Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (PS2, 2003)
Graphics-8 Sound-7 Control-7.5/6** Challenge-7.5 Story-6
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-7.5/6* Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
*Some combat after the early game
**During combat vs larger groups after the early game (more of a 5.5 at certain points in the game where the camera can also screw you over)
+
Wall running and other acrobatics (parkour-like horizontal and vertical wall running, wall jumping, pole swinging, balancing on very narrow paths)
Pretty nice assortment of combat moves (dodge rolling (wheeling if you mash the button), switch enemy mid-combo, blocking, counter attacks, freezing enemies with the knife, stepping onto and somersaulting over enemies and hitting them from above/behind, wall rebound - use walls to lunge yourself forward kinda like Raphael's special move in TMNT 3, wall jump into attacking (double tap jump while pressing towards a wall, helps vs ones you can't step on), can do a quicker retrieval move after a somersault or wall jump somersault attack (dagger after normal attack when landing, certain enemies block it) or as a counter attack), can manually do a strong attack (downwards swing) by double tapping before attacking)
Very good animation and model work overall (worse in cutscenes at times), Good lighting effects, Good art direction overall
Decent variety
Some interesting abilities via a magic dagger (time reversal/rewind mechanic (use a magic knife (hold L1) to reverse time and save yourself from pits etc., limited no. of uses but the charge meter can be upgraded), Restraint/Freeze enemy (stab a standing enemy with the dagger of time), Delay/Slow motion - lasts 10 seconds (tap L) and makes enemies more vulnerable to your combos (also makes it possible to step over blue enemies), Mega Freeze aka Haste/Fast Forward - you act faster while enemies are greatly slowed down (hold R and press L while having as many filled power tanks as you have sand tanks, looks like an anime swordsman attack from Usagi Yojimbo))
Some decent puzzles (the light pillars/defence system, timed switch puzzle segments, spatial awareness) and some good ones (hall of learning light reflection puzzle - somewhat overly picky about the positioning of the mirrors though)
Fight alongside the princess during some segments (stands back and shoots, she doesn't attack bosses though)
Context sensitive actions like jumping near pits (doesn't always work perfectly though - for example when trying to jump over a pit you can end up grabbing the ledge instead or rolling on the ground if you press X too soon)
Can look around you completely while climbing
Sometimes comical tone (the shouting light pillar puzzle guard, some of the prince's dialogue/monologue, the rewind during the ending)
Control and sound options (no button config though), Camera effect frequency toggle for when picking up a monster with the dagger
Audio cue when near a sand deposit/sand cloud or a fountain of life - Dungeons of Daggorath, AD&D: Cloudy Mountain, Legend of Zelda
AA and ARPG elements (every 8 sand clouds increases the number of sand tanks (used for rewinding), hidden and/or off the main path health upgrades via the fountains of life, retrieving sand from enemies increases your power tank supply (allows use of Delay, Restraint and Haste/Mega Freeze abilities) - every 16 kills increases the number, gain a stronger sword that lets you break weak walls some ways into the game)
More believable and cohesive environment while still paying attention to pacing and level gimmick variety and complexity (the various traps are also justified by the defence system which sort of works except for the conveniently placed switches and platforms)
Minor sequence breaking and some alternate paths through rooms (skip part of the tutorial-like first area with wall jumping, fast descent of the large bedroom a bit later using wall lunging to land on the top of a door arch, etc.)
