And now we’re two for two in high-quality Prince of Persia releases by Ubisoft in the last couple of years. Who would have thought that, amidst all the crap they’ve tried to shove into us about making “AAAA” games worth the higher pricetag (you know exactly the game I’m talking about), their best games in recent memory were a lower-budgeted metroidvania, and now, a 2D roguelike developed by an indie studio? I, for one, am not shocked that The Rogue Prince of Persia ended up being pretty good. Not only have we just learned that Prince of Persia works wonderfully as a fast-paced 2D platformer, but Ubisoft decided to hire the makers of Dead Cells to develop it. A match made in heaven.

It’s hard not to try to summarise The Rogue Prince of Persia as “a Prince of Persia-themed Dead Cells” because, sure, it retains a very similar gameplay loop and structure. Thankfully, it’s more than just a reskin. At its core, it’s another attempt at mixing the exploratory nature of a metrodivania with the loop nature and procedural level generation of a roguelike, but also the look, feel, and movement features popularized by the Sands of Time trilogy.

In this game, the titular Prince (who’s not a returning version of any previous iteration, he’s a brand new character) retains some of the characteristic movements seen in the 3D games from the early 2000s, even if this is still a 2D platformer: you can perform acrobatics, jump from balcony to balcony, climb walls, and even perform wall hops on the walls placed on the level’s background. It allows for some insane movement possibilities, with the game actively rewarding you whenever you perform some sick parkour skills. If you perform wall-hopping combos or anything else of the sort, you will start glowing yellow, increasing your speed and overall mobility even further for a while.

The combat is decent, but not as insane as the movement. it’s actually quite standard: you have a main weapon and a side weapon, the latter being fed by an energy meter that’s filled up by using the former often enough. They are picked up at random, can be upgraded… the standard stuff. None of the elements seen in the combat are bad, but they are not a unique selling point as the movement. There is also a small, but noticeable amount of input delay, but it’s nothing you can’t get used to.

The other main selling point is the whole theming and its structure. The whole roguelike aspect of The Rogue Prince of Persia is tied to an amulet worn by the Prince, which allows him to cheat death and revert back in time whenever he falls down in battle. He can then spend spirits collected during the last run to improve his stats, weaponry, the usual. Furthermore, by completing certain milestones during a run, you can unlock new levels, improving the overall replayability aspect. You can decide where to start your new run from, and by visiting unlocked levels, you can even find new objectives that reward you with even more new levels upon completion.

There’s no denying that The Rogue Prince of Persia‘s art style is excellent. Not only are its color pallette and textural work great, but the character animations are smooth as butter. The characters themselves, well, they aren’t very detailed, but you can mitigate these shortcomings if you end up playing the game on a portable. For the purposes of this review, I played The Rogue Prince of Persia on an Asus ROG Ally; its smaller screen made these visual imperfections less noticeable.

Even if its emphasis on a boring story didn’t catch my attention, it’s hard not to fall for everything else The Rogue Prince of Persia had to offer. It’s a well-polished roguelike, developed by some of the most talented developers in the genre, featuring impeccable mobility, decent combat, and a pretty cool gameplay loop. Its level design and branching paths were its main highlights. Whether you decide to play it on is up to you, but this game just felt right at home on a system like the ROG Ally, and I bet it’ll also be a fantastic fit for the Switch and Switch 2. Being the second Prince of Persia hit in a row, I’m glad to see The Lost Crown wasn’t just a one-and-done fluke. Keep delivering on this classic franchise, Ubisoft. This is so much better than wasting time on whatever “AAAA” is supposed to be.

Graphics: 8.0 The overworld art style is excellent, the character animations are smooth, and I love the textural design choices, being somewhat cel-shaded. Character designs and portraits are a bit repetitive and underwhelming, but thankfully, I played the game on a smaller screen, thus reducing their impact.	Gameplay: 8.5 A really smart implementation of the Sands of Time-era parkour movement and wall-hopping onto the Dead Cells formula. Combat has a noticeable amount of input delay, but it’s nothing you can’t get used to.
Sound: 8.5 Some really catchy tunes in this soundtrack, with noticeable influences from ancient Persian instruments.	Fun Factor: 8.5 Even if the emphasis on its boring story didn’t catch my attention, The Rogue Prince of Persia‘s overall gameplay loop was strong enough to become a mainstay on my ROG Ally almost immediately. Its level design and branching paths were its main highlights.
Final Verdict: 8.5

The Rogue Prince of Persia is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC, Switch and Switch 2.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB and Asus ROG Ally.

A copy of The Rogue Prince of Persia was provided by the publisher.