The Prince series returns after an epic rebirth in the previous generation. Dumping the emo nonsense that was the only real issue with the last gen series, Ubi takes the Prince back to his roots. Though, in this case, the prince is more of a vagabond, who is looking for his missing donkey that is laden with gold. He runs into Elika, a princess and wizard who is out to remove the corruption from her land that has taken over much of the land physically and taken over many of the people.
The dialogue needs to be mentioned as it is actually quite well-written. The Prince is a goofy adventurer who is not too smug, not too noble --- he's, basically, Han Solo. Elika is a solid female protagonist who is not remotely helpless and while the Prince and her are flirtatious, they're, again, written similarly to Han Solo and Princess Leia in Empire Strikes Back,
The controls are a joy. The Prince is so easy to control. His movements are fluid and he can do almost anything you can want, If you want to go somewhere, you probably can get there ---- but it's not always going to be so straightforward. The visual style is also striking. The world is realistic but you're almost cel-shaded. The cartoon on a real background style works extremely well here and is one of the many strong suits.
The ONLY downside is the combat. Combat is not terribly fun. It's actually really tedious. I loathe the fighting and wish it were not there as it is the ONLY flaw in an otherwise amazing game. You have some combos, but the enemies just aren't a lot of fun to fight. You will end up dreading combat more than enjoying it. Every fight is just preventing you from exploring the massive world that you're free to run around and explore. The Prince is what Mirror's Edge HOPED to be but didn't quite deliver.
This is as much of a no-brainer decision to buy as there is. Combat isn't bad enough to sour my recommendation. It just makes the game imperfect.
