10 Obvious Video Game Remasters The Industry Is Ignoring
9. Jade Empire
Optional romances and choice-driven narratives are fairly common in today's market, but BioWare's Jade Empire is one of the founding fathers, and deserves greater recognition.
First released in 2005, Jade Empire saw favourable reviews across the board, but did not sell particularly well. This is suggested to be because of a busy release window, which featured the likes of Unreal Championship 2.
Jade Empire also features a fantastic open-world. Set in ancient East Asia using elements from Chinese mythology, this region and time-period is often unexplored by Western developers, relying on fictional medieval realms or obscure Nordic lands instead.
You play as a Spirit Monk. Able to harness the powers of the elements, you are tasked with retrieving your kidnapped master and stopping the Lotus Assassins from harnessing the powers of the Water Dragon.
With branching narratives, betrayals and an ending affected by your decisions, Jade Empire could help breathe life into a quite frankly decaying MMORPG marketplace.
The issues plaguing Bethesda's Fallout 76 have led many to doubt how good the upcoming Elder Scrolls 6 will be, and with the production of Dragon Age 4 looking rocky due to the failures of Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda, a return to the game that started the trend may not be a bad idea for BioWare.