There’s been some remarks about how Jade Empire focuses more on action than role-playing. This isn’t entirely far from the truth: most of the game revolves around combat, and this is reflected in the large amount of styles available to the PC. Additionally, the game’s short length doesn’t provide as much content or exploration as Knights of the Old Republic or Baldur’s Gate 2. When compared to Bioware’s previous role-playing titles it’s also bereft of many character development options. There’s no stealth to speak of, for instance, and no skills that are based on environmental interaction such as lock picking. Because of this, the main venues for character advancement rely mainly on combat and dialogue. This produces an unusual change in the company's usual formula: while the by now classic Bioware dialogue that tries to appeal to the altruistic, the money grubber or the raving lunatic inside all of us is still there, and there’s not as much dialogue as in their past games, there’s more importance given to it this time around, with plenty of quests and interactions being somewhat more developed and offering some more role-playing opportunities to their formula. It’s perhaps then safe to say that there is a great deal of action and that the role-playing, while generally less, is perhaps more focused on the paths it offers. The downside is that if you are looking for character diversity or other role-playing venues, you won't find them. And if you don't enjoy the dialogue or the combat, chances are you won't like what the game has to offer.​