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Revisited: the ending of Prince of Persia is broken photo

[Whenever possible, Destructoid critiques overlooked design aspects of games both old and recent for our "Revisited" series.]

The end of a game, in an ideal world, is the apex of its presentation: one moment in which the narrative and gameplay come together, building on everything you've learned in the past eight-to-eighty hours in a satisfying and internally logical way. Unfortunately, given the fact that there isn't a huge stack of pancakes in front of me, I can safely deduce that this isn't an ideal world and that, ergo, games' endings have the chance of sucking eggs.

I don't want to be overly general and say that most game endings are bad (or good), but I do think that they're interesting points of departure to talk about game design or narrative structure. If an ending works, figuring how it works might provide insight into what makes each mechanic or plot device effective in its own right.

Conversely, if a game's ending falls flat on its face (like Prince of Persia's does), it usually serves as a decent lens through which to see where else the game falls short. Don't get me wrong: I really like Prince of Persia (a lot more than Anthony did, it seems), but I ain't like how it ended.

What I do like is that examining its ending—precisely what this Revisited aims to do—might lead to an insightful, or at least interesting, discussion about the game as a whole.

Reading Gregory Weir's post on Lodus Novus about the ending of Prince of Persia (2008) made me reflect on my own experiences with the game which I beat a few months ago. Without getting into a lot of details, all you have to know is that, at the end of the game, the Prince re-releases Ahriman (the antagonist of the game) in order to resurrect Elika, who has died trying to defeat Ahriman. The crux of Weir's piece is that the player and player-character's (the eponymous Prince) motivations don't line up and that this dissonance makes the ending effective. From his article:

Then I reentered the temple which we had fought so hard to cleanse, and cut down the final tree just as the corrupted king had done at the start of this whole mess. Because I wanted Elika to be alive. I released an evil god onto an unsuspecting world just to have the woman I had grown to love. And only then did the game end. You’ll notice that I switched to the first person there. This is a moment of true roleplaying. The player is asked to undo all of the player’s hard work because the player character wants something. There’s no real choice there, from what I can tell; you can either save Elika, or quit the game and leave it unfinished. But it’s clear what choice the Prince would make. So I took it. And the game made me do it all, not in a cut scene, not with quick time events, but using the same controls and perspective that I used through the entire game.

This is interactive storytelling.

The conversation continues into the comments, but I have a few quibbles, largely tangential to Weir's original point. He's right to point out that Ubisoft pulled a pretty slick maneuver with the ending—we learn more about the Prince's character and motivations through interaction, not through dialogue or cut scene. It's interesting that the Prince, as a character, essentially undermines the player (i.e. the person trying to successfully manipulate the game's systems, not necessarily me or you), undoing all of the work it took to actually get to the end.

It's also interesting to note how drastically the game changes without Elika there to long-jump you around. There's a great scene in which the player carries Elika to the altar, and you realize that, for the first time, the Prince is carrying Elika instead of the other way around. Of course, the Prince/player has been dictating Elika's movement the whole time, but the endgame sequence really drives that point home and it does much to underscore the fact that the Prince's decision to revive Ahriman isn't in keeping with what Elika would've wanted.

Weir is right that the ending represents a step forward in games as a medium. It is interactive storytelling, but it's not a very good story, hobbled as it is by poor design choices.

The game world is set up like a series of spokes coming off a a central hub (the Temple). The Prince and his partner Elika, a princess in exile, can travel to any of these spokes anytime they want, provided they've collected enough light seeds to progress. This type of design leads to a lot of freedom for the player, and, given that the game is about restoring a barren, polluted earth, it does a good job of showing the player the land he's trying to save as he jumps, climbs, and sprints across what must be miles. Seeing the sharp contrasts between healed and unhealed land is a great visual motivator—Ubisoft cell-shaded the shit out of Prince of Persia and healing an area is aesthetically rewarding.

The only problem is that most of the narrative events and conversations are location-specific. The player can always engage Elika in conversation with the click of a button, filling out each character's respective backstory. The problem with location-specific narrative and player-controlled character development is that the story quickly loses focus. It isn't that the characters aren't likable or relate-able, but you never get a good feel for how their relationship is developing. Because certain locations trigger certain interactions, it's possible (and probable) to have the Prince say something caustic and chauvinistic at one point and, two seconds later, something generous and kind and charitable. With that kind of flip-flopping happening literally the entire game, it's impossible to ever feel comfortable with, or to get a good, grounded view of, Elika and the Prince's interactions.

