11 Yrs♥✓#
Prince of Persia is an action-adventure and platforming video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The game is set in ancient Persia, with a player-character whose name is not revealed in the game. He is accompanied by a woman named Elika, whom he met after a large sandstorm diverted him from his course and he ended up in a mysterious land. Players traverse many different environments using his acrobatic abilities to scale walls and even crawl on the ceilings. Throughout the journey, players combat various enemies as they attempt to cleanse the land of corruption. The game's storyline and setting borrowed some aspects from Zoroastrianism.
10 Yrs♥✓#
I won't be able to start this for a couple of weeks, when I will be back home and reunited with my PS3, but I'm really looking forward to playing it and seeing what everyone else thinks of the game.
7 Yrs✓#
thomiaouss
7 Yrs✓#
I just ordered my copy, I never played a Prince of Persia game since The Sands of Time few year prior, I hope it is as good.
11 Yrs♥$✓#
I liked it more. Most people thought it was worse though. I remember the gameplay being fine but not amazing, but the presentation of everything was fantastic.
I'll get to replaying it when I either clear out some space for it or get it together enough to stop running off a single 128 GB SSD when I have plenty of other better options like three feet away.
6 Yrs♥$✓#
FuzzyLapin
6 Yrs♥$✓#
Played this game back many years ago, but I'll fire up the PS3 again to jog my memory. Should be interesting.
12 Yrs♥$✓#
Btw, this is currently 66% off in the Steam Winter Sale. Got it for $3.39 today.
10 Yrs♥$✓#
uvehj
10 Yrs♥$✓#
Yep.
I just discovered that my game cd doesn't work anymore, so that sale just saved the game of the month for me.
On a different note, does anyone know if the epilogue dlc was ever released on pc and if it was if it's possible to get it nowadays?
I've read that the game ends in a cliffhanger that the dlc was supposed to explain (and I've also read that it also ends in another cliffhanger, oh well...)
10 Yrs✓#
CubanPete
10 Yrs✓#
The DLC was never released on PC, but from what others told me the ending of the DLC ends with a cliffhanger too, so if you're looking for something that concludes the story you'll probably not find it in there.
11 Yrs♥$✓#
KingM
11 Yrs♥$✓#
Prince of Persia (2008) was a pretty decent game that deserved continuation, however what followed was a game, based on a movie, based on a game, and now the series has laid dormant for many years, because Assassins Creed is essentially the same thing as Prince of Persia
Also the trailer for the game was great
Also the trailer for the game was great
9 Yrs♥✓#
gamemaster1991
9 Yrs♥✓#
After replaying it, I think I have a better opinion of what to think of this game. To me it's a good game wrapped in a alight game. The PoP mechanics are still there and free running still feels tight(-ish), and the claw, for as weird and out of place it kinda looks, helps descend to places you would need a curtain or banner in a normal PoP game. The main characters play off each other very well in cutscenes, the story was pretty good, and the foreshadowing to future games makes me really want another game.
That being said, I noticed there really isn't anything to do in the game. The main point is to go from place to place, beating up the area baddie, and saving the land, rinse repeat until final boss time. I was expecting a lot of platforming challenges along with a bunch of puzzles to brake up the platforming, but their wasn't alot of puzzles (I think I counted 5 in total) and the platforming wasn't challenging. Most of the time, I would go into an area, beat it with in 12 minutes (being generous), and then spend the next half hour looking for Light Seeds. If it weren't for the Light Seeds, which you need like 400 something of them, the game would be really short. That stages look really beautiful, but most if not all of them are really small with the paths just there to get Light Seeds.
The story and characters are fine, but you need to stop and talk to the princess to get most of the details, which really brakes the flow of the game, expectantly when it's just the two characters just talking not doing anything. It also doesn't help that this Prince just happens to be Nathan Drake without the charm and part of the wit. The minions of Ahriman seem uninspired. Trying to remember what they looked like and I can tell you one was bulky, one had a red robe thing, one was a girl with pink, and there was a forth one. They just seemed like big blobs in the shape of people, which makes them stand out alot more when the background looks so good.
If I can leave off on a good note, it's better then the DS sequel which STILL leaves us on a cliffhanger. I still prefer the Sands of Time games, but its still a half likable game and at lest it's better then most of the handheld games.
That being said, I noticed there really isn't anything to do in the game. The main point is to go from place to place, beating up the area baddie, and saving the land, rinse repeat until final boss time. I was expecting a lot of platforming challenges along with a bunch of puzzles to brake up the platforming, but their wasn't alot of puzzles (I think I counted 5 in total) and the platforming wasn't challenging. Most of the time, I would go into an area, beat it with in 12 minutes (being generous), and then spend the next half hour looking for Light Seeds. If it weren't for the Light Seeds, which you need like 400 something of them, the game would be really short. That stages look really beautiful, but most if not all of them are really small with the paths just there to get Light Seeds.
The story and characters are fine, but you need to stop and talk to the princess to get most of the details, which really brakes the flow of the game, expectantly when it's just the two characters just talking not doing anything. It also doesn't help that this Prince just happens to be Nathan Drake without the charm and part of the wit. The minions of Ahriman seem uninspired. Trying to remember what they looked like and I can tell you one was bulky, one had a red robe thing, one was a girl with pink, and there was a forth one. They just seemed like big blobs in the shape of people, which makes them stand out alot more when the background looks so good.