Buffering several retrievals/corpse stabs in a row feels satisfying
Occasional voiced hints on what to do next (can't turn them off though). You also get visions (basically a fast, partial montage of the next area) at save points although they're only useful from time to time, as well as cinematic presentations of most new areas which tend to show the next exit
Almost no loading screens
The prince's clothes become more and more torn over the course of the game
If you attack near a ledge you'll automatically grab it after falling off
One large scale environmental change in the baths area (water draining to be able to run up some walls since you'll slip if your feet are wet)
It's possible for some enemies to accidentally hit each other
Decent romance story
Good sense of vulnerability during the last stretch (lose your weapons and have to avoid enemies for a bit, then survive without the sand powers - on the other hand the last sword kills enemies in one hit)
+/-
Linear structure and you generally can't go back to a previous segment/area (also means the HP upgrades are missable)
Frequent save points (10 slots) and pretty frequent checkpoints (checkpoints are sometimes placed before unskippable cutscenes and where there aren't any sand tank refills though)
Fairly frequent healing fountains and other water sources (unlimited health supply, you do have to lure the enemy away from them during combat though since you'll only restore ~25% health per use (less as you upgrade your health bar)+enemies can teleport towards you and you have no invincibility time while drinking so it can't really be abused)
Some resource management (use retrievals on enemies to regain sand for special moves, limited number of enemies)
The controls change depending on the camera angle (for example down on the stick becomes forward - takes some getting used to as it will automatically change at times)
The time reversal doesn't affect enemies properly (can be used to your advantage though)
Fall damage (it can be kind of hard to gauge if you'll die from a jump or not, if it's not long enough to kill you you can press forward to roll and avoid damage)
Some time limits (door switches)
No hidden items in the destructible furniture and the like
No HP or charge refill after death (creates some difficulty spikes)
Story is told via the prince as a narrator (telling the story from memory; unfortunately he sounds pretentious at times and the writing isn't that great)
Can't cancel out of a retrieval stab animation
Automatically sheath your weapons if you drink (heal) while armed
Can't dodge out of nor block cancel the third and sixth blow of a combo
Mega freeze requiring full tanks feels a bit backwards since it's the most useful when you're really in a bind (could've built up as you did or took damage)
No coop mode and you can't switch to the princess (can do the latter at times in the GBA version)
Can't grab nor throw enemies
No ranged attacks or alternate weapons that aren't swords/daggers
Solid fallen enemies (they can get in the way during some combat)
Move tips could've been saved in the pause menu since you might be distracted when they first appear or need to to remind yourself later on
Can't push enemies into pits besides if you freeze them and then hit them once near one
Usually segmented gameplay between platforming (sometimes combined with puzzles and often with an exploration aspect to it), timed challenges and combat (a few more enemy encounters during the other segments that weren't bats might've been fun)
Only two proper boss fights
Combat seems partly inspired by DMC and Zelda: OoT
-
Control/interface issues (poor camera at times (ends up behind a drape/pillar or inside a wall or picks a bad angle given the situation, can make it harder to spot the path forward in a few spots), while armed your dodge rolls are automatically steered so that you stay near the enemy you're locked onto at the moment which can be annoying when trying to get away from a group/get to water/to the princess to help her (you can also accidentally step onto enemies that will attack you if you try) - have to put away your weapons since you also can't manually switch targets besides during an attack combo, the retrieval move used on a fallen enemy sometimes won't trigger if there are standing enemies nearby (there could've been a priority toggle or a manual target switching button), timing a backwards jump after running up a wall takes some getting used to (it's also annoying that a short auto-somersault is triggered shortly after the time window in which you're supposed to pull off the jump, enemies can keep pounding on the prince after he's knocked down (can at least block but trying to dodge between blows can be pretty ineffective when surrounded), climbing and shimmying is pretty slow compared to other movement (can slide down pillars though), slower camera rotation if standing near a wall and it's somewhat slow in general (sometimes it also just does not work if in a more cramped spot or certain platforming segments where the camera zooms out), no subtitles, can't give orders to the princess to keep her from getting killed/press a specific switch/make her attack a specific enemy (she can also accidentally hit you if you're standing between her and an enemy which kinda sucks if she's off camera, she also won't move out of the way if pushing an object near her), somewhat slow block/furniture pushing, occasional cheap shots from off screen enemies when surrounded, vertical right stick movement mainly zooms and only yaws a little bit - have to go into FP view to look up and down properly), using rewind or slow motion won't trigger if you're currently doing a combat move)
Some tedious aspects (currently rematerializing enemies can't be attacked - breaks flow a bit, it gets tedious having to stab every enemy with the magic knife after knocking it out to destroy it (takes time and it's easy to get hit while doing it) - can use quick retrievals fairly often however, too much combat overall considering how much time it takes (number of enemies and required kills to upgrade the dagger could've been cut by about 20% and/or retrievals could've been sped up/given you invincibility time (or let you cancel them with a dodge/block) and most enemies could've blocked a bit less or let you consistently use lunge or magic dagger attacks to break their block) - can often get around it with wall jump attacks+quick retrievals+freezing enemies but it feels like an exploit, too much shimmying at times, time reversal is kinda slow and you can't fast forward it (can do it in emulation), too many rotational switches, fighting swarms of bats - breaks flow as you just stand there and swing haphazardly, kinda drawn out finale)
