The Rogue Prince of Persia review — Overcome death

Ctesiphon, the capital city of Persia, is in flames. Under siege by Huns, their twisted shamanic magic proved too much for even the prince to handle, and he fell in battle as a result. Three days later, the Prince has reawoken within the Oasis using the mysterious power of the Bola, and must retake his home and rescue what remains of his people.

The Rogue Prince of Persia is 2D side-scrolling roguelite, if the naming convention didn't immediately give it away. If you are familiar with Dead Cells, this game is made by the same studio, so you'll see a lot of similarities here albeit with a beautiful coat of Persian paint. When you begin a run, you'll initially begin in the starting zone, The Oasis. From here you choose your first biome, which are different levels that each have their own set of enemies, environments and randomized rewards. Beyond just being backdrops for slaying enemies, some biomes also have quests to complete. These often involve rescuing family members, and typically include solving a puzzle or finding a hidden item and bringing it to another biome.  

Throughout each level, you'll find new weapons and tools that will help you fight your foes, alongside gathering coins that can be spent at merchants to buy medallions or other gear items. Medallions essentially act as perks, and grant you various gameplay bonuses that can drastically change your builds from run to run. These can range from utility items like increasing gold gains to more niche combat scenarios, like spreading a slowing pool of resin after kicking an enemy. Weapons and tools are just as varied, each with their own unique combos and playstyles. I found myself gravitating towards the Caestus, which is a close range weapon that allows for speedy punches and is great for crit builds. Even though I wasn’t a fan of every weapon, there are plenty to enjoy, so there’s surely something for everyone regardless of what kinds of weapons you enjoy. 

A lot of emphasis is placed on exploration, and moving through these levels is extremely satisfying due to The Rogue's plentiful parkour mechanics. When I first started using the wall run mechanic, I thought it might be gimmicky, but it's so fluid and chains perfectly into your jumps, dives, vaults, kicks, slides and attacks that I couldn't help but fall in love.

Even when you aren't fighting enemies, just moving through the city of Ctesiphon is a blast when you are vibing with the environment. This is pushed even further with the Vayu's Breath mechanic, which rewards slick movement combos by filling up a meter that will increase movement speed and amplify your animations. And to tie it all together, The Rogue Prince of Persia has an incredible soundtrack by ASADI that blends traditional Persian music with punchy electronics to culminate into banger after banger.

Throughout your runs, you will also accumulate a resource called Soul Cinders, which can be spent in the hub zone after completing a run or falling in battle. This resource can be spent to unlock new weapons and craft additional medallions, which will show up as possible rewards in future runs. Soul Cinders can be harvested from a variety of sources, including slaying enemies and finding caches of them through exploration. While earning them is a simple enough endeavor, actually securing them is a different story. The caveat is that any Soul Cinders carried upon death are lost, meaning you will need to bank them at an altar that becomes available when entering a new zone. If you're feeling brave however, this altar can instead be smashed for a wealth of cinders, creating a risk-versus-reward gameplay loop that I found to be fun to engage with.

The only downside to the Soul Cinder system is that it can quickly lose steam when there just isn't enough to spend it on. Sure in the early game there is a lot to unlock, but after a few successful runs the options dwindle quite significantly. There is also a skill tree that will unlock various gameplay benefits such as increasing the amount of healing items you start with or revealing rewards before entering an area, but I didn't find most of these very exciting. Sure they make the game easier once you have them, but there isn't really anything inside the skill tree that actually gives you new 'skills' to play with per se.

Upon your first full completion of a run, the game doesn't just end, but rather opens up a new system known as Awakenings. This is essentially a difficulty modifier that lets you turn on or off various challenges that alter various aspects of gameplay with additional rewards as an incentive. This is something I was really glad to unlock, as the early game runs did feel like they were a bit under tuned in terms of difficulty.

Each modifier also has a cost between one and five that fill up a gauge, with higher costs granting more progress. The more you add, the larger the reward scalar grows, alongside benchmarks on the gauge that will layer on special modifiers when you reach certain thresholds such as increasing enemies' attack and health by 30% when the gauge hits Awakening level 10. I really enjoyed this system, as it allowed me to up the challenge in the ways that I preferred while being rewarded with additional skill points and resources at the same time.

While The Rogue Prince of Persia is smaller in scope than a game like Dead Cells, the ambition and fun factor are not dialed down in any way. Each biome is beautiful and fun to explore as you fight back against the Hun invaders, parkouring your way through fiends and foes. Even if some of the progression systems are on the simpler side, the main gameplay loop is just so addicting that it hardly hampers the overall gameplay experience. Those who have been enjoying the game in early access will have a great time taking on the final act of the game, and those who are new will have a fantastic game waiting for them to crack open.