If I can leave off on a good note, it's better then the DS sequel which STILL leaves us on a cliffhanger. I still prefer the Sands of Time games, but its still a half likable game and at lest it's better then most of the handheld games.
10 Yrs♥$✓#
uvehj10 Yrs♥$✓#
I'm currently playing it and I have a few questions for the people that have played it:
I'm not a fan of collectibles in games and I'm not enjoying the light seeds much. For what I've seen you only need them for the four upgrades. Costing 60 seeds each does that mean that I only need 240/1000 light seeds? If I need to pick less that a quarter of the total seeds I don't think I'll find it tedious. Or is there another purchase I need to make with them?
I'm not a fan of collectibles in games and I'm not enjoying the light seeds much. For what I've seen you only need them for the four upgrades. Costing 60 seeds each does that mean that I only need 240/1000 light seeds? If I need to pick less that a quarter of the total seeds I don't think I'll find it tedious. Or is there another purchase I need to make with them?
9 Yrs♥✓#
gamemaster19919 Yrs♥✓#
The answer is no and no. There is nothing but the four power ups to "buy" with the light seeds. However, the number of light seeds you need increase as you acquire the power ups. 60 for the first, 170 for the second, 340 for the third, and 540 for the last. That's over half that you need, which is good because the stages are kinda layed out for you to grab them easy enough, but are still a pain to grab.
10 Yrs♥$✓#
uvehj10 Yrs♥$✓#
That doesn't sound to bad either. I'll keep on going then.
10 Yrs♥✓#
knalb
10 Yrs♥✓#
Okay I've completed this game about a week ago. Had a few computer problems but now that they've been sorted I've got my review set. Unforntately I didn't like this game
Prince of Persia(2008) is a game with some decent gameplay held back by poor design.
Prince of Persia is an action platformer which puts an emphasis on parkour style gameplay and a rather rhythm flowing style combat system. Both works quiet well and there are no problems in how they handle where it allows for you to easily chain both movements and combat extremely well and it allows for some cinematic combat move chaining together. Unfortunately I felt that these abilities were poorly handled within the whole game.
The game is set up in a non linear fashion where you need to completed four different zones to gain access to the final boss. This can work in certain games and while perfectly implemented into this game it is not suited for this game. Due to the need to allow the user to complete any level in order it means there is a lack of any progress in difficulty in the game and the difficult for the most part stays rather static. It tries to increase difficult with the introduction of new threats during your run but if you’ve timed things correctly these just become an annoyance instead of a threat. Ultimately more difficult runs should’ve been added to the game but it was difficult to do due to the non-linear style which the game works on.
The combat while solid is not used in any interesting way. All enemies including bosses work and act the same and are brought done with the same abilities, meaning there is a lack in variety in how to handle encounters in the game and in the end all encounters end up being defeated with the same combo for me. The only exception is a boss which could only be defeated by either throwing him off ledges or into the environment. He ended up being the most annoying thing to deal with as it was difficult to just push in the right direction to actually do the necessary damage to defeat him.
There is also a lack of agency in the game especially after defeating a boss. When a boss is defeated the area which you fighting in is supposed to crumble around you but it never feels like I needed to worry.
The biggest faux pas I find for this game is that it is filled with too much filler. Once you liberate an area, it will fill with seeds which you need to collect to progress and gain new abilities which are needed to complete the game. From my understanding there are about 1001 seeds and to complete the game you need to collect around half of the seeds. These are placed in the exact same route which you took to complete the level and thus the game is ultimately making you place a level twice to progress through the game. This wasn’t needed and it really ended up being worthless to do.
The story was much to talk about it was the basic threatening evil over arching the whole game which you end up defeating at the end. Unfortunately what it does after the final boss I found infuriating. Ultimately it involved undoing what you’ve done throughout the game for not a very good reason and was really done just to be different it didn’t really feel worth doing that throughout the game.
Ultimately Prince of Persia was a free running game let down back too much filler, lack of variety and progress and lack of agency.
4/10
Prince of Persia(2008) is a game with some decent gameplay held back by poor design.
Prince of Persia is an action platformer which puts an emphasis on parkour style gameplay and a rather rhythm flowing style combat system. Both works quiet well and there are no problems in how they handle where it allows for you to easily chain both movements and combat extremely well and it allows for some cinematic combat move chaining together. Unfortunately I felt that these abilities were poorly handled within the whole game.
The game is set up in a non linear fashion where you need to completed four different zones to gain access to the final boss. This can work in certain games and while perfectly implemented into this game it is not suited for this game. Due to the need to allow the user to complete any level in order it means there is a lack of any progress in difficulty in the game and the difficult for the most part stays rather static. It tries to increase difficult with the introduction of new threats during your run but if you’ve timed things correctly these just become an annoyance instead of a threat. Ultimately more difficult runs should’ve been added to the game but it was difficult to do due to the non-linear style which the game works on.
The combat while solid is not used in any interesting way. All enemies including bosses work and act the same and are brought done with the same abilities, meaning there is a lack in variety in how to handle encounters in the game and in the end all encounters end up being defeated with the same combo for me. The only exception is a boss which could only be defeated by either throwing him off ledges or into the environment. He ended up being the most annoying thing to deal with as it was difficult to just push in the right direction to actually do the necessary damage to defeat him.
