After loving Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown last year, I had my eyes on this game ever since it released on PC. I don’t have too much experience with roguelike games, but it seemed like the Prince’s time-hopping nature would be a great fit for the addictive die-upgrade-repeat loop the genre is known for.
I quickly got hooked by the loop, and after six hours or so I was able to complete a run, defeating the Hun King Nogaï. Not being used to roguelikes, this felt a little anti-climactic to me. Did I “beat the game”? If so, six hours seemed pretty quick, and it felt like the story didn’t completely make sense yet and there was still lots to discover. And I guess there is, and that’s just how roguelikes are.
Completing a run that first time unlocked “Awakening,” which is the game’s system for making things more difficult. I played a few runs at this higher difficulty and it was… harder but not more satisfying. I think when I pick the game up again, I’ll stick to normal difficulty and try to resolve some of the storylines that I don’t quite understand. Looking at the wiki, I can tell there a few biomes and bosses I haven’t discovered yet.
Maybe it’s just because I’m a noob, but some of those story elements just didn’t click for me. For example, at a certain point I have an objective to rescue so-and-so, but depending in which biome I choose to start my run, I’m set on a path where that may not be possible. However, it’s still possible to continue sinking half an hour into the run, and maybe even beat the boss, without advancing that part of the story. I find that frustrating, but again, maybe this sort of mechanic is common for roguelikes and I just need to spend more time with the game.
All in all, I found The Rogue Prince of Persia to be pretty enjoyable, but I can’t help but compare it unfavorably to The Lost Crown, which really ticked all my boxes. Maybe that’s unfair, but oh well! I do think I’ll return to the Rogue Prince of Persia and maybe my opinion will change in time.