Prince of Persia: Sands of Time 16th Nov - 16th Dec [Main Discussion]

[Tetsuo]

Ah, you're miserable buggers, I'm playing through it for the second time on the GameCube and it's great . Only 10% in - it still looks graphically superb to my eyes - the lighting effects and sense of scale is lovely. It's just got a great ambiance and style that I love.

I agree the fighting isn't the best part of the gameplay, but I don't think it's that bad, certainly not bad enough to stop me playing, and the camera angles and acrobatic parries you can pull on the enemy, or wall-kicking and flipping over their heads looks and feels pretty great.

In the options menu: "Insert frequency" - does anyone know what that means?

I haven't played any of the sequels, perhaps through fear that they won't be as good as SoT, but mostly because they look crap (evil theme, different graphical style etc.)

Will continue over the weekend...

[Welrain]

I've got a bit further now. About 60% I think. The Prince has taken to talking to himself...very funny.

[Fuddle]

everybody seems to be cracking on at a fair pace this time.

i only saw this at one place in the end, so went back there and traded some stuff for it. (xbox version)

i've only done a tiny bit,

->Open Spoiler<-

got the dagger and a couple of save points after that....not really a spoiler i guess

5% maybe.
but i really like it so far. it looks lovely for a start, and the characterisation is so much better than in beyond good and evil already. combat isnt anything special, but the platforming is really nice. i like that its so easy to go diving around the place. i assume its easy so that it leaves you free to figure out the best way of getting around, with each room being a kind of puzzle.

looking forward to having another go later.

[Welrain]

Does everyone use the vision sequences to figure out whats going on or do you play it blind?

[stainboy]

Ah, you're miserable buggers,

I know they are arn't they the idea of this game was supposed to remove the fear of leaping to your death with the ability to rewind. It was a refreshing change to the Tomb Raider style of taking 30 minutes to get up to a ledge and then accidently falling to the bottom. Removes the frustration and makes the game flow much nicer.

Was the GC version only 50hz? Because I played that on release and now playing the Xbox version on the same SD TV, still in RGB and it seems stretched vertically for some reason. Probably just the 3 year gap of playing it playing tricks on my mind.

The fighting isn't the best part for sure but it's FAR better than the 2nd game. I hated the 2nd one for ages because it throws you right into fighting at the start with barely any clue on what to do. I died so much. The fighting on this one is at least doable and the little cinematic of the Prince putting his dagger away reasures you that it's over.

In the options menu: "Insert frequency" - does anyone know what that means?

Don't remember that, maybe it has something to do with unlocking the original PoP? I thought that just became available after beating the game though.

[eastyy]

I remember when i was playing it i was thinking THE REWIND TIME FEATURE IS THE BEST IDEA EVAAAAAR

removed so much of the frustration but still kept the challenge

[Fuddle]

Does everyone use the vision sequences to figure out whats going on or do you play it blind?

i didnt know what this meant when i read it yesterday....i didnt notice it was showing the bit you were just about to do. its quite handy.

i'm at 33% now, been playing for just over 3 hours. and i still like it.

only a couple of tricky bits so far

->Open Spoiler<-

one courtyard which took me a massive amount of time to realise that there was a switch on the wall. i was running around for ages wondering what the hell was going on.

and the fight

->Open Spoiler<-

with my daddy.

i got there with only a tiny bit of energy left, so it was pretty frustrating. in the end i just went and did that section over.
now i'm doing that with most sections....figure out how to do it, let myself die, and then do it again with some style.


combat seems pretty simple still, just vaulting over everybody and mashing away.

->Open Spoiler<-

only the red(?) guards were a bit tricky as they stop you doing that.

the only other problem i have is rolling under those spinny sword trap things....but i guess thats just because i'm crap.

[Tetsuo]

Was the GC version only 50hz? Because I played that on release and now playing the Xbox version on the same SD TV, still in RGB and it seems stretched vertically for some reason.

Yeah, PAL GC is 50hz only wich is a bit of a shame considering how good the game looks in general.

Don't remember that, maybe it has something to do with unlocking the original PoP? I thought that just became available after beating the game though.

I think Insert Frequency is in the Camera options menu during any time of the game, and it has a slider bar which you can adjust, but I'm not sure what it does.. I'll dig out the instruction manual, would be a lot easier I suppose..

[charlesr]

Just started playing this tonight. Well, I say playing it, but I got about 2 minutes in before I had to run a bath for baby. I did a couple of wall jumps, which was nice. I had actually sat down with the intention of sitting through a lengthy into movie, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it's almost non-existant. "Join me as I tell you a story like no other" (or something), so I'm looking forward to seeing the story pan out around me in the game.

[Fuddle]

just went back to try and do a touch more...but i'm stuck.
pretty sure its down to my inability, but just incase i'm missing something i'll ask.
33% in; the baths.

->Open Spoiler<-

dropped down a hole, dodging a big swinging log on the way, jumped over a spikey gap. i assume i'm just suppossed to wall jump again and again to get back up the other side. but i just cant seem to do it.
got him to run up the wall, jump to the other side, then bounce back again, but the next time he hits the wall it looks different and i cant get him to do it another time

frustrating
have i forgotten some move he has, or am i just rubbish?

[Welrain]

It's the wall to wall jump you need, just a matter of timing.

[Welrain]

Really enjoying this now. Captures the essence of movies such as Sinbad etc perfectly . The plot is also very interesting, not too heavy, enough to keep me playing. The relationship between the Prince and the girl is also developing nicely and I really want to see where that goes.

I'm also liking the introduction of new moves/skills as you progress which keeps things fresh.

But still the combat does annoy. There are far too many enemies and it gets very repitive. If they had reduced the number of enemies and made the combat a bit more one on one, like the original PoP, the game would have benefited massively.

oh yes must mention the music...the little jingle when drinking water to replenish your health is perfection.

[eastyy]

Well what i liked was the actual platforming felt satisfying

doing several well timed wall runs and jumps just felt good and because of the rewind time if you made a mistake you could redo it quite quickly

[k0pp0]

Um.. Am I the only person not really enjoying this at the moment? It's ok, but after God of War and DMC3, I'm just not clicking with it. I'm about 15% in, so I suppose I've got a while to go..

[Welrain]

Well really you've got to remember that this is somewhat of a precursor to God of War etc, they took and and built on a lot of PoP ideas so to compare the titles is a little unjust imho.