There is also a lack of agency in the game especially after defeating a boss. When a boss is defeated the area which you fighting in is supposed to crumble around you but it never feels like I needed to worry.
The biggest faux pas I find for this game is that it is filled with too much filler. Once you liberate an area, it will fill with seeds which you need to collect to progress and gain new abilities which are needed to complete the game. From my understanding there are about 1001 seeds and to complete the game you need to collect around half of the seeds. These are placed in the exact same route which you took to complete the level and thus the game is ultimately making you place a level twice to progress through the game. This wasn’t needed and it really ended up being worthless to do.
The story was much to talk about it was the basic threatening evil over arching the whole game which you end up defeating at the end. Unfortunately what it does after the final boss I found infuriating. Ultimately it involved undoing what you’ve done throughout the game for not a very good reason and was really done just to be different it didn’t really feel worth doing that throughout the game.
Ultimately Prince of Persia was a free running game let down back too much filler, lack of variety and progress and lack of agency.
4/10
10 Yrs♥$✓#
uvehj10 Yrs♥$✓#
I've been playing a bit more of the game and I'm ejoying it so far. Thoug it really shows the jank that ubisoft games are known for.
The platforming is fun, but the fights are really boring. Lots of the fights (even bosses) can be beaten in a couple seconds, just pushing the enemy down a cliff. The rest can be beaten by mashing the same combo again and again and again. Lyuckyly there are very few fights in the game.
Collecting orbs is not as bad, but it can get a bit too tedious. At least they appear after cleansing an area so you spend most of the time in a pretty environment and not in a terrible and ugly corrupted area.
The platforming is fun, but the fights are really boring. Lots of the fights (even bosses) can be beaten in a couple seconds, just pushing the enemy down a cliff. The rest can be beaten by mashing the same combo again and again and again. Lyuckyly there are very few fights in the game.
Collecting orbs is not as bad, but it can get a bit too tedious. At least they appear after cleansing an area so you spend most of the time in a pretty environment and not in a terrible and ugly corrupted area.
11 Yrs♥✓#
So I'm sensing that the reception to Prince of Persia in this thread ranges from mediocre to negative. Let me just say that this would be the part of the post where I would insert a Drag Race gif, specifically of Amy Sedaris behind the judges' table saying "I completely disagree" to Michelle Visage. Unfortunately, such gif does not appear to exist. All that to say, I completely disagree, because I fucking loved this game. It kind of surprised me, actually, because I figured I'd like it (I liked the Sands of Time trilogy, after all), but I was really blown away.
Even though the story is a bit basic, I still thought it was really well done. I mean yeah, the framework of good vs. evil, scrappy underdogs trying to save the world is dime-a-dozen, but it's everything inside the frame that elevates it. Chief among that is the chemistry between the prince and Elika. (Side note: I love how the game subverts the expectations made by its title and gives us a *princess* of Persia.) If you don't stop to press L2 -- or whatever your equivalent is -- and listen to their conversations, I can see why you'd be underwhelmed, by not doing so, you missed a major part of the game. Their conflicting worldviews and the way they learn and grow from each other is fantastic, and they're both fully-realized, three-dimensional characters. Elika's insights give the world and the enemies depth that, if nothing else, was missing from the Sands of Time trilogy, to say nothing of being valuable in its own right. I also loved how each of Ahriman's generals had their own fully-realized backstory, especially when you were able to see it play out again in real time (essentially) with the Mourning King. However, I was not happy with the ending, and I'm betting most of you aren't, either. If it had ended ten minutes sooner, right after the prince puts Elika's body on top of her mother's tomb, it would've been perfect. Making him go back and undo all of their hard work was insulting for multiple reasons: it's insulting to the player, by saying everything up to this point was for nought; it was insulting to Elika and the prince, because it made him selfish and ruined her entire goal; and it was insulting that if they were going to do that, they didn't resolve it in the epilogue. I realize it was probably because they were planning on building a franchise, but ten years on when we've had an abundance of Assassin's Creed titles but no sequel to this game (or PoP game at all in eight years), it hurts even more. Curse you, Ubisoft. Also, curse you, gamemaster1991, for giving away the ending of The Fallen King, which I went out and bought after finishing this game due to my craving for more. I can't believe you've done this.
Obviously, the real high point of this game is the graphics and art direction. Every vista, both before and after being purified, looked like it was right out of a painting. It has aged so well, even for being nine years old. The fact it was cel-shaded certainly didn't hurt. Each of the four areas were dripping in detail, feeling like a real world inside my TV. I felt two distinct influences at play in its style: Ico and Okami. Ico with its gigantic buildings, bloom lighting and intricate architecture (and windmills!), and also because of two characters, a male and a female, working together to overcome the environment. I even felt like I was playing with grown-up versions of Ico and Yorda when I saw them hold hands to change positions while walking on beams. Okami has the same type of mechanic where an area starts out corrupted by evil and it has to be purified, and how nature just springs back to life when this happens, so I wouldn't have been surprised if Amaterasu had shown up, either. The music and sound design was amazing too; even if I enjoy a video game soundtrack, I don't always remember it when I stop playing (a side effect of years of stress turning my brain to swiss cheese), but that's not the case here. I wish there was a soundtrack available, but I guess I can find some way to download it. I also want to point out the little touches here and there, like how when you were doing a Royal Palace level pre-purification, you could hear the Concubine whisper "I can see inside your heart" every so often. Finally, I'd be remiss not to mention how goddamn sexy the prince is. Thank you, character designers, for giving us such a hot prince. I wish he was showing more skin, but those abs... give birth to me in a dumpster and call me Maurice!