I'm assuming that Ubisoft's ideal story arc was something along the lines of thief-made-good+heart-of-gold, but without any authorial constraints, the characters and plot kind of meander for twelve hours. Ubisoft expects us to care about the Prince and Elika, but we haven't watched their relationship grow as much as we've witnessed it spazzing out for 12 hours. Johnathan Blow talks a lot about the conflict between gameplay and narrative, but the result here is a bit different: it's the conflict between a non-linear gameplay experience and a narrative that would have benefited greatly from a more focused, guided design.

So, yes, Prince of Persia is a good example of interactive storytelling and what Weir calls "roleplaying": making decisions based on the character's perceived wishes, not simply because it advances the game mechanics. But, the story it's interactively telling is literally fragmented and cut up beyond recognition, and the ending seems flat and empty.

But, even under the best circumstances, the ending to Prince of Persia would have been, in my purely subjective and personalized opinion, badly done.

Since, like I mentioned, the Prince's character is never nailed down, trying to figure out the ending takes a bit of guesswork. If he hasn't matured or developed over the course of the game and is still a self-interested lothario, then sacrificing the entire world (and his personal safety) doesn't make much sense at all. Throughout the game, the Prince constantly bitches about having "an angry God" after him, wondering how he "got into this mess." Leaving the Princess for dead, finding his gold-laden donkey and peace-ing out toward greener pastures (i.e. wine, women, and "carpets this thick") would be totally in character.

In contrast, there are also moments of what I perceive to be genuine understanding and bonding. Haphazard and clumsy as they are, there are definitely moments that suggest Ubisoft wanted the Prince and Elika to have a mutually supportive relationship. Weir insightfully points out that Elika's mortality is in question from the get go:

Elika’s been dead the whole time, in a way; her father released the evil god Ahriman as payment for her resurrection. And Elika knows that in order to seal Ahriman away again, she will have to give her stolen life back. This much is foreshadowed, and I knew pretty early on that she would have to do that. All her banter with the Prince, talk of rebuilding her kingdom or seeing far-off lands… she knows that’s never going to happen.

Elika and the player may know that, but the Prince doesn't. I really think that the Prinice falls in love with Elika and understands her plight in a fundamental way: they're both in exile and have similiar (read: irrevocably damaged) relationships with their parents. It's a bond reinforced through gameplay: Elika is an integral part of the Prince's ability to fight and survive. Both from gameplay and narrative standpoints, Ubisoft suggests that the Prince and Elika share a real connection.

If that's the case, the Prince's decision to revive her and re-release Ahriman is still stupid. It's selfish and shortsighted and undermines everything Elika wanted. It also undermines many of player's motivations, but I don't mind that as much—I'm willing to be yanked around in the name of character development (not to mention that it doesn't invalidate the time I actually spent playing the game, which I enjoyed). However, the Prince's I-love-Elika-and-the-rest-of-creation-be-damned attitude a bit brutish, histrionic, and anachronistic, but that might just be a question of taste.

To be honest, I'm willing to budge a little on the last point. The Prince's reaction to love may be short-sighted, immature, selfish, and stupid, (and I may not like it at all), but I'm willing to accept it in the name of his character. Maybe that's just how he is. That my motivations (as a player) and his (as a character) are dissonant doesn't bother me at all. However, that doesn't change the fact that the transition from non-linear, open world gameplay to linear narrative is sloppy and slapdash and, unfortunately, makes a potentially powerful ending impotent. I think Ubisoft wanted me to have become emotionally invested in the the couple, but the fragmentation of the narrative, with nothing keeping it all together, made that impossible.

(Of course, I think the ending was also left open to pave the way for the sequels (it's planned as a trilogy) and the "Epilogue" DLC, which I also think is harmful in general, but that's another topic altogether)


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61 comments | showing # 1 to 50

YellowHare's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 16:08
YellowHare
You make some good points but I ultimately have to disagree with the stance on the effectiveness of the ending. It was truly one of the more memorable endings I've encountered in quite some time, even if certain things leading up to its execution could've been stronger.
rockydil's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 16:09
rockydil
Ahriman is the ANtagonist, not the PROtagonist.
Xzyliac's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 16:09
Xzyliac
OH MAN!