Enemies can teleport right into you at times (knocks you over)
Some unskippable in-game cutscenes (gameplay related scenes with the princess, end of combat, drinking, stabbing a monster with the magic knife, some room introductions)
Some difficulty spikes (first boss, hall with pillars encounter, drawbridge encounter - some severe camera issues+slowdown if you move near the basin, elevator fight due to Farah not moving away from the enemies)
Uneven sound design (voices tend to be too low in the mix despite changing the levels in the options and the princess sometimes shouts or speaks quietly in the wrong situations)
Some trial & error (what can be grabbed, the palace defence system puzzle since you don't get a good overview of it and the guard makes it sound more complex than it actually is, some enemies have an unblockable charge attack, some combat mechanics, observatory room puzzle since you can't get a good overview of the upper part)
Some enemies can block attacks from behind them (so can you though)
Counter attacking often doesn't feel worth it unless using it for a quicker retrieval (various enemies take forever to attack so that others will surround you while you're waiting and others will just block right after you counter)
The princess sometimes says stupid things and other times her comments feel delayed (such as giving a hint after you already found the path forward)
Somewhat unclear visuals at a few points (makes it harder to tell what you can interact with or where to go next, no area maps - generally not needed though)
Can't learn alternate combos or new attack moves besides the sand powers
Not enough enemy variety in the mid-late game considering how many there are in some encounters
The prince occasionally does moves in cutscenes that can't be done in-game (right before the first boss) and in one survives an otherwise lethal fall
Bugs:
-Got stuck in a wall/between two objects at two points (the room that Farah crawls into - not really an issue, when moving through the caves and getting attacked by bats (got stuck in a corner which made the screen twitch and falling down the ledge to hanging position here made it so I couldn't climb back up, emulation issue? PCSX2)
Notes:
-Advanced techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d7nXRXKQ4g
-Quick retrievals (only mentioned in the manual?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4N_TrgK3CU&t=1m45s
Level Design-7.5 Frustration-7.5/8.5* Fun-7.5/6* Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
*Some combat after the early game
**During combat vs larger groups after the early game (more of a 5.5 at certain points in the game where the camera can also screw you over)
+
Wall running and other acrobatics (parkour-like horizontal and vertical wall running, wall jumping, pole swinging, balancing on very narrow paths)
Pretty nice assortment of combat moves (dodge rolling (wheeling if you mash the button), switch enemy mid-combo, blocking, counter attacks, freezing enemies with the knife, stepping onto and somersaulting over enemies and hitting them from above/behind, wall rebound - use walls to lunge yourself forward kinda like Raphael's special move in TMNT 3, wall jump into attacking (double tap jump while pressing towards a wall, helps vs ones you can't step on), can do a quicker retrieval move after a somersault or wall jump somersault attack (dagger after normal attack when landing, certain enemies block it) or as a counter attack), can manually do a strong attack (downwards swing) by double tapping before attacking)
Very good animation and model work overall (worse in cutscenes at times), Good lighting effects, Good art direction overall
Decent variety
Some interesting abilities via a magic dagger (time reversal/rewind mechanic (use a magic knife (hold L1) to reverse time and save yourself from pits etc., limited no. of uses but the charge meter can be upgraded), Restraint/Freeze enemy (stab a standing enemy with the dagger of time), Delay/Slow motion - lasts 10 seconds (tap L) and makes enemies more vulnerable to your combos (also makes it possible to step over blue enemies), Mega Freeze aka Haste/Fast Forward - you act faster while enemies are greatly slowed down (hold R and press L while having as many filled power tanks as you have sand tanks, looks like an anime swordsman attack from Usagi Yojimbo))
Some decent puzzles (the light pillars/defence system, timed switch puzzle segments, spatial awareness) and some good ones (hall of learning light reflection puzzle - somewhat overly picky about the positioning of the mirrors though)
Fight alongside the princess during some segments (stands back and shoots, she doesn't attack bosses though)
Context sensitive actions like jumping near pits (doesn't always work perfectly though - for example when trying to jump over a pit you can end up grabbing the ledge instead or rolling on the ground if you press X too soon)
Can look around you completely while climbing
Sometimes comical tone (the shouting light pillar puzzle guard, some of the prince's dialogue/monologue, the rewind during the ending)
Control and sound options (no button config though), Camera effect frequency toggle for when picking up a monster with the dagger
Audio cue when near a sand deposit/sand cloud or a fountain of life - Dungeons of Daggorath, AD&D: Cloudy Mountain, Legend of Zelda
AA and ARPG elements (every 8 sand clouds increases the number of sand tanks (used for rewinding), hidden and/or off the main path health upgrades via the fountains of life, retrieving sand from enemies increases your power tank supply (allows use of Delay, Restraint and Haste/Mega Freeze abilities) - every 16 kills increases the number, gain a stronger sword that lets you break weak walls some ways into the game)
More believable and cohesive environment while still paying attention to pacing and level gimmick variety and complexity (the various traps are also justified by the defence system which sort of works except for the conveniently placed switches and platforms)
Minor sequence breaking and some alternate paths through rooms (skip part of the tutorial-like first area with wall jumping, fast descent of the large bedroom a bit later using wall lunging to land on the top of a door arch, etc.)
