Soon after Ubisoft dropped the reveal trailer their upcoming addition to the Prince of Persia game you’d had to do you best to read around the snarky comments on Reddit and Youtube. People were either seriously afraid the remake of Sands of Time would dwindle away as vaporware for some reason or get meme-y with the tagline “Persians aren’t purple”. With the narrative dominated by discourse over artistic choices or not delivering on some sort of follow up on Prince of Persia’s 3D legacy, it’s easy to forget that Ubisoft is making applaudable choices by putting highly capable outsiders on their IPs.
A pilot for a secondary business model?
I remember the general disappointment the release trailer for the first ‘new’ Prince of Persia game evoked, about a year ago. While Ubisoft is generally criticized for templating so many IPs into the same Assassin’s Creed template, it also got bullied when it does try to do something different. That ‘the internet’ doesn’t like anything or any decision, isn’t exactly new, but give them a brake.
Let’s start with the fact that the last Prince of Persia game from Ubisoft, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, initially faced even more backlash upon reveal. The majority of the gaming community wasn’t expecting much from it, certainly not the critically adored game it turned out to be.
Prince of Persia : The lost Crown, a Metroidvania master-class
The Lost Crown didn’t revolutionize the Metroidvania genre or anything; that niche has been well-served by indie devs and mid-sized studios in recent years. However, It is maybe the best example how good a metroidvania game can get when backed up by a giant publisher. It is an important beacon of hope, showing that games of this caliber are viable for publishers and rights owners the size of Ubisoft. The biggest problem: It didn’t sell all too well.
I would guess launching games like these is meant to attract a different crowd to its gaming portfolio in order to grow outside it’s dwindling ‘open world’ and Just Dance crowds. So, while the first game in this philosophy kind of bombed, I surely hope Ubisoft has the patience to sit out one or two stinkers (sales wise) and not abandon ship before it gave it a good enough chance.
The roguelite Prince of Persia
In the slipstream of The Lost Crown, Ubisoft is set to release The Rogue Prince of Persia (TRPoP) this year as well. This could get really interesting. This time, Evil Empire, a French indie, has been sent out to play with Ubisoft’s Persian assets. With Evil Empire on the job, anyone with even a tiny bit of sensibility for 2D rogue-lite platforming should be on high alert. They are renowned specifically in this area. The Bordeaux-based studio has had a great seven-year run with Dead Cells, a game that set standards for roguelites and indie development altogether in the past decade. They recently released Castlevania crossover DLC, which put an end to Dead Cells’ impressive run, finally making way for The Rogue Prince of Persia to get its full attention. Dead Cells’ excellent snappy dodge/counter combat and very high-paced platforming seem to be the template for TRPoP as well. Footage in the trailer revealed similar combat combined with moves we’ve seen in The Lost Crown too. Based on the trailer, the Dead Cells pedigree is easily identifiable, and I, for one, am hyped.
Highly stylized
The highly stylized look may be splitting up the gaming community, but the rotorscope-like animation feels authentic if you take the original Broderbund game from 1989 into consideration. And based on the trailer these game seems to transition from animated cut scenes to 2D platforming like it’s nothing. I’m so curious who this will be utilized in the final game.
The artstyle might have been the target of shitposting, but is more interesting than you might think. From what I can see, once in the platforming view, the style seems to be influenced by ancient Persian miniature art of some sort, which would fit into the whole Prince of Persia narrative quite well.
Returning to the reveal trailer comments: It must be a bit of an adjustment for Prince of Persia or Ubisoft fans to have artistic outsiders like Evil Empire working on their beloved franchise. However, this time, a shift in the comments can be observed as well. Beneath the critical comments, there are gamers identifying risks in style, ambition, and approach that Ubisoft is wholeheartedly embracing at the moment. The right amount of artistic freedom will surely lead to great things. Just like with Return To Monkey Island, discourse about artistic choices , once you have the controller in your hand and everything just clicks together in unexpected ways.
Stay on target, Ubisoft
I just hope Ubisoft stays on target and can find a viable revenue loop in these smaller projects that matter to people like us. Outsourcing your IPs to (semi) indies that have proven their worth in a specific genre is cost efficient and you can almost guarantee a good outcome.
Ubisoft, for the next project, why don’t you let GameKitchen take on Assassin’s Creed?