How great is it that you guys write this just as I'm about to play this game for the first time.

*bookmark'd*

Thanks Leray. Looking forward to reviewing your thoughts after I beat the game.
Magnalon's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 16:09
Magnalon
Revisted: Scripted Platforming and Forced Collection Grinding is broken [and the ending].

Anthony nailed everything in that other article as well. Considering Elika was a powerup to me (or as Anthony says, an inventory item), I felt no connection whatsoever.
Dragonzigg's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 16:11
Dragonzigg
While there definitely some issues with execution, I have to say I disagree and I found the ending to be both quite powerful and entirely in keeping with the Prince's character. Good article though.
YellowHare's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 16:16
YellowHare
@Magnalon I could be wrong, but I think people are reacting more toward the audacity of the ending in direct correlation to what you and the character just spent so much time doing throughout the course of the game. Gaming has experienced a myriad of happy endings, unhappy endings, vague endings, but none that really took it to the point where the story went to the point where everything you just spent hours doing was reverted, which is a pretty ballsy concept.
dwolfwood's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 16:19
dwolfwood
I don't know. I actually feel what Anthony said he didn't or couldn't as well as felt that I saw some growth in their relationship.

I really enjoyed the game overall, especially as my first entry into the Prince of Persia series.
TheCleaningGuy's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:04
TheCleaningGuy
Great feature! I hope we'll see some more "revisited" articles!
EternalDeathSlayer's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:06
EternalDeathSlayer
I loved this game for 2 hours.

Then I grew bored with collect-a-thon bullshit and repetitive combat.

The ending sucked, but what made it suck even more was that I forced myself to finish the game, to see the ending. If I wasn't a big PoP fan prior to playing this game, I would have never beaten it.

What a disappointment.
kingtobo's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:09
kingtobo
I'd say the whole game is broken.
Endstiem's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:15
Endstiem
I loved the ending to this game. Surprised the hell out of me.... and most of all - was FRESH. To my knowledge, there was never been an ending like this before in a video game. To me, that is a huge achievement.
TriggerRedd's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:17
TriggerRedd
I thought that BECAUSE the banter between Elika and the princess was so shallow throughout the game that it actually made the ending stand out as the game's most powerful, crowning achievement in its story-telling. Finally, the prince makes a definitive choice - albeit, a stupid one, and one that the DLC epilogue makes a sad attempt at addressing. Personally, I wish they'd never released it, but that's neither here nor there. The ending was a testament to love, and for as bad as the build-up was, it forced you to believe it by the prince's disregard for such epic consequences.
Oncomouse's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:18
Oncomouse
At the end of the day, the ending was just a clever way to sell the prologue DLC pack to see the real ending. Hell, the achievement for finishing the game on the 360 is called "to be continued" or something like that. It's not so much an ending as a second act twist to lengthen the story presented as a ballsy ending.
wanderingpixel's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:20
wanderingpixel
I hated the new Prince of Persia. They need to bring back the Sands of Time style of the last generation. The cell-shading can stay though.
Shadowiii's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:23
Shadowiii
The ending pissed me off immensely at first, until I realized that there was no other option. And I don't mean no other option as in I couldn't beat the game, but I, MYSELF, couldn't leave Elika there, dead. I just couldn't do it. After cutting the second tree I realized the price I was paying to revive her: I was pretty much undoing the last 8-10 hours I'd spent in the game. But at this point, I was convinced that I wanted her back, even if I'd have to do it all over again.
No game until this point has had me make such a choice, and I can think of fewer still where I'd actually take the option if it addressed it. I don't know what it was about this game, but I really had a strong bond with Elika throughout (well, as strong a bond a person can have with a video game character), and I didn't want her to die.
As for if the Prince would do it...I'd think he would. From what I gathered about his character, he was rash, and had a "I'll get what I want, everyone else be damned." As the game progressed, it became pretty clear what he wanted wasn't getting his donkey back, it was Elika, so the ending worked.
I really liked this game, as you can see, even with it's horrible fetch quest mechanics. I eagerly await the sequel. I'm surprised you didn't bring up the Epilogue, though, which pretty much butchered the ending I thought was so exceptional.
pascuz46's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:54
pascuz46
I played this game all the way through even though it frustrated the hell out of me. Assassins Creed did that too. But I kept crunching through and got to the end where I had to do those stupid coloured button things and then fight Aruiman (whose a cheap bastard. Yep I was very relived by the end of the game. "FUCK YOU" I said! And took it out of my PS3 and returned it to the video store.
RichardBlaine's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 17:56
RichardBlaine
I think this ending is a really interesting decision by Ubisoft and quite a bit of a gamble. Clearly, the players who felt that undoing their hard work was worth bringing back Elika had a powerful ending waiting for them. I believed that the Prince loved her, and I liked her a bit, but I didn't think that either one of us liked her enough to do that. The sense I got from the Prince was that this sort of thing happened to him a lot. Meets a beautiful girl, goes on a great adventure, ends in heartbreak, moves on (ala James Bond, etc.). Not only was that my preference, but I really felt that that was what the game was telling me. Like Joseph, I'm not bothered that my desires were dissonant with the Prince's, but I am bothered that I didn't believe the Prince would do that. The game hadn't convinced me that he loved her that much. That act not only invalidates the effort of the quest, but everything that he supposedly "learned" while he was with Elika. However, that being said, I loved the artwork and new look for the Prince. I don't really care whether they keep or change the collecting elements or "on-rails" gameplay, but I hope they don't retcon this Prince or this new style. He's such a fun character (much better version of Nate Drake) and the game is too visually beautiful.
Zeta Crossfire's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 18:03
Zeta Crossfire
God i forgot this game even existed. This really was the worst in the series. I hope ubisoft learned from this game and makes the next one better. 1 on 1 combat? ya no... (one guy jumps down FIGHT you win OMG THERE HE IS another guard jumps down FIGHT! repeat. Really? 5 enemys attack you and you have to fight them 1 on 1 while the others just sit there and wait? fuck that)
Malmer's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 18:07
Malmer
Well written article and argument. Nice work.

