Prince of Persia

Quicktime events ruin the combat.

The sword combat could feel brilliant and flow with beauty. However, Prince of Persia never lets this happen, as it's interrupted with quicktime events. This was that era. The absolute worst thing of the Seventh Generation: QTE. Quite disappointing. Seriously some of the best swordplay I've experienced in a video game, but the QTE ruins it. Just awful. Sad.

The last level isn't fun.

The variation of perspective and lack of colour for the parkour-ing makes it difficult in an un-fun and un-challenging way. Just annoying. I feel personally insulted when game devs don't respect my time, and don't play-test games enough. Yes, it looks beautiful. Initially. But any game can look dull and uninspiring when you've seen the same stage for the tenth time in the same fifteen minutes.

The levels are too linear.

You can choose where to go, but you really can't take alternate routes to get there. Makes traveling the same areas feel pointless after you collect the spirit things that unlock powers, so it's essential you can teleport to fast-travel. As the paths are so linear the parkour would have benefited from more parts where the route is better defined, which allows for efficient sleekness of uninterrupted gameplay.

...That's really the heart of PoP's problem: in an effort to tell its story, Prince of Persia constantly interrupts itself needlessly. Makes me appreciate something revolutionary that much more, like when The Last of Us showed gamers that story could be told during travel, during breaks in action, without stopping the natural flow of the game. I understand needing to tell the story, but we now know better ways to do this without stopping the player's meaningful interaction completely dead.

Games like Prince of Persia make me angry. It's not just some average game. It's not some forgettable experience. Prince of Persia is a beautiful game with timeless (gameplay) animation and some genuinely enjoyable parkour-style platforming. It's a memorable game. I wouldn't be angered by something notoriously awful like Superman 64. Universally hated, I can watch 10 seconds of gameplay and know that game was a steaming turd. But PoP had so much potential to be a great game. All that held it back were poor decisions. Technological limitations and know-how do not limit Prince of Persia at all. It was simply bad choices. It's incredibly disappointing. I would LOVE a remake that dispenses with the QTE and constant breaks in parkour travel. Fix those things, and you have a great game. Allow the combat to feel continuous. The story should be told in dialogue like it is, but allow it to unfold naturally without interrupting travel.

That's it. Fix these things and you instead have a game that is perfectly-paced and flows with the player, not against her.

I really wanted to love this game. I damn-near did. But I will not be replaying PoP, sadly.

Prince of Persia is remarkable in its animation and some of its gameplay mechanics, but the constant interruption of potential flow ultimately sours the experience.

Some random, reckless adventurer(apparently not a prince... well, it's his nickname, for some reason) with absurd-looking abs stumbles upon a forgotten land in the desert. Buried under the Tree of Life is Ahriman, the god of darkness, and he's being let out. Our lead has to prevent this, of course, and it's by healing the areas, restoring nature(and you can really tell if you're in an area you've taken care of or not) with the use of magic(wait, what? Guys, you're channelling the wrong animated Robin Williams flick!). Who can make this happen? Why, the resident brunette tanned Meg Ryan, Elika. I hope she understands that it's nothing personal, I have to call them as I see them... she is the bane of the game. If you're in danger, she'll save you(in place of the Sands of Time), anytime, including in combat(all that'll happen is that the opponent will regain some health). The compass power can be useful, however, as it shows you exactly what direction to go, it takes away having to find your way(you can even teleport between places where you've gotten your Ferngully on... yes, there's a lot of (open-ended)ground to cover; there didn't need to be!). While these two might not sound that bad, they effectively take away all the risk. Yes, you will have to redo a brief portion if you mess up, and that's like in the other ones. And no, I realize that the fact that you don't "die" shouldn't make that big of a difference(I get it, they wanted to do away with loading, make it smoother)... guess what, it does. Add to that the taking away of a lot of freedom of movement(you'll usually hit the mark whether you're trying to or not), and we're left with an excessively streamlined production that feels like a slightly interactive film. Honestly, you hardly need to touch the keyboard for parts of this! Before, exact precision, coordination, timing and figuring out where to go were vital, and if you couldn't live up to those, you couldn't complete them. This tries so hard to satisfy and coddle us that it forgets to be exciting. There are next to no puzzles at all. We get new acrobatics(thus allowing for different agile stunts), such as the rings(allowing you to continue on your path, regardless of what move you were in the middle of) and the Roof Run. Yes, you run upside down. Part of why this was even made was clearly to raise the middle finger even more towards poor little gravity, as we can see by the four abilities. Two of them are pretty much "launching you in the opposite direction"(one has a "swinging on a vine" style to it), then we have flight(you only get to affect where in the "screen" you are, not where you go), and my favorite, running on any surface(it's the most challenging, as you have to dodge stuff in your way, if it remains a breeze; you get these by collecting Light Seeds, a practice that seems to lose all relevance once you do have the whole quarter). You execute the wall-run by jumping into the surface, and slowly slide down(further taking away the threat of falling... you can't use it everywhere, thankfully), both on account of our still nameless hero having stolen Freddy Krueger's glove. This gauntlet can be applied in the fencing(you grab the other to throw them), in addition to the sword that's literally as long as he is(compensating for something?), a physical move and the aforementioned supernatural assistance(they pulled an Assassin's Creed on the controls, by the way... the four aforementioned are all bound to their specific key, regardless of the situation where you use it... there's also a "talk to her" thing(she'll explain background, and they have dialog... well-written, at times playful and fun), and you can bring up/dismiss the map that gives you a good overview, so you can sit down and play this within mere moments, not a lot to learn), and these can be chained into combos, and the enemies sometimes guard themselves from all other than one type of approach(why yes, it is like an RPG in that way). Yes, there is some "quick chess" to this slower, one on one thing, like the '89 one and SoT(making you wonder why you go up against so few foes in this... and yeah, it can be intense, as can sliding downwards be, and the maneuvering does have moments(not enough)). You're trapped in the arena until the fight(most of them are against bosses, and you fight the same 4 – the concubine, the alchemist, the hunter and the warrior – several times... they tend to be frustrating or easy; the "click this now" thing isn't bad(it's got nothing on The Two Thrones, though)) is over. Block at the correct fraction of a second and you'll deflect, and have a chance of hitting the other. They get repetitive and kind of annoying, as you usually have only one thing to do, and you spend excessive amounts of time just waiting for the other one to get done with their blows so you get an opening. Let's talk graphics, obviously the real raison d'etre of this. They are beautifully done, and the cel-shading looks nice. As far as gorgeous horizons, plant life and the like go, this is this medium's answer to Avatar. The leads are well-done and the level of expression is marvelous... well, hers is, he only looks right when he smiles. The lipsynching is off at times, too. There's no replayability to this... there are alternate skins for the two protagonists and a handful of galleries, that's it. Only one difficulty setting. The ending is weird and a letdown. Visually, "the corruption" is cool, a Venom quality to it, it oozes and tries to reach you. You can save anytime. There is mild violence and suggestive content in this. I recommend this to fans of the franchise not looking for anything tough. 6/10

