World Design 3 & 4 - Kairo & Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

KAIRO

What an odd game to experience.

Maybe I just couldn't appreciate the beauty of abstract and symbolism enough, but the game repels me with its lack of decent basic control and empty space. However, to be fair - it was not all that out of my taste. The throne chair in the beginning was a nice touch, it somewhat hints a backstory to the character you control. 

The game’s simplicity is probably its strongest unique selling point. The ‘puzzle’ is simple yet they were well laid out, especially the part with the beam of light. The self-building level of moving platforms was very nice, it invites the protagonist to an adventure that is dynamic and otherworldly. The sound is also a nice touch. It’s chilly and eerie ambiance is a good trigger for the imagery of the player, to what kind of mysterious world the player is treading upon.

The simplicity, or better yet the 'abstractness' of the game uses plenty of negative space, saturated flat colour (such as red and white) to divide the player's attention towards danger, goal, and progress. You can't really get lost, despite its abstractness which is a huge point in its genre.

However, as much as an abstract game goes, the game relies heavily on my endurance to pursue a goal I can’t clearly understand, to perform things I don’t get the purpose. Perhaps I would understand more if I play the full game, but the lack of firm control such as mouse sensitivity and other menial things such as the uncomfortably low jump really puts me off.

Despite all the hate spewed within such short body of paragraph, I can comfortably say that this game would appeal to others with different taste and appreciation to people like me. Some people could easily appreciate the negative space, while some might like a world with more life.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Prince of Persia is an odd series that I have come to experience. I started playing the game with the 2008 version simply called ‘Prince of Persia’ which back then I assumed was a reboot or some sort. I was not that pleased with the 2008 iteration, due to it having obvious personal experience flaws such as repetitive mission and awkward difficulty curve. In 2010, I watched the Jake Gyllenhaal movie, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and I actually enjoyed the movie. The movie had flaw - but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It’s safe to say that I’m not that familiar or attached with the Prince of Persia series.

So recently I’ve gone back and had my hands on the demo of the 2003 version - aka the reboot of the golden age Prince of Persia. Surprisingly, it was an interesting experience to have. I always thought the game is always set in the middle-eastern, so when I was introduced to the Indian architecture I remember that Persia used to own at least half of India back then.

The demo was great with the fact that it doesn’t waste any time with its mechanic introduction. In such a short slice of the game, they equip the player with the dagger of time and let the player let loose with it. I’d also like to add at how nice classic third person camera as opposed to the really saturated over the shoulder third person camera games.

The design of the level synergizes quite well with the gameplay - a dungeon under the kingdom of the Maharajah. The narrative explains the traps and all the parkouring needed, so props to the developer of creating a believable experience to the player.

So which came first? The gameplay or the narrative? Simple answer – everything seems to lead me to believe that the narrative came first. The environmental design, the stage hazard, even the water which replenish your health, they’re all game elements which derived from the narrative. Prince of Persia, despite the huge amount of time you will be investing on the gameplay, is very narrative driven. Sure, it does not have the same size of content like a telltale game, but the world and almost everything that is interact-able tells itself a story.