Let me get straight to it. This game is solid and pretty easy to breeze to compared to earlier games. Sure more challenging than the reboot but that is not saying much since that of course is a completely different game. Forgotten Sands is barely the next gen version of what people expected it to be. I mean if we compare the visuals to the reboot version it is obviously a step back. And not that much of an improvement of the earlier versions. That being said though Forgotten Sands brings us back to the charming prince of the original which makes sense since this part is supposed to be an interquel connecting the original Prince of Persia (2004) and Warrior Within. Problem with such a setup is that whatever you do in a game you can't go wild with the storyline at least not without upsetting the already established timeline. So you need to play it safe. And that has directly been translated into the gameplay. Ever as smooth as the original maybe tweaked here and there and added some elements to diversify things. Combat is broken down even more. The block button is removed and you are able to upgrade some combat powers that will aid you in battle.The battles consist of enemies overwhelming you and all you have to do is bash or mash away. Most enemies get knocked down pretty easily except for some who need to be kicked first or need charged attacks. Very simplified but fun. The prince at one point gets new Djinn powers that allows him to freeze water or return or change structures that now have vanished or been altered. And you can only use one power at the time which requires you to think on your feet and is not a problem until you arrive the final tower. There the designers or developers must have realized that the game was too easy and decided to put in some platforming puzzles involving the water freezing power that will absolutely drive you crazy. Because not only do you need to be quick you need to time it as well and if that wasn't hard enough the camera also shows you the wrong perspective. None of the previous ones were this frustrating, why put them in now? And why was it necessary to put in a quite a few of them after another. It took some heavy Zen breathing and meditating to not get it to me and I used the same Zen meditation techniques to overcome these obstacles no matter what. With a little help of the rewind power I was able to correct some jumping mistakes which helped prevent me starting over again and again. And thus I managed to get through. The final boss was much easier to defeat provided you got the strategy right. And after you defeat him the game basically is over. With a small voice over of the prince explaining how he returned his magical sword and discarded his new found powers just like that. No mention of how he managed to do that. It is something we just have to accept. Honestly after all the work you put in to get them in the first place I personally need a much better reason than: " it is far too powerful in the wrong hands ". Well, prince if you would have kept them you could have used it in Warrior Within and saved yourself a lot of trouble. Seriously prince, what were you thinking?
I enjoyed Forgotten Sands very much but it never felt magical or epic like the first two Prince of Persia games or the reboot version. The story plays it safe and is not really significant for the rest of the timeline. The whole game is basically filler. Which does enhance the suspicion that this must have been a cash in from Ubisoft in relation to the Hollywood movie that also came out in the same year. Coincidence? I think not. Still it's like I said a solid game and worth a purchase if you find it in the bargain bin.
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