The Rogue Prince of Persia

I've never felt so much like a proper rogue in an action game before, where evasion isn't just a dodge roll or a random evasion %. The background wall run and enemy vault moves are great! As a fan of Dead Cells I can definitely see the DNA just about everywhere. Turns out it makes a great base for new games! [h2]Fav bits:[/h2] [list] [*]I can't overstate how smooth and great movement in this game feels. It took me a while to make the best use of it, and to stop mixing up the wall running and air dashing inputs, but now that it clicked it's a complete blast to flow through a stage. [*]Each stage has a strong unique identity. A full run has lots of novelty. [*]I like the way new stages become introduced via narrative reasons, and it's only later that you'll find yourself weighing path options based on which upgrades you prefer. On that note, rewards are well tuned. For example, a big +max hp upgrade feels compelling compared to an extra medallion slot. [*]Boss battles are very well designed! Patterns are learnable but not too obvious. Taking a hit feels punishing in the right way. [*]Turning the DC sparta boots into a core action was a good idea, it's never not fun to kick an enemy off a ledge or into a trap or into another enemy. [/list] [h2]Worst bits:[/h2] [list] [*]The medallions touch on some interesting mechanics but the way to become OP becomes unmistakable after a little while: [spoiler]ignore the complex ones and focus on simple DPS stacking. There are some straight-up odd choices in the mix. I don't understand why some will directly boost attack by 40% while other, "rare" labeled ones might only conditionally boost attack by 5% (only when an enemy is stunned, for example).[/spoiler] [*]It has that common roguelite issue where adding additional items to the pool can make it less likely to get a good synergy to click. [*]The tech tree has that really boring "increase currency gain" ROI path. In any game, my heart sinks a little whenever I'm looking through my possible upgrade options but this category shows its face. Yes, obviously this is the one I need to invest in early even though it doesn't make me stronger or the game more fun. [/list] With that said, the plusses massively outweigh any negatives. I'm looking forward to the new modes coming out this year, they sound great!

[h1]A short Dead Cells clone with PoP sauce on top[/h1] The Rogue Prince of Persia can be described, quite accurately, as a Dead Cells clone (from the creators of the Dead Cells DLCs btw) with PoP parkour on top. The unique parkour mechanics are actually very cool and both platforming and combat feel very smooth. It being also a clone of Dead Cells is not a bad thing per se (I absolutely loved that game), but it sucks how much smaller the scope is. The story can be completely pretty quickly, after which there is the awakening system (basically the boss cells from DC), story is very straightforward and the PoP time mechanic... is not in the game. Or rather, it is just used to explain the roguelike aspect of the game. Literally everything else is Dead Cells, but less. Weapons and tools have rarities and must be crafted at the oasis using currency after finding a blueprint. The problem of unbalanced weapons is also brought from DC, with some weapons being miles above others in terms of damage and utility. The fact that weapons have rarities and that at least one platinum weapon (strongest rarity) can be found in a shop exactly before the final boss, makes all run pretty similar: find a bronze weapon, use it until the very last moment where you will have enough coins to buy the shiny strongest one. Medallions are the only thing that inch this game away from Dead Cells: they are basically perks that you can equip during a run. Again, some are completely useless, while other (especially if paired with the correct weapon) can be absolutely devastating. Not that you need special combos to win, because after the first few hours it becomes really hard to lose a run, especially if you know which mid bosses to face (again, nothing is really balanced here, so bosses like the Shaman are much harder than the final boss, which is laughably easy, even at higher awakening ranks). The awakening system is also pretty weak, because while it is easy to win runs, doing so will reward only one awakening stone. These stones do make the game harder with modifiers, but even when picking the hardest ones you will need to grind multiple runs just to increase one awakening rank. This, coupled with the small scope of the game and some run-ending bugs (in three different runs my attacks stopped doing damage to the enemies altogether, in 2 runs this was at the final boss), make for a sad thumb down.

Finished the game, striving for 100% achievements. 10/10 for soundtrack 8/10 for story 10/10 for visuals and art work 9/10 for controls kudos to Evil Empire.

Very good game, great vibe, graphics, soundtrack, doesn't get boring, nice time-loop based story telling, very good PoP title.