Whoa! That's all I can say about this game right now. This was better than the sands of time in some ways for example, graphics, enemies, more running on walls etc.

You play as the man with no name but he's called Prince. He is walking in the desert, lost his donkey, when he sees a woman being chased by baddies. He goes and rescues her but then realizes he has stumbled into something dangerous. Ahriman, corrupted leader, has broke free of the spells and his terrifying power unleashes. He has no choice but to help,along with Elika, and save the land of his evil clutches.

This game was a letdown to the series. Not! The only things that are wrong with the game are, the repetitive fights, the rating PG which people though was funny, and you can never die in this game since Elika always saves you.

The frustrating this about POP4 was the orb collecting which made crazy and sometimes i would quit the game because the orbs are so hard to get especially the tricky ones.

Music: 8.5 Game play: 9.0 Story: 8.0 Overall: 9.5(Incredible)

This game has a great visual style, good styled world, well-built locations, nice graphics, parkour system is simple but interesting to watch. That's where the pros end.

In general, the game gives the impression that it lacks something. The gameplay is monotonous. The essence of the game is that in one large location you need to activate 20 places to revive this world, the whole process of moving from one place to another is the same everywhere.

There are 4 power that open as the game progresses and allow you to use a new way of moving, something like a strong jump or flight, but it doesn't change the gameplay too much.

There are only 2 or 3 puzzles in all game, and this is only in the last location. The plot is nothing, it is presented in the form of 2-3 words between the characters, the cut-scenes are poor, there is no disclosure of the characters, who they are, where they come from, and they are not interesting at all.

Very terrible combat system, apparently the developers wanted to bring something new, but it's didn't work, it all comes down to the fact that you just need to press a certain combination of buttons in time (only like 4 combinations), just the same as with parkour.

The whole game you just need to press the right buttons in time, the player can only choose which way to go and which of the 3 combinations of buttons to press in battle.

I don't think this attempt of reimagining the series worked.

I have to confess, I never really played any of the Prince of Persia games before diving into the 2008 reboot. I wasn't particularly interested in the franchise, but after catching enticing trailers and noticing the game go on sale, I decided to give it a chance. Boy, am I glad I did! This title is hands down one of the best Ubisoft games I've ever played, which feels kind of bizarre to say because it has surprisingly little combat. Yet, it completely captured my attention, and to this day, I'm still holding out hope for a direct sequel.

The game kicks off with a thrilling encounter-our protagonist is caught in a fierce sandstorm when he comes across a princess on the brink of capture by two soldiers. After some quick banter, he decides to join her quest. It turns out she has incredible time-manipulating powers, and your mission revolves around freeing areas plagued by corruption to aid her in her quest.

At its core, this game is a traversal experience. You navigate through beautifully designed environments, scaling and leaping like a true acrobat. The level design is impressive; it's somewhat linear at times, but there's still plenty of room to explore and hunt for extra loot. A unique aspect is that you can't actually die in the game due to the princess's time powers, which might sound like a downside, but it actually adds to the challenge. I often found myself completely immersed, so focused on the captivating world and gripping story that I completely forgot about the combat-or the lack thereof. The few sword fights were serviceable, if a bit uniquely designed, focusing on enemy movements rather than just button-mashing.

What truly stands out here is the relationship between the two main characters. It might sound cliché, but their bond genuinely deepens, and I found myself emotionally invested in their journey. You can engage in conversations with the princess at almost any point during the game, and it's not just filler chat-there's always something new to discover. These interactions enrich the gameplay and solidify their connection, making every moment you spend traversing that much more meaningful.

Graphically, the game holds up impressively well due to that stunning hand-drawn aesthetic. The art style, along with great music and sound effects, makes for an immersive experience, so no complaints on that front!

The story lasts around 13 hours, but it feels much longer because there's almost no bloat, something Ubisoft is often criticized for in their titles. I enjoyed it so much that I immediately downloaded the extra story DLC after completing the main game. While I won't delve into spoilers, I did notice some areas felt slightly more irritating in the DLC, as if they were designed to stretch out gameplay time.

It's such a shame this game didn't become a massive hit. In my opinion, it's Ubisoft's best title to date, and it seems like the Prince of Persia franchise has faded away into obscurity. I simply don't understand why folks complain about Ubisoft moving away from single-player experiences when a gem like this goes largely unnoticed.

This game deserves more love and recognition. It's a solid 10/10 in my book. Seriously, GO buy it right now. You won't regret it!