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[Cerebral Assassin]

Probably 50% is good-old nostalgia as you say, (I did say "In my memories") but I really prefer the simplicity of the combat in Sands of Time. I played it less than a year ago and it still feels good to elegantly vault over enemies, use directional attacks, etc. Sticking the Dagger of Time into enemies to finish them off is incredibly satisfying. Overall I prefer the old Sands trilogy and 2008 over TFS. (Yes, even Warrior Within)

I agree that SoT was better(if you take into account the different release dates), but I hated WW, I was extremely disappointed by PoP'08 & FS reminded me why I enjoyed SoT so much(& the tone was much closer to SoT than any of the other games), so I have fond memories of it(I should really track down the Wii version, I have heard it's fairly different to the 360 version).

Yes, the combat is elegant. However, it goes on for far too long because the move list is so limited and the enemies get more numerous and tougher without a corresponding increase in the power of the prince. IMO, of course.

Just to qualify, I consider Sands of Time to be one of the greatest games of the past 10 years. (Hopefully it's still within the last 10...man, PS2 launched so long ago...)

I agree completely, I didn't finish SoT because of the combat( I got stuck in the "elevator" fight, & lost any desire to keep playing).

 

[teeny]

aww I was excited for a moment there, til I saw the question mark and the sad smiley.

I loved PoP 2008 but admit it had flaws. Thought it sold enough to warrant a sequel, and am bitterly disappointed that it never had a chance to expand and improve like Assassins Creed.

I loved the rhythmic gameplay. It was very relaxing to play and had a sense of flow that is unlike other 3D platformers.

 

[Jacksonlee]

i haven't touched assassin's creed after 2.

sigh, all the good things can't be given.

 

[Oemenia]

Absolutely loved the game, the sheer joy of platforming meant that you could look over just about every flaw of the game. It also looked stunning so helped things a lot.

But yes, many issues in the first game, for example, the gameplay pretty much reveals everything very early on so for the rest of the game you were doing the same thing. As for the whole open-world structure, while it was exhilarating to go from one of the map to another, its still very much obvious the game couldve really benefitted from some structure.

However, i loved Assassins Creed 1, hated 2 and loved Brotherhood. Why, because the first gave you freedom to go about and enjoy what game has to offer despite its frustrations but the second broke everything up into a series of long and pointless missions. Brotherhood was the perfect compromise with excellent writing as well freedom and structure.

 

[Razlo]

I really want a sequel to this!

 

[Conciliator]

I like a twist as much as the next guy. But all the way up to the end, there was no concern for her and no real indication that

Spoiler

he loved her.

Even hinting at it would have made the story better and made the ending make more sense (Although I still would have hated being the bad guy). The entire goal of the game was to help her seal up the bad guy and she could have died at any point during that adventure anyway.

So to save one person, he felt it was better to be enslaved by that person and have who knows how many millions die all whle expecting to get the girl who risked her life sealing the bad guy up? Wat?

Unique twist but still insanely bad.

Spoiler

Yes, it was selfish, awful, brutish, irrational and absurd, and instantly undoes everything that happened prior. It's super compelling. It's not even clear that they'll be able to fix it, it might just be that the whole world is fucked and that's that. And suddenly this character and story is (potentially) so much more than the standard handsome, sarcastic Journey Hero.

EDIT: Oh he has the I-hide-all-my-emotions-with-sarcasm Hero trope so that's why you never see indication of his feelings for her.

EDIT: I actually usually don't like twists. Well, they're usually not that good.

 

[ctrayne]

.

 

[HueyFreeman]

That's what I took away from the ending.

I realize it's frustrating for some players, but the ending makes their relationship the centerpiece of the game, more so than the (pretty silly/standard) plot. And that's a brave, interesting decision.

So much so, that the most controversial piece of the gameplay becomes it's central image & concept:

 

[Conciliator]

The 'team' that did this, are they still together, or did they reintegrate into Ubisoft in general or how's all that work? This damn game, I disagree profoundly with so many of the design choices but it's such a discussion piece. I really wonder what else they would come up with.

 

[HueyFreeman]

The 'team' that did this, are they still together, or did they reintegrate into Ubisoft in general or how's all that work? This damn game, I disagree profoundly with so many of the design choices but it's such a discussion piece. I really wonder what else they would come up with.

Here's an interesting interview with the lead designer back when it released. He's definitely still with Ubi Montreal, but I would certainly take Forgotten Sands as a signal that despite POP 2008's pretty reasonable sales figures and critical reception, Ubi took the consumer feedback seriously and isn't looking back.

 

[Neiteio]

Elika had fucking nice feet.

 

[Marlowe89]

I never actually played this title in particular, but I remember it being hyped as containing open-world exploration or some such.

Is that actually true? And to what extent? The fact that it's PoP makes me skeptical.

 

[JGS]

That's what I took away from the ending.

