Summary
Rogue Prince of Persia brings a challenging roguelite with powerful enemies and environmental hazards preventing your progress. The Switch 2’s performance manages to capture the thrill of dodging and platforming with few concerns. You need lots of practice if you want to . If you want to play a solid roguelike on the go, this is a great option.
Developer – Evil Empire
Publisher – Ubisoft
Platforms – PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 (reviewed)
Review copy given by Developer
The Huns have invaded the kingdom and our brave Prince fights valiantly against the leader. However, he wakes up after the Huns have succeeded in their invasion while their leader still lives. After fighting his way through and falling in combat, he learns of his ability to cheat death. Meeting with various allies who assist him, the Prince learns from his mistakes and resumes his mission to drive out the Huns.
You travel across various locations filled with enemies and hazardous environments. The Prince chooses a weapon given to him at random along with a medallion that grants him benefits. He must then navigate through perilous terrain filled with enemies, spikes, and unstable platforms. After passing enough locations, he must fight a boss to proceed. Should the Prince lose all his health, he’s sent back to an oasis to recover before starting another attempt.
You are warned in the beginning that failure is expected and you aren’t going to clear this game in the first run. Enemies deal decent damage and the Prince has limited healing options. He must use his agility to navigate around enemies while striking them. This also applies to his platforming where wallrunning and jumping off platforms requires quick reflexes. You must learn enemy movements, the proper way to maneuver, and experiment with weapon combinations.
It’s fast-paced action that challenges you properly, forcing you to learn from your mistakes. The layout of each environment is different, preventing you from memorizing enemy locations. Having different weapons with each run forces you to experiment and find what works for you. Sometimes you encounter a room that may have valuable items though you must clear challenges to reach them. But you won’t always succeed as you figure out how to handle threats or the limits of your platforming.
It’s a good use of the roguelike formula that rewards risk-taking while forcing you to develop your skills. There may be times where avoiding enemies is better than actually engaging them. Alternatively, you might need the money they drop and you can use hit-and-run tactics. Maybe you take a risk on a reward room because your health is low and you can’t do any worse. While you can’t rely entirely on chance, it’s these decisions that immerse you in the gameplay.
The Prince has several weapons to experiment with and medallions that supplement his abilities. You can also unlock more weapons and medallions by gathering resources from enemies. Sometimes enemies drop gold that you can purchase from stores you encounter during your run. The possibilities are endless and it’s fun to discover what works for you. While it can be annoying when you don’t get your preferred weapon/medallion, you can still discover other possibilities.
The game runs well on the Switch 2 with occasional frame rate drops that don’t last long. Entering new areas or having lots of action on-screen slows the game down briefly but it quickly picks back up. Once the game adapts to the loading time, the frame rate drops almost disappear. You still see them when lots of action is occurring on the screen but otherwise frame rates are smooth and stable.
However it is a roguelike where every second counts and this game is challenging on purpose. You will struggle through several sections and potential frame rate drops can ruin this. Even when everything is smooth, it’s still a steep learning curve that demands hours of practice. The Prince’s movements are particularly sensitive and it’s not always clear if he’s climbing up or sliding down.
Remembering the Prince’s platforming skills is crucial but it’s a lot to remember. He can only run up or along walls to a certain degree and you must remember the approximate distance. You must also identify small poles that you can use as platforms, a task that isn’t always easy due to their colors. The price of failure is usually a painful bed of spikes or an unfortunate drop into a group of enemies.
Rogue Prince of Persia crafts a fun and challenging roguelike experience that tests your reflexes. There’s lots to learn and several combinations to experiment with, and the Switch 2 holds up well. It will take most of your time to master and there are some frame-rate drops that you can’t avoid. For a handheld roguelike experience, Rogue Prince of Persia is a game to look out for.