Buffering several retrievals/corpse stabs in a row feels satisfying
Occasional voiced hints on what to do next (can't turn them off though). You also get visions (basically a fast, partial montage of the next area) at save points although they're only useful from time to time, as well as cinematic presentations of most new areas which tend to show the next exit
Almost no loading screens
The prince's clothes become more and more torn over the course of the game
If you attack near a ledge you'll automatically grab it after falling off
One large scale environmental change in the baths area (water draining to be able to run up some walls since you'll slip if your feet are wet)
It's possible for some enemies to accidentally hit each other
Decent romance story
Good sense of vulnerability during the last stretch (lose your weapons and have to avoid enemies for a bit, then survive without the sand powers - on the other hand the last sword kills enemies in one hit)
+/-
Linear structure and you generally can't go back to a previous segment/area (also means the HP upgrades are missable)
Frequent save points (10 slots) and pretty frequent checkpoints (checkpoints are sometimes placed before unskippable cutscenes and where there aren't any sand tank refills though)
Fairly frequent healing fountains and other water sources (unlimited health supply, you do have to lure the enemy away from them during combat though since you'll only restore ~25% health per use (less as you upgrade your health bar)+enemies can teleport towards you and you have no invincibility time while drinking so it can't really be abused)
Some resource management (use retrievals on enemies to regain sand for special moves, limited number of enemies)
The controls change depending on the camera angle (for example down on the stick becomes forward - takes some getting used to as it will automatically change at times)
The time reversal doesn't affect enemies properly (can be used to your advantage though)
Fall damage (it can be kind of hard to gauge if you'll die from a jump or not, if it's not long enough to kill you you can press forward to roll and avoid damage)
Some time limits (door switches)
No hidden items in the destructible furniture and the like
No HP or charge refill after death (creates some difficulty spikes)
Story is told via the prince as a narrator (telling the story from memory; unfortunately he sounds pretentious at times and the writing isn't that great)
Can't cancel out of a retrieval stab animation
Automatically sheath your weapons if you drink (heal) while armed
Can't dodge out of nor block cancel the third and sixth blow of a combo
Mega freeze requiring full tanks feels a bit backwards since it's the most useful when you're really in a bind (could've built up as you did or took damage)
No coop mode and you can't switch to the princess (can do the latter at times in the GBA version)
Can't grab nor throw enemies
No ranged attacks or alternate weapons that aren't swords/daggers
Solid fallen enemies (they can get in the way during some combat)
Move tips could've been saved in the pause menu since you might be distracted when they first appear or need to to remind yourself later on
Can't push enemies into pits besides if you freeze them and then hit them once near one
Usually segmented gameplay between platforming (sometimes combined with puzzles and often with an exploration aspect to it), timed challenges and combat (a few more enemy encounters during the other segments that weren't bats might've been fun)
Only two proper boss fights
Combat seems partly inspired by DMC and Zelda: OoT
-
Control/interface issues (poor camera at times (ends up behind a drape/pillar or inside a wall or picks a bad angle given the situation, can make it harder to spot the path forward in a few spots), while armed your dodge rolls are automatically steered so that you stay near the enemy you're locked onto at the moment which can be annoying when trying to get away from a group/get to water/to the princess to help her (you can also accidentally step onto enemies that will attack you if you try) - have to put away your weapons since you also can't manually switch targets besides during an attack combo, the retrieval move used on a fallen enemy sometimes won't trigger if there are standing enemies nearby (there could've been a priority toggle or a manual target switching button), timing a backwards jump after running up a wall takes some getting used to (it's also annoying that a short auto-somersault is triggered shortly after the time window in which you're supposed to