When Bioware announced that their next console RPG would not be a follow-up to the incredibly popular and successful Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, but rather would be some entirely unrelated game that took place in a fantasy Asian setting, some gamers were confused. Why not give gamers the successor to KOTOR they obviously wanted? Well, as we now know, someone else is handling the KOTOR2 duties (quite handily, too, as it seems), leaving Bioware free to experiment by making up their own, totally unique franchise. From what we were shown by Microsoft reps at E3, the choice to ditch The Force and to follow The Way was a solid one.

Jade Empire is a bit of a departure from KOTOR in many ways, yet in many others is a very similar sort of title. Jade Empire places the gamer in an ancient Chinese-like setting with plenty of fantasy accents. The martial arts play a very heavy role here, as do magical abilities. Unlike KOTOR, in which you told your characters what to do during battles but they handled all the details, Jade Empire relies on button combos and special moves during combat, meaning you’ll be doing all the attacking manually, as in a fighting game. There will be a huge number of attacks, as well as reversals and special moves that you can perform. Also, your character will learn a number of different fighting styles as he or she progresses through the game, and you’ll be able to switch between those styles quickly with the D-pad, meaning you weaken an opponent using just your hands, then switch to a weapons-based style and cut him to pieces.

But, while the fighting looks to be much more action-packed, we’re still expecting the rest of the gameplay to turn out very similar to KOTOR, with numerous open-ended quests and dialogue decisions that will affect how characters treat you and how the game pans out. The campaign itself will involve journeys to fantastic places and confrontations with mythical beasts. In other words, it should be amazing.

The graphics should hold up their end of the bargain, too. Slightly more polished than those seen in KOTOR, things in Jade Empire are looking good. Plus, the environments in Jade Empire have a very different look to them, an often bright and alive feeling that was often lacking in KOTOR.