However, I couldn't disagree more.
Endstiem's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 18:23
Endstiem
(one guy jumps down FIGHT you win OMG THERE HE IS another guard jumps down FIGHT! repeat. Really? 5 enemys attack you and you have to fight them 1 on 1 while the others just sit there and wait? fuck that)

I can't remember a single moment where there was more than 1 enemy in an area at a time.... and I've beaten the game twice. What the hell are you talking about?
Haxan's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 18:37
Haxan
In the fifth paragraph you refer to Ahriman as the protagonist of the game. Did you mean antagonist. Not having played the game, I'm a bit confused.
Slique's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 19:00
Slique
I really enjoyed the game, but I still think that it should've had two endings: in one, the Prince (and you) leave Elika and continue on with your lives, understanding that his personal pain is for the greater good. In the other (most likely cannon ending), the Prince cuts down the tree, re-releases Arhiman, yadda yadda. It just makes sense to give the player a second way out, and understand that not everyone will care about Elika all that much.
Discarded Couch Sandwich's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 19:07
Discarded Couch Sandwich
There were parts I absolutely despised about Prince of Persia. Then again, there were some aspects I absolutely loved too, and looking back on the fragments I can recall, the vision is nothing but fond.

No, I didn't like fighting bosses five times each, impulsively collecting shiny orbs, or as you say, the way the events of the game didn't seem to lead up to the conclusion at all. I guess with my memories, I've convinced myself that none of that mattered though, and all I can see is a beautiful world, well realized characters and the visually stunning final scenes. Because the final scenes were quite excellent, they just didn't tie up with the plot.

If a few aspects were handled a little better, this could have been a perfect bittersweet tale, tied up brilliantly at its end. I may have enjoyed the game while I was playing it too, instead of having these false reccolections planted inside.
Joseph Leray's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 19:33
Joseph Leray
@Rokydil -- shit. Good catch. I fixed it.

@TriggerRed & Endstiem -- sure the ending might be best part about POP, relative to the rest of the fragmented, disjointed story, but how much is that really saying? Yes, the ending to POP was certainly interesting, but to be the crowning achievement of a narrative clusterfuck is a pretty dubious honor.

