There's just something about Fridays that makes me want to blog....
Anyway, I got PoP the other day and have been playing around with it a bit. So far, one thing stands out above all the other things in the game; and that would be the graphics.
This game is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. I haven't played a game with this much art style since Okami, 2 years ago. Playing Prince of Persia is truly like a living painting. The transition from Corrupted lands to lush Healed lands is always an awe inspiring experience, that is very reminiscent of Okami. In fact, the more that I think about it, PoP is a lot like Okami in more then one way.
The game is not without it's flaws though. For starters, the combat. I, personally, hate the combat system. I find myself loathing each battle, and the cinematic direction they tried to take with it just isn't doing anything for me. It feels clumsy, weak and I just plain don't like it. Like most things in PoP, it looks good, but it just doesn't feel right. The Prince feels weak when in combat, and the fact that there is no health bar and you can't die just seems to add to the equation, even though you'd think that would be a good thing. Also, I find the whole "arena" system a bit annoying. For those that don't know; Basically there is a defined cell, or area in which combat can take place. There are invisible walls, and if you aren't fighting a boss and you reach these walls, you'll throw your enemy off the edge of whatever platform you were battling on. If you are fighting a boss, he/she will make some cheap move to escape certain death. (Usually in the form of teleporting behind you.) I guess I shouldn't call it cheap, since we're the ones cheating death throughout the whole game.
Having these defined and restricted combat zones is another flaw, in my opinion. I can see why, from a development standpoint, they exist. But from a player's view, they are just annoying and unnesecarry.
I haven't played a whole lot, so I'm not that deep into the story. But so far, it's just...meh. Nothing spectacular, but also nothing terrible either. A lot of people don't like the new prince, but I personally do. He is pretty funny and he has a lot of character. His background, so far, is totally unknown to me. All I know about him is that he was possibly a thief, but he prefers call himself an adventurer. "Stealing gold from the dead is a lot easier then taking it from the living." I'm eager to learn more about him, though. And I suppose that is a good thing.
Elika on the other hand....well...I don't love her and I don't hate her. I don't really feel like I need her, and I do find myself getting annoyed with her sometimes. Right now I'm at the begining of the game still, so I don't know a whole lot about her; Certainly more then the Prince. I'm hoping she will grow on me, but as I said, I kind of feel neutral about her right now. For example, I wouldn't care in the slightest if she were to fall down a pit and never come back due to misgauging a jump. Or perhaps "slipping" off the Prince's back while climbing some vines. I remember reading an interview with the producer of PoP, and he said something that I find myself repeating throughout my time playing. You may have read this before. He said,
"It doesn't really matter to us if you love her. It doesn't really matter to us if you like her. You just can't hate her. You can't hate her. The second you hate Elika, the second you're frustrated with Elika, the whole experience comes tumbling down."
This is an intersting quote, because sometimes I find myself saying "Oh, I'm not allowed to hate her." Even though I might be just a tad bit frustrated with her at the time. For the most part though, I don't mind her so much. I don't love her, that's for sure. I don't hate her either. I'm not sure if I even like her. But, like I said, I'm still early in the game, maybe my opinion will change the more I get to know her / the more time I spend with her.
So, there you have it. Those are my thoughts on PoP so far. I'll probably do a full review after I finish the game. One thing I forgot to mention though was the music. I'll keep it short and sweet: It's good. It's very "Sands of Time" feeling, which is definitely a good thing. PoP:SoT was my first and favorite PoP game, and it had suberb music. Even though the composer, Inon Zur, didn't do Sands of Time, he did do Warrior Within. He also did the music for Fallout 3, which is great. I guess I've been listening to a lot of Inon Zur lately.