Even though the difficulty level was low, I still felt the gameplay was exceptionally well done. I was struck most by just how fluid it felt; like butter. As cool as the Ormazd powers were, it was just jumping and climbing and parkouring (?) from place to place that was the most fun. Unfortunately, I'm less complimentary about the combat. I realize it's unfair to compare any game to Bayonetta, let alone one that isn't pure action (or released before Bayonetta), but it felt like it wanted to be Bayonetta but came up far, far short. Supposedly, there were all of these combos, but I didn't find a way to use more than a handful. Even worse was that restrictions would be implemented, e.g. only claw attacks, etc, that limited the kinds of combos you could do anyway. Since combat took a backseat to the platforming, I didn't feel like it was a dealbreaker, but it could've been better. Incidentally, that's why I felt it was so smart that the final battle against Ahriman was made up of platforming, not combat. The epilogue, oddly, seemed quite a bit more difficult than the main game; I guess they took the "too easy" criticism to heart while finishing it up (because there's no way they did that entire thing in three months). Finally, I'm sensing that maybe the light seeds weren't everybody's favorite, but I didn't mind them at all, in fact I collected all 1001. Like I said, the platforming was so much fun, and going back through the area with all of its color to collect the light seeds was a joy. Well, except for when I couldn't find a few. Really, it was almost a collect-a-thon; Yooka-Laylee found dead in a dumpster.
All in all, I loved this game. Even if it's not as good, I'm looking forward to playing The Fallen King, and I remain mad as hell at Ubisoft for abandoning this series and continuity. I would kill for a sequel on PS4 that would, hopefully, see Ahriman taken care of for good.
Even though the story is a bit basic, I still thought it was really well done. I mean yeah, the framework of good vs. evil, scrappy underdogs trying to save the world is dime-a-dozen, but it's everything inside the frame that elevates it. Chief among that is the chemistry between the prince and Elika. (Side note: I love how the game subverts the expectations made by its title and gives us a *princess* of Persia.) If you don't stop to press L2 -- or whatever your equivalent is -- and listen to their conversations, I can see why you'd be underwhelmed, by not doing so, you missed a major part of the game. Their conflicting worldviews and the way they learn and grow from each other is fantastic, and they're both fully-realized, three-dimensional characters. Elika's insights give the world and the enemies depth that, if nothing else, was missing from the Sands of Time trilogy, to say nothing of being valuable in its own right. I also loved how each of Ahriman's generals had their own fully-realized backstory, especially when you were able to see it play out again in real time (essentially) with the Mourning King. However, I was not happy with the ending, and I'm betting most of you aren't, either. If it had ended ten minutes sooner, right after the prince puts Elika's body on top of her mother's tomb, it would've been perfect. Making him go back and undo all of their hard work was insulting for multiple reasons: it's insulting to the player, by saying everything up to this point was for nought; it was insulting to Elika and the prince, because it made him selfish and ruined her entire goal; and it was insulting that if they were going to do that, they didn't resolve it in the epilogue. I realize it was probably because they were planning on building a franchise, but ten years on when we've had an abundance of Assassin's Creed titles but no sequel to this game (or PoP game at all in eight years), it hurts even more. Curse you, Ubisoft. Also, curse you, gamemaster1991, for giving away the ending of The Fallen King, which I went out and bought after finishing this game due to my craving for more. I can't believe you've done this.
Obviously, the real high point of this game is the graphics and art direction. Every vista, both before and after being purified, looked like it was right out of a painting. It has aged so well, even for being nine years old. The fact it was cel-shaded certainly didn't hurt. Each of the four areas were dripping in detail, feeling like a real world inside my TV. I felt two distinct influences at play in its style: Ico and Okami. Ico with its gigantic buildings, bloom lighting and intricate architecture (and windmills!), and also because of two characters, a male and a female, working together to overcome the environment. I even felt like I was playing with grown-up versions of Ico and Yorda when I saw them hold hands to change positions while walking on beams. Okami has the same type of mechanic where an area starts out corrupted by evil and it has to be purified, and how nature just springs back to life when this happens, so I wouldn't have been surprised if Amaterasu had shown up, either. The music and sound design was amazing too; even if I enjoy a video game soundtrack, I don't always remember it when I stop playing (a side effect of years of stress turning my brain to swiss cheese), but that's not the case here. I wish there was a soundtrack available, but I guess I can find some way to download it. I also want to point out the little touches here and there, like how when you were doing a Royal Palace level pre-purification, you could hear the Concubine whisper "I can see inside your heart" every so often. Finally, I'd be remiss not to mention how goddamn sexy the prince is. Thank you, character designers, for giving us such a hot prince. I wish he was showing more skin, but those abs... give birth to me in a dumpster and call me Maurice!
