The Rogue Prince of Persia Early Access Review in Progress
As a traditionally parkour-heavy series with a main character who often has a difficult time dying when it counts, a roguelike Prince of Persia game feels like a concept that was simply waiting for an execution. Pair that intuitive idea with Evil Empire, the developers behind Dead Cells, and you’ve got an ideal coupling for Ubisoft’s second sidescrolling Prince of Persia of 2024. But while The Rogue Prince of Persia has a lot of potential, at this stage in its Early Access life, there doesn’t seem to be quite enough to hang onto for this time loop adventure to really shine yet. I still have more to play before I put a final score on it, but what I’ve seen so far is a skeleton of a roguelite adventure that will entertain for a few hours, but already lacks the variety to motivate me beyond that.
The initial and easiest comparisons that can be made for The Rogue Prince of Persia are to assume it is either The Lost Crown with roguelite elements or Dead Cells with an emphasis on parkour movement, and neither of those descriptions wholly encompasses how it actually plays. Without losing its roguelite roots, this new go-round for the Prince puts more of an emphasis on the titular character’s fighting capabilities across a myriad of weapons. Enemies come in many shapes and forms, with both shielded and unshielded varieties, and require every technique at the Prince’s disposal to get through each fight unscathed. Every charge attack, drop attack, or vault over an enemy helps keep your health bar pristine until an inevitable boss fight.
The combat is so involved that it can end up feeling overwhelming at times. An unlucky fall into a group of enemies can be devastating to your life total, and even a good plan to destroy enemy shields can still fall apart when there are too many grouped up to discern between them. When two or three hits can completely decimate a run, it starts to feel like the platforming takes an unnecessary backseat to the combat.
The story, at the launch of
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