The Rogue Prince of Persia: much more than just a Dead Cells re-skin (Early Access Review)
At first, The Rogue Prince of Persia feels a lot like Dead Cells. Then you keep playing it and you’re like ‘ohh, yeah this is VERY …
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March 7, 2026
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woah, the art style on screen is not the same game I was just playing lol.
Well, it has to be said that Prince of Persia was already a "metroidvania" before the term even existed.
I remember loving the first one, and I'm loving it that coming back to its roots is working.
4:03 Well you’re partially right but mostly misinformed.
So, that roguelike vs roguelite definition is not actually all that accurate. It's a definition that does get passed around, so it's understandable why someone would go with it, but it's a definition made by people who don't play traditional roguelikes who were for some reason really bothered or confused about the real distinction, and instead made it about a common difference between roguelikes and roguelites. The real difference is that roguelikes are turn-based, grid-based, non-modal games usually with rpg elements and roguelites are everything else.
I think it's also worth noting that the goal of the different terms is not to gatekeep or that roguelites are lesser (I like both genres about as much), it's that the broadening of the term roguelike makes it much harder for people to talk about or find new entries in a genre they love. Even using the traditional roguelike tag on steam will still result in getting shown a bunch of Vampire Survivors style games, and itch io doesn't even have a traditional roguelike tag. It's just really frustrating when you want to find out about lesser known games in a niche genre, but they're impossible to find because the same term is used for games that are almost entirely different.
To me, rouge games are better with more meta-progression.
Skill Up: the game is currently 10-15 hours long
*Me with 94 hours on the game *: 👀
Joke aside, that was a fantastic analysis! You considered a lot of details that makes this game shine and make it something different from Dead Cells.
I'm a superfan of the game, if you'd like to know more about the game I'm constantly publishing new videos about the game itself so consider to check out those here 🙂
Given that a month has passed some updates on what you mentioned:
– meta progression is there now and it helps a lot less skilled players for example with extra health potions, it's simple by now but the next update coming on thursday, July 25th, should improve it with more upgrades to unlock
– again with the next update, difficulty selection will be a thing (probably something like the Heat in Hades 1)
– animations improved a lot in the last month, for example the jump animation is so better now
– music: I don't have to add nothing here. It's crazy good.
– story will be improved during early access, but it will be later in the development
– Medallions system probably will change a bit. For sure new medallions are on the way. Same for weapons/tools
… And a lot more! Discord is the best way to interact directly with devs and often you can see your suggestions in the next releases.
If you'd like to see something more about the amazing game, you may find something interesting in my channel 😃 See you there!
I'm still really upset about what happened to Dead Cells, poor devs.
No console port is a tragedy
I grew up playing 2d Prince of persia games on feature phones and those games I still want to play today. I'm not even 25 yet but I used feature phones for a long time
The art style is so cool
They're cooking with the music
Guess shillup is on board with SBI and DEI, soy boy beta
The soundtrack in this game tickles my braincells.
Wholeheartedly agree that more large companies need to focus on smaller, low budget, high quality titles to release alongside their big budget 'flagship' games. Which makes it incredibly confusing why MS would shut down a studio like Tango Gameworks after creating a game like Hi-Fi Rush. Really surprising that of all companies to click and get this right that it would be Ubi, congrats to them on that, look forward to seeing more of this in the future
I can't wait for this game to release.
i saw windblown in the thumbnail and thought this video was for that. Thank you for the windblown recommendation!!!
I don't like the art style at all but the game looks solid.
Reminds me of Sundered
what a cool looking flash game
Was this written in a rush? Not up to your usual quality.
Why the prince purple?
So what is the definitive way to play dead cells?
I'm just bummed it doesn't have ANY time manipulation… I mean, that was a core mechanic for any Prince of Persia.
Hate rogue lite. Lazy repetitive gameplay.
Ubisoft aside, I love this game.
That music has such a mysterious, hypnotic, kinda-chill vibe. I love it! We need more games of this caliber and less AAA with high risk and no soul.
Why he ourple 💀
I feel like the Ubisoft forward at Summer Game Fest is going to be a biggie. We'll get to see what they've been cooking for Splinter Cell all this time, AC Shadows is going to get gameplay and surely we'll finally see the PoP SoT remake and fingers crossed Beyond Good and Evil 2.
Nine sols deserves much more attention compared to this
I’m super excited for this one but I’m waiting until full release. I tend to go full bore on a new game and then never revisit again so want to wait for the full offering.
Offtopic:
(don't mind me, I need to complain and I'm not giving [target] any interaction XD)
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Did [contestant] succeed in [talent show]? No they didn't, if they did, the title would be "[underestimated contestant] absolutely destroys [show]"
Y'all are my favorite video game reviewers right now, and this video exemplifies why. You talk about everything, gameplay, visuals, music, but also the game's place in the industry and how it may reflect industry trends. And all while simultaneously treating the viewer as a peer who is intelligent and cares, but also while explaining the background to get the viewer up to speed. It feels, fair, balanced, and personable. Love y'all ❤
I'd love a game like this in 3d. Really wish more good indy devs dabbled in 3d games especially platformers i get that its 30x harder to make 3d games, but still… I wanted to try this game on ea launch, based on just how fluid movement looks, but that ubisoft logo is putting me off.
Ashadi went SO hard on the OST. I'm just in love with it :_)
this shit looks fun as hell! getting a deck today so ill be trying this out!
Isn’t this just a remake of Aladdin from NES?
I WISH they would’ve kept the Sands of Time going. The rewind mechanic was so cool for its time and would’ve only gotten better with time
Did Metro Boomin do the soundtrack? This shit was banging
So it's like a combination of Hollow Knight and Dead Cells? Neat.
I just…Feel like there was so much less effort put into the art here.
The wall running and positioning immediately stands out here. It makes it play like Sands of Time instead of just using the PoP name.