Prince of Persia has been one of my favorite game franchises since the sands of time trilogy released over twenty years ago. Back in January we were graced with an amazing new entry (a long 14 years after the most recent game). Then, almost out of nowhere, another title gets announced. The Rogue Prince of Persia. I had the opportunity to play a streamer demo that was provided to me by Ubisoft via Keymailer.
A Rogue Amongst Royalty
You may be familiar with the developer. Evil Empire is responsible for the critically acclaimed Dead Cells. That means The Rogue Prince of Persia plays a lot like Dead Cells but after my experience it’s clear that it has its own identity.
The demo includes the “first two biomes” as well as the very first boss. Much like any other roguelike, when you die you’re transported back to the beginning and must start the run over. This is due to the bola that the prince wears around his neck. The magic in it allows you to travel back in time as if nothing happened.
As you play you collect gold which allow you to buy temporary upgrades for use during a run. You'll also come across a different kind of currency called "glimmer” which you can use to craft weapons, tools, and medallions. These things are permanent upgrades that can be used in future runs.
History Repeats Itself
During my time with the demo I died and had to restart more times than I may be willing to admit. It took me at least twenty runs to even reach the boss and then about 8 tries to finally defeat it. That's the thing about games like this. You improve and learn each time and you slowly get further and further.
The art style is flat yet colorful with each biome having a unique color schemes and music tracks. The cartoony nature of the art style matches up the cheeky humor of the dialogue in the best way.
After completing the demo and collecting all there is to offer, I can truly say I'll be playing this more once it comes to early access. With the recently announced price of $19.99 I think this is going to sell like hotcakes!
I played The Rogue Prince of Persia on a Steam Deck and even though this was a beta demo it ran incredibly well. The only noticeable hiccups were the loading screens between biomes but since they're procedurally generated I understand why it takes a moment to load in the next area.
The Rogue Prince of Persia is slated to launch in Early Access on PC (via Steam) on May 27th. At this time the game will only be available for PC but with how many platforms Dead Cells was released on over the years, I don’t see any reason for it to not be released on basically everything.
