New Prince annoys old gamer

February 22, 2008

My sister gave me Prince of Persia: Rival Swords (Wii), for xmas. I asked her to. And in the new year, I got to playing it.

For a little bit of extra context, know that I bought, played and worshipped the original Prince Of Persia back on the Apple II in '89. I pretty much didn't touch any of the many Prince games that came after, though I was aware of their multiple incarnations across the generations of consoles and across the years.

So, in 2008 I reconnoitred with the prince. And he quickly got right up my nose, for reasons that may seem petty and anal, but bear with me. First, I really hate his voice. Not only the whiny timbre of it, but what it says. Half the time he's delivering portentous lines like, 'Ah, I remember stealing fresh pomegranates from this market when I was a boy - BUT NOW THE MARKET'S IN FLAMES NO THANKS TO MY SWORN ENEMIES.' The other half of the time he's screaming and moaning as he's being drubbed or diced. I expect (and want) people to yell when they suffer, but he just sounds like such a prat! I hate this actor's voice and there's nothing I can do about it!

Second, I just found the game irritating. What can I say? Acrobatics have never been the same since they went 3D. As usual, too much time is spent trying to work out where to go next in the scenery, and you gotta go back too far when you die.

I've a lot of time for 3rd person action-adventures, but this one became unappealing to me with great haste; thus it ended up on ebay, the place where I placed it tonight with a starting price of eight Aussie dollars. Bid now!

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Feedback

honestgamer - February 22, 2008 (09:57 PM)
Isn't Rival Swords supposed to be the worst of the recent Prince of Persia games? Anyway, some of your complaints are certainly true of Sands of Time, so I don't guess you'll care forany of the modern Prince of Persia games...

bloomer - February 23, 2008 (12:37 AM)
It wasn't an auspicious start, for sure. How's the Prince's voice in the other games? :)

honestgamer - February 23, 2008 (12:55 PM)
I'll be honest: I don't remember. Voice acting to me is such a minor part of a game that it has no bearing on my overall enjoyment of any title I can think of. Aside from Tidus in Final Fantasy X, I can't think of a single voice actor that affected me one way or the other. Of course, that's coming from someone who thinks games would be a lot better if they stopped trying to tell stories except in a skippable intro and the closing credits and just let me play through levels.

bloomer - February 24, 2008 (05:37 AM)
See if I didn't die so often, I'd hear less of his voice anyway. So maybe the game is driving me to use the voice as criteria!

It may be different kinds of games we play, but I find the dialogue - not in cut-scenes, which I agree are still terribly used most of the time, and modern RPGs are the worst abusers - but in the game itself, can effect everything as much as any other element of the aesthetic. The sense of the world and the people is v important in 3rd person adventures and survival horror. I could compare Resident Evil 4, which is effortlessly graceful in every small sound the people emit and the things they say in response to the environment, and when they say them, to a Resident Evil clone I'm playing right now, called Cold Fear, where it's not. It can be the difference between charm and klunk, or helpfulness and just misdirection (characters yelling the wrong stuff at doors which aren't actually locked - COLD FEAR!)

In one way it's a small thing, but in another it's intertwined with everything else.

johnny_cairo - February 24, 2008 (05:42 PM)
Endless Ocean is a great game to just marvel at and trip out to. As a traditional game, I don't know how well it succeeds. How are album sales going?

Feedback
	honestgamer - February 22, 2008 (09:57 PM) Isn't Rival Swords supposed to be the worst of the recent Prince of Persia games? Anyway, some of your complaints are certainly true of Sands of Time, so I don't guess you'll care forany of the modern Prince of Persia games...
	bloomer - February 23, 2008 (12:37 AM) It wasn't an auspicious start, for sure. How's the Prince's voice in the other games? :)
	honestgamer - February 23, 2008 (12:55 PM) I'll be honest: I don't remember. Voice acting to me is such a minor part of a game that it has no bearing on my overall enjoyment of any title I can think of. Aside from Tidus in Final Fantasy X, I can't think of a single voice actor that affected me one way or the other. Of course, that's coming from someone who thinks games would be a lot better if they stopped trying to tell stories except in a skippable intro and the closing credits and just let me play through levels.
	bloomer - February 24, 2008 (05:37 AM) See if I didn't die so often, I'd hear less of his voice anyway. So maybe the game is driving me to use the voice as criteria! It may be different kinds of games we play, but I find the dialogue - not in cut-scenes, which I agree are still terribly used most of the time, and modern RPGs are the worst abusers - but in the game itself, can effect everything as much as any other element of the aesthetic. The sense of the world and the people is v important in 3rd person adventures and survival horror. I could compare Resident Evil 4, which is effortlessly graceful in every small sound the people emit and the things they say in response to the environment, and when they say them, to a Resident Evil clone I'm playing right now, called Cold Fear, where it's not. It can be the difference between charm and klunk, or helpfulness and just misdirection (characters yelling the wrong stuff at doors which aren't actually locked - COLD FEAR!) In one way it's a small thing, but in another it's intertwined with everything else.
	johnny_cairo - February 24, 2008 (05:42 PM) Endless Ocean is a great game to just marvel at and trip out to. As a traditional game, I don't know how well it succeeds. How are album sales going?

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