Even though the difficulty level was low, I still felt the gameplay was exceptionally well done. I was struck most by just how fluid it felt; like butter. As cool as the Ormazd powers were, it was just jumping and climbing and parkouring (?) from place to place that was the most fun. Unfortunately, I'm less complimentary about the combat. I realize it's unfair to compare any game to Bayonetta, let alone one that isn't pure action (or released before Bayonetta), but it felt like it wanted to be Bayonetta but came up far, far short. Supposedly, there were all of these combos, but I didn't find a way to use more than a handful. Even worse was that restrictions would be implemented, e.g. only claw attacks, etc, that limited the kinds of combos you could do anyway. Since combat took a backseat to the platforming, I didn't feel like it was a dealbreaker, but it could've been better. Incidentally, that's why I felt it was so smart that the final battle against Ahriman was made up of platforming, not combat. The epilogue, oddly, seemed quite a bit more difficult than the main game; I guess they took the "too easy" criticism to heart while finishing it up (because there's no way they did that entire thing in three months). Finally, I'm sensing that maybe the light seeds weren't everybody's favorite, but I didn't mind them at all, in fact I collected all 1001. Like I said, the platforming was so much fun, and going back through the area with all of its color to collect the light seeds was a joy. Well, except for when I couldn't find a few. Really, it was almost a collect-a-thon; Yooka-Laylee found dead in a dumpster.
All in all, I loved this game. Even if it's not as good, I'm looking forward to playing The Fallen King, and I remain mad as hell at Ubisoft for abandoning this series and continuity. I would kill for a sequel on PS4 that would, hopefully, see Ahriman taken care of for good.
9 Yrs♥✓#
gamemaster19919 Yrs♥✓#
This is why you take reviews with a grain of salt. Not everyone's opinions are going to be the same. The game is nice and I can see everything someone would like about the game. You just need to over look the small things that drag it down like having to collect light seeds and having to manually get backstory. I just had a hard time doing that. I still replayed it for the GotM, so it has to mean I enjoyed it a little bit.
Also, sorry for (sorta) spoiling The Fallen King. Both that ending and this ending (at lest the epolog DLC), along with the foreshadowing sprinkled in showed that had ideas for a three game series, which I wanted to see so much, but kinda fell flat when fans were luke warm to the new "Prince." No spoilers, but if they make a new game that continues on from The Fallen King, I will preorder the game just to see where they go from there.
11 Yrs♥✓#
Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to discredit anyone else's opinion here. Everyone's opinion on a game is valid... except for that kid in the "Teens React to Bayonetta 2" video who thought it was repetitive and boring. He's wrong. Obviously, I wish other people enjoyed it as much as I did, but I'm not concerned if you didn't. Going into it, ratings on this site and elsewhere were all over the place, so it's clearly divisive. We'll have to agree to disagree on things like Light Seeds and Elika's exposition being things that drag it down, but I still get what you're saying.
Yeah, it was obviously meant to be a franchise (re-)launcher, so that's on Ubisoft for planning too far ahead (and at least five million of the people who bought the first Assassin's Creed), but it would've been nice if it had been a fully standalone experience, if only so the story isn't left unresolved. I'm totally with you about preordering a new one, though!
9 Yrs✓#
seznam88
9 Yrs✓#
So I completed the game, including the Epilogue DLC, and I can safely say that it was an amazing experience.
So let's take apart the game and say what I liked about it and what I didn't, ignoring the Epilogue DLC for now, we're going to come back to it after the main game.
Graphics/Art Direction: Well, this is clearly the best thing about the game, and considering it's going to be 10 years old this year is a testament to how gracefully this game aged in this department. The oily-color, cel-shaded look really helps, and when you purify the land it looks absolutely beautiful. The locations themselfs are big, stunning and a pleasure to look at. There's really nothing bad to say here.
Story: The story is actually interesting, and the main characters are really likeable. You definitely must stop and manually talk to Elika at points, when there's the indication you can in the lower left corner of the screen. It really tells you a lot about the world, backstory and the characters themselfs and their personalities and you will definitely start to like them and understand them much more. I also liked how they trust each other more and more by going further in the game and started to like each other. Now what about the ending? Well, it's really hard to tell. On one side I kinda like it and especially understand why they did it, on the other I'm quite dissapointed. The thing is they planned this game to be a trilogy, so they did the ending the way they did it, because they want something to continue and build to the sequels, sadly they never came out and now we're left with quite a dissapointing ending with a cliffhanger. So overall I really liked the story, world and characters.
Gameplay: I really liked the gameplay. Yes it was easy and forgiving, but not every game needs to be super challenging. It was really relaxing and fun. The fluidity and flow of the platforming is absolutely great and beautiful. And I think I know how to describe the platforming gameplay as a whole. I would call it a "rhytmic platforming". It seriously plays like a rhythm game in a platforming environment. You just need to push the right buttons at the right time, and with the fluidity it feels so satisfying even though it's easy. For example you see a ring then tap "B/Circle" then wallrun and jump to a next wall, where is a plate so tap "Y/Triangle" and so on. It was just great. After platforming there is combat and that is not that great. Combining the combos is fun, but gets old and repetitive real fast. Overall the combat gets repetitive fast and you just want to get over the fights to get back to platforming as fast as possible. It doesn't help that most of the time, it's just quick time event after quick time event, and that you mainly fight just 4 enemies, that behave the same all the time and there is just one best way to kill each of them. The big guy is easily the worst one, because you need to push him over the edge, and that's really annoying. The last thing to talk about in the gameplay department is the Light Seeds. And yes I enjoyed collecting them and I collected all 1001/1001 of them. The reason why is the same reason, why I like collecting things in games like Banjo-Kazooie or Spyro the Dragon. This game is essentially a platforming collect-a-thon, exactly like Banjo or Spyro. So these games are build mainly around platforming and collecting, and you're going to play them expecting to be doing just this and enjoying it for it. So that's the way I went to this game, thus enjoying the collecting. I also liked the metroidvania aspect of it, when you needed to get a new ability to get some of the light seeds in some areas, thus coming to these areas later on, to collect the remaining Light Seeds. And I enjoyed that as well. Overall the gameplay while easy is extremely enjoyable and satisfying.
