Title: Third Chance
Author: Gegegehu
Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Adventure
Status: Work In Progress
Fandom: Prince of Persia (2008 videogame)
Pairings: Prince/Elika
Summary: Treasure, magic, love, princesses and thieves, flying carpets and dastardly foes, ancient knowledge and dark gods. Accompany an unwilling hero, and his maybe too willing companion on their journey to save the world.
Link: FanFiction.Net



Alright. This fic is about the 2008 Prince of Persia videogame, which has nothing at all to do with other games with that title. Obviously, a playthrough of the game is required, or at least an idea of its plot through a wiki or whatever. It helps if you've taken the time to do the optional dialogues with Elika.

The upsides: This fic's great boon is it's characterization. The Prince specifically is masterfully interpreted. There are also some OCs which are very well made, and draw interest. The characters progress with time, so the Prince's outlook changes over time, while still remaining the same character from the game. It expands (creates?) on his nonexistent backstory from the game.
Strong background research on the author's part. That leads to, mostly successful, attempt to place the videogame chronologically and geographically.
Good humor, for the most part.
The story sticks to the game's characterization of the Prince and Elika, but goes above and beyond that.

The downsides: First of all that will be mentioned, is the update rate. One of the worst update rates I have ever seen, this story has 18 chapters over the course of over 3 years. However, in the last posted chapter the author mentioned that this story is far from abandoned, so that's good. I assume it a WIP for now.

The second most important downside is that, while characterization is absolutely brilliant, the plot suffers for it. The author has admitted to knowing this, but it's there. The first dozen chapters have little in the way of plot, though its rich with character interactions and development.

The last downside that I can think of is that sometimes the author makes rookie mistakes while writing. Impossibly long sentences, typos, forgotten comas, etc. Its not eye-boggling, but it's there. The A/Ns can be a bit of hassle, too.


So yeah, some may not like this, but it's definitely a 4.5/5 for me. I enjoyed reading this immensely, because it delivered exactly what the game made me want more of. Prince/Elika interactions. Throw some interesting OCs, some mysteries, an impossible quest, and you get this story.

 

Bumped to gain attention.

No one else? I hesitate to move it based on just the OP's vote.

 

I dug into this, and really liked it. 4/5 from me. There are hints of grander plots and greater strategies, but this is really just a character drama. A very fun and enjoyable character drama. Great attention to detail.

 

Dunno if anyone's following this, but it just got updated, after nearly a year.