One of the worst experiences I have played in years

[lebo-leo]

On 10/9/2019 at 0:43 AM, Flex_Da_Brent said:

I always found Pop: Warrior within to be the best one of the classic trilogy by far. Combat was 10 times better than Sands of time and the story was way more interesting as well. I really loved the whole past-present system where you could visit the exact same location and see the difference. Yes this includes some backtracking but in all honesty I ended up really liking this since it gave me the feeling I was exploring more and more of the castle which made the place feel alive and real instead of just having to follow a linear path from start to finish where you had no real idea of where you exactly were like the two other games. Yes the map wasn't very useful but do you really need one? The game always clearly shows you where you have to go so if you still manage to get lost then that's just on you.

 

What I perhaps loved the most was how interesting they managed to keep the story with the different twists and how self-aware the devs actually were when they played their little time manipulation game because these kinds of stories often become either too complicated or they're full of plotholes but I feel like they pulled this off quite well. Especially with the start of two thrones taken into account that his rescue of the Empress had its consequences for the first game as well. Or when you find out you're the sandwraith and you follow his path and see the exact same events that you had experienced earlier with the prince himself and realise how foolish both him and you as the player actually were at the start of the game. All of these "revelations" may sound extremely cliche and the controls and graphics may feel very outdated in 2019, but let's forget that this game dates all the way back from 2004. Back then this was an amazing game and I still greatly enjoy playing it till this day.

 

Totally agree with you on every point. Also love the soundtrack. I used to stay in the title screen just to here the music on repeat. I remember when the game came out on 2004 and I first played it I was stuck on the first Crow Master for days and quit for a week. Then tried again and started to get a grip on the combat system. It needs some time to get used to. I actually think its very advanced for its time and you have to plan few moves ahead. For me its arguably the best Prince of Persia game. Interesting to see people have so many different opinions on these games tho

[SuperSaiyan3985]

On 7/30/2018 at 0:02 AM, RedRodriguez87 said:

The one you're thinking of is The Forgotten Sands, and while it didn't add anything new (being as of now the last in the series), it's probably the best out of the group.

 

On track, don't be ashamed to follow a walk-through. After all, watching someone play it is still different than having to do it yourself.

 

Sands of Time had really sucky combat, but it's greatest strength was that it was a platformer first. Course, this being in the age of games trying their damnedest to be hardcore (this game, this SPECIFIC game being the most embarrassing attempt of them all), combat HAD to take priority.

Excuse me, but TFS is the BEST of the group? I’ve literally never seen anyone say that. TFS is a short, lackluster attempt at being worthy of its predecessors (aside from the ‘08 reboot, which I’ve never played). 

On 7/30/2018 at 8:51 AM, Fray32- said:

It's telling that you completely left The Two Thrones, the worst of the original trilogy and the worst of those five main games imo, off the list entirely!

 

I don't like the direction WW took in terms of presentation, tone, art design, etc. However it has grown on me over time. The backtracking can be confusing and annoying however I really think the level design is terrific, both specific levels and the overall design of the island has a continuity to it that I always appreciate (like the castle in ICO for example), The final act of the story takes a pretty interesting narrative turn which I was impressed by, and you kinda just have to learn to love that musical queue for the dahaka, once that Godsmack comes on you know it's bout to go down. The combat is frankly pretty bad, and this is true for basically all the games, however I can appreciate that they tried to do interesting things for the sequel, but yes not all of them paid off. I also got a really bizarre bug in my first playthrough on the PS3

  Reveal hidden contents

where about halfway through I loaded the game one day and I was suddenly the dark prince and I had no idea what was going on. I actually said to myself "damn, I really need to pay more attention" ? played around for a bit before I realized that cutscenes would not trigger and I couldn't progress through the game anymore. Had to delete the save and start again

 

You really think TTT is the worst? I really liked it in the sense that it’s a good balance of SOT & WW (although I still prefer WW). 

And yeah I agree the Godsmack soundtrack is badass! One of my favorite parts of the game. 

