There's an option in the menu to make your hero auto-run, but that gives you the turning circle of an oil tanker when wandering around villages. In Jade Empire you have to manipulate a virtual stick, and there's a creaky analogue system for differentiating between walking and running. In KOTOR, you simply swipe up to start moving, then swipe left or right to steer your hero. I (don't) like the way you moveĮven basic movement is handled differently across both games. There's an MFi controller option, but any time that's a solution to a mobile game's control issues, I'd argue that game has failed. It's a bit of a mess, and flipping between attacks and modes feels clumsy.

You're given a clunky set of virtual controls with which to engage in these (relatively) fast-moving battles. This hasn't been mapped particularly elegantly to mobile. You can switch to varying styles and pull out weapons - again, in real time. You move your warrior around the battlefield and hit buttons to dodge, block, and initiate attacks in real time. KOTOR was a PC game first and foremost, but Jade Empire was a more streamlined action RPG for the console crowd. Fighting styleĬonversely, while Jade Empire shares its DNA with KOTOR, they're quite different beasts. Needless to say, this played out pretty well on an iPad screen, where the touch interface suits 'slow and deliberate' better than 'quick and reactive'. If things aren't going your way, you simply pause the game, have a think, reshuffle your equipment or party approach, then resume and watch your new plan unfold. In particular, battles are semi-automated affairs that are more about your party set-up and strategic decisions than any sort of manual dexterity. While watching it in action might suggest a third person adventure with frenetic (if slightly stilted) combat, it's actually quite a laid-back, hands-off experience. 2013 to be exactĪ large part of the reason why KOTOR, in all its complicated glory, worked so well on mobile back in 2013 was because of the kind of RPG it originally was. It's not even a question of the quality of the game itself - that's for a review to reflect upon - but rather the fundamental nature of the conversion. I've spent only a little time with Jade Empire on iOS, but I can tell already that it's no KOTOR.

Surely it would be a similarly great fit for mobile, then.

Jade Empire shares many of its core elements with KOTOR - it was built with the same engine and released just four years later. Indeed, what makes Jade Empire's arrival on the App Store such a big deal is the fact that the mobile conversion of KOTOR turned out to be brilliant. Here is a conversion of a forgotten gem from the developer of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - one of the greatest RPG games ever made. Jade Empire roundhouse kicked its way onto iOS this week, prompting a great deal of excitement.

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