Move over Hades 2, another great roguelike just hit early access

digitaltrends.com:

2024 has been a great year for early access video games. Some of the year’s most popular titles, like Palworld and Manor Lords, released this way on Steam, delivering an entertaining experience that will be added to and improved over time. Just this month, Hades 2 surprise launched into early access and is shaping up to be just as enjoyable as its predecessor. Now, another excellent early access roguelike has arrived: The Rogue Prince of Persia.

Announced last month at the Triple-I Initiative Showcase, this game is an action-platformer roguelike developed by Evil Empire, the studio behind much of Dead Cells‘ post-launch support. It also has the full backing of Ubisoft, who owns the Prince of Persia franchise, making this a somewhat unusual move for the Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry publisher. This risky project paid off because, while there is still obviously some room for improvement, The Rogue Prince of Persia is shaping up to be the perfect successor to Dead Cells.

What works

The Rogue Prince of Persia follows a prince who emboldened the Huns to attack Persia. He can’t die, though, as every time he does, he gets sent back in time by his bola. From there, the Prince goes on run after run, fighting the Huns throughout Persia in order to stop them and get home. It’s a premise fitting of a roguelike, as it means the game stars a character who regrets his actions but has to see the impact of them over and over again.

Cues from Hades are taken in how the narrative is delivered, as NPCs in the Oasis the prince respawns in have their own stories and different things to say after every run. It’s not finished yet, but I’m excited to see where this plot goes as Evil Empire expands upon the game. The thing that will really make me stick with The Rogue Prince of Persia is its gameplay, which is very similar to Dead Cells with a few key tweaks.

• Prince of Persia is getting a Dead Cells-style roguelike next month

The Prince has a primary weapon and tool; these default