@Shadowii and others -- I think maybe the fact that we've all had such different reactions to the Prince is interesting. We all seem to have come to pretty different conclusions about their relationship. Is that a good thing? In a way: yes, absolutely. Is it a good thing when it comes to the ending of the game, where the devs tell us how we're supposed to feel? I don't think so.

It would've been more appropriate to have an ending that could've allowed a little more wiggle room, especially since they deliberately made so much of their relationship up to our interpretation.

@Malmer -- care to explain why you disagree with me so much? I'd love to hear it. :)
Handy's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 20:52
Handy
You’ve pretty much nailed how I feel about this game and the ending.

Especially the part about the story being all over the place due to the open world style. Their relationship just felt forced to me because you could tackle the game in any order you like, there were certain moves you would do and Elika would say something like “stop staring at my arse” and once you beat your second boss she would start giggling when you did the same move, but in every cut scene she would still act all snarky towards the Prince, none of it seemed to fit together.
Gorelord's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 21:04
Gorelord
he spent the whole game trying to get some pussy, of course hes gonna bring the bitch back to life or all his work would have been wasted.
Dangsterr's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 21:13
Dangsterr
Not just the ending, the whole game is broken, it sucks :S.
Matthew Razak's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 21:15
Matthew Razak
I'm a little disappointed that no one has brought up the DLC for the game, which along with being one of the best levels, confronted much of the issues with the ending the Prince's decision. In it he and Elika argue over why he did it and you see a Prince who is almost as confused as we all are over his motivations. If I remember correctly Elika routinely questions him on what his motivation for waking her up was, and I believe the best response he can give is that in the end her being dead is what the bad guy wanted all along. It actually added an immense amount to the story and shines a light on the ending and everyone who discusses it never seems to give it any heed.

Did no one else play it? I guess this also raises the question of telling a full story through DLC doesn't it? Anyway, for everyone who hated the ending (I didn't I loved the entire game) I suggest you get your hands on the DLC. It's the best "level" by far and really ties a lot together.
grisser's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 22:34
grisser
Elika said she had heard that there are Fertile Ground outside the wall.

Reviving her is selfish, yes, but love makes you do crazy things
And in this case, it gives you a chance to correct it. (not to mention the next in the sequel which I am immensely looking forward to)
sqlrob's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 22:59
sqlrob
@Zeta Crossfire:

I've heard the PoP 3D was pretty poor, but I haven't played it so I can't comment.

Personally I think Warrior Within was worse than this one. I only played it for the story to get into Two Thrones.
Doomsday Forte's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/13/2009 23:10
Doomsday Forte
I haven't played this game, and I don't certainly plan to, but reading this reminded me of another game. Spoilers for Final Fantasy X, if you honestly haven't gotten around to playing it already.

The whole bit with Elika knowing she's going to die smacks strongly of the future Yuna knows she's going to face, and Tidus of course makes a whole bunch of future plans with her after they defeat SIN, unaware that she will have to sacrifice one of her friends and die herself. When he finds out, he's not really pleased, and he feels incredibly stupid for not knowing and making those plans was almost like an insult. Being an outsider, everyone else knew but him, and...yeah.

So he did what any plucky hero in love does: Take a third option. Yuna lives and SIN continues to ravage Spira. Yuna dies and SIN is removed for a number of years. Certainly there has to be another way. Maybe this is what the Prince thought. Yes, it was undoing much of his work, but he had to try. It's not right to let someone you have an attachment to just die for the sake of sealing something. And seals aren't ever implied to be forever. What happens if Ahriman escapes/someone breaks the seal? Her sacrifice would've been for nothing.

You know what they say about love overcoming all? Maybe this is that idea being put into practice. Yeah, it brings back what should be sealed and if he fails, the whole world's screwed, but come on, the leading man never loses!

Too bad that what Matthew said about the DLC kinda blows what everything I said to hell. Confusion over his actions is not what I would've guessed. "I did it because a world without you is barren to me" or something like that would've been a better response.
grafkhun's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 00:01
grafkhun
I actually liked this PoP a lot. Yes the plot and dialogue weren't perfectly designed, but from my experience (I played it twice) I've never seen the Prince's and Elika's conversations go from one extreme to the other. I did jump around to different levels as well but their talks were always seemed to be well placed, maybe I just got lucky?