pull off the jump, enemies can keep pounding on the prince after he's knocked down (can at least block but trying to dodge between blows can be pretty ineffective when surrounded), climbing and shimmying is pretty slow compared to other movement (can slide down pillars though), slower camera rotation if standing near a wall and it's somewhat slow in general (sometimes it also just does not work if in a more cramped spot or certain platforming segments where the camera zooms out), no subtitles, can't give orders to the princess to keep her from getting killed/press a specific switch/make her attack a specific enemy (she can also accidentally hit you if you're standing between her and an enemy which kinda sucks if she's off camera, she also won't move out of the way if pushing an object near her), somewhat slow block/furniture pushing, occasional cheap shots from off screen enemies when surrounded, vertical right stick movement mainly zooms and only yaws a little bit - have to go into FP view to look up and down properly), using rewind or slow motion won't trigger if you're currently doing a combat move)
Some tedious aspects (currently rematerializing enemies can't be attacked - breaks flow a bit, it gets tedious having to stab every enemy with the magic knife after knocking it out to destroy it (takes time and it's easy to get hit while doing it) - can use quick retrievals fairly often however, too much combat overall considering how much time it takes (number of enemies and required kills to upgrade the dagger could've been cut by about 20% and/or retrievals could've been sped up/given you invincibility time (or let you cancel them with a dodge/block) and most enemies could've blocked a bit less or let you consistently use lunge or magic dagger attacks to break their block) - can often get around it with wall jump attacks+quick retrievals+freezing enemies but it feels like an exploit, too much shimmying at times, time reversal is kinda slow and you can't fast forward it (can do it in emulation), too many rotational switches, fighting swarms of bats - breaks flow as you just stand there and swing haphazardly, kinda drawn out finale)
Enemies can teleport right into you at times (knocks you over)
Some unskippable in-game cutscenes (gameplay related scenes with the princess, end of combat, drinking, stabbing a monster with the magic knife, some room introductions)
Some difficulty spikes (first boss, hall with pillars encounter, drawbridge encounter - some severe camera issues+slowdown if you move near the basin, elevator fight due to Farah not moving away from the enemies)
Uneven sound design (voices tend to be too low in the mix despite changing the levels in the options and the princess sometimes shouts or speaks quietly in the wrong situations)
Some trial & error (what can be grabbed, the palace defence system puzzle since you don't get a good overview of it and the guard makes it sound more complex than it actually is, some enemies have an unblockable charge attack, some combat mechanics, observatory room puzzle since you can't get a good overview of the upper part)
Some enemies can block attacks from behind them (so can you though)
Counter attacking often doesn't feel worth it unless using it for a quicker retrieval (various enemies take forever to attack so that others will surround you while you're waiting and others will just block right after you counter)
The princess sometimes says stupid things and other times her comments feel delayed (such as giving a hint after you already found the path forward)
Somewhat unclear visuals at a few points (makes it harder to tell what you can interact with or where to go next, no area maps - generally not needed though)
Can't learn alternate combos or new attack moves besides the sand powers
Not enough enemy variety in the mid-late game considering how many there are in some encounters
The prince occasionally does moves in cutscenes that can't be done in-game (right before the first boss) and in one survives an otherwise lethal fall
Bugs:
-Got stuck in a wall/between two objects at two points (the room that Farah crawls into - not really an issue, when moving through the caves and getting attacked by bats (got stuck in a corner which made the screen twitch and falling down the ledge to hanging position here made it so I couldn't climb back up, emulation issue? PCSX2)
Notes:
-Advanced techniques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d7nXRXKQ4g
-Quick retrievals (only mentioned in the manual?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4N_TrgK3CU&t=1m45s