This game is wonderful.
This game is wonderful.
The beautiful visuals are always so, and mesmerizing those times when it essentially feels like you're watching concept art in motion. Ubisoft presents a fantastical world where the striking visuals convey an atmosphere that is positively sparkling with ethereal magic. The Prince may not be a perfectly natural fit for a world like this, he's basically Nathan Drake's more fashionable brother. But you know, Nathan Drake was a likeable guy. Elika has more gravitas, providing some intrigue and weight to the situation, and I think they play well off of each other. Their dialog is good and there's some chemistry and depth going on there.
The story doesn't take up as much as space as the journey of and interaction between these two characters, basically a thin veil shrouded over the experience. This guy is good, this one's bad, there's something going on with Elika's father and that's pretty much that as far as I've played. But I don't really feel as if there's something lacking, could've been something more to it, but I'm content. When the plot barely moves anywhere, the Prince, Elika and the world they're ascending pick up the slack.
The controls aren't perfect. For all of their attempts to make Prince of Persia an accessible game, I think they took it a bit too far in terms of the platforming mechanic. You can basically push a button and the Prince performs the action like a second later, you can even queue up actions to a certain extent, which can cause the platforming to feel disconnected, as if you're directing the character more than controlling him. I can definitely see how people could condemn the game for things like this. I'm occasionally bothered by it, but ultimately I'm overwhelmed by everything Ubisoft did so well. It's simply a beautiful, no holds barred, adrenalin-fueled thrillride, and I'm enjoying it greatly.
