The understandable debate of “too much of a good thing…” in the name of Roguelikes continues to rage unabated, both sides with convincing points in the matter of taste detailing the finer introspection upon the genre.


I.E.; I reference the “Shinji’s Mom Argument” in defense of the sheer number of quality distinctions among Roguelikes in making the media so compelling, not derivative

Building upon the infrastructure of thought from yesterday, where I addressed my notions of questioning the lead up to the preview of The Rogue Prince of Persia, inline with what I’ve done in the past, I edify upon a previous theory I’ve held, that the absence of quality leaves in its wake the quality of something, so looking beyond “the whole of the matter”, and peering into “the hole that is left”, tends to leave the trace outline of the idea in question. In speaking to the preview of the new (Rogue) Prince of Persia, A.R.T helps frame my argument with an unbridled flourish, and at least adds novelty in an approach of discussing what now counts as the commonplace trivialities of Roguelike platformers, more so than any ceaseless murmur placating the regularity of cascading death ever could.


Though, for the sake of congenial transparency, I say in the name of tradition: prepare to die

I did conclude yesterday with a morsel for those champing at the bit for relevant succulence relating to The Rogue Prince, leaving firmly put the notion of Dead Cells with a Princely like paint splattered upon the veneer, and this would be an easily simplified elevator pitch with which to placate those within your casual inner social sphere; friendlies surrounding your restrained sense of understatement, and appreciating both a marvelous whim of brevity you possess, and a seriously polished penchant of editorial adeptness in your playful musings of informative endeavor. The timey-wimey narrative of Prince’s past, though on display, is merely for the sake of plot; Braid enthusiasts be damned. The deathly concentric time loops, sans gameplay involvement beyond the justification of the Roguelike premise, sit at the heart of the launching point for what follows, and in combinatoric enmeshment with exploratory zealousy and platforming fervor, helps in creating the lavishly simplistic implication not yet endeavored upon with such wall running gusto. Though developer Evil Empire’s groundwork thusly laid down with Dead Cells formulaic prowess gives way effortlessly to the Prince’s visage being folded into the fray of frenzied Roguelike fury, this was all perhaps too obvious a move of victorious amazement for the Pricne not to take advantage of.


He’s got style, he’s got grace, he’s about to full body catapult right on this dude’s face

The thought had occurred to me that the pedigree of the Prince remains intact with the Rogue standard developer Evil Empire has laid down for us, with their own sense of propriety carrying the property forward for the moment. Which touches upon my initial posit, one of which I had an inclination of, but have most certainly been handsomely awarded for in due time, with my speculation paying in full with endless dividends of not overthinking the property, even if Evil Empire are using different minds to elaborate a fresh sense of design. More so a readdress of combat and movement than backtracking through secrets and newly acquired gadgets to elaborate upon the unseen, The Rogue Prince leaves the heavier lifting machinations of a Metroidvania to last years The Lost Crown, choosing to forgo a sense of item finding and hidden rooms for a greater fixation on combat, platforming, and the ebb and flow of a wu wei state carrying you relentlessly through the hordes of Huns, death defying dungeons, and boisterously bloodied bosses attempting to volunteer your corpse as well earned bounty as sacrifice to the dark arts they employ.


“Dark arts employed” in this instance being a gratuitous euphemism for being bludgeoned with god damn rocks

The sense of enthusiastic energy can be felt with every jump, dash, and dodging maneuver, though The Rogue Prince doesn’t jump on the parry bandwagon, instead letting much of his nimbleness simply avoid the attacks in a skilled players hand, with both upgradeable gear, in equal parts weaponry and equippable pendants, flesh out his build with buffs and synergies, so as to give him both superiority in the department of projectiles, as well as an up close and personal sense of ownership with a vast arsenal of weaponry, both swift in spirit, and massively bludgeoning to choose from. The repetitious nature that springs to mind with Roguelikes is alleviated by a quick sense of mastery the game provides, as well as a surprising wellspring of punchy dialogue (in text form, mind you), to keep you moving from objective to objective, without feeling bored to tears by the same combat scenarios, avoiding any dreaded sense of ad infinitum in replicating what would be considered a dearth of content for a game with a different stylization of genre, but befitting of The Rogue Prince, royally so.


Not pictured: a lot of the crazier platforming sections on display. Between wall running, scaling, jumping, and well timed launch offs, getting a decent shot of the hands on action proved to be difficult in the heat of the excitement

And with that, we must leave my explications as is, for unlike The Prince, my time preciously dwindles, so I take my leave of you, but not before reminding both Playstation and Xbox owners The Rogue Prince of Persia is available to download for free on PS+ and Gamepass, with PC players getting a discount budget at thirty bucks with which to enjoy.

Get playing.

~Pashford