Epilogue Completes Story, Shows Signs of WW/TT Faltering
Beware of spoilers!
**if you have trouble loading Epilogue, as I did, go into your xbox's System Settings to clear the system cache and it will load fine after you have done this**
Prince of Persia, Epilogue, is the closing DLC chapter to the popular game. It picks up immediately after the story of PoP, and adds new combat mechanics, a new power for Elika, new achievements, as well as new levels, outfits, dialog, and additional story.
It was for the additional story I bought the content — the end of PoP tossed me for a loop and I wanted to see what was happening. Thankfully about 3/4 of the way through they do explain the Prince's motives quite clearly, and the relationship between the Prince and Elika develops and deepens as a result. As someone who hit "Talk to Elika" until they were blue in the thumb, I found this the most rewarding part. The finale does leave in a way that will set the correct tone for a sequel (as of yet unannounced, but come on…) for players who both do and do not download this add-on.
The gameplay gets a much needed boost in the form of a dash move that instigates fights and can give you the upper hand, making combat much more interesting and allowing you to play more aggressively. Bosses repeat from the main game inthe form of a Shape-Shifting titan as well as Elika's father.
The exploration gameplay, which the developers have noted as being filled with more challenging areas, is where this DLC suffers the most. PoP was designed with a loose, forgiving control scheme to allow players to get-into-the-flow, so to speak. When this control scheme is applied to areas that require pinpoint accuracy and timing to complete, the package begins to fall apart. "Difficult" areas often feel cheap, and more often than not are comprised of blind jumps and obscure camera angles which, sure, make it more difficult, but difficult because of their poor design, not good design. What worries me most is a Warrior Within/Two Thrones fall-from-grace for the series, which Epilogue shows signs of.
In this way, Epilogue is both a blessing and a curse. The story, dialog, and added combat mechanics outweigh the poor design choices in exploration, so ultimately I can recommend it for fans of the game.
