The Rogue Prince of Persia from Evil Empire and Ubisoft is a fast-paced roguelite set in the Prince of Persia world. The story takes place during the Hun invasion of Persia and is told through interactions with NPC characters that you encounter throughout your playthroughs.
So does the game do enough to keep you interested in multiple playthroughs and how does it fare so far as an “Early Access” title? Let’s dive into it a bit more.
The Rogue Prince of Persia
Drawing from the Prince of Persia lore, players will take on the role of the Prince himself. Armed with his trusty Bola, whenever you die in The Rogue Prince of Persia, you’ll be transported back in time to the Prince’s camp just before the Hun invasion of Persia. The game onboards you quite well with a quick run through the basics in the first area. Zagros Village is not too difficult to get through and you’ll soon learn the game’s mechanics.
Players will have access to the Prince’s main weapon and his ranged sub-weapon. As you progress through the game, you will gain access to new weapons and can mix and match your main and sub-weapons. Using the Tabar with a Chakram was quite effective in my run against some tough enemies but The Rogue Prince of Persia is not an easy game to get through. Like most games in the genre, if you mess up, it’s usually your own fault and this game emphasises that with its platforming more so than with its enemies.
Patience is a virtue in The Rogue Prince of Persia. If you plan to survive a run, you’ll have to be able to platform your way past some pitfalls and spiky death traps while also dodging enemies and their attacks. Rushing in and button-bashing is just going to get you killed. Enemies in the game are quite varied and have their own strengths and weaknesses which you need to pay attention to. For example, the Huns in their base camp are quite tough and have a lot more health. Some enemies also have a shield which needs to be broken first before you can damage them directly.
The Prince himself is not a pushover though. Apart from your weapons, you can also kick enemies into each other or into traps which helps out quite significantly in battles. You also have access to medallions which are upgrades that make things a whole heck of a lot easier for you based on their effects. Medallions are slotted into one of 4 slots which also impart upgrades to other medallions in other slots. Carefully balancing the medallions in these slots and their upgrades is essential to crafting a Prince capable of dealing massive damage to foes or surviving their assaults.
In addition to the medallion system, players will also unlock upgrades to the Prince back at their base camp based on Spirit Glimmers that they obtain in levels. These upgrades carry over to your actual runs and help you progress further. Very standard Roguelite fare but then again, playing this title, you should expect something like this.
The part that stood out the most from the Early Access build I played lay with the fact that The Rogue Prince of Persia is quite fast-paced. It plays out very similarly to Dead Cells which comes as no real surprise given that Evil Empire worked on Dead Cells. Getting through an area feels like an achievement and taking out tough enemies is incredibly fun. Exactly the same as with Dead Cells. The Rogue Prince of Persia looks great and plays great. And if you enjoyed Dead Cells, you’ll immediately be hooked by this title too.
Where The Rogue Prince of Persia differs from Dead Cells lies in its difficulty and storytelling. While Dead Cells could feel incredibly brutal at times, The Rogue Prince of Persia feels a lot less punishing. If you die in the game, it’s usually because you either got greedy with your attacks or got impatient with your platforming (Or just slipped up and fell into spikes).
From the build I played, everything seemed manageable after a few runs and getting used to the control scheme. The storytelling where you’re slowly drip-fed new characters and information as you go along is great. It keeps you engaged and rem
Platforming feels great and fluid and the combat is super satisfying. Boss fights in the game will require some balancing and there are some attacks which feel way too overpowered. The limited selection of weapons also needs to be addressed but surely this will be over time. Graphically, The Rogue Prince of Persia looks fantastic with an art-style that’s visually captivating.
As an Early Access title, The Rogue Prince of Persia is already packed with content that will keep you busy for a few hours. This is a title that you should definitely keep an eye on because the developers are actively working on it and engaging with the community with regards to their feedback too.
As it stands right now, the game is the perfect blend of Prince of Persia lore/storytelling with Dead Cells mechanics and can only get better from here on out if the developers stay on the right path. So far they have and there’s a lot of potential here. Check it out if you’re interested in a Prince of Persia roguelite.
The Rogue Prince of Persia Trailer
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