A hit on the Switch 2, a miss on the Switch - A weekend of playing The Rogue Prince of Persia
At the tail end of last week I was sent a physical copy of The Rogue Prince of Persia to cover. Being in the midst of a house move I don’t quite have the time to play a game non-stop at the moment, but I also didn’t want to just let the copy sit idle, so I settled on a compromise. Spend ten or so hours of my weekend playing it and throw my thoughts to paper. It’s not quite a full review, but in my mind it’s a long enough amount of time to be able to say whether I’ll continue on later, and a format like this has a chance of pushing me to play more games in the future, if only a little at a time.
The Rogue Prince of Persia isn’t exactly a new game, and the entire reason the publisher is doing the rounds with it is because it’s just got its physical release on Switch, Switch 2, and PS5. Either way we’ve not covered it and I’ve not played it, so it did seem a good opportunity. I was sent the Switch version of the game physically, alongside a digital copy of the Switch 2 version on request, and played both on my Switch 2 console in a mixture of handheld and docked modes. This is my first look at the series as a whole, and I can say I’m not disappointed.
The story seems fairly easy to grasp even for a newcomer. You are the titular Prince of Persia, and the city is being invaded by the Huns. You lose a fight against the head honcho Hun at the start of the game who seems to be possessed by some evil energy, leaving you stranded outside the city, and forcing you to face a series of randomly-generated levels to make it back and pick up the pieces. From what I understand, this particular entry isn’t exactly typical to the series in its random level design, but as a big fan of the roguelike genre, it’s hard to hold it against the game.
At its core, we’re looking at Dead Cells with a fresh coat of paint. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially when that fresh coat of paint layers more intricate movement options on top of an already-winning formula. And when you factor in that this is the actual development team behind Dead Cells (or at least its DLC), you can better piece together the game as an evolution more than a knock off.
The game thrives above all in fast-paced movement. It’s incredibly easy to grasp, and moving through the stages with speed feels phenomenal, with you getting buffs for various feats of acrobatics as you play. I’ve never really gotten on with Sonic games, but I can imagine this is how those more versed in the series feel as they’re able to blast through the stages at speed. Everything feels responsive and the game feels fair in its hitboxes and enemy attacks. At least when playing on the Switch 2.
Having both the Switch and Switch 2 versions to hand, I really thought the game would just run at a lower framerate and maybe look a little blurrier when playing the Switch 1 release. Annoyingly the issues go much deeper, with that version seeming to have some horrific input delay that seriously detracts from the core gameplay. It’s possible this is a side effect of playing the Switch 1 version on the Switch 2 and there being some quirk of the translation layer, but I could see some people wanting to go this route if they’re in search of a physical release and aren’t fond of Game Key Cards. I’ll give this advice to you now: it isn’t worth it. I did find myself adapting to that perceived input delay given a few hours on the Switch 1 version, but coming over to Switch 2 was like night and day.
The boss encounters are really a highlight on each run.
With The Rogue Prince of Persia being a roguelike under the hood, progression is measured in a few ways. At its simplest you have progression in a given run, where you go from stage to stage, fight a few bosses, and aim to reach the end before dying. In terms of meta progression, the progress you make that will make future runs easier, there’s a good bit to dive into. Most of this boils down to collecting Spirit Glimmers when playing, and then redeeming them at the Oasis for permanent upgrades. You might get an increase to your max health, a better assortment of weapons to pick from, or even a few chances to cheat death. It all adds up nicely in a way where you’ll naturally be making more and more progress through both your character getting stronger, and you generally getting better at the game and adjusting to its various threats. Most of this feels fairly typical when looking at its Dead Cells roots, but it’s still implemented well and is fun to keep coming back to. I certainly will be coming back to the game in the coming days and weeks; I’ve not managed to beat it yet and I’m hankering for that win.
Now with the general game thoughts out of the way, I do want to take a moment to talk about the physical options for the game. It is the reason I’m looking at it in the first place after all. For players on Switch and Switch 2 I don’t think it’s an amazing time. As I touched on before, the Switch 1 version of the game feels vastly compromised when compared to its Switch 2 counterpart, and the physical Switch 2 release is limited to a Game Key Card. And a Game Key Card you’re expected to pay £5 than its digital counterpart for at that. The real winners in this release are the PS5 players. From what I can tell the game is all there on the disc, and if the game is running well on Switch 2, I’d be shocked to see it being any worse on that side of the fence.
If you can stomach a Game Key Card, the Immortal Edition might be worth considering just for the nice steelbook and small assortment of goodies, but you’ll be paying more money on top of that already more expensive physical release. It’ll be worth it to some, but again I feel like the PS5 version is the one to shoot for if a physical copy is your end goal. This is a fantastic game, and one I’m happy to have on my shelf. Even if it is unlikely I’ll touch that Switch 1 version again.
It's a nice box, but it's not worth playing the Nintendo Switch version to have.
I’m still in the process of moving, so time remains strapped for me. Regardless, I’m trying to fit in some Astro Bot this weekend. I just picked up a PS5 and having played the first level I’m very excited to dive in and play more, so keep an eye out next week for a post on that if things don't get too hectic for me. If you somehow missed out on the hype, we do already have a review that you can check out in the meantime. If you have any games you think are worth checking out, or are just playing something fun yourself this weekend, let us know!
