π’ PRINCE! YOU NEED TO DESTROY YOUR ENEMIES, PRINCE! π’
Shut up evil spirit. I'm trying to write an article here. π€¬
A couple of days ago we covered Warrior Within, arguably my favorite game of all time. Today, we're covering its's sequel and the conclusion to the Sands of Time storyline - The Two Thrones.
I have a lot of thoughts on this game. Most of em positive but a lot of em mixed. This game holds a specific place in my heart as it was crucial in my upbringing. So let me now waste this word count!
BecauseβοΈ In this edition of Through the Lens π, we'll be taking a look at Ubisoft Montreal's blockbuster ending to the trilogy that put them on the map in 2005: Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones - no! not the two towers! wrong franchise, fool!
Roll it! π½
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π· UP TOP πΆ
As always, linking the soundtrack below for your listening pleasure while reading.
This is def my favorite soundtrack out of the three originals. It has this Gladiator feel mixed in with some Aladin - it feels epic as all **** is what I'm saying. π To this day I won't forget the feeling of finishing this game, listening to the end credit song, and just crying like a baby.
I tend to do that with epic stories that have a satisfying end to them. I know the ending here was divisive. But for me, it worked. It wraps up the story and addresses most if not all plot points.
Just a quick note, the link I share doesn't start playing until the 0:20 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7tDh6nkfVw
Not only did I play this on release, but I was waiting for it to drop with bated breath. Imagine me, twelve-year-old Grocko, checking gaming magazines and game store shelves for months on end for any scrap of information regarding this game. π©
And when it came out, suffice to say I was disappointed af. π I was expecting a continuation of Warrior Within. What I got was something I wasn't expecting. As I continued playing, however, I understood the developers' vision, even back then as a kid. In time I learned things about the development that shed some light on specific choices Ubisoft made.
Let's get those out of the way first.
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π· NOT AN OPEN WORLD πΆ
I didn't talk about this in my Warrior Within column, but that game is kinda open world. You can traverse the island in a multitude of ways and it's really the genesis of open-world gaming in Ubisoft. That's pretty wild to realize when you see the types of games Ubisoft is making nowadays. π―
You can see this in the level design and mechanics. The stealth mechanic lines up perfectly with this assertion. The chariot races are for instance a clear indication of being able to traverse Babylon in all its splendor. Which would've been so amazing... π
of course, development tends to run on deadlines. So When the project outgrew the possibilities, it got trimmed down to the experience we have today. Which is more akin to The Sand of Time than The Warrior Within. Linear levels and traversal.
The devs would take what they learned from this game and carry it over to Assassin's Creed. Which in turn fueled my ever-lasting hatred for that franchise. π But for now, we're still here, and still safe. Let's keep talking about this amazing game.
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π· MODERNIZED πΆ
Around this time was when quick-time events were gaining in popularity. And so, this game is chock full of them. Even when I was a youngin' I hated their addition. π‘
For one thing, you can stealth-kill enemies in this game. So the combat system I loved so dearly from the previous game just gets sidelined completely if you hit the quick-time events. You can literally go past multiple encounters without ever fighting.
I hated this so much when I was young π I remember getting caught on purpose just so I can fight the guards straight up! I'm an honorable warrior after all! Not some skulking ninja pleb.
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π· A NICE BOW πΆ
What I didn't get right away were the story implications. You see, at the time I had yet to play the first game, and was a little confused by all the new/old characters coming back.
I wasn't too confused because Warrior Within had a Galeries section that played all the cutscenes from the first game. YouTube was not available back then.
This game was my first experience with actual, tangible character development. The prince has an entire journey from the first to the second, to the final game. He is naive and overconfident, he becomes obsessed and bloodthirsty. Finally, his barbaric actions come back to haunt him. It's a perfect way to explore this kind of character and I loved what they did to him. β€οΈ
There are of course the Dark Prince sections. One of my personal favorites in the franchise. Because of the months spent in the isle of time, the Prince has become corrupted by his anger and drive for revenge. This in turn turns him into a Sand Wraith. Like so many of the enemies, he has defeated. It's a brilliant twist executed brilliantly. π
The gameplay in these sections is also vastly different than anything we've played thus far. You get these wicked chains that you can use to perform God of War-like combos. And also these completely different environments give you different movement possibilities. On top of that, you get this snarky voice that taunts the Prince as you play. This voice is your "evil" half. And he brings a great perspective to the Prince's overall journey.
I also love that the "final boss" is actually the Dark Prince and not the Vazir. Although, I remember being a kid and being disappointed that wasn't an actual boss fight. I'm sure they did this because of budgetary restrictions, but to this day I'm bummed out that we didn't get a proper boss fight with the prince battling himself in earnest.
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π· LEGACY πΆ
This game's legacy is tied directly to that of the entire trilogy. Like each of the games it makes substantial differences to the series that did not sit well with fans at the time. But as a whole, it complements the other games amazingly, and also serves as an amazing endpoint for the amazing character that is the unnamed Prince.
I think overall it's my least favorite of the three, but also my most memorable. So it's weird. I look at all three games as one game. And in that sense, this final act more than does the job. For some it's their favorite in the franchise, for some, it's their least. But they all love the franchise at the end of the day. Like I said in my Warrior Within column, I look forward to seeing a new-age level remaster of this gem.
Shout-out to the πPIZZAπ gang, π€ gang. π€
I am feeling in a very Persian mood today. π So I think we'll keep going with the Prince of Persian columns. The next one will be the failed relaunch of the franchise, and then we'll cover the also failed attempt at restarting this trilogy. Truly, these three games are the high point of Prince of Persia. So these next few articles will be bloody. π
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I hope you are having an amazing week! π
Return from Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones π½ Through the Lens to ΠΠΎΡΠΊΠΎ's Web3 Blog
