Ubidays '08: Prince of Persia producer on sidekick, new prince
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First, what do we call it? Though the Ubidays press materials listed the title's name as Prince of Persia Prodigy, the very same name recently trademarked by the IP-owner Jordan Mechner, Mattes wouldn't confirm that that was the final title: "I don't think we've announced the final title."
If you're still unable to wrap your head around where this new prince fits into the existing franchise, Mattes wants you to forget about everything that's come before. "The Sands of Time trilogy is over. We're finished that story," he explains for what we're guessing is the hundredth time that day. "It's a new prince, with new challenges. There's no chronological connection with what's gone on in the past."
Gallery: Prince of Persia (2008)
So what are some of these new challenges? For starters, there will be "more platforming relative to combat than in past games" Mattes tells us. Maybe something along the lines of 60/40 or even 70/30 he estimates (we're totally holding him to those numbers). And, when there is combat, "fights are going to last a lot longer." Mattes boasts, "We want every single fight to feel like a boss battle." To that end, every region you free will have a "defender," an enemy that you keep encountering over and over, so instead of defeating an army of smaller enemies, you're battling a single, larger enemy multiple times until you finally best him. Helping you best these baddies (as well as restore light to the land) is Elika.
Of course, the biggest piece of news isn't necessarily the new look or the new prince – we've been able to deduce those changes from screens and stories on the game. No, the biggest news is the introduction of a companion ... a sidekick. Sure, the producers (and we're sure, the marketing materials) call Elika a "revolutionary AI character" but gamers are right to worry that that's simply marketing speak for "obnoxious escort missions ad nauseum." (And, in case you were wondering, Elika is AI only, there won't be any co-op support). So, it should come as a relief that one of the key design (and marketing!) points of the new game is that Elika "isn't obnoxious." She's intended to be a complementary character, and never a burden. Mattes reiterated this point many times.
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Considering the game's Fall 2008 release date, we were disappointed that it was not only not playable, but the trailer they showed off contained exactly 0 seconds of actual gameplay. Considering the departure from the well executed series of games last generation, we're hoping Ubisoft simply wants to avoid potentially negative initial impressions and give us a more relaxed look at the game at E3. Either that or Elika isn't quite "not obnoxious" yet.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Wii60Warrior @ May 29th 2008 11:37AM
Well hopefully Ubisoft changes the art style of the game to something less cel-shaded like. Pretty please...
Loved the CGI trailer though. And their ideas for the companion seems pretty cool I think.
Christopher Grant @ May 29th 2008 11:40AM
Really?! I want to marry this art style and go on an extended honeymoon, if you catch my drift.
Wii60Warrior @ May 29th 2008 11:43AM
OMG...Chris you responded to my comment! Thats kinda awesome! And I'm being serious here.
As for the art style...I dunno. It just brings back that nasty feeling in my mouth I had when I first saw Legend of Zelda: The WW. I just didn't feel like it was Zelda or a game that I'd even touch.
Its sad cuz everything I'm hearing and reading about the plot, overall gameplay/mission advancement, and the trailer itself are really good. Its just that I'm the sorta person that if it looks bad to me on a visual level its hard to really appreciate it...you know what I mean?
Maybe Ubi and I can reach some type of compromise...
Anyways thanks for responding!
Fatass of Sarcasmness @ May 29th 2008 11:53AM
The game is sounding great gameplay wise, and even if you don't like the visuals, that doesn't mean you can't give the game a shot.
And about Wind Waker... I don't and will never understand what people have against that game. For me it felt like a 3D realization of the art style of Link to the Past, and felt more like a Zelda game than Twilight Princess did. In fact, Wind Waker is my favorite 3D Zelda game, and the art style definately contributed to the overall awesomeness of the game.
Christopher Grant @ May 29th 2008 12:23PM
Well, there's the problem. I, like Mr. Sarcasmness, thought WW was INCREDIBLE. Seriously, I like it more than Ocarina of Time and only second to Link to the Past. A huge amount of my appreciation for that title comes from the incredible art style. C'est la vie, to each his own.
Wade Wilson (aka Ska Oreo) @ May 29th 2008 12:31PM
"saw Legend of Zelda: The WW. I just didn't feel like it was Zelda or a game that I'd even touch."
This comment makes me want to kick your ass. Not only was the art style amazing. But it had a solid story and gameplay. You should be ashamed to call yourself a gamer and then say you refused to play WW simply because of the art style.
