Ubisoft's biggest publishing lesson will be revealed in the second Prince of Persia game in 2024. If you refuse to use Steam and insist on using other platforms, you'll be ignored by gamers and your game will remain unnoticed. Since Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is only available on the Epic Store and Xbox Connect, most PC gamers are unaware that it's perhaps the greatest PoP game ever made. Though it has only been out for six months, it seems like it has been out for thirty. It's waiting (groans) for Ubisoft to pull it from the one storefront the PC audience really cares about, buried deep in the sands of time.

Similar to BMX Bandit from 1984, Ubisoft regresses with The Rogue Prince of Persia. The game was only available on Steam; it wasn't even available on Ubisoft's own digital store! Right now, it's in early access, and although Epic and other platforms can manage that format, Steam has the most user input by far. There's going to be a Rogue Prince there for at least half a year. As of right now, the game's material isn't all that substantial; you could easily finish it in a single day.

Dead Cells with 2D Hades wannabes or parkour

Evil Empire, the production company best known for Dead Cells, is the brains and fingerchild of the Rogue Prince of Persia. Though the Prince has parkour platforming and seems more dynamic as a result, the two games have a similar idea. Should the analogy with Dead Cells fail to pique your interest, maybe "2D Hades wannabe" will? It's a rogue-lite created procedurally with branching pathways, mild meta advancement, and (at the moment) wildly uneven boss battles. Ubisoft postponed the release of The Rogue Prince of Persia due of its ambitious nature, in contrast to Hades II. The pricing (20 vs. 30 USD/EUR) reflects that, however Hades II still has a much stronger advantage when it comes to content against price. Likeness to the luminous Prince of Persia Even if you were to pretend that you were a genuine prince instead of one of the Immortals, The Lost Crown would still be less flattering.

This young prince met his death early, having attacked the Hun army in a rash and hasty manner. However, he is still alive because, at the last second, his enchanted bola necklace saved him from certain death. The Prince, startled and disoriented, came to the realization that the Huns had destroyed his realm, routed the Persian army, and defaced its towns. He has to act quickly to address the situation. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to stop the Huns from using their shamanistic magic. Thus, until his skull or the wall breaks, he will keep hitting his head against the figurative wall.

Meta-progression and playstyle experimentation

In order to survive each level and acquire enough equipment upgrades to tackle more difficult obstacles, you will thus run, leap, slide, and stab. When you die, your run through a procedurally created level comes to an end. Hopefully, you'll manage to snag enough Spirit Glimmers to justify the effort by the time you die and use Bola to reset the world and turn back time. Those resources will be used to unlock more weapons and amulets, which ought to become available in later runs. The Glimmer is the sole item that survives from one life to the next, as wealth and weapons obtained during a run are lost upon death. The meta development is often somewhat constrained and lacks the gradual increase in power that Hades provides. Getting excellent is the only way to win in this situation.

It also helps to be a little lucky with the improvements. Your weapons and amulets define your attacking and defensive skills. You begin with a bow and two daggers, and as you go, you may acquire more items. Medallions are mutators that have the power to drastically alter your style of play. For instance, you will commence every fight encounter with the item you get first, giving it priority over everything else, if it splatters sticky goo every time you perform a kick. Certain amulets are undoubtedly superior than others; one such amulet is the one that gives you a little health boost each time you arrive at a waystation. Since there aren't many opportunities in the game to restore health—which is really crucial—this amulet makes it almost too simple. Nearly. You'll become aware of your vulnerability when you confront the first of the game's two bosses.

The constrained story undermines it.

In addition to his fighting abilities, the prince uses his acrobatic ability to practically take down his opponents. Wall running is a fundamental element of parkour, and when paired with chain leaping and platform grabbing, it forms a formidable acrobatic framework. Once you get the hang of it, it's quite rewarding. The whole system offers the player an empty canvas on which to refine and express their fighting style and develop a distinct combat voice. In a 2D setting, this is not the simplest task to do.

The vivid visual design of The Rogue Prince of Persia is characterized by intricate animation, cell shading, and great contrast. The visuals of The Lost Crown still appeal to me more, but I suppose the Evil Empire men valued the difference between the two titles. Additionally, the music component has an eastern vibe to it—more precisely, it "beats and drums." Those rhythms seem more Arabic than Persian to me, although I'm only a layman with vacations in Egypt and Tunisia. I could be in error.

The homogeneity between runs was the aspect of Rogue Prince that I found objectionable. After a time, the whole experience becomes monotonous. Hades's narrative/dialogue flow made each post-run almost as thrilling as the actual run. In contrast to the two Hades games, this game has a laughably little amount of real material, albeit you may anticipate some new characters and dialogue. As the primary gameplay loop, all three games provide repetition and the chance to learn, but only two of them take the time to address the narrative gap.

Finally, I would advise you to wait and see whether the developers would add valuable content to those critical gaps. After the amazing Lost Crown, you may be itching for more Prince of Persia, but The Rogue Prince isn't satisfying enough as it is.