My relationship with the Prince of Persia series has been complicated over the years. My first taste of it came on my 12th birthday, when I unwrapped Warrior Within as a present. At the time, its gory executions, darker, edgier tone, and guitar-driven soundtrack blew my young mind.
But as Ubisoft shifted its focus toward the Assassin’s Creed franchise, I found the series to completely lose its magic and identity. The 2008 reboot and The Forgotten Sands never quite clicked with me, and the underwhelming film adaptation only added to my disappointment.
Fast forward over a decade, and I was blown away when picking up the excellent The Lost Crown on Switch. Whilst it was more of a call back to the series’ 2D roots, it brilliantly blends the series’ signature platforming and time-bending mechanics with a Metroidvania structure.
So, when The Rogue Prince of Persia shadow-dropped on console earlier this week, I was keen to see whether it could pull off the same trick, but this time, in the roguelike genre.
What is The Rogue Prince of Persia?
Originally released in Early Access last May, The Rogue Prince of Persia is a 2D side-scrolling action roguelite set within the same universe as the legendary franchise.
It was developed by Evil Empire, the team behind post-launch content for Dead Cells, so it’s unsurprising that both games share much of the same DNA. Over the past year, it’s undergone some major revisions, including a complete visual overhaul, but with the full version now available, I’ll be diving in fresh, experiencing it for the first time at launch.
The adventure starts during a devastating conflict in the Great Persian War. The Prince’s kingdom has been reduced to a smouldering pile of ash following the attack of a rival group known as the Huns. When the Prince seeks retaliation, he is slain, but then mysteriously returns from the grave. It’s then up to him to parkour his way through a procedurally-generated world to save his family and finally seek revenge.
The Rogue Prince of Persia absolutely nails the spirit of the franchise when it comes to its platforming. To traverse the environment and avoid deadly spike pits, he can run across walls, vault on poles, and slide up and down stone pillars. Movement is fluid, and it gives traversal a rhythm and creativity that keeps each run feeling dynamic.
Adding to this sense of momentum is the game’s fast travel system, which lets you freely return to previously explored locations known as Wells of Dreams. This completely removes the need for tedious backtracking, and I found it easy to see which areas I had missed. That’s especially helpful, as each level hides surprises such as merchants and challenge rooms, where you can unlock new weapon blueprints.
While traversing individual levels is a breeze thanks to the fluid movement, I found the game’s overall structure to be one of its few shortcomings. Even when unlocking different biomes, the path for progression remains the same each time, and I lost track of how many times I faced off against the first boss, General Berude.
Weapons and Medallions
The game’s excellent parkour system extends into combat, allowing the Prince to bounce off walls and slash enemies to pieces. Movement and combat are tightly interconnected, and you’ll need to master both in tandem to overcome the game’s bosses. The first major encounter, General Berude, for example, unleashes powerful shockwaves across the ground, and surviving them requires a well-timed dash and wall run.
The Prince can find and equip more than 100 unique weapons and medallions, allowing for builds that feel unique each run. You have a primary weapon, which can unleash basic and charged attacks, and a secondary ranged weapon that consumes energy to wield. These secondary tools include a grappling hook that pulls enemies toward you and a fire vial that inflicts deadly burn damage.
The medallions are where things really start getting interesting, though. Medallions can be equipped to deliver passive boosts to your stats and abilities, and if you match two of the same kind, you unlock a powerful bonus. The Sharpener medallion, for example, increases your weapon damage by 10%, but this is doubled to 20% with both pieces equipped. You can also find corrupted medallions that offer more potent buffs, but they come with their own nasty side effects.
Meta progression
By defeating enemies and bosses, you’ll level up and earn skill points, which can be spent on unlocking permanent upgrades. Rather than one giant skill tree, The Rogue Prince of Persia has several different upgrade paths, with each focusing on aspects such as melee combat, movement, and status effects. This I found a refreshing change, as it gave me more freedom in spending my points, rather than being confined to a single progression line.
Players will also collect Soul Cinders throughout their journey, which can be sent back to the Oasis (hub world) to unlock new medallions and weapons for future runs. Banking Soul Cinders requires depositing them between levels, adding an extra layer of risk to each run since dying before you can bank them means losing your collected resources. Soul Cinders are plentiful when exploring and defeating enemies, so you’re never in short supply of new toys each run.
The Verdict
While it didn’t quite reach the same heights as The Lost Crown for me personally, The Rogue Prince of Persia remains an excellent spin-off that successfully keeps the spirit of the franchise alive.
Whilst it can feel repetitive in places, the game’s excellent parkour system feels like a breath of fresh air in the crowded roguelike market.
With some of Ubisoft’s major franchises starting to feel stale in recent years, The Rogue Prince of Persia is a promising reminder of how refreshing these classic IPs can be when given to the right team. Here’s hoping more of the catalogue gets the same revival treatment.
The Rogue Prince of Persia is out now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series. I played the game via access provided by Ubisoft, so a big thanks to them!