Maybe you hated this game so much because you’re experiencing it for the first time on such a shitty port. I played the POP trilogy initially on PS2 and loved them (part of the reason being they were some of my first games ever as a kid so I hold a lot of nostalgia for them). The only reason I came back to play the awful PS3 port is to Platinum them and have them on my trophy list. My favorite is WW because of how badass it is all around. Everything from the music, the story, the Dahaka, Kaileena being my crush as a kid, it all spoke to me. Maybe that’s because I was 12 at the time but it’s is what it isn’t. Objectively it’s the least “POP-esc” of the PS2 trilogy but I just enjoy what it’s trying to do: be an edgy, cool sword-fighting game with epic music and interesting lore. I agree though the combat hasn’t aged very well and there were a lot of optimization issues that I remember during my time with the port, which is why I still dream of a remake for this trilogy. That would just be like winning the lottery. 

[fraserwalkr]

Hey that's a good point, I think there's a ton of potential in a 'ground-up' remake for the PS2 generation PoP games. Only thing is the Sands of Time doesn't really need one, but the sequels would definitely benefit. Knowing Ubisoft they might just turn it into an open-world adventure with a gigantic HUD and quest markers everywhere so maybe best to leave it be?

[dieselmanchild]

On 2018-07-29 at 6:19 PM, Spaz said:

The map is completely useless and I have spent upwards of 20 - 30 minutes at times wondering where the flying fuck am I supposed to go, mostly due to the amount of backtracking.

I just finished my first run and good lord, the backtracking in this game is awful! It might not be so bad, and could even have come across as quite clever and neat if there were better indicators of where you need to go next.
 

But there isn’t, and so I wasted countless hours in my first run navigating backwards and trying to figure out at which point you can start progressing forwards again. Often I ended up running in circles for huge lengths of time, and more than once I wasted 1+ hours trying to figure out how to get back to certain collectibles I missed earlier and wanted to mop up before finishing the story. At one point I thought my game even glitched because I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to get back to the Central Hall after going to collect a stray chest I missed.

 

The “map” is literally useless too as it’s basically just like looking at a fancy painting.

[AJ_Radio]

2 hours ago, dieselmanchild said:

I just finished my first run and good lord, the backtracking in this game is awful! It might not be so bad, and could even have come across as quite clever and neat if there were better indicators of where you need to go next.
 

But there isn’t, and so I wasted countless hours in my first run navigating backwards and trying to figure out at which point you can start progressing forwards again. Often I ended up running in circles for huge lengths of time, and more than once I wasted 1+ hours trying to figure out how to get back to certain collectibles I missed earlier and wanted to mop up before finishing the story. At one point I thought my game even glitched because I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to get back to the Central Hall after going to collect a stray chest I missed.

 

The “map” is literally useless too as it’s basically just like looking at a fancy painting.

 

Also there is a chance your playthrough will glitch on the final Sand Portal, which will force you to start over from scratch.

 

The edgy, goth emo thing was a trend in the early - mid 2000s, which this game was trying to take that style. Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within did not age well. The sound at times was awful, music was so so, game mechanics are horribly dated. The backtracking was a chore, and you have to do that across three playthroughs since difficulty related trophies do not stack.

 

Glad to be done with it.

[dieselmanchild]

17 hours ago, Spaz said:

 

Also there is a chance your playthrough will glitch on the final Sand Portal, which will force you to start over from scratch.

 

The edgy, goth emo thing was a trend in the early - mid 2000s, which this game was trying to take that style. Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within did not age well. The sound at times was awful, music was so so, game mechanics are horribly dated. The backtracking was a chore, and you have to do that across three playthroughs since difficulty related trophies do not stack.

 

Glad to be done with it.

Yeah it’s amazing how much they deviated from the Sands of Time. The prince is much darker and edgier, the female characters are ridiculously over sexualized, the music changed from a nice ambience to these horrid hard rock/metal guitar riffs, and the combat system is a mess. I’m a little disappointed as I really enjoyed the SoT and I didn’t remember Warrior Within being this bad lol. I think as you said, the game just aged very poorly. It doesn’t help that it has a bad trophy list either, that only adds to the tedium and frustration.

 

I’m praying I don’t run into any major glitches because I honestly don’t think I could stomach a 4th playthrough. I’m on #2 (hard) right now and I can already see that after #3, I’ll be ready to put this game behind me forever.

