As an avowed vintage gamer who has fond, if frustrated, memories of playing the original Prince of Persia way back in the day, it’s great to see that franchise still being given its due. Granted, in terms of gameplay its very cinematic movements tended to be the focus, sometimes at the cost of it being approachable or fun, but I remember being blown away by games like it and Karateka in the early days of gaming. Given that modern roguelikes like Dead Cells have a strong emphasis on movement, and are packed with action, applying that mold to this classic feels like a real no-brainer.

As you would expect, this is a game that places an emphasis on working through runs as long as you can manage, where you’ll need to use a mix of nimble movement and prowess in combat to survive. Armed with your melee-style primary weapon as well as a secondary that will usually be ranged in some way, you don’t carry that much of an arsenal, but if you get to know their charged behaviors as well as the combos you can manage with them, that doesn’t mean you can’t be formidable. The surprise here is that much more than your average roguelike, traversal skills also get quite a lot of emphasis, and developing your core wall run in particular will be a key to your success. Every extra door you choose to go through may well give you a brutal gauntlet to work through, but the promise of rewards can be powerful, especially once you feel like you’ve got it all locked down.

All that said, while I was able to get the feel of traversal and how to move through combat with a little time, I’d say that it doesn’t come nearly as easily as some of its competitors. You could well take that to be an advantage, but there’s just a flow to the skills you need in this game that set it apart from the rest, requiring just a little more investment and patience. In particular, before I was able to start getting more potent weapons and enhancements available to me, I also found the early bosses to be more challenging than normal. Again, that could be counted as a compliment and a plus, but I’d say in terms of overall accessibility this is more of an acquired taste, for good or bad. 

The game’s art, sound, and story beats all do help this from being even a remotely generic experience, but you can expect to give it more attention than average to get the most out of it too. While some of this series’ more modern iterations over the years have varied in quality and general critical reception, I’d have to say that the decision to blend it with some roguelike flair was absolutely inspired. Using its more exotic locations and threats, mixed with its very strong fundamental focus on traversal, the developers seem to have then juiced it up by implementing very fluid movements and some varied toys to play with for combat, at least guaranteeing to make it memorable.