Before going to the Epilogue DLC, I will say some more things about this game as a whole.
This game really reminds of a few other games.
First and foremost - ICO, because of the boy and girl helping each other and going through the world, with the girl helping with the magic like Yorda. And because of the scale of the world, the temple which is like the castle in ICO, the ambient atmosphere,...
Second - Shadow of the Colossus, again because of the scale of the world, and the ambient atmosphere, also the end of this game is like the beginning of SOTC (bringing the girl on the altar) and also the big enemy that you need to kill by pushing him over the ledge is like a smaller version of some colossus.
And the third is - Okami, because of the oily-color, cel-shaded look and purifying of the land.
Now the Epilogue DLC.
First thing I can say about this DLC is, that it is much harder than the main game. Second thing is that it's pretty short and not that interesting, and the worst thing about this DLC is the ending.
If the main game ending is bad for you, then this is even worse. It ends so abruptly, doesn't really explain nothing new, or end it properly and just left it on an even bigger cliffhanger. And again I know that they wanted to do a trilogy from this game, so I understand why they did that. But why they made this DLC? If they wanted to do a trilogy, why they just didn't start or continue working on the sequel? Why they made a DLC called Epilogue, that again teases for the sequel. But the main game already did that. For me this DLC was absolutely unnecessary, and it didn't even came out for PC, so if you're playing on PC, you will not play this DLC, but you are not missing much and you can just watch a playthrough of it online.
So yeah I absolutely enjoyed this game so much and it is a fun platforming collect-a-thon with beautiful graphics and a great story and characters, but a cliffhanger ending for a canceled trilogy so the story will never be resolved and a bit repetitive combat. It's sad that the planned sequels never came out, it would make for a great trilogy, resolve the story and probably fix some of the issues with this game like the combat, and add more things to the gameplay.
Do I recommend to play this game? Yes, absolutely yes!
EDIT: Totally forgot to talk about Music/Sound.
Well, what can I say, it's same as Graphics/Art Direction, absolutely great.
The soundtrack is beautiful and fitting, and the sound design itself is great as well.
The way it sounds when you're jumping, grabbing things or just running is great, the ambient sound of the environment is great, and the voice acting is done well too.
BTW Nolan North as the "Prince" is really funny and has the same humor like him as Nathan Drake from Uncharted.
So let's take apart the game and say what I liked about it and what I didn't, ignoring the Epilogue DLC for now, we're going to come back to it after the main game.
Graphics/Art Direction: Well, this is clearly the best thing about the game, and considering it's going to be 10 years old this year is a testament to how gracefully this game aged in this department. The oily-color, cel-shaded look really helps, and when you purify the land it looks absolutely beautiful. The locations themselfs are big, stunning and a pleasure to look at. There's really nothing bad to say here.
Story: The story is actually interesting, and the main characters are really likeable. You definitely must stop and manually talk to Elika at points, when there's the indication you can in the lower left corner of the screen. It really tells you a lot about the world, backstory and the characters themselfs and their personalities and you will definitely start to like them and understand them much more. I also liked how they trust each other more and more by going further in the game and started to like each other. Now what about the ending? Well, it's really hard to tell. On one side I kinda like it and especially understand why they did it, on the other I'm quite dissapointed. The thing is they planned this game to be a trilogy, so they did the ending the way they did it, because they want something to continue and build to the sequels, sadly they never came out and now we're left with quite a dissapointing ending with a cliffhanger. So overall I really liked the story, world and characters.
Gameplay: I really liked the gameplay. Yes it was easy and forgiving, but not every game needs to be super challenging. It was really relaxing and fun. The fluidity and flow of the platforming is absolutely great and beautiful. And I think I know how to describe the platforming gameplay as a whole. I would call it a "rhytmic platforming". It seriously plays like a rhythm game in a platforming environment. You just need to push the right buttons at the right time, and with the fluidity it feels so satisfying even though it's easy. For example you see a ring then tap "B/Circle" then wallrun and jump to a next wall, where is a plate so tap "Y/Triangle" and so on. It was just great. After platforming there is combat and that is not that great. Combining the combos is fun, but gets old and repetitive real fast. Overall the combat gets repetitive fast and you just want to get over the fights to get back to platforming as fast as possible. It doesn't help that most of the time, it's just quick time event after quick time event, and that you mainly fight just 4 enemies, that behave the same all the time and there is just one best way to kill each of them. The big guy is easily the worst one, because you need to push him over the edge, and that's really annoying. The last thing to talk about in the gameplay department is the Light Seeds. And yes I enjoyed collecting them and I collected all 1001/1001 of them. The reason why is the same reason, why I like collecting things in games like Banjo-Kazooie or Spyro the Dragon. This game is essentially a platforming collect-a-thon, exactly like Banjo or Spyro. So these games are build mainly around platforming and collecting, and you're going to play them expecting to be doing just this and enjoying it for it. So that's the way I went to this game, thus enjoying the collecting. I also liked the metroidvania aspect of it, when you needed to get a new ability to get some of the light seeds in some areas, thus coming to these areas later on, to collect the remaining Light Seeds. And I enjoyed that as well. Overall the gameplay while easy is extremely enjoyable and satisfying.
