Prince of Persia

I had rather long history with Prince of Persia series of games. I played the older 2D games made by Broderbund, where white silhouette of a Prince runs against blue backgrounds of dungeons in search for green decorated doors to the next level.

I also played newer 3D games made by Ubisoft, that pioneered running on walls and parkour, the same development team later went on to make Assassin's Creed games. Most of them made a positive impression on me.

Unlike Legacy of Kain and Max Payne, I started my Prince of Persia experience from the very first game. I was still in preschool age then, but I managed to grasp realistic but finnicky movements and jumping mechanics and reached second level and explored it for a while. 

Second game was more colorful but worked fundamentally like the first. I think I managed to reach the flying carpet, or I saw someone did that.

Warrior Within and the Sands Trilogy

Much later I played newer 3D Prince of Persia. I started with Warrior Within, followed by The Two Thrones, then Prince of Persia 2008 and The Forgotten Sands. Later I also get the first game of the series: The Sands of Time. I did not play the third and final game by Broderbund, Prince of Persia 3D. They did not get transition from 2D to 3D well in that game.

Warrior Within is possibly the best of the Sands of Time trilogy. Overtime I grew to like it more and more. At first, I thought it lacked things people stereotypically associate with Persia, but later I started to think that this mystery Island of Time setting was possibly even more interesting that a more stereotypical Persian fairytale style game. Time travel allows you to see the island before and after it was destroyed.

Story is also interesting and full of 'not what it seems moments'. How he killed Kayleena to prevent Sands of Time from being created, just to realize that killing her actually created sands rather than prevented her from creating them. How he figured out how to fix that afterwards and get what he wanted in the first place.

Plot with a Mask of Wraith twist adds mystery to the whole experience. First half of the game you wonder: who is that strange black and white warrior you occasionally come across is. Then you finally realize it was you from a parallel timeline and get to see events from his point of view, occasionally meeting your former self. 

Architecture is awesome too. Each location is good in its own way, be that the grand halls of the palace, gardens in the north wing or mechanical tower in the south. 

Much later I played The Sands of Time, and it was in many more ways lacking not only compared to Warrior Within, but other games as well. Some people say it is closer to fairytale 1001 Nights experience, but it is hardly so. The game is too basic, it feels more like the prototype for the series, rather than awesome game on its own. The most memorable part was climbing the palace before the final fight. Soundtrack however was good even then.

Some people like Farah who is in Sands of Time and The Two Thrones, but not in Warrior Within. However, Farah is basically stock feminist female character. Kyleena is much better in my opinion, and in Warrior Within we also have Shahdee with nice fashion sense. I do wonder if she too will turn more obedient and docile if she will have no further reason to fight Prince, just like Kyleena did in the end of game.

The last game of the trilogy The Two Thrones tried to combine the better parts of two previous games to satisfy divided fans. However, it turned out somewhat lackluster. Alright, but often repetitive and trivial. I would still say it is better than The Sands of Time but far from Warrior Within.

Price of Persia 2008 and The Forgotten Sands

Unlike most fans, who were repelled by stark change of tone in Prince of Persia 2008, I liked this game almost as much as Warrior Within.

Unlike The Sands of Time, it truly has cozy fairytale feel to it. All locations have wonderful design to them and collecting light nodes give you good reason to climb all over them.

The fancy and richly decorated palace tower, the reddish fort and windmills, the platforms and observatory of Alchemist and the stone city with two towers each has unique vibe, but they also so fit together and complete the whole feel of the game.

Later I watched .hack//Sign and learned where they got many ideas for their designs. However, it was Prince of Persia that perfected these ideas.

New Prince and Elica are not particularly nice, but they are alright and fit the whole narrative well. 

New Prince is not per se bad himself, but he possibly fits role of a sidekick a lot more than a protagonist. That is. he is likable character, but the original Prince fits me more as a self-insert character. I also like that joke about 'carpets this thick'.

I do not hate Elica and her presence does not. ruin or spoils the game. However, she is not my type of girl. Also, her outfit looks relatively nice. It is not latex thong or maid outfit but it is alright.

Battle mechanics are super awesome however, all these over-the-top acrobatic magic and sword pirouettes is where game shines. I would say shines most, but the game shines in other aspects too so it is hard to pick where it shines more.  It is almost a shame that you do not get to fight more various opponents and use this battle mechanic to the max.

The Forgotten Sands was an attempt to appease fans and again return to 'how game was supposed to be'. It turned out somewhat mixed bag. It was not bad, but there was hardly anything that was so good that you would praise this game in long texts.

It is enjoyable if not very outstanding experience.

Conclusion

Prince has changed over time. In many ways there is little that connects more recent games to its predecessors.

However, all Prince of Persia had this mysterious magical realism feel to them. It is not a fairy tale for children with fairies that reward good kids. Neither it is never-ending gritty and dark experience. It has a little bit of both, some beaty some darkness. Almost like a fairy tale, and adult can reasonably believe in. And it is a pleasant fairy tale often with grounded happy ending. Not too good to make you disbelieve and dismiss it as something that can only happen in fairy tales. However not too bad to make you sad and disappointed.

Also, pretty much all Prince of Persia games are aesthetically pleasing. Elaborate designs they have for everything adds to the mysterious experience. It is as fancy as it can get, and I love it.

Not to mention a Byronic protagonist that keep going further and further, exploring these mysterious worlds.

The series has allure of sophisticated, well-mannered woman, with whom you will want to spend a night or two, or 1000 and one.