The Prince of Persia takes another venture into the world of 2D action games. Compared to last year’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which was a Metroidvania, The Rogue Prince of Persia is an action roguelite developed by Evil Empire. This team previously worked on another 2D action roguelite, Dead Cells. They aren’t the main developers, but they took the reins after Dead Cells launched to work on updates and DLC expansions. From this background, Evil Empire seemed to be a perfect fit for a movement-based 2D action roguelite.
Moving Through the Sands
Similar to Dead Cells and other roguelites, your progression is mainly based on how far you get and what you find in a run. Repeat deaths are very likely when starting out in a roguelite. With every death, you come back stronger along with more resources to help yourself for future runs. This perfectly applies to The Rogue Prince of Persia. These can range from weapon unlocks or experience points you can spend to upgrade the Prince’s abilities. Although you are not exactly making your character and attacks stronger, you are acquiring different options for combat and sustainability. Along with that, you’ll also encounter medallions in which they provide passive buffs to the Prince. I found them to be somewhat lackluster unless they were a Legendary tier medallion.
The combat is incredibly easy to understand and get into. The real meat of this game comes from its advanced movement mechanics. From wall running to vaulting over enemies, this game is heavily designed around the Prince’s movement. Once you get used to both combat and movement, you’ll end up reaching the end of stages pretty quickly. Movement is also important for boss fights as the arenas where you fight them change significantly. Adapt to those changes, and you’ll have a much better time fighting these bosses.
Story In Gameplay
With comparisons to other roguelite, I would attribute a lot from the Hades games. Similarly, every time the protagonist dies, they are resurrected back to the main hub area. In these hub areas, there are multiple characters who you can talk to. Normally, they’ll have something different to say to the protagonist after every death/completed run. The Rogue Prince of Persia follows this similarly to the Hades games, but not to the same impact. After some point, the characters end up repeating dialogue in a short span of deaths/runs. Even the characters who you find or the interactable event locations in stages don’t have a lot to say. Although I haven’t seen every bit of dialogue from every character, the few runs that I have completed didn’t really change much, aside from the few characters in the Prince’s camp.
Along with engaging in this game’s world and story, there’s the Mind Map. The Mind Map is a great resource for those who want to know more about the world and characters, but it also somewhat serves as a quest list. Throughout runs, you’ll encounter scenarios with characters that may involve returning to them in a future run. In some cases, you’ll have to bring a specific item that’ll take up your tool slot. It leaves you with less combat options, but in a way, you are progressing more through the game by completing these quests. These help unlock new companions for the main hub area or unlock stages for future runs.
Closing Thoughts
The Rogue Prince of Persia is a solid 2D action roguelite. It excels in its movement mechanics making for great platforming sections combined with satisfying combat. Much of what I have said that I didn’t feel too strongly about the game were smaller aspects such as the medallions and the limited dialogue variety. Regardless of these small gripes, I would say this a great roguelite to pick up and sink some time into. The Rogue Prince of Persia is currently retailing at $29.99 USD and it is available on Steam, Ubisoft Connect, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and a future release this year on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.
