While the mid-00s era aesthetics may seem hokey in 2022, It definitely worked as I had a friend who was obsessed with this game back in the day. Not obsessed with Prince of Persia mind you, but specifically this game; I think Shahdee must've awoken something in him. Despite this obsession being my first notice of the franchise, for some reason it was the only Ubi-era PoP game I never played, so I'm glad I finally got it off my backlog.
That being said, aside from the obvious aesthetic shift, this is still a PoP game which means it's mostly platforming albeit with an increased focus on combat this time around. It's good fun although I can't help but feel the rewind power was more so compensation for some pretty unfair design (the muddy visuals certainly don't allow for much clarity of your surroundings). When it works its a lot of fun but the open-design means you'll be repeating sections more than you like; a saw-trap puzzle isn't exactly exciting gameplay when you've done it 5 or more times.
Repetition really is this game's biggest weakness, apparently Sands of Time's short length was something the developers saw as a negative, and I feel they overcorrected. you could easily shave off about 20-30% of this game and you would get a much more focused experience. The last third is especially egregious, it's cool in theory but at that point, you've seen everything the game has to offer.
It's a lesser game than its predecessor and a clear example of how more game doesn't equal a better game, but that doesn't make it bad at all - it's just okay.
That being said, aside from the obvious aesthetic shift, this is still a PoP game which means it's mostly platforming albeit with an increased focus on combat this time around. It's good fun although I can't help but feel the rewind power was more so compensation for some pretty unfair design (the muddy visuals certainly don't allow for much clarity of your surroundings). When it works its a lot of fun but the open-design means you'll be repeating sections more than you like; a saw-trap puzzle isn't exactly exciting gameplay when you've done it 5 or more times.
Repetition really is this game's biggest weakness, apparently Sands of Time's short length was something the developers saw as a negative, and I feel they overcorrected. you could easily shave off about 20-30% of this game and you would get a much more focused experience. The last third is especially egregious, it's cool in theory but at that point, you've seen everything the game has to offer.
It's a lesser game than its predecessor and a clear example of how more game doesn't equal a better game, but that doesn't make it bad at all - it's just okay.