Good game. Congratulations to the team. I wanted to share what didn’t convince me in case it helps as feedback for future improvements: Platforming is the clear strong point and main pillar of the game, while combat is less brilliant. My main criticism is this: platforming and combat are nowhere near as well integrated as they could be, both in terms of rhythm and gameplay. There are relatively few situations where combat depends more or less directly on platforming, takes advantage of it, or creates real synergy between the two — especially considering the huge potential that exists in this direction. On top of that, there are way too many fights “with your feet on the ground.” Examples and suggestion: The only enemy that consistently explores the kind of combat that feels most satisfying, fluid, natural, and organic to me is the lookout, which forces you to jump or wall-run to attack it. It’s simple, yet one of my favorites. And the only mechanic that does the same for me is kicking enemies into the void (great addition, yes sir — super fun). For me, that’s largely the path to follow. An example of better use of platforming — based on something similar that I love doing but currently have to “force” — would be placing an archer on an inaccessible platform that’s still close enough for us to kill him by deflecting an arrow mid-jump. This could work well if archers didn’t lose target so easily, took a bit less time to shoot, and there was a satisfying way to get close enough for them to notice you, finally executing the parry during a jump or wall-run. That feels really cool, and the game barely explores it. At least in my experience. Following that same idea, if the game pushed you more to attack in the air — whether during a jump or while doing parkour — and complemented it with better level design, it would greatly enrich the experience and make the game much more fun and spectacular. To wrap this up: enemies that demand very horizontal combat are fine once in a while. But running into several of them and spending so much time fighting “with your feet on the ground” gets really tedious in a game that sells parkour as its standout feature right in the trailer. And come on — we already have Dead Cells! You don’t need (and probably shouldn’t) rely heavily on horizontal combat. That’s the main thing for me. Additionally, I’d love the ability to ban weapons and medallions after beating the game 20 times, as well as the option to remove intermediate bosses from a run. P.S. The story ends well, but it’s tragically poorly written, even though there are some very good ideas. Enemies staying on the edge of a platform with half a pixel of contact after you kick them (because apparently coyote time goes brrrr) is not a good thing. The opening song of the game has me completely in love. You can clearly feel the love that was put into this work. Thank you all, you guys are awesome ❤️❤️

Back to the 2D roots, but faster and with parkour. Inspired by somme Dead Cells ideas, but with it's own identity : a very good rogue-lite platforming game.

It is dead cells with the Hades treatment. Extremely well polished (until the end where there are a few rough edges due to insufficient testing). Definitely the best of the dead cells clones out there and better than dead cells. The only downside is that the main game is over after around 10 to 15 hours despite costing 30 dollars. The price is simply too high and this should have costed 20 dollars instead. Thankfully, the game goes on really large discounts so I can still recommend it. Just put it on your wishlist and wait for a steam sale.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time моя первая игра собсна, у меня есть на нее отзыв. Я довольно тепло отношусь к серии, жаль что она умерла, этот пук я не считаю каким либо продолжением, трилогия была вполне себе неплоха, да даже сейчас она играется превосходно, а потом Юбиков понесло, вышла какая та кня с графикой в стиле Борды , потом они попытались вернуться к истокам выпустив Forgotten Sands,но что-то пошло не так и народу особо не зашло. На этой части и произошла кончина персидского паркурщика. Где-то я читал что из наработок след части склепали отсасина. Я не любитель рогаликов, но решил попробывать, все таки это ответвление от франшизы которую я горячо любил, прямо как холодный пивас по выходным. И это было зря, даже не знаю чего я ожидал от игры, ну как минимум боевки более бодрой а не однокнопочное закликивание, но как говорил один известный футболист: "ваши ожидания-ваши проблемы" Самое противное это рандом, нельзя взять понравившееся оружие на очередной забег, оно спавнится в начале локации из одного основного и дополнительного, можно собирать души убитых врагов и открывать у кузнеца так называемые стойки и появляться будут целых ДВА (и так далее по нарастующей) оружия, но глядя на цены и получаемые души становится грустненько. Вообще нельзя взять и купить что то, для начала надо открыть эту вещь либо у местной ведьмы или же кузнеца чтобы эта вещь рандомно появилась во время очередной попытки. Каждый забег уникален? вовсе нет, даже враги не меняются,в каждой локации свои тип бомжей, убиваются одинаково, уклонение за спину и закликиваешь ,а если еще талисманчик нацепил на принца который оглушает противников во время рывка, то все происходит на изи(как грит молодежь). Пожалуй боссы лишь дают прикурить, да и то благодаря огромному количеству здоровья, я добрался только до второго. Локации не блещут оригинальностью, по сути отличаются лишь цветовой гаммой, да и сложно представить какое то разнообразие в 2д. Единственное паркур как то разбавляет игровой процесс ,наш принц бегает по стенам, прыгает, резкий как понос, чуть ли не летает. Про сюжет сказать нечего, после нескольких забегов я все диалоги скипывал, они неинформативны и повторяются, кат-сцен нету, возможно я до них не дошел. Любителям жанра должно понравится, но брать ее как я из-за причастности к серии не стоит. И да, помянем отмененный ремэйк первой части. Не чокаясь!