The Rogue Prince of Persia – dying, rewinding, and saving a kingdom one run at a time.
When it comes to gaming agility, Prince of Persia has always been a pioneer. From the pixel-perfect jumps in the first platformer to the 3D acrobatics in Sands of Time, the series is known for its precise and daring action. But Ubisoft has mostly left the prince alone in the past few years, trying out remakes and reboots that never quite worked. Now this is where the Evil Empire comes in.
This French company made a name for itself by taking care of Dead Cells and adding to it with regular updates, DLC, and bug fixes. Together with Ubisoft, they did something risky: they developed The Rogue Prince of Persia, a roguelike game instead of a straight action-adventure game, which was a risky experiment that pays off by combining current roguelite gameplay with the series’ roots in parkour and stylish combat.
The story in The Rogue Prince of Persia begins with failure. The prince makes a mistake that costs a lot of money, and the Huns attack and destroy his country. He has to repeat the last few days before he lost because of a magical medallion that traps him in a time loop. Every time he dies in a fight, he wakes up three days early at an oasis camp, where his family and allies are trying to help him.
The Rogue Prince of Persia mechanics should be praised as death itself becomes the main feature, a looping backwards that moves the story forward. There are narrative “breadcrumbs” in every run, like saving someone from a boss’s clutches, finding notes about the attack, and unlocking shortcuts, that explain what’s going on and why you’re doing it.
The plot doesn’t go into great detail about the characters’ journeys (the bad guy is more of a generic conqueror than a nemesis that has been trying to defeat you since forever), but it works well as a background. As you rescue friends, the camp comes to life, and each new find makes the next run feel like it’s important.
The Rogue Prince of Persia is a 2D action roguelite at its core. Every run starts at the Oasis, where you can pick routes through Persian biomes that are created by a computer program. These biomes include bright bazaars, lush gardens, and creepy tombs. You cut down enemies, avoid traps, get tools, and gather resources. There are over 100 guns and magical medallions to unlock in the huge arsenal.
When you chain kills with claws, the enemies get stronger, and when you use scimitars, The Rogue Prince of Persia makes you move faster. Medallions give you benefits like auto-healing at checkpoints, poison effects, and buffs that work together if you order them in the right way. Runs let you try out different builds and encourage you to see what works and change based on what you find.
The resource system makes things more tense. An enemy gives you soul cinders, which you can store at altars between stages. Stay safe, and you’ll keep making progress. If you break the altar of greed, you’ll get more money, but you’ll lose the safety net. It’s all gone if you die before you get to another altar. That risk–reward loop keeps you on edge because every choice affects you.
There is a lot of improvising and quick reactions in combat. As you play The Rogue Prince of Persia, you have a main weapon that you use for combos and a backup tool, like a bow or throwing knives. Different types of enemies require different moves.
For instance, shield carriers make you kick or slam the ground, shooters hit you from far away, and spear fighters stay away. A lot of the time, fighting comes down to controlling crowds and coming up with clever ways to get past barriers. The method works well with movement; for example, you can jump over an enemy, land behind them, and attack them with a backstab all in one smooth animation.
Adding puzzle-like layers are traps and dangers in the surroundings. You have to mix platforming and fighting with spike pits, floors that fall apart, and wall-running sections. As always, Evil Empire does a great job with the series’ movement.
It feels natural and thrilling to do wall runs, slides, jumps, and rolls. Vayu’s Breath is a feature that gives you bursts of speed and flashy animations when you combine stylish parkour moves in a certain way. The traversal feels like a problem to solve, even when you’re not fighting. How can you string moves together to look and feel like the best acrobat?
The good: when parkour and swordplay come together, the fight is quick, smooth, and very satisfying. There are many guns and medallions to choose from, so each run is different. The level of challenge is about right. The early areas are easy, but later biomes have tough enemies that you need to master. It’s always fun to do a perfect dodge into a strike.
The bad: early runs can get boring because the prince’s moves depend a lot on the tool he uses. You may get stuck in fights where you attack, dodge, and then attack again until you get better gear. Some late-game meta development also feels shallow; small changes like flasks getting a little better don’t really change how you play. It takes a while to get better at fighting, but once you do, it’s worth it.
There are two levels of progression. First, there’s the roguelike loop: when you die, you lose your weapons but keep lasting unlocks like new gear and better stats. Soul cinders are the main form of money, and you can bank them at temples or lose them to greed.
These let you use guns and medallions in later runs, so the game stays interesting over time. Second, a training tree gives small boosts, like bigger flasks and reward markers, that make the game easier but don’t really change how you play.
There are a lot more ways to play after your first clear. You can change the difficulty by unlocking modifiers through the Awakening system. These include tougher enemies, more dangerous hazards, and bigger prizes. When you add in procedural levels and clues hidden in biomes, the grind stays interesting for people who want to be challenged.
The art style is bright, bold, and unique. It looks like a mix between a Cartoon Network action show and ancient Persia. Each biome stands out with its own bright colors: bazaar awnings in purple, royal gardens in gold, and dark crypts. The animations are smooth, from the prince’s flips to the small features in the background.
The cartoonish touch makes the violence more acceptable, and the bright colors make sure that parts of The Rogue Prince of Persia stand out even after being played over and over again. Every time you play, the structure of the levels changes, but environmental cues help you find your way around. This is a nice way to connect the story to the prince’s memory loop.
The music is truly outstanding. ASADI is a composer who mixes traditional Persian instruments with computerized beats to make tracks that are full of energy. Flute and string music make exploration feel calm, but bass and drums make battle feel tense.
Dynamic layers keep you in time with what’s going on. The sounds are just as sharp: swords clang, spikes snap, and foes grunt as they fight. The Rogue Prince of Persia stays true to the Prince of Persia series with small touches like the mysterious hum of pickups.
You’ll find yourself singing this music after listening to it. To make The Rogue Prince of Persia work, it doesn’t just reimagine a classic through nostalgia; it also combines its core ideas with current roguelite design.
The Rogue Prince of Persia has exciting movement, tight fighting, and runs that you can play again and again. It respects your time while daring you to take risks. Even though there isn’t much of a story and the unlockables could be more fun, the joy of chaining wall runs into perfect strikes makes up for this.
Based on how often Evil Empire has been updated, The Rogue Prince of Persia‘s base will likely be used for many more changes in the future. For now, what’s here is a slick and addicting new start for the prince.
