Which Prince is Which? (Prince of Persia)

Hm...I'm wondering which series is the best out of either the newer Prince of Persia (you don't die in this one) or the Sands of Time...

Alright this blog is stupid, but still, I always found all Prince of Persia games really interesting.  I wasn't around on my gaming thumbs when the original platformer came out, but I did go back into time and played it on a computer.  Call me a gamefag or whatever, but there's nothing wrong with playing older games way after their time because you weren't there to collect in the first place.  So suck it.

Ok getting back on track here, I was playing it online, and I saw what the big deal over it was.  I believe this was one of the best platformers back in the day, and I still think it is.  The movements are pretty realistic for it's time, and compared to some crap made now, it still it is.  I didn't play any of the games that came in between the first one and Sands of Time.  And holy crap, that game kicks ass.  Unfortunately I remember playing through it on my first run, and there was a glitch with one of the platforms at the planetarium that couldn't let me go farther.  When Farah activated the switch to let the platform move up, it just sat there.  And there was nothing I could do about it.  That blew so I had to restart it.  But it didn't bother me.  Rewinding time is awesome, and I wish I could do it like Mega64 can.  Just without all those people staring.

I liked Farah, I liked the Prince more.  His voice actor was great, his snippy personality is entertaining, and I just like the aspect of him bantering with himself and Farah.  The levels were fun, and I'm really into games that just uses one place for the entire setting.  I don't see a lot of platformers like that.  I think it's clever.

The story was good, and overall, I really enjoyed the hell out of it.  It played so smoothly and the combat scenes were repetitive but still challenging.  I don't think I had a perfect run through with the game. And that's one of my goals.

Warrior Within pissed me off.  The Prince was a totally different character, and I was overall unimpressed with the combat system.  At some points the game was virtually impossible to play, but then I found out that I was doing a certain part wrong because that damn tutorial text box pops up for like one second then you fiddle around and it goes away so you miss it.  At least that's what happened to me.  The platforming was ok, and I really didn't like how you had to keep going back and forth throughout the island to turn back time and to go into the present again and again.  But out of all of this, I was really disappointed in the character change.  I mean you could see it from space; totally different Prince.
Two Thrones was fun.  Although I liked it, I don't think it matches with the first of the trilogy.
The Prince was back to the same guy, and I was very happy that his original voice actor came back.  The graphics were ok, and there were a lot of glitches, but not as much as in the second game.  At one point the Prince was falling forever when I got in between two walls that magically disappeared.  Farah comes back, and I was happy because she actually helps while the Empress just gets killed and that's it.  I really liked her character design, too.  Breastplates are awesome.

The dagger became, what my friends calls, the short blade of time, and I had to agree after really looking at it.  I did like the design on it, however.  The platforming is complex this time around, and there are more things you can do involving the dagger or with the Prince's chain blade.  The traps are really annoying though.  In the first one I could say ah whatever and go through it without whining after I didn't get through the first couple of times, but a lot of the traps in the third game really didn't make me want to go through them again.

The Dark Prince was a nice touch.  I was killing enemies and was so power hungry, and the health meter depleting was a lot easier than in the second when you get the helm.  I also liked how the sands of time played a bigger role, but the combat system was easily the best improvement.  However I will stand by saying that I liked Sands of Time the best.

So I got the newer Prince of Persia and Forgotten Sands at the same time.  But I played through Persia first.  The controls were messing me up for a while.  Ok I got the idea that they made it different, but isn't it funny how R2, which climbs down in this game, is the complete opposite of R2 in Forgotten Sands where you need it to wall run?  No, it's not funny.  In fact I died a couple of times in both (well not died in this one but had to start back at the check point) because I didn't understand that I was playing a different game.  But that's out of the way now.  Let me continue.

Elika is a cool character.  I really do like it when your partner doesn't die constantly.  The only complaint I have about the platforming in this game is that you go so damn slow when climb vines.  I guess it's because she's hanging on your back, but still I don't get how you can move pretty fast traversing along cliffs or cracks sideways but can't go fast enough on the vines.  Especially when I'm timed it gets me anxious.  For example if I want to get rid of that column of darky black stuff before an enemy appears on a nearby platform, I want to get my ass over there.  I can't tell you how many times I nearly, barely get through and it just pops up the very last second.

I thought this was a good game, but I don't think I'm going to play through it any time soon.  Towards the end I just wanted it to finish it thus I raced through to see the ending.  By the way if you have enough money to get the downloaded epilogue (it is pretty damn cheap), I would suggest it because this ending wasn't worth the trouble.  The last boss fight was long and somewhat challenging.

Romance didn't seem to have a place in this game, and if I was developing it, I would just leave it out the whole time.  But it seemed like there was heavy implied scenes or dialog between the Prince and Elika, and these scenes occur many times.  Whenever I had a chance, I talked to her because the Prince in this game was funny, but many of the optional dialogs are boring but important to understand about the bosses you face or the area you're in.  The Prince in the other games was witty and kept talking to himself, which was entertaining.  The Prince in this one would just make a comment that's funny but only during cutscenes or repeated all the time.

And finally I just finished Forgotten Sands.  I liked this one the best because of the platforming.  It's probably the toughest in the series because it all has to do with timing.  I was just really surprised that Ubisoft didn't bother putting the sands of time in here at all but you get a power to rewind time anyway.  The combat system reminds of an RPG, and it's really hard dying in it.  You get different powers through experience points and there's a grid you use to activate these certain powers.  It works a lot like the sphere grid in Final Fantasy X and you can only upgrade one power with a group of points at a time.  All the powers use the four elements, but solidifying water is used most of the time.  It also has a meter, and you use it to platform across the palace.

 What I found really amusing yet frustrating is how there is a huge emphasis on water throughout the game.  So you would think, if you have played the rest of the Sands of Time games, drinking water will replenish health.  But you...can't.  You have to get red orbs to gain health.  I don't know, guys, but I liked the idea of getting a drink of water to get your health back.  But whatever, man, it's beyond me.

So I'm going to stick with the Sands of Time games over the newer one.  Oh don't get me wrong, if there is a sequel to the new Prince of Persia game, then I will play it no problem, but I just enjoy Sands of Time better because of the Prince's character and the platforming.  Except Warrior Within.  I hate that game.

Maybe I made this post because nothing else was on my mind.  But fear not, Port 2 has a lot of surprises for you.  Like juggling bears.  We're working out the claw physics first, but you'll get around to see it.