Capitolo di Prince of Persia molto bello, strutturato bene e con boss non ripetitivi nel combattimento, ognuno ha un modo diverso in cui possono essere combattuti e sconfitti. Sistema stealth divertente (anche se più animazioni sarebbero state meglio) nemici fatti meglio rispetto ai capitoli precedenti. Avrei preferito la versione originale, ovvero Kindred Blades, che per qualche motivo ignoto è stato tutto rifatto, davvero un peccato poichè sarebbe stato molto più interessante e vario, sia in armi che in nemici. Nonostante ciò davvero un ottimo Prince of Persia, probabilmente il migliore della trilogia.

I wouldnt adore this trilogy so much if it weren't for this game.
Two Thrones paves the way to conclude the trilogy, while respecting both of its predecessors by assimilating what is best of both into its own final journey of retrospect and resolve.

Both Sands of Time and Warrior's Within's two opposing tones are mutually captured throughout this game, both gritty and lighthearted in ambience, strong writing and characterisations with banter dialogues and monologues harkening back to Sand of Time, while retaining that dark edge which reflects through the more isolated moments of the game.

Two Thrones progression is in similar fashion as The Sands of Time always directing itself forward to new areas with diverse environments through fantastic level design combining parkour platforming, combat and puzzlesolving into a balanced rythm that flows exceedingly well.

Apart from a few missable life upgrades and some minour jank, this game is one of a kind doing an excellent job in concluding the trilogy.

The prince gets schizophrenia, and has a badass black guy tangled with chains inside his fucking head, who uncontrollably takes over his body to murder enemies. How can u not like that.
Besides, as far as i remember, it's the first game I've ever played in my life, on my PS2. I remember launching this game with my older brother excited as shit, just to take turns while playing (i was the last one to play of course).
The game and basically the whole series, is what got me into parkour/stealth/action games in general.
Huge love and nostalgia, is what I have for this game.

EL FINAL IMPERFECTO

Las Arenas del Tiempo demostró que El Príncipe de Persia sabía dar el salto a las 3D de forma satisfactoria y El Alma del Guerrero dio un juego de plataformas y acción brutal, tanto en jugabilidad como en narrativa. No obstante, en el camino al último capítulo de la trilogía no todo fue como se esperaba.

Debido a la recepción y críticas que El Alma del Guerrero recibió por culpa de haber tomado un rumbo demasiado diferente y oscuro a lo que la saga dio en su inicio, se reinició el desarrollo de este juego en busca de volver a la esencia del primer título y dejar a un lado lo que nos dieron en la entrega previa.

El haber reciclado conceptos de la versión beta y luego readaptarlos se nota en la falta de pulimiento del combate, donde el juego pierde en comparación a El Alma del Guerrero, no dándonos tanta variedad y poder en lo que se refiere a duelos de esgrima. Las secciones de El Príncipe Oscuro se vuelven molestas y estresantes por tener que depender de la arena para sobrevivir y estar buscando constantemente para así continuar sin morir.

Aún con todo no es un mal título, ofreciendo puntos interesantes como los QTE de las matanzas veloces con su componente de sigilo, un gameplay propio con la cadena de El Príncipe Oscuro, las carreras de cuádrigas y la historia se siente como un final bastante satisfactorio para la trilogía.

Overall, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones has aged incredibly well from the perspective of someone playing the trilogy for the first time in 2023. The platforming is very precise and the presentation, music and setting hold up even by today's standards. I also like the change of being able to stealth kill enemies, just because combat is its weakest part, and every tool that helps to minimize combat made the game more enjoyable to me. The bosses are absolute garbage, though. I played the entire trilogy on Steam Deck, and it played really well with community controller layouts.

The finale of the Sands of Time trilogy is one that combines the best of both previous games in a package that is ultimately a bit less than the sum of its parts in comparison to the first game. It certainly outpaces the second game for me however, and that's partly thanks to them righting the ship from last time with the game's tone, writing, and the prince as a protagonist.

Funnily enough, The Two Thrones is in many ways the opposite of how Warrior Within was for me—I vastly prefer this game's narrative and writing to its gameplay. Not that the gameplay is bad by any stretch, but more so that I most of all appreciated the concerted effort to right the wrongs with the darker, edgier flavour of Warrior Within.

Of course, I acknowledge that not everyone was a detractor of that game and its tone, and many people did get a kick out of it, so to kind of have their cake and eat it too, the tone of The Two Thrones manages to find a satisfying midpoint between the adventure and wit of Sands of Time and the grit and darker tones of Warrior Within.

This creative experiment pays off, and I enjoyed the prince and his dynamic with other characters, including the returning Farah and the dark spirit that resides within him (which I assume is a metaphor for his drastic change in character during the last game), much more than I had before. The story isn't anything new, of course, but the prince's journey of reconciling with everything he's been through and trying to find a way to accept and make peace with himself is genuinely compelling.

As said, the gameplay isn't bad at all; it's a decent amalgamation of the best parts of the last two games in terms of combat, platforming, level design, and puzzles. The new platforming moves of wall climbing and springboarding are fun and provide opportunities to use the new stealth systems this game flaunts—they're a fun alternative to hacking and slashing if need be, and are paced to help break up the action and platforming by combining both at these intervals. It's a neat distraction and doesn't overstay its welcome, or vice versa.

