I thought Jade Empire was ho-hum. It's okay, but a little easy. There's only one really challenging boss. It has some obvious flaws but overall is a nice RPG.
My advice. Take Tiger claws, not legendary strike,and then eventually max out that, Paralyzing Palm, and Soul Strike. Then for support focus on the staff for reach, fire toad for invulnerabilities, and one of the two magic attacks (fire or ice) for a magic attack. (you'll also need one to help defeat the emperor.) I wouldn't put points into anything else.
But once you max the first three it's really easy.