Roguelike or roguelite games have been constantly on the rise because of indie games like Slay the Spire, Risk of Rain, and Monster Train. However, the biggest rise would arguably come from the SuperGiant’s Hades, when it won the Game of the Year award against multiple AAA games.
Now, we have multiple roguelikes entering the market, and one of the most popular franchises, Prince of Persia, has joined the fray, releasing The Rogue Prince of Persia, developed by Evil Empire. Evil Empire is no stranger to the roguelike genre; many players are already familiar with their first dip into the genre with Dead Cells.
However, as the genre keeps evolving, how would The Rogue Prince of Persia fare in today’s standard roguelike games?
A Surprising & Unexpected Start
Without spending a single minute playing the game yet, you are immediately greeted by one of the best electronic Persian trap songs by producer and composer ASADI. As a gamer who mostly judges roguelike games by their gameplay and replayability, the music really elevates the experience. I immediately turned to look for the main theme of the game, only to be disappointed that it wasn’t out yet on Spotify at the time of writing.
It is one of the best OSTs I’ve ever heard on a game, right up there with Halo and Persona 5’s OST, which is the main reason for the Rude Sandstorm title of the article… Darude Sandstorm.
I started playing The Rogue Prince of Persia fresh out of playing Hades 2 just a month ago, so I had bigger expectations for the gameplay. Immediately, I started to get a feel for the game’s combat and movement, which is quite unique.
The Rogue Prince of Persia emphasizes parkour movement, which gives the game a fast-paced nature. The combat feels really smooth, and the stages are well-designed. After running through the tutorial and eventually dying during the first run, I was excited to learn more about the game’s weapons and features.
“The Rogue of Prince of Persia gives a great start, but clearly something is missing.
After a few more runs, I got to experience some of the new weapons, Medallions, and other stages. Once I had beaten Berude and tried out her new tool, I was excited about what I could do more, or what else was there.
I experimented with all the combos and special attacks from each weapon I encountered and immediately started thinking of cool combinations I could use with Medallions and tools.
After going through a fast discovery phase, every run felt the same, and clearly, something was missing.
The Game Gets Stagnant Really Fast
While the art, core gameplay, and OST all feel great, the game’s Early Access tag is showing here. The game has a lot of potential, but for now, it is missing a ton of features that could keep the ball rolling or improve replayability.
Roguelike games tend to change your runs, trying to make everything unique with every playthrough. It is the little and subtle changes that add to the experience. Some moments are missed here since the game doesn’t have VAs or a voiceover to attach the players to the characters.
For the gameplay, the weapons, Medallions, and tools are all too simple. Nothing is pushing me to play a little more to unlock the next weapon (only missing one at the time of writing) because the weapons don’t yet offer enough variety in terms of usage.
However, the Mind Map and different pathings are a nice concept. It would be interesting to see what they would come up with next, as it’s safe to assume Evil Empire plans to add further content in the future.
Overall, The Rogue Prince of Persia shows a ton of potential built upon a solid foundation. The movement and combat feel smooth and fluid. The OST is amazing. The level design is unique. And, you can already feel that if they added two or three more features to the gameplay, it’ll already add tons of fun and replayability.
