HomeFeaturesThe Rogue Prince Of Persia
The Rogue Prince Of Persia is a new roguelite that combines wall running with Arkham-style agile combatIt’s on Steam early access in May, but it’s not for the butterfingered.
It’s on Steam early access in May, but it’s not for the butterfingered.
Image credit:Ubisoft/Evil Empire
Image credit:Ubisoft/Evil Empire
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There will always be enemies, ranging in the preview from patrolling normies with a hand axe, to big heavy boys armed with a shield who - to my rage but delight at the design - would know if you were chilling out on a ledge above them and poke you right in the bum, to what I mentally termed ‘eagle bastards’, who camped on ledges and swung at you if you jumped towards them. There were patrolling demon dogs, ranged attack bow-lads, and hench dual-wielding damage dealers, and all of them came in Now With Shield! improved flavour that gave them a whole other health bar to get through before I could shred them with my weapons.
Image credit:Ubisoft/Evil Empire
Image credit:Ubisoft/Evil Empire
Weapons are another thing that you can change up between runs, and like most other roguelikes, bettering your build is important. You can trade your double daggers (quick! Prince-of-Persia-y!) for a heavy axe (slow, but fucks ‘em up!), or replace your secondary attack, which defaults to a bow, with a chakram that deals less damage but goes through more enemies. Medallions are rare finds that modify active abilities to give passive buffs. I found one that threw out daggers on my dash, and another that applied fire damage on my kick, and yet a third that stunned enemies on breaking a block. It felt almostVampire Survivors-esque in the stacking synergies you could build, but also in how frequently I biffed it and died just when I’d got a juicy combination.
This did not mean, however, that I was good enough to beat the first boss, a huge, goatlike demon who was the end point of the demo, and in fact I only got as far as him once. Between the oasis and him I saw the village and the aqueduct, dusty and orange and blue and damp, respectively, as well as the enemy camp (which tended towards the purple). When The Rogue launches into early access next month the story will, Houghton said, have ‘a hard stop’, but more levels will appear throughout the early access period. The core experience, though, won’t change much at this point, and it’s a roguelite experience I’d describe as very mobile and combat heavy.The Rogue Prince Of Persiaprobably won’t be for the butterfingers among you.