Also, while I did like the ending, I agree that it was a bit incongruous with what the player was feeling and thinking. Although I did enjoy the game as whole and I was able to look over the many complaints that others had. Please do more of these revisited features as well, very interesting I say!
protoknuckles's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 00:40
protoknuckles
I absolutely loved this game, and it's ending actually. The vagueness of the Prince's character and his motivations in the end allowed me to place my own justification on his actions. In my eyes, he was moved by determination. He had worked this entire time with Elika, and he wasn't about to finish it without her. He'd find a different way to win. To have everything. Now, I don't know if this interpretation is trampled on by the DLC, or will be trampled on in the next game, but for now, I'm satisfied. (At least, until I finally play the epilogue)

That being said, I definitely look forward to the next Revisited article! :D
RichardBlaine's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 00:47
RichardBlaine
@Matthew Razak:

I rented it because of the mixed feedback and long before the DLC was released, so I never really felt moved to check it back out for DLC that I would also have to pay for. That being said, your comment has definitely made me reconsider revisiting the Prince to see the Epilogue. Cheers.
Magnalon's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 01:05
Magnalon
@Matt
That sounds great, but I refuse to support DLC for action games that ship incomplete.
Wintersocks's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 01:58
Wintersocks
I loved the ending because I had attached so much to Elika that I wanted to resurrect her.

But fuck that final boss.
Kaden101's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 02:01
Kaden101
This game should have never been given the PoP title. Don't get me wrong, I kinda enjoyed the game, but it never felt like Prince of Persia. Where was my time rewind, & having my hand held by that stupid bint the whole way through was really weak.

As for the ending. I was disgusted by the whole "you've just spent £35 on a game, but if you want to see the end you've got to spend another £7.99 on DLC". I haven't got a problem with DLC, but a game based on a story should have the main storyline completed on the disc, not as an afterthought money making scheme. How would you feel if you found the last chapter of the novel you just bought missing, & you were expected to pay another fiver for those pages? I think I'd be pissed. I was pissed with Pop & on principal traded it in for something finished, & will never go near it again.

My opinion.
KingSigy's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 02:17
KingSigy
The ending was one of the biggest beefs I had with this game. I figured the DLC would correct it and NOPE! Big fat "FUCK YOU" from Ubisoft. Hated the new Prince of Persia, even after loving Sands of Time.
Fearzone's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 02:42
Fearzone
Only problem I had with this game was the combat. The ending, broken or not, is a matter of taste. I thought it was okay and as time passes it sits well in memory. At least it is distinguished from the banal endings of most games. I avoided the DLC because I wanted to leave it sit as it was.
awa64's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 03:54
awa64
Prince of Persia ended for me when the Prince put Elika on the pedestal outside the temple and walked away. As the player, I didn't feel the relationship between the Prince and Elika was worth reviving, and as a surrogate for the Prince, I didn't feel he had any motivation or depth of character that would motivate him to revive her. The ability to bring Elika back to life by re-freeing Arhiman exists only as a nifty easter egg that I got an achievement for activating, rather than being the actual ending of the game.

I know that's not the authorial intent, but... it's how I choose to interpret the game. The player/game-designer contract often relies upon the conceit of requiring the player to act foolishly or against his own interests in order to continue the story, and in exchange either promises additional interesting content or writes the characters in such a way that the "stupid" choice is a rewarding roleplaying experience. Offered neither incentive, I as the gamer felt entirely justified in stopping the game there. Similarly, Bioshock ended for me shortly after the confrontation with Andrew Ryan.

That said, I did watch the "real" ending, and I did watch a YouTube playthrough of the epilogue (no way in hell was I paying $10 for that). The epilogue detracts from the ending, turning an interesting moral choice by a character (The Prince doing the wrong thing, freeing Arhiman, for the right reason, love for Elika) into an ass-pull counter of the main baddie's Xanatos Gambit.

If the next game in the franchise continues on, perhaps we'll look back at both the game's "real" ending and the epilogue in a different light. Based on the information we have, though, it's an ambitious, clever ending deprived of any emotional weight by a complete lack of character development and relationship-building over the course of the game, immediately followed by a retcon of that ending designed to remove any of the moral ambiguity that made the ending interesting in the first place. Thinking of it that way, I'm glad the next entry in the franchise will undoubtedly feature a Gyllenhall-y Prince leaping his way through a Bruckheimer-y story rather than a continuation of Elika's story.

