The graphics are a little dated but the gameplay has exactly what many modern games are missing ... fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a certified banger, absolute classic. I highly recommend playing it, and then in the future if you want to play it again, replaying it with the Jade Empire in Style mod. As much as a Jade Empire sequel would be cool and all, honestly it's practically a blessing, considering it may have been absoluted pillaged, assaulted and butchered, especially if the hollow husk of new Bioware made it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Big pity that this game requires tinkering to work properly instead of working out of the box as it should. Because it is a great game, very fun with a well-realised world. It shows its age and can be clunky in areas but I still had a lot of fun playing it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is easily one of my favorite games from my childhood. Sadly, I cannot get the game to load past the splash screen after Windows 11 24H2, I believe. I do know the fixes for the Steam client issue, and video configuration menu, etc. and all those are working properly from what I can tell. However, I’m able to play it on a secondary device running an version of Windows 10, so I can still indulge every now and again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I truly recommend this game to most people I meet. It is an older title but the storyline is still one of my favorites. Unfortunately I have come across a bug where I’m unable to load into the game because of a “steam not found” error. Hopefully it does not affect anyone else who purchases this game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not that you should have todo this but Jade Empire works perfectly on steam deck. Loving the nostalgia but controls can get a bit weird in certain instances like combat.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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