The New Prince of Persia

[AzraelCC]

As I've posted several months ago, I loved Sands of Time, and had only recently finished both Warrior Within and Two Thrones (due to my heavy teaching load this term). I enjoyed the series, with Sands of Time being my favorite--excellent storytelling and gameplay fusion, great mechanics, and apt atmosphere.

Incidentally, the new series reboot is out, and if anyone has already played the game, I'd like to know your thoughts on it before I buy it. Compared to SoT, how does it fare?

 

[Lightknight]

Fuck, will they ever number their games properly ? Whats this, third numberless "Prince of Persia" ?

 

[rpgcodexusername]

it got a B in EGM magazine

 

[Kaiserin]

I juts know that the commercial makes me want to barf every time it's on. Which, given that I watch TV at a pace of about 30 minutes a day on average, must be pretty fucking often if I've seen it so many times already.

 

[Castanova]

Review says that it's impossible to die/fail in the game. Not just, like, you instantly respawn but rather it's actually impossible to lose the game.

 

[pkt-zer0]

Review says that it's impossible to die/fail in the game. Not just, like, you instantly respawn but rather it's actually impossible to lose the game.

Not unlike the Prince's deaths being blamed on him having a shitty memory and going "no, that didn't happen" in Sands of Time. Except there's no "restart from last checkpoint" button you have to press this time, and are taken back there instantaneously.

An actual problem would be the game's supposedly low difficulty, resulting from the challenges thrown at the player not being all that challenging. I mean, if game journalists note the game is easy, it probably FUCKING PLAYS ITSELF. Overall it seems the game is like Sands of Time, except easier.

 

[Nicolai]

I've played it for an hour so far, seems to be rather terrible. The story is retarded and the sidekick who follows you around everywhere is rather annoying. There's too much magic and everything is too easy. Even the combat system sucks (you can't die here either) in comparison to Sands of Time, bla bla bla

 

[Kaiserin]

Not unlike the Prince's deaths being blamed on him having a shitty memory and going "no, that didn't happen" in Sands of Time.

Which, apart from narrative, is entirely identical to a normal death system. You could have at least knocked on the ability to rewind time...

 

[rpgcodexusername]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=27921

and theres this

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

i only just started, and while its different, anyone who's played a pop from the generation before this will find something familiar. animations are slick, like what they've done with the assassin's creed engine. the main problem so far is it just seems so obvious you're on rails - the challenge is figuring out how the level is expecting you to jump at a certain time.

i see a lot of potential here, but so far it doesn't have the magic of sands of time & co.

ps they should have basically made the prince into the thief from the thief and the cobbler voiced by Johnathon winters, would have been amazing. i mean, if you're just going to ignore all the previous stories and characters and such, you might as go all the way and do something fun.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

I'm sorry, but what PoP game wasn't on rails?

 

[Emotional Vampire]

Review says that it's impossible to die/fail in the game. Not just, like, you instantly respawn but rather it's actually impossible to lose the game.

Not just, like, you instantly respawn but rather it's actually impossible to lose the game.

lose the game.

the game.

Agreed though, best thing about the new PoP is the box.

 

[The Ticktockman]

I hope you spontaneously combust.

 

[AzraelCC]

I guess I won't be buying it then. Not being able to actually die pretty much removes the difficulty. Contrary to what I've read from most of the reviews, I don't think this enables you to "set up goals for yourself;" it's just lazy. It reminds me of the 'roleplaying' in Oblivion which was glorified LARPing.

I was really hoping the new series would be good, since the sad thing about these type of games is their low replayability. I would think an episodic format ala Sam and Max would really benefit the genre.

 

[fastpunk]

I gotta say, the art direction of the new PoP looks beautiful... I'd try it just for that. But not now, in a few months, or a year.

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

I'm sorry, but what PoP game wasn't on rails?

the problem here is its obviously on rails, as i stated. in previous games, your path was worked much more subtly into the environment, and in warrior within, you actually had multiple paths to objectives.

 

[Longshanks]

I guess I won't be buying it then. Not being able to actually die pretty much removes the difficulty.

It's really no different than automatically loading the last save or last checkpoint. Though, the checkpoints do seem too close together, apparently you won't lose more than 20 seconds on a "reload".

I'm sorry, but what PoP game wasn't on rails?

According to reviews Ive read, there is no longer any difficulty in finding your path through an area, where in the previous POPs you sometimes had to think about how you would get from point to point. So, I guess the rails are more visible in this game.


The reported lack of difficulty is my biggest concern with the game. I definitely don't play the POPs for their story, and while the acrobatics may look really cool, there's not much point in playing if the game's not at least moderately difficult. Not completely sold on it, but will probably play it at some point.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

What is it with this whole 'reboot' thing?

It seems like James Bond kicked the whole thing off with Casino Royale, then Tomb Raider picked it up, now it seems everyone thinks its the way forward.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

What is it with this whole 'reboot' thing?

It seems like James Bond kicked the whole thing off with Casino Royale, then Tomb Raider picked it up, now it seems everyone thinks its the way forward.

Comics have been doing it for years. It's a simple logic, really. A franchise get old after n installments, and the sales start to drop. The suits don't want to lose teh powah of brand recognishun and decide to keep the name and basic features that made the brand popular in the first place while changing everything else. Sometimes it actually works.

 

[Nightjed]

it might be just me but i really hated casino royale, a bond with no gadgets, no epic enemy and that doesnt even come off as cool just doesnt feel like bond.

its like the punisher, an ok movie but he really needed a top mafia boss enemy, not a third rate mob banker

most of the reboots suck, its like they are trying to tell me what it is that im supposed to like about the originals without even caring about my opinion

back on topic, i havent tried pop (ill probably test it without taking anything from an inventory when its out for pc) but i heard really awful things like, really short, easy, forced "light ball" gathering after clearing areas and repetitive gameplay.
and about the graphics, i understand they look better when they are moving but i think they suck in static pics, they should have gone full anime look instead of this hybrid

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

I've been playing the game for several hours, and it feels a lot like every codexer's favorite hiking simulator, Morrowind. Art direction is so goddamn pretty that you want to kiss the monitor, and music is just beautiful. Its main problem is that it's very easy, but the death system has little to do with it. Even if you had to ironman the latest PoP it still wouldn't be very difficult, and I'm not even exaggerating much. Bonus points go for solid voice acting and the atmosphere of a fairy tale. 8/10 if you enjoy exploring, and "5/10, WTF is this shit, who freaking balanced this, WHY IT'S SO FUCKING EASY?!1?" if you don't.

 

[Nightjed]

IT'S SO FUCKING EASY?!1?

can you elaborate ? does it play itself ? messing up has no penalty ? can you mess up ?

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

WHY IT'S SO FUCKING EASY?!1?" if you don't.

can you elaborate ? does it play itself ? messing up has no penalty ?

OK, here's how the death system works:
1. Platforming
If you fall down, Elika saves you. If you're in the middle of a long obstacle course you will be taken back to its start. It's a basic checkpoint system in disguise.
2. Combat
If you "die" during combat, Elika saves your and brings you back to full health, but the opponent also regenerates his health. Once again, it's a basic checkpoint system in disguise.

The problem is that it's hard to die. Attacks are easy to block, and jumping around isn't all that difficult either. The game doesn't play itself, but it has almost no challenge. Once you get a hang of the controls, you won't be dying more often than three times an hour.

 

[racofer]

We need a death system that erases your last save game, that would be fucking cool.

 

[Nightjed]

We need a death system that erases your last save game, that would be fucking cool.

you obviously never played NWN before they decided to eliminate the savegame corrupting feature