Thinking about picking it up. Anybody played it yet? And how similar is it to the older Princes?

 

I actually don't mind the cell shaded graphics, sometimes. So, different Prince, no Sands, and no Farah.

Basically a whole different type of game that happens to be called Prince of Persia.

I think I'll rent it first.

 

Ya they were also shitty. I see you forgot to mention that. Gritty and realistic, ya the demon chain thing and split personality were so real I almost shit my pants.

The sands of time trilogy was basically a combo-based hack 'n slash with minor elements of puzzle oriented platforming, nothing like the original Prince of Persia, for those of us who actually still remember it.

The new Prince of Persia is actually going back to its roots. Sure it has a new visual style, but if you're basing your decisions to play a game based on the fact that its cell shaded you might be missing out on some gems. Jet Grind Radio, Jet Set Radio Future, That one zelda game that I didn't play. This PoP is far more platform oriented, and like the original PoP you're only fighting one enemy at a time. Take a look at the battles though, each one is supposed to be different, and they all look pretty epic to me. I'd much rather fight one enemy that I actually have to focus my thoughts on trying to kill than 25 guys at the same time where all you do is mash buttons.

EDIT: Umm Jake Gillen...that dude from the fucking rocket movie. Playing the prince?

 

I rented it, and it's fun. Now, by no means is it extremely challenging, but the combat is fun and it draws you in, although I do wish that they had given the enemies more health. The platforming aspect is also a lot of fun, but it's about what you expect from a platformer.

Run, jump, slide down the wall, grab, jump, wall-run, jump, land. Rinse and repeat. You get the idea.

I do wish that they had put more regular battles in though. I'm maybe a two hours in, and I've only had two enemies spawn and try to attack me, in between the 'big' fights.

The graphics, in my opinion, actually help this game. They don't look all that kiddy, and it looks good. Just a different style of art. Not for everyone.

 

...

All I can say; LOL!

The Sands of Time trilogy may have lacked in the controls department, but the story was fucking awesome. The characters and the voice acting was top notch. The enemies were inventive and could really be challenging. The art work and atmosphere and music actually matched the mood the story set.

The games were great because of more than just the gameplay.The controls sucked, yeah, it could have been better, yeah, and there are better games. But lets face it. The original Prince of Persia? Good series. Sands of Time Series? Epic series. The NEW Prince of Persia? Looks like it might be interesting, but it looks childish as hell because of the cell-shade design.

Thats a flaw as far as I'm concerned.

 

At no point was I attacking you or your opinion, merely stating mine. And when did I say you weren't old enough to remember, not everything is about you mate. Perhaps it was for people, I don't know... who don't remember it?

And do you realize what a supreme cocksucker you make yourself look like when instead of forming a rational argument you immediately attack a minor grammatical flaw.

Ya.

 

Alright, so, they took out the whole messing up a jump, falling, dying, and getting a restart screen thing; instead, you mess up a jump, you fall, and instead of dying, Elika catches you and you restart at the beginning.

Seems to me all they did was take out a short loading time and a 'Hey, you're dead' screen.

Not really that big of deal.

Granted, they could have made it so you die in fights. But, you can really only take two hits in a short period of time before you 'die', and when Elika knocks the enemy back to 'save' you, they heal. So, at least they gave some repercussions.

 

to be honest, never been a huge fan of POP, but can rent the new one earlier than the release date, so decided lets go for it.

Not very exciting, I'm not that into platforming and it seems really easy to me, just jump here, press X here, not very difficult.

Combat isn't up to any standard either, no dying means you never lose, its just not exciting, plus had like 4 boss fights that each took a minute and two random battles, all in the space of a couple of hours, not very good!

Plus having to collect all these random light seeds from areas you've just been around, boring!

I would only recommend to borrow or rent cause its easy trophies.

P.s Graphics are rubbish for characters, just looks like a gamecube game, other visuals, not too bad.

 

Alright, so, I beat the game today, and since pro reviews nowadays aren't very good, in my opinion, I'll give you my take on it.

It's good. Honestly, once I started playing and got around a couple hours in, I fell in love with it. But, that's a completely biased opinion. Most people will simply like it, I think.

First, the graphics. I know a few of you thought the cell shading was a bad idea, that it made it look too kiddy. I can honestly say that the screenshots and even videos of it in motion don't do it justice. The graphics are fucking beautiful. It felt like I was playing in a watercolor painting. Before the game came out, I was wishing they would use more realistic graphics. I just don't think they'd have worked with this type of game.

They also pay a lot of attention to little details. Things like claw marks being left on the wall after a wall run, things like that. I like how they made the characters move. When the Prince is wall running, you really get this sense of him scrambling for every extra foot before jumping towards a ledge or a pole or whatever. It just looks very cool.

The musical score is very... majestic, I guess. I liked it. Combine it with the graphics, and you get this sense of a fairytale or a mystical story.

Controls. I can honestly say this is one of the few things I didn't like. They could have been improved. The button layout they had was excellent, but they're slightly unresponsive. Things like you move the Prince around to the other side of the pole to jump off, but instead he jumps off on the wrong side. Or you press the jump button to many times, and as soon as he lands on a wall, he jumps off into empty space. Not so big a problem as to be a big deal, but mildly frustrating.

Gameplay. The platforming is pretty neat. It's fluid, slick, and moves at a pretty quick pace. Combat, though, is a different story. You're either going to love it or hate it. It's all one on one, and it's a lot more strategic based. The enemies will enter 'forms' where they can only be damaged by certain attacks, or not at all. If the latter happens, you have to knock them into, say, crumbling pillars to hurt them, or off a ledge. For me, it was very immersing and a fresh approach that I liked. One button for your sword, one for your grip gauntlet, or throw in other words, one for Elika, and one for acrobatics/aerial attacks.

You combine these in the right ways, and they make for some spectacularly awesome visuals. Now, by no means is combat hard or difficult. But, it's fun.

The only thing I didn't like was all of the Quick Time events. Some were okay, but there was just to many of them for me to be happy. Sometimes you'll get like three or four in a row, all right after the other, and it really breaks up the speed and momentum of the fight.

Story. Meh. It's your typical 'god tries to destroy the world, better stop him'. No biggie. The best part was all the backstory. At any point in the game, at any time, you can press the Left trigger on the Xbox controller, and you'll speak to Elika. It isn't mandatory, but the backstory she provides about herself, the kingdom, and the various locales you visit really flesh it out. The dialog is well written and well acted.

The characters, at least the Prince, get fleshed out this way. You don't get a lot of his backstory besides him being a thief, tomb robber, and playboy, but you can see him changing as he starts to grow attached to Elika. At first, it's basically 'Oh, hey, she's hot. I'm gonna follow her around for a while and try to get in her pants. Better make sure she doesn't die.' which gradually progresses into him actually caring about her, the kingdom and trying to stop the corruption from spreading.

The dying thing, I can see how that would bug you. Trust me when I say though, that after seeing that fucking scene where she grabs your hand to pull you to the last solid ground you was on, you're going to grow to hate it just as much as the restart screen. Jesus, I hate that scene. Whenever she rescues you in battle, the enemy either gains all of it's health back or at least a good chunk of it, so that wasn't a big concern for me.

All in all, I loved this game. Elika is fucking awesome, which was the exact opposite of what I expected. She rarely gets in your way, and in my opinion, her interactions with the Prince are what makes this game great.

Biased review score: 10/10

Realistically, though, it actually probably deserves a 7.5/10. It's repetitive, and doesn't have a lot of replay value unless you loved it.

The ending guarantees a sequel though. I'm already looking forward to it.