The non-linear Metroidvania structure of Warrior Within is traded for more linear Sands of Time-esque level design this time, and honestly, I feel indifferent about it. Yes, there were navigation issues during the last game with the lacklustre maps and tightly packed areas, but the issue with Two Thrones is that both the levels and environments are the least interesting thus far. 

The rooftops and streets of Babylon are where you spend the vast majority of your time in Two Thrones, with very little in the way of variation in environments sprinkled in. Structurally, the levels are fine enough, but they're never quite as interesting to look at and explore as they were in the previous two games. 

Overall, the gameplay in Two Thrones is fine. It doesn't rewrite the book, though it didn't really need to. Instead, the combination of elements from the previous two titles with a smattering of new mechanics works well enough to sustain the <8-hour runtime. The return to linear SoT-esque levels is appreciated; however, as I've said, they're never really that interesting. 

What was interesting, however, was the narrative and writing, which are the strongest in the series. The prince himself is in full form, and his arc here is more compelling than it has ever been, and the story does a great job of wrapping up the trilogy and tying up loose ends in the way a trilogy finale should.

7/10

Another video game from my childhood !
I originally played the Wii version "Prince of Persia - Rival Swords". It's a different name that is exclusive to the Wii release, but it's exactly the same game.
I remember spending more time watching my father & brother play it, rather than playing it myself. It was too hard for 10-years old me. I don't even remember if we ever finished it.
Tho to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if playing with my Xbox controller made the game considerably easier than playing it back then with a Wiimote & motion controls.

The PC version is janky and I had to do some workarounds when I started the game.
Setting my controller correctly was troublesome, and there was an issue with the graphics:
When you set the special effects to "High" the game has an extreme bloom effect that makes it considerably less pleasant to look at.
But if you set the special effects to "Medium" or "Low" your character's shadow turns green (don't ask me why).
I chose to stay on "Low" cause the bloom effect is just terrible.
The audio is also fucked up. In several cutscenes, there is a delay between what you hear and what's happening on screen.
Despite all those technical issues, the game was definitely playable. None of them were too much of a nuisance.

I was very happy with the gameplay. The controls are intuitive, and your character's movements are very fluid. He jumps far and he climbs ladders & ledges quickly.
It was a lot of fun to hang onto those curtains, and traverse the platforming sections full of traps. You need to have good timing, and dodging all those contraptions is really satisfying. The Prince definitely feels super agile!
The rewind mechanic was also welcomed. It was an interesting way to justify having a few extra chances upon failing a jump, and it also serves a purpose in the story & the Prince's character development.

The combat was engaging for the most part. There is an infiltration aspect to it, with an execution QTE everytime you manage to land a surprise attack. You also have plenty of combos, and you'll need to be clever to defeat some of the enemies. For example you can insta-kill the dogs if you attack them while they have their mouth opened.
You can also avoid direct confrontation. Whenever there is an enemy encounter, you aren't locked with them, and you can actually ignore them entirely by rushing to the next platforming segment (well, most of the time).
Another option if you want to avoid fighting is to knock the enemies over the rooftops. It works like a charm!

I wasn't a big fan of the Dark Prince transformation. I understand the idea of forcing the player to play more agressively to change the pace a bit, but it was kinda stressful to lose HP constantly. It's like having a timer, which I've never been fond of. And the combat itself isn't exciting. You can just spam the whip over & over until every enemy is dead.

The game has well designed Boss fights, and all of them are really challenging:
- The 1st Boss fight in the arena was great, I like that it relies a lot on platforming.
- The 2nd Boss fight against Mahasti was equally good. It involves a lot of melee combat with the use of parry & the Dark Prince transformation to get rid of her. Plus she has a sick chara design!
- The 3rd Boss fight against the Twin Warriors was probably the hardest in the game. But fun nonetheless.

Games that ask you to choose a difficulty before beginning your adventure, but don't let you change the difficulty again afterwards are a big no-no for me. I don't recommand starting the game on the highest difficulty if you ever decide to give it a try.
I keep thinking that if I started the game on Hard, maybe I would have never made it to the end 😅

The endgame areas were my favorites. I love the atmosphere in the Hanging Gardens.
After that, you have to make your way through the Palace's old well, and it's just as good. After a tough parkour segment, the Prince finds his dead father, and he finally manages to take control of his alter ego. It was a really cool story moment!

The final Boss fight, just like all the other ones, was very entertaining. It mixes melee combat, platforming & QTE, and it was so rewarding to defeat him.
When I thought I had finished my adventure, the Dark Prince reappeared out of nowhere to try and get rid of us. The end consists of a final platforming segment in the Prince's psyche, and the visuals were pretty neat.
Honestly, the last hours of the game went so smoothly, it was such a satisfying ending.

I'm surprised I enjoyed the game so much. The fact that Prince of Persia isn't a huge franchise that isn't talked about a lot, and the fact that the game came out in 2005.. I didn't expect it to be so good. It holds up really well!
I'll definitely play the first two games of the trilogy in the future: Sands of Time & Warrior Within.

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Started on January 14th & finished on January 15th 2024]
Playtime: 14 hours
Main story complete.