 

 

[AJ_Radio]

3 hours ago, dieselmanchild said:

Yeah it’s amazing how much they deviated from the Sands of Time. The prince is much darker and edgier, the female characters are ridiculously over sexualized, the music changed from a nice ambience to these horrid hard rock/metal guitar riffs, and the combat system is a mess. I’m a little disappointed as I really enjoyed the SoT and I didn’t remember Warrior Within being this bad lol. I think as you said, the game just aged very poorly. It doesn’t help that it has a bad trophy list either, that only adds to the tedium and frustration.

 

I’m praying I don’t run into any major glitches because I honestly don’t think I could stomach a 4th playthrough. I’m on #2 (hard) right now and I can already see that after #3, I’ll be ready to put this game behind me forever.

 

 

The one positive I can give is the Prince. Robin Atkin Downes made him edgier and a little more badass. In Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, he is voiced by Yuri, who also did the Prince in The Forgotten Sands. 
 

Best of luck to you. Hopefully you got most of everything else done, just beeline to the end of the game. 

[effdeegee]

I really enjoyed WW. Well, I say enjoyed, but it's more like Stockholm Syndrome.

 

I've said it before; the same 4 hallways, 50x each, for each of the 3 separate playthroughs, made me want to physically hurt someone.

 

Other than that, the game was awesome. The level design, the soundtrack, and it had one of the most intricate combat systems of its time.

 

Big ups to the other PoP lovers out there with all 5 games @ 100%.

[dieselmanchild]

18 hours ago, Spaz said:

Best of luck to you. Hopefully you got most of everything else done, just beeline to the end of the game. 

Thank you! I’m right near the end of my hard mode/Empress ending playthrough and then I’ve just got to do a speed run on easy for the Undefeated trophy. Should have it done within a day or two.

 

14 hours ago, effdeegee said:

Big ups to the other PoP lovers out there with all 5 games @ 100%.

I loved these games as a kid, and now that I’m experiencing them again I hope to join this club soon. The only game I still need to pick up is The Forgotten Sands, but I saw a pawn shop listed a copy in my area for $8 so I’m going to swing by in the near future and see if I can complete the collection.

[AJ_Radio]

What do you think of Prince of Persia 2008?

[Wagszilla]

I haven’t had issue with the platforming puzzles but I am quite annoyed by 2 game breaking glitches that have forced me to start over. 
 

I also don’t care much for the auto-targeting, lack of lock-on, and character moving in the opposite direction as my stick. 

Bad port and embarrassing it wasn’t patched.

[Pottercito_]

On 30/7/2018 at 5:43 AM, AJ_Radio said:

 

 

I'm a capable gamer and I'm usually pretty persistent and patient. But I realized something was wrong when I was struggling on Easy difficulty.

You have impressive trophies. It just doesn't make any sense to me that you struggle too much with this game. I am not lying, I completed this game on Hard without dying, maybe because I was very good at it in PS2 era as well with Devil May Cry and God of War series. However, this game is just not that hard, at least that is my opinion.

 

WW is my best PoP actually, it is gotic, and when I was a kid it was scary for me. Good memories.

[AJ_Radio]

2 hours ago, Pottercito_ said:

You have impressive trophies. It just doesn't make any sense to me that you struggle too much with this game. I am not lying, I completed this game on Hard without dying, maybe because I was very good at it in PS2 era as well with Devil May Cry and God of War series. However, this game is just not that hard, at least that is my opinion.

 

WW is my best PoP actually, it is gotic, and when I was a kid it was scary for me. Good memories.

 

This game eluded me in the PS2 era so I don't have the fond memories and nostalgia that others have. God of War and Devil May Cry on the other hand.... damn.

 

Still have yet to play Devil May Cry, don't know how the original trilogy holds up nowadays.

[Pottercito_]

5 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

 

This game eluded me in the PS2 era so I don't have the fond memories and nostalgia that others have. God of War and Devil May Cry on the other hand.... damn.

 

Still have yet to play Devil May Cry, don't know how the original trilogy holds up nowadays.

Have you played Devil May Cry trilogy back on the day or would they be your first time?

[AJ_Radio]

8 hours ago, Pottercito_ said:

Have you played Devil May Cry trilogy back on the day or would they be your first time?

Back in the day around the early - mid 2000s. The gaming industry was still focused on the male teenage crowd, me being a prominent example. 
 

I mean, what 14 - 16 year old kid wouldn’t want to play a badass dude with white hair, or a badass antihero who goes up against a Greek god? 