"I don't and will never understand what people have against that game."
It's the same reason why people don't like Mario Sunshine or Double Dash. It's because it wasn't like the same old same old. Which is funny since the same people who complain about those games are the same people who preach that there needs to be more innovation or games should take a different direction.
Arturis @ May 29th 2008 12:43PM
Honestly, I was turned off of the Wind Waker's choice of art direction. While I had played other cel shaded games (Jet Set Radiooooo!) and as an artist, I understand the concept of cohesive artistic vision, I was just upset and bitter that they would do something so radical to one of my favorite franchises.
Then I played it.
Simply walking around the starting island completely changed my mind - the animation on everything from the plants to the monsters to the smoke and fire effects were absolutely brilliant, and the entire experience came together to not only tell the story, but deliver it in a polished package.
When the PoP:P screen shots were released, I could not get myself to believe that they were not concept art. And this is probably one of the greatest accolades I could give a game. I am thrilled with the choice of artistic direction, in the same way I am thrilled with what they are doing with Street Fighter IV.
My only confusion is the new CG trailer, which pretty much abandons the cel shaded look, and feels more like something pulled from a SquareEnix cut scene. Honestly, if they want to sell the cel (yeah, I said it) they need to keep the artistic style consistent across the entire product. I do hope that the cut scenes in the actual game will not be as jarringly different as this trailer was.
Deck @ May 29th 2008 11:38AM
I am really loving this art style and I can't wait! I loved PoP:SoT and I don't think its a bad thing that they are going in a new direction with the story, a new prince and all of that.
I think its got great potential to be a lot of fun. But then I guess that means its got great potential to not be too :-p
Wii60Warrior @ May 29th 2008 11:45AM
Now the stills/pictures look awesome and I could get those in real life (like an oil painting or w/e done by a professional) I think that would be awesome.
shivr @ May 29th 2008 12:03PM
The style is really sweet... I got bored with SoT a couple levels in so I never played any of the others, but the visuals in this thing are making me very interested in the series again :)
Now if I only had a system to play it on lol
Jfk Aok @ May 29th 2008 12:08PM
"We want every single fight to feel like a boss battle."
YES! Just like the original prince of persia. Fighting was so exhilarating because it was just mono-y-mono and the bad guys were just as deadly as you were.
Christopher Grant @ May 29th 2008 12:24PM
Prince of the Colossus?
riggs @ May 29th 2008 12:24PM
heads up buddy, its mano y mano
riggs @ May 29th 2008 12:24PM
unless you have...mono.
Wade Wilson (aka Ska Oreo) @ May 29th 2008 12:32PM
Yeah the art style is fucking amazing.
mundox @ May 29th 2008 12:43PM
No coop? that blows.
SadExchange @ May 29th 2008 6:24PM
Yeah, I'm really curious how they're going to remove the 'obnoxious' factor from the female character. I've been trying that for years! =X
*heads towards the couch*
HighFiveJesus @ May 29th 2008 12:58PM
that picture looks like he just did a little "rawr hiss" at you in a coy cat like manor. Is this awesome? y? n?
derf @ May 30th 2008 7:43AM
Y
ill trooper @ May 29th 2008 1:07PM
See, now THAT looks like Natalie Portman! OK, just a joke.
modified @ May 29th 2008 1:15PM
If they can combine the great platforming of the past games with shadow of the colossus like boss battles, then this game will be amazing.
Ryan @ May 29th 2008 2:33PM
Hey it's Hugh Jackman
Atr-Slzr-Ctr @ May 29th 2008 3:06PM
In this pic, it looks ALOT like something coming from SFIV.
saladin0813 @ May 29th 2008 3:09PM
I just hope this one has the charm that sands of time had. Neither of the sequels captured it.
t_m @ May 30th 2008 1:10AM
If its got more platforming (which is awesome... dump the combat entirely for all i care), why is there the "dark prince" and why is the first trailer 100% combat? *worries*
The BIG question is: WHAT DO THEY HAVE TO REPLACE THE REWIND?
SoT is one of my top 10 games ever, but without a rewind function it would have veered far too often into frustration territory.
The rewind let you experiment and go for move you might not normally risk, which made the game flow much more and be much more fun. Without it you'd have to stop and judge every jump.
(personally i wish EVERY game had a rewind function, from RTS to FPS to RPG to Driving to Snowboarding or whatever... its much less annoyng than quicksaves or checkpoints)