Prince of Persia: Playing Consequence-Free

Prince of Persia 2008 is a rare thing: an action-adventure game where the player's actions are largely consequence-free.

For our titular prince and his companion Elika, the stakes couldn't be higher, as they strive to bring a halt to the darkness that is enveloping the realm. Yet even as they awaken different parts of the city, and fill them with colour, the kingdom remains devoid of life. It is a carcass. With the exception of a donkey and a few guards in the opening moments, we never meet another living soul. A splash of colour and some reinvigorated flora doesn't hide the fact that this world is dead. 

What exactly are we saving and would it even matter if we failed?

There are no game-over screens here. No resources to be lost following an ill-advised jump or a poorly-timed parry. No progress to be thrown away or limited continues to fret about. When you fail, Elika saves you. Prince of Persia is almost entirely without stakes, and some might say without challenge. Whatever; I adore it.

While the Prince can't die, failure does serve a purpose. Each time he plunges to what should be his death, or takes one hit too many, Elika intervenes. The Prince sinks into darkness, hand outstretched, and his partner is always there to pull him back out, literally: a hand proffered, a prince saved. By coming to his rescue, the bond between Princess and protector is strengthened. These last-second saves build the duo's connection, boosts their chemistry, and lays the groundwork for the ending scene, which is when we discover who truly needs who in this partnership.

When the Prince refuses to let go, even when a hand isn't proffered.

With the fear of failure all but removed, the player is emboldened and encouraged to explore. Linear possibilities abound. I never felt bad about relying on Elika's safety net, no matter how reckless my actions may have been. Elika will chide the prince from time to time, but she also jokes about how she's grown fond of him and would prefer if he didn't die; he takes it all in his stride, immediately resuming exploration and putting his acrobatic skills, and the princess' boosts, to good use. Without the threat of failure hanging over your every move, it's so much easier to get into the rhythm of the game and appreciate its charms. 

At its most basic, Prince of Persia is a collect-a-thon, and a very good one at that. Once you awaken a section of the city, it becomes filled with Light Seeds which must be gathered for you to progress. Bright and inviting, I leaped, scrambled and slid to grab as many of them as I could, scattered across imaginatively, and eventually colourfully designed levels that are interlinked and free of loading screens. The action is sometimes punctuated by short chats with Elika, most of which are optional and triggered by the player. Brief and informative, they rarely disturb the gameplay momentum. The same can't be said about combat, unfortunately, which is appalling. However, it's so infrequent, and so trivial to the core experience, that it's easy enough to forgive. 

Without the looming fear of failure, you can take the opportunity to fully appreciate the beauty of your surroundings. It's a strikingly good looking game, thanks to a distinct artistic design, and it could pass for a modern release, albeit a lower-budget one. It also sounds wonderful, with the charming score given time and space to breathe, rarely having to compete with any meaningful environmental sounds, besides the Prince's shuffling and the occasional whoosh of an Elika assist. 

Traversal is packed with little flourishes and animations, including small interactions between prince and princess as they move through impossible looking obstacles. Swapping positions on a narrow beam by joining hands, leaning back and using each others weight to safely reposition, or Elika occasionally dropping from a ledge into the arms of the prince, unplanned but effortless - these are small moments that I could enjoy and savour, freed from having to constantly look around to see what might kill me next.

I first played Prince of Persia back in 2009. It left an impression, and I'd long toyed with revisiting it. I finally did so earlier this month on Series X, and I'm exceptionally glad that I did. Fifteen years and hundreds of games removed from that original runthrough, I now have a better eye for what makes it special and how well it caters to my tastes.

Prince of Persia aside, I've continued with my planned backlog catch-up over the last month. With Alan Wake 2 out the way - I very much liked it - and Auto Modellista back on the shelf, I moved to Ridge Racer 6, Loaded, Into the Breach and Lost Planet 3, all of which I've enjoyed to varying degrees. But none of them have had the same impact as PoP, and I'm even considering buying the Epilogue DLC. 

Purchasing Xbox 360 downloadable content certainly wasn't something I thought I'd be doing in 2024!