Before going to the Epilogue DLC, I will say some more things about this game as a whole.
This game really reminds of a few other games.
First and foremost - ICO, because of the boy and girl helping each other and going through the world, with the girl helping with the magic like Yorda. And because of the scale of the world, the temple which is like the castle in ICO, the ambient atmosphere,...
Second - Shadow of the Colossus, again because of the scale of the world, and the ambient atmosphere, also the end of this game is like the beginning of SOTC (bringing the girl on the altar) and also the big enemy that you need to kill by pushing him over the ledge is like a smaller version of some colossus.
And the third is - Okami, because of the oily-color, cel-shaded look and purifying of the land.
Now the Epilogue DLC.
First thing I can say about this DLC is, that it is much harder than the main game. Second thing is that it's pretty short and not that interesting, and the worst thing about this DLC is the ending.
If the main game ending is bad for you, then this is even worse. It ends so abruptly, doesn't really explain nothing new, or end it properly and just left it on an even bigger cliffhanger. And again I know that they wanted to do a trilogy from this game, so I understand why they did that. But why they made this DLC? If they wanted to do a trilogy, why they just didn't start or continue working on the sequel? Why they made a DLC called Epilogue, that again teases for the sequel. But the main game already did that. For me this DLC was absolutely unnecessary, and it didn't even came out for PC, so if you're playing on PC, you will not play this DLC, but you are not missing much and you can just watch a playthrough of it online.
So yeah I absolutely enjoyed this game so much and it is a fun platforming collect-a-thon with beautiful graphics and a great story and characters, but a cliffhanger ending for a canceled trilogy so the story will never be resolved and a bit repetitive combat. It's sad that the planned sequels never came out, it would make for a great trilogy, resolve the story and probably fix some of the issues with this game like the combat, and add more things to the gameplay.
Do I recommend to play this game? Yes, absolutely yes!
EDIT: Totally forgot to talk about Music/Sound.
Well, what can I say, it's same as Graphics/Art Direction, absolutely great.
The soundtrack is beautiful and fitting, and the sound design itself is great as well.
The way it sounds when you're jumping, grabbing things or just running is great, the ambient sound of the environment is great, and the voice acting is done well too.
BTW Nolan North as the "Prince" is really funny and has the same humor like him as Nathan Drake from Uncharted.
10 Yrs♥✓#
A few initial thoughts:
-Not impressed by Nolan North AKA Persian Drake. Elika's character has my interest.
-I miss having wall-runs on a separate button to jump
-Looks like I'm the only person who doesn't mind the combat
-Overall, the game feels much more streamlined and cinematic than the Sands trilogy; I consider this to be a negative change
-There are sustained sequences where the game feels 'right', in spite of the negative changes
I'm only 30-60 minutes in, so I will make a more detailed post when I'm closer to beating the game.
-Not impressed by Nolan North AKA Persian Drake. Elika's character has my interest.
-I miss having wall-runs on a separate button to jump
-Looks like I'm the only person who doesn't mind the combat
-Overall, the game feels much more streamlined and cinematic than the Sands trilogy; I consider this to be a negative change
-There are sustained sequences where the game feels 'right', in spite of the negative changes
I'm only 30-60 minutes in, so I will make a more detailed post when I'm closer to beating the game.
9 Yrs✓#
I'm gonna need to use that "I completely disagree" gif too. That ending was fantastic. That's the kind of ending that could elevate a game from great to amazing in my mind. The credits roll, story's finished, but you have a choice to destroy everything you've been working for throughout the entire game to save Elika. No prompts come up. No "press F to revive". The game gives you just enough where it clicks and you realize you can do it. Knowing it's a mistake, knowing the King did the same thing (but now you actually understand his decision), knowing she will never forgive you and you'll bring chaos to the world. All that be damned, you're going to do it. I don't need no sequels, I don't need no DLC. She sacrifices herself for the world, and he sacrifices the world for her. That's a great fucking ending! ... Shame about the 9 hours before it.
I had the same thoughts about the parkour (the gameplay) being rhythm based. Except mine weren't positive. It's a 9 hour repetitive quick time event. They hid blatant button prompts behind the environment, and the screen going black&white, however once I realized what was happening I couldn't unsee it. I never felt like I was exploring the world or discovering hidden areas, I was following a strict prebuilt path to YET ANOTHER tower with YET ANOTHER boss battle and YET ANOTHER light thingy that makes that section of the world pretty. You don't even need to see what's in front of you, you can just guess and you'll be right 95% of the time. The worst examples of this are the final levels, the ones that give you 25 light seeds. Jump onto a magic circle - press E - the characters do some insane flying or acrobatics onto another circle - E - ... - E - ... - E - ... - E... You're only sometimes required to push a directional button to avoid hitting a wall.
That feeds into another problem. The open world with absolutely nothing to do. I would've much preferred it to be linear and story based. Traversing the same areas back and forth multiple times, and then again to collect light seeds isn't something I had any enjoyment in doing. The fact that you never feel like you're in danger doesn't help. You're always going to be saved. I don't understand what was with those moments that promised to modify the gameplay but never had any impact on anything. Like when the corruption enters your body or Elika is restrained. I quite enjoyed the final boss battle. It was exciting, I needed to always be on the move and the corruption going up the walls, although obviously timed not to hurt you, gave a sense of danger.
