A while back I decided to start catching up on old games that are considered by many people to be classics. As I have never experienced these games before, I thought it would be neat to talk about how I feel about these games having played them now, rather than when they were first released. I'm not going to go into any spoilers, just incase there are other people who haven't played these games, and might pick them up at some point (possibly because they trust my opinion 
)
Any way, first up, I have completed Prince of Persia: Sand of Time.
I should mention I had played the 2008 Prince of Persia before this game, and really loved it. So my opinions are coming from someone who has already tasted from the tree of HD. But I have to say, I think this game holds up really well. Ok, obliviously the graphics are very dated and aren't any where near as spectaclar as the 2008 prince. But thats hardly a valid complaint when I know going in that I'm playing a 7 year old game. I will say the art direction is beautiful, evoking a more realistic feel than the 2008 prince, but at the same time maintaining that magical feeling that is so reminiscent of the tales in Arabian Nights ( or One Thousand and One Nights, if we're being anal).
First off, Yuri Lowenthal is a much better fit as the voice of the prince, than Nolan North. Don't get me wrong, I love Mr. North, he is an extremely talented voice actor, but he doesn't give off the right vibe I felt a middle eastern Prince (theif in 2008's case) should give off. Yuri captures it perfectly, and his performance as the prince is very charming and believable (I might be biased because he's Yosuke in Persona 4). Farah was also a nice love interest, who provides some emotional substance to the events in the later stages of the game. In fact the story over all is very well constructed, well told and it didn't force me to do something stupid at the end of the game (you know what I'm talking about. 
)
The platforming....is f**king AMAZING! Seriously, I was really impressed. The level of control you have over the prince and skill required to pull off some of his moves really makes the 2008 prince feel a bit automated by comparison. Running on walls, swinging from pole to pole and climbing up pillars all felt fluid and responsive. The challenge each platforming section provided was taxing, but fair. I had a huge amount of fun figuring out and eventually completing all the platforming sections in this game.
I wish I could say the same about the combat. Maybe it doesn't help that I'am a huge God of War fan, or that I've played devil may cry 3 twice, or even that Bayonetta has recently entered my life and shown me the best combat system out there to date........but the combat in this game is awful, I mean really, really, really bad. It was a chore I had to force my self through in order to get to the awesome parts of the game. At first it was really boring, because all I had to do is flip over peoples heads and slash them in the face before I landed on the ground, rinse and repeat. Then it decided that this tactic wasn't valid anymore, and I had to fight these guys properly, other wise I would be going to an early grave. That would be fine, if the dodge button wasn't the same as the flip over enemies button. So situations would arise where I had gotten surrounded and I wanted to get the hell out of there, but instead of dodging out the way, the prince trys to flip, gets thrown to the ground and then gets beaten to death by 5 sand zombies. The counter attack was also completely useless, your basic attack was uneffective unless Farah was distracting them with her bow or they had their back turned. And the combat sections had far too many enemies that kept respawning over and over again. Loads of enemies is fine when your controling a character like Dante, Kratos or Bayonetta, characters that always feel like they are in control of the battlefield. But I always felt like I had barely survived because the prince had clearly spent more time learning gymnastics and less time learning basic sword combat.
I know I dwelled on the negative there, but excluding the combat sections, I really liked this game. The platforming is some of the best I've experienced, the story telling was solid and so was the voice acting and character work. Next up, I will hopefully finish Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, but I'am interested in playing the other PoP games. I hear warrior within is kind of a bummer, should I give it a miss and go straight to Two Thrones? Or play both?
Feel free to disagree with any thing I have said in regards to PoP:SoT
I'm going to play the classics.....all of them!
A while back I decided to start catching up on old games that are considered by many people to be classics. As I have never experienced these games before, I thought it would be neat to talk about how I feel about these games having played them now, rather than when they were first released. I'm not going to go into any spoilers, just incase there are other people who haven't played these games, and might pick them up at some point (possibly because they trust my opinion )
Any way, first up, I have completed Prince of Persia: Sand of Time.
I should mention I had played the 2008 Prince of Persia before this game, and really loved it. So my opinions are coming from someone who has already tasted from the tree of HD. But I have to say, I think this game holds up really well. Ok, obliviously the graphics are very dated and aren't any where near as spectaclar as the 2008 prince. But thats hardly a valid complaint when I know going in that I'm playing a 7 year old game. I will say the art direction is beautiful, evoking a more realistic feel than the 2008 prince, but at the same time maintaining that magical feeling that is so reminiscent of the tales in Arabian Nights ( or One Thousand and One Nights, if we're being anal).
First off, Yuri Lowenthal is a much better fit as the voice of the prince, than Nolan North. Don't get me wrong, I love Mr. North, he is an extremely talented voice actor, but he doesn't give off the right vibe I felt a middle eastern Prince (theif in 2008's case) should give off. Yuri captures it perfectly, and his performance as the prince is very charming and believable (I might be biased because he's Yosuke in Persona 4). Farah was also a nice love interest, who provides some emotional substance to the events in the later stages of the game. In fact the story over all is very well constructed, well told and it didn't force me to do something stupid at the end of the game (you know what I'm talking about. )
The platforming....is f**king AMAZING! Seriously, I was really impressed. The level of control you have over the prince and skill required to pull off some of his moves really makes the 2008 prince feel a bit automated by comparison. Running on walls, swinging from pole to pole and climbing up pillars all felt fluid and responsive. The challenge each platforming section provided was taxing, but fair. I had a huge amount of fun figuring out and eventually completing all the platforming sections in this game.
I wish I could say the same about the combat. Maybe it doesn't help that I'am a huge God of War fan, or that I've played devil may cry 3 twice, or even that Bayonetta has recently entered my life and shown me the best combat system out there to date........but the combat in this game is awful, I mean really, really, really bad. It was a chore I had to force my self through in order to get to the awesome parts of the game. At first it was really boring, because all I had to do is flip over peoples heads and slash them in the face before I landed on the ground, rinse and repeat. Then it decided that this tactic wasn't valid anymore, and I had to fight these guys properly, other wise I would be going to an early grave. That would be fine, if the dodge button wasn't the same as the flip over enemies button. So situations would arise where I had gotten surrounded and I wanted to get the hell out of there, but instead of dodging out the way, the prince trys to flip, gets thrown to the ground and then gets beaten to death by 5 sand zombies. The counter attack was also completely useless, your basic attack was uneffective unless Farah was distracting them with her bow or they had their back turned. And the combat sections had far too many enemies that kept respawning over and over again. Loads of enemies is fine when your controling a character like Dante, Kratos or Bayonetta, characters that always feel like they are in control of the battlefield. But I always felt like I had barely survived because the prince had clearly spent more time learning gymnastics and less time learning basic sword combat.
I know I dwelled on the negative there, but excluding the combat sections, I really liked this game. The platforming is some of the best I've experienced, the story telling was solid and so was the voice acting and character work. Next up, I will hopefully finish Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, but I'am interested in playing the other PoP games. I hear warrior within is kind of a bummer, should I give it a miss and go straight to Two Thrones? Or play both?
Feel free to disagree with any thing I have said in regards to PoP:SoT
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