I took the same thing from the ending, but they went too far with the tropes. plus it simply wasn't believable anyway unless you realize the

Spoiler

"Prince" never really change his stripes of being greedy and selfish. If that the case, then he did saved her for the wrong reasons (True love was not it) and it dismantles the dismantling of the trope. There was no reason to fall in love with the girl since in the end he was against everything she stood for.

 

[bhlaab]

I remember them talking about how they wanted each fight to feel like a boss fight, but when you fight the same enemy like six times (without much variation), I think they start to just feel like regular encounters. I liked the idea of everything feeling like a boss fight, but I don't think they quite pulled it off.

Well that's a great idea because most of the time in games boss fights are the shitty annoying parts I don't want to play!

 

[JGS]

Well that's a great idea because most of the time in games boss fights are the shitty annoying parts I don't want to play!

I admit boss fights stress me out and they are my least favorite aspect since Metroid Prime made me fight that one Phazon monster over and over and over again...

I'm stressing out on Skyward Sword now although they haven't been particularly hard.

I like adventure games for the story development and being wowed by the new locales- something POP did quite well. Such a beautiful game. Loved the King of the World shot.

 

[HueyFreeman]

I never actually played this title in particular, but I remember it being hyped as containing open-world exploration or some such.

Is that actually true? And to what extent? The fact that it's PoP makes me skeptical.

Yes and no. Weird structure.

Consists of areas/arenas, which are linked by "corridors" which need to be platformed. Not really open world in the sense that you might be thinking. And you definitely have to platform things in a specific way, which I think led to a lot of the complaints.

 

[Conciliator]

I took the same thing from the ending, but they went too far with the tropes. plus it simply wasn't believable anyway unless you realize the

Spoiler

"Prince" never really change his stripes of being greedy and selfish. If that the case, then he did saved her for the wrong reasons (True love was not it) and it dismantles the dismantling of the trope. There was no reason to fall in love with the girl since in the end he was against everything she stood for.

Spoiler

Don't believe in 'true love' as a genuine force in the universe or care about it in terms of this story. I just think it's a super interesting, thrilling way to end the story and character. Can't speak for the other guys, but I am in no way arguing for the prince morally, either in general or in terms of that specific action. And hey, if it's a DOUBLE DISMANTLE that shit's even hotter still(don't think they were actually thinking about it that way though).

 

[ZZMitch]

Great game, played it on my PC last summer.

 

[Viola of the Abyss]

One of my favourite games this few years, I finished it last week.

The beautiful scenarios and characterization completely made it up for the gameplay faults.
I also really liked the idea of not being able to die, offering a different view on the checkpoint system.

If you plan on playing this, DON'T BUY the epilogue!!
Don't support Ubisoft's evil scheme of making us pay more to see the true story end.... especially considering the way it ends....

GRAAAAAAH!!! I'm furious!! Unless they decide to make a sequel, but considering how much time has passed and all that's been said in this thread I might as well give it up.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

I definitely feel like one of the very few that loved the gameplay and 'difficulty' (or lack there-of).

It was just a really relaxing game for me... and the art direction & music were fantastic.


The only part that stressed me out was the last boss... or however you'd want to classify that. Soooo much dying and trial & error. One frustrating section didn't come close to ruining the experience for me.

Sign me up for a sequel, just like the original. Nice for a change having a girl save my ass every time I fuck up.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

I definitely feel like one of the very few that loved the gameplay and 'difficulty' (or lack there-of).

It was just a really relaxing game for me... and the art direction & music were fantastic.


The only part that stressed me out was the last boss... or however you'd want to classify that. Soooo much dying and trial & error. One frustrating section didn't come close to ruining the experience for me.

Sign me up for a sequel, just like the original. Nice for a change having a girl save my ass every time I fuck up.

I ended up ragequitting the game when playing on the old SD TV because I couldn't get past the final boss, and the game just collected dust for like two years until I got an HD TV about a month ago. Tried the final boss again, and completed it on my first try :lol

One of my favourite games this few years, I finished it last week.

The beautiful scenarios and characterization completely made it up for the gameplay faults.
I also really liked the idea of not being able to die, offering a different view on the checkpoint system.

If you plan on playing this, DON'T BUY the epilogue!!
Don't support Ubisoft's evil scheme of making us pay more to see the true story end.... especially considering the way it ends....

GRAAAAAAH!!! I'm furious!! Unless they decide to make a sequel, but considering how much time has passed and all that's been said in this thread I might as well give it up.

I didn't mind the DLC being the conclusion to the story, what pissed me off about it was that the platforming was just frustrating and the combat was still shitty, especially the horrible boss battles. And you didn't even get to see any beautiful vistas or landscapes, it was all just this dull, gray underground complex.

