7/10
I think this is a rather unlucky game. As a rogue-lite Prince of Persia, it inevitably feels smaller in scale coming right after the excellent Lost Crown, and its release being so close to Hades II—both early access and full launch—makes comparisons unavoidable, often making it seem weaker than it really is. The long shadow of Dead Cells, which the team worked on for years, also makes those comparisons even easier.
To be fair, I agree with some of the criticisms. In terms of content, it falls behind all of the titles I just mentioned. At a time when the genre has been evolving so much, adding more tricks and layers could have turned it into something truly special. Dead Cells thrived on the fluidity of its motion, and while this game pushes that even further, it doesn’t quite balance it with enough unique ideas. The costume system works as a decent extra motivation, but without meaningful rewards around it, it feels underwhelming.
On the positive side, the adaptation of Prince of Persia mechanics is excellent—the game flows like water, and both movement and combat are genuinely fun. I also really liked the world they built: it captures a much more oriental cultural tone, something that was largely missing from the originals. The designs, dialogue, and characters are overall quite enjoyable as well.