[starcrunch061]

Must have missed this thread…back in the day.

 

I detested this game.

Edited November 3, 2021 by starcrunch061

[Guest]

I had to beat the game without dying twice, there is a 6 month gap between the trophies in this game for that reason.

[Phoenixofadranon]

On 30/7/2018 at 3:19 AM, AJ_Radio said:

I don't often gripe about games at this length nor do I go out of my way to play them because I generally quit and move on.

 

As someone who enjoyed Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, the PS2 trilogy in comparison, in my opinion, is vastly inferior. The Sands of Time was a game I rated low amongst my platinums because it didn't age well. The mechanics, the common slip-ups in platforming, the poor sound quality were all things I didn't enjoy.

 

But after already putting in a few hours in Warrior Within, The Sands of Time is great when you look at both games side by side.

 

To make this brief, Warrior Within is one of the worst experiences I have played in years. I am honestly baffled how so many people have this platinum as the combat is completely broken. God of War's combat is a fucking masterpiece in comparison whereas the combat in this game feels like it was made by inexperienced amateurs. Looking at the trophy list however I can definitely see why so many trophies are uncommon to rare.

 

Regardless, this topic probably won't get much attention because it is an old Playstation 2 game that was ported during the PS3/Xbox 360 generation, and most people have moved on to the Playstation 4. I know the Playstation 2 era quite well, but Warrior Within is definitely one of the worst games I have played from that generation.

 

Either I am completely shit, lack skills or this game is a complete mess. I have already died around 100 times and the fact that there is a trophy for beating the game without dying has me pulled out hairs. The map is completely useless and I have spent upwards of 20 - 30 minutes at times wondering where the flying fuck am I supposed to go, mostly due to the amount of backtracking. Enemies are completely cheap, female assassins regularly do devastating combos and as far as I know, there is no real way to counter that due to the broken combat.

 

Then to think people have to make three entire playthroughs for this mess is infuriating. Someone over at Playstationtrophies.org made a post about this game that perfectly describes exactly how I feel about it. Warrior Within hasn't aged well at all, but furthermore it is a headache inducing experience just to bypass some sections, even on easier difficulties.

 

So what I am going to do, and I rarely do this, is follow an entire Youtube walkthrough for this game. I can't be fucking asked to play through this crap blind.

mmm i think you are overcomplicate it. female assassins are easy, just block with R1 and you  are good.  combat it's not broken, you have to get used to it. for the game itself it was a master peace in its time, so i can't relate it too. its darker then the first one and it has a gothic style that changed completely from the beginning so... i think  it is a very good game, even now

[iansm3]

On 12/11/2020 at 7:29 PM, AJ_Radio said:

The one positive I can give is the Prince. Robin Atkin Downes made him edgier and a little more badass. In Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, he is voiced by Yuri, who also did the Prince in The Forgotten Sands. 
 

Best of luck to you. Hopefully you got most of everything else done, just beeline to the end of the game. 

 

don't know if you noticed, but in Two Thrones the dark prince is voiced by the guy from WW and the normal one is by the one from Sands of Time. pretty nice touch imo.

personally, I hated the darker, "edgier" vibe of Warrior Within, even as a teenager back when it came out. the combat is good but everything else is just silly, his voice included.

I liked the return to the storytelling style in Two Thrones that they brought back from Sands of Time.

 

On 12/12/2020 at 7:18 PM, AJ_Radio said:

What do you think of Prince of Persia 2008?

 

I realise I'm super late here, but it's good. it's really, really different from all the others, but the cel-shaded graphics mean it still holds up today visually.

there is no rewinding, but you can't die so it doesn't really matter. the platforming is generally a lot easier (basically just two buttons to press - jump and grab - and no traps like the PS2 trilogy).

you go through the whole game with another character called Elika, who saves you when you die. the platforming incorporates the two characters nicely (if you're climbing on vines, she's hang on the prince's back).

the combat is quite different (always 1 on 1) but also quite nice. Elika is involved in that too. once you learn the combos it's quite beautiful to see the characters flying all over the place.

only downside for getting platinum is the collectibles, which are light orbs. some of them are a pain in the ass to find, and there's 1000 of them.

don't bother with the DLC. it's not fun, the environments are all inside and boring to look at compared to the main game, and it's quite a bit harder.