 

[Viola of the Abyss]

I ended up ragequitting the game when playing on the old SD TV because I couldn't get past the final boss, and the game just collected dust for like two years until I got an HD TV about a month ago. Tried the final boss again, and completed it on my first try :lol

I didn't mind the DLC being the conclusion to the story, what pissed me off about it was that the platforming was just frustrating and the combat was still shitty, especially the horrible boss battles. And you didn't even get to see any beautiful vistas or landscapes, it was all just this dull, gray underground complex.

Exactly, especially the combat was way worse than the main campaign because of that new sprint move they added.
Also, as you said, if you take away the beautiful landscape from the game the bad mechanics gets exposed even more, so you enjoy it much less.
Epilogue sucks, you'd be better off not playing it at all unless a sequel gets announced.

 

[mysticwhip]

pretty boring, repetitive game and I didn't like how every single healed area were just brown and green. There was so much brown and green in this game. I liked the combat too but the platforming was far too easy. Another little thing I liked was the ability to stop and have the two characters talk.

 

[Morue]

Really enjoyed the game, the music, the chemistry between the two main characters. Would love to have a sequel.

 

[Toki767]

I miss Elika. Probably my favorite companion in a video game because she helps and doesn't get in the way.

 

[Myriadis]

Replaying both Sands of Time and PoP 2008 and I must say that I have more fun with 2008. The soundtrack is way better, even the combat, while still not the best, is a lot more fun and even more responsive than the one in Sands of Time (just how many times did the SoT Prince attacked the other enemies instead of finishing that enemy lying on the ground?), the platforming is more fun, since it has more variation and a better flow and the Prince from PoP 2008 just looks a lot better and has a lot more charm than the "Backstreet Boy"-Prince from Sands of Time. I also really like it that you can visit sets of areas basically in any order and it feels that it has more nice riddles than Sands of Time.

However, SoT does some things better. I like it that most of the game takes place in a huge building with solid ground under your feet instead of completely being constanly high above the ground with no chance to ever visit the nice-looking places down there. I also like the traps they have more than the four types of "darkness traps". Even though I prefer the more open-world aspect of PoP 2008, the really linear structure of SoT really allows for a better difficulty curve. And Health Bar > Red edges. Always. But all in all, I prefer PoP 2008.

I think they both lack in variation, in SoT there are many same-looking rooms and in Pop 2008 there are many places that are not that different, although both try. Both games are not really difficult. In Sands of Time you can undo some mistakes several times and if you die, you just land at the beginning of the room anyway, which isn't so far away. In 2008, you often land just a few steps back where you made your mistakes, but there are also some parts where you have to combine your skills without any mistake for at least two minutes (Tower of Dreams, anyone?). And I don't know if I ever could get that "Complete the game without getting saved by Elika 100 times"-Achievement. I die way more often. Platforming feels kinda automatic in both games. Press a button, Prince does a wallrun no matter what.

If they make another Prince of Persia, I hope it will combine the best of these two. It would be nice if you have a little town as a hub world and more areas out of that town. You start in these at the ground and have to climb up to the higher levels which are like the ones in PoP 2008. Fighting has to be improved, even a Zelda-like combat would be an improvement. Elika should return, I liked her and it allows for some hilarious dialogues. I want it to be cel-shaded like 2008, it just looks so good.

Eh, what a waste, no one will read this post anyway.

 

[Lijik]

I realize it's frustrating for some players, but the ending makes their relationship the centerpiece of the game, more so than the (pretty silly/standard) plot. And that's a brave, interesting decision.

So much so, that the most controversial piece of the gameplay becomes it's central image & concept:

Whats funny is the ubisoft TMNT platformer from a year before has a similar mechanic to Elika saving you.

That game was semi-decent if you go in expecting PoP-lite instead of of the incredible arcade games.

 

[plagiarize]

Forgotten Sands is the better 'game' but 2008 was the better experience.

I really don't know that I want a sequel though. That ending (I haven't and see no reason to play the DLC) is such a good dramatic point to end the story. I see that it doesn't work for a lot of people, but I personally felt that the prince was getting closer and closer to Elika as the story went on.

Spoiler

I just didn't realise that his greed and selfishness were still both in full force. Elika becomes the thing he wants more than money. There isn't a selfless bone in that guy's body. It isn't even about what Elika wants. Screw that. Screw what she wants. Screw the rest of the world.

I can't think of a game with an ending that comes close to being as impactful.

I wish someone on PC could mod down those input timing windows for the platforming though. When the traps become active, I think the level design is pretty solid even from a gameplay perspective, but it's way tooooo forgiving on those inputs, and given the Elika mechanic, they could absolutely push the difficulty of each platform string because of how quickly you get reset.

it's a shame they didn't.

another plus for the PC version? the game is fantastic in 3D.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

Replaying both Sands of Time and PoP 2008 and I must say that I have more fun with 2008. The soundtrack is way better

As much I loved the soundtrack in Pop 2008.... but nothing can top The Tower of Down or Attack of the Sand Griffins IMO <3

 

[MoogPaul]

Loved the original despite the fact that it pretty much played itself. Would love to see a sequel.