Before getting to my feedback, keep in mind I might be a bit biased because I beat the original release of this game many years ago, multiple times.
I am very fond of this game, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an unusual, classic-style RPG, given they are willing to look past some jank. A playthrough takes 20-30h, a bit more for the true ending. In my opinion, it's truly a gem of the OHRRPGCE (the engine it's built on) community, but is not for everyone, and many aspects are dated by today's standards, so I'll list my criticisms first before we get to the positives:
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[*] Accessibility is unfortunately a major problem for this and and many other game made in its engine. The entire experience is a photo-sensitivity hazard, with quick blinking lights, text during battles that appears for a split second, a stylized font that cannot be changed, etc. This makes battles especially annoying to understand at first, you might see flying text such as "^ Str" and not know what it means.
[*] This release still has some bugs, although less than older releases, and nothing particularly game-breaking in my experience.
[*] Difficulty could use more tuning: you'll find the beginning of the game to be brutally difficult, but the later parts of the game might become trivial if you max out the saludan training. You might find yourself ignoring some parts of combat design, especially Icons, and some Skills. It's somewhat easy to optimize the fun away from combat after a while.
[*] Both a positive and a negative, the story is not for everyone. It gets surprisingly philosophical, and definitely not what you'd expect from an unassuming looking RPG. You might find some aspects of it disagreeable, or tough to read through, though I will say I personally enjoy it.
[*] I think most of the music is great, but the new soundtrack suffers a bit because the original was arranged for Window's MIDI soundfont. Some tracks do not sound as intended if using the new versions of the music.
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That out of the way, I have lots of praise for this game. For a small-scale indie game made with an obscure engine, it's clear every step of the way that a lot of love went into making Sword of Jade.
[b]COMBAT[/b]
Despite its visual shortcomings, the combat implements various unusual mechanics that are fun to work with. Whenever you use an attack, your character gets a small bonus to a stat (Strength by default) for the duration of the battle. There is also a "Gain" stat which determines how big those stat increases are. This mechanic creates setup strategies, such as using Mi'La's SpdStrike to gradually make her much faster during combat, and healing Dogero as he slowly builds up his Strength stat.
I also like how the game handles skill costs: Instead of keeping an amount of points to spend outside of battle and using items to restore them, you start with full Skill Points (SP) every battle, and can only recover them by using normal attacks or defending. The amount of SP recovered is also determined by Gain.
Leveling doesn't increase stats except for HP. Instead, each level allows you to either unlock or upgrade one skill. Stat progression is instead done through saludan training, which costs money and time, and is done for only one stat at a time. It forces strategy, at least during the early game.
Finally, you can avoid most non-boss battles if you wish to. There are no random encounters, and instead enemies are visible in the map.
[b]TIME SYSTEM[/b]
This might be another unattractive aspect of the game: taking too long to beat it can result in a game over. There is a doomsday timer constantly ticking, except during battle and dialogue. This makes time a resource to manage. Losing non-boss battles doesn't trigger a game over, and instead incurs a time penalty. Crafting Icons can take time, too.
In my opinion though, this system is less punishing than it might seem. The game expects you to go off the beaten path to discover and complete side quests, and the reward is additional time. Side quests often have interesting additional dialogue, but if not, they are very short and never overstay their welcome. Most areas in the game are affected by the time of day; NPCs move around and go to sleep, different enemies appear at different times, and some quests are affected by time too.
There is also a part of the story which I won't spoil, that rewards you for completing a dungeon in optimal time.
[b]STORY[/b]
I believe the story is the aspect of the game with the most effort put in. I think it's mostly very cohesive. It has a full cast of characters, well-written dialogue, and multiple endings. Some characters might feel a little bit underdeveloped. It's clear that the two main characters (Dogero, Mi'La) and main villain have the sharpest writing, but the rest are still quite good.
The overall narrative definitely has something to say. It has clear ideas and a thesis, expressed through dialogue, side quests, the music, maybe even enemy designs and names. The story sometimes runs the risk of being heavy-handed with its message. The ideals expressed in the game often sound like someone's real-life philosophy, and you might find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with it in earnest, which is unusual for games of its kind.
Reaching the true ending requires exploring more than you usually would and defeating some extra bosses. The normal ending might feel unsatisfying, and it's significantly different from the full ending, which is much better.
Overall, if you're willing to look past its flaws, I recommend this game wholeheartedly.