And I'm even more glad that I can just put Sands of Time in my Wii and play through a genuine masterpiece any time I feel the urge.
Magus44's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 06:27
Magus44
Great article. It did seem kinda silly, but I took it as him not being able to live without her after the whole ordeal, knowing that it would probably re-release Ahriman. But he decided that he would maybe find another way to seal him in another place. I thought that would also work for the sequels also. But then I haven't played it in a year haha.
I didn't play the epilogue DLC either.
Cyber Altair's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 07:53
Cyber Altair
As for me, In the end I was like "no this is so wrong" yet I genuinely wanted to help Elika.
Khazar222's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 09:04
Khazar222
I never liked the Price or Elika. Must've been the perfect non-regional American English they spoke. I don't feel swept away to a mystical land when the player-character and the female lead both sound and banter like 20-somethings at Panera Bread.

I think this game would have been saved by more linearity. Keep the player going to predetermined areas so the dialogue doesn't spin wildly across the map. Maybe then I'd feel like there was some emotional investment there. As it stands, I wanted to hop on my donkey and get the hell out of there. Elika's duty was to prevent Ahriman from being released, mine was to be the best thief I could be.
HiddenAHB's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 09:13
HiddenAHB
I'm thinking in downloading the Epilogue. I really liked the game and the ending, but they didn't havo to put the REAL ending in a DLC.
otakunoise's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 09:22
otakunoise
good to hear other people liked this game. for a game, i thought the narrative was really good, but i had fairly low expectations before i played it. my problems lied with how cheesy so much of the dialogue was, but the interactions between the two characters, much like ico, told a good enough story for me. there were definitely some mixed feelings when i reached the ending, but whether the ending was good or bad it was at least memorable.
GeoScore's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 09:25
GeoScore
Do you guys hear what you are saying? Regardless of how beautiful and awesome the game was, the ending was one of the most moving moments ever done in a video game. Interactive storytelling is not giving it enough credit. This was an experience like no other. With the bitching you guys are giving about the ending, you are proving how damn selfish you all are. If I had someone die on me that I truly loved, and I mean TRULY, I would go to hell and back if I could save them, and clearly everybody who said this was out of character to release all the bad again to save her is dead wrong. Other than the ending, I think the game was one of those rare cases of art. I never felt punished by the difficulty, and the orb collecting was refreshing in such a beautifully realized world. Stop bashing the game..If you didn't like it, complain to the mother you still live with!
Khazar222's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 09:32
Khazar222
He knows her for six hours, and the womanizing thief falls in love with her? Oh-ho-ho-ho.
Joseph Leray's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 09:53
Joseph Leray
@GeoScore: "If I had someone die on me that I truly loved, and I mean TRULY, I would go to hell and back if I could save them, and clearly everybody who said this was out of character to release all the bad again to save her is dead wrong."

Maybe so, and that's admirable, but PoP never made me feel like I, or the prince, truly loved Elika. And I have to wonder if "truly" loving someone includes undermining all of their decisions and totally un-doing something they worked so hard to get.
Uzzy's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 10:01
Uzzy
I loved the game. I think it really depends on how much you interacted with Elika. If, as some here seem to have done, you treat her as an inventory item, then you probably would hate the ending. But if you engaged with her, talked with her often and let a relationship develop, I can't see how you'd choose anything other then the ending. The Open World design did perhaps take a little away from the development of the relationship, but I think it held together well enough.

Regarding the Epilogue DLC, I think that the Princes comments as to why he saved Elika are just him trying to justify his actions to her. If he said that he did it for the love of Elika, she wouldn't accept that idea at all. After all, she was willing to sacrifice her own life to stop Ahriman, so I don't think she'd look too kindly on the Prince bringing her back (and thus freeing Ahriman) for a romance that developed over a few hours.

Either way, I loved this game, and I do so hope we get far more of it. It'd be a crime if we didn't. My personal hope is that it ends in tragedy, but hey.
Occams electric toothbrush's Avatar - Comment posted on 11/14/2009 12:56
Occams electric toothbrush
This game was balls and the ending was double balls.
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