The fight system was... I mean it was there. Once you get how it works it's functional? It's annoying when you can't perform any combos because the enemy keeps teleporting behind you when they touch the black goo but whatever.
All this combined had me sitting there like a potato trying to focus my eyes on the screen and not behind it. At one point I got so bored I completed 2 City of Light levels, including the boss battles, using only my left hand and a MacBook trackpad instead of the mouse. I guess the game is amputee accessible. That's a plus.
It looks pretty, that's undeniable. I could write a bit more but TL;DR The story felt like filler, the characters were bland. I probably should've talked to Elika more than once in the entire game but I never felt like it would've been worthwhile. Mea culpa, I guess.
4/10
Completion time: 9h 34m.
I had the same thoughts about the parkour (the gameplay) being rhythm based. Except mine weren't positive. It's a 9 hour repetitive quick time event. They hid blatant button prompts behind the environment, and the screen going black&white, however once I realized what was happening I couldn't unsee it. I never felt like I was exploring the world or discovering hidden areas, I was following a strict prebuilt path to YET ANOTHER tower with YET ANOTHER boss battle and YET ANOTHER light thingy that makes that section of the world pretty. You don't even need to see what's in front of you, you can just guess and you'll be right 95% of the time. The worst examples of this are the final levels, the ones that give you 25 light seeds. Jump onto a magic circle - press E - the characters do some insane flying or acrobatics onto another circle - E - ... - E - ... - E - ... - E... You're only sometimes required to push a directional button to avoid hitting a wall.
That feeds into another problem. The open world with absolutely nothing to do. I would've much preferred it to be linear and story based. Traversing the same areas back and forth multiple times, and then again to collect light seeds isn't something I had any enjoyment in doing. The fact that you never feel like you're in danger doesn't help. You're always going to be saved. I don't understand what was with those moments that promised to modify the gameplay but never had any impact on anything. Like when the corruption enters your body or Elika is restrained. I quite enjoyed the final boss battle. It was exciting, I needed to always be on the move and the corruption going up the walls, although obviously timed not to hurt you, gave a sense of danger.
The fight system was... I mean it was there. Once you get how it works it's functional? It's annoying when you can't perform any combos because the enemy keeps teleporting behind you when they touch the black goo but whatever.
All this combined had me sitting there like a potato trying to focus my eyes on the screen and not behind it. At one point I got so bored I completed 2 City of Light levels, including the boss battles, using only my left hand and a MacBook trackpad instead of the mouse. I guess the game is amputee accessible. That's a plus.
It looks pretty, that's undeniable. I could write a bit more but TL;DR The story felt like filler, the characters were bland. I probably should've talked to Elika more than once in the entire game but I never felt like it would've been worthwhile. Mea culpa, I guess.
4/10
Completion time: 9h 34m.
12 Yrs♥$✓#
I'll echo your sentiments. I didn't play it this month since I replayed it fairly recently but I really enjoyed it both times I played it. I will argue that the powers were a bit of a missed opportunity, the only real interesting one was the wall running one but the others were just teleporters that animated differently.
I do love how divisive the game seems to be though, either its too boring to be fun or its a beautiful novelty, love it or hate it.
10 Yrs♥✓#
I just beat the game... oh man, do I have a bunch of mixed feelings about this one!
[More to come when I can bring myself to write it up]
[More to come when I can bring myself to write it up]
11 Yrs♥✓#
I could perhaps get onto your train of thought about the ending if it actually were a choice, though. Unfortunately, unlike Warrior Within, which had two endings, this is the only one we've got. Yes, it's romantic he would forsake the world for her, but it would've been more romantic if he'd respected her wishes in the first place. There's also the matter of the inconsistent internal logic; the Mourning King frees Ahriman and it turns him into a Corrupted like the other four bosses, but when the prince does it, nothing of the sort happens. Of course, there might be a reason for that... earlier in the game, Elika says the visions are from Ormazd, not Ahriman, so the prince getting one seems to imply that freeing Ahriman was what Ormazd actually wanted. Now wouldn't that have been a great reason to continue the game in a proper sequel, Ubisoft?!
I would argue that the acrobatics of the magic circles of the boss levels are obviously more for spectacle than for challenge. (Particularly since, in the case of the Warrior especially, the challenge comes during the fights.) To use those to paint over the platforming and puzzles that make up the rest of the game is rather unfair. Still, even though I don't agree, your general senses of the game's mechanics, the open world, etc. are valid. The final boss was a highlight, to be sure. And you definitely should've talked to Elika more than once; you missed out on a lot of the story by doing so.
Also, I hate to do this, but I forgot to mention something in my initial post. Bayonetta did the "end credits fake out" thing way better. (Link, spoilers obviously.)
9 Yrs✓#
I mean, yes, the DLC ruins the choice by requiring you to have made a particular decision for the story to connect, but other than that I'd say it's a choice. Also when playing the game, I assumed that if I had collected all 1001 light seeds Elika wouldn't die. Which BTW... Why is that not a thing???
The one end credits fake out I remember and rather liked was in Dead Space 2. In PoP 2008 it didn't work for me. Mainly because as they started the Prince hit a wall before the main hall and dramatically stood in a corner unable to move.