Comments on: The Failure of Prince of Persia’s Story Structure http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-failure-of-prince-of-persias-story-structure/106/ A Critical Assessment of Video Games Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:01:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Games are Structure | The Game Critique http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-failure-of-prince-of-persias-story-structure/106/comment-page-1/#comment-1766 Games are Structure | The Game Critique Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:36:05 +0000 http://www.thegamecritique.com/?p=106#comment-1766 [...] Heavy Rain. It’s lack of structure that has me rolling my eyes every time some on brings up Prince of Persia (2008) or force catatonic boredom during grind sessions in JRPGs. It’s why Brutal Legend stops so [...] [...] Heavy Rain. It’s lack of structure that has me rolling my eyes every time some on brings up Prince of Persia (2008) or force catatonic boredom during grind sessions in JRPGs. It’s why Brutal Legend stops so [...]

]]> By: State of the Blog ‘09 | The Game Critique http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-failure-of-prince-of-persias-story-structure/106/comment-page-1/#comment-1270 State of the Blog ‘09 | The Game Critique Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:33:23 +0000 http://www.thegamecritique.com/?p=106#comment-1270 [...] spilled over Prince of Persia than any other. A game I ostensibly disliked and felt insulted by, you can read here. My other game essays this year that I am proud of were on Beyond Good & Evil, [...] [...] spilled over Prince of Persia than any other. A game I ostensibly disliked and felt insulted by, you can read here. My other game essays this year that I am proud of were on Beyond Good & Evil, [...]

]]> By: State of the Blog '09 | The Game Critique http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-failure-of-prince-of-persias-story-structure/106/comment-page-1/#comment-1253 State of the Blog '09 | The Game Critique Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:01:39 +0000 http://www.thegamecritique.com/?p=106#comment-1253 [...] spilled over Prince of Persia than any other. A game I ostensibly disliked and felt insulted by, you can read here. My other game essays this year that I am proud of were on Beyond Good & Evil, [...] [...] spilled over Prince of Persia than any other. A game I ostensibly disliked and felt insulted by, you can read here. My other game essays this year that I am proud of were on Beyond Good & Evil, [...]

]]> By: The Proposed Story Arcs for Prince of Persia | The Game Critique http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-failure-of-prince-of-persias-story-structure/106/comment-page-1/#comment-14 The Proposed Story Arcs for Prince of Persia | The Game Critique Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:00:41 +0000 http://www.thegamecritique.com/?p=106#comment-14 [...] talked about how the story structure in Prince of Persia didn’t work for me and how the various villains fit in the game’s thematic consistency. Now I’m going to [...] [...] talked about how the story structure in Prince of Persia didn’t work for me and how the various villains fit in the game’s thematic consistency. Now I’m going to [...]

]]> By: The Swain http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-failure-of-prince-of-persias-story-structure/106/comment-page-1/#comment-13 The Swain Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:14:05 +0000 http://www.thegamecritique.com/?p=106#comment-13 You bring up some counter arguemants and I appreciate them. The thing is about Eleka saving you through out the game, ignoring whether or not she loves you, ask the question 'if you were falling to your death would she use her power to save you?' The answer is yes. It is in her nature to be kind and alturistic. That is not my main reasson for ignoring it as a condition, however. My main reason, is that no matter how far you have progressed through the game or how much interaction the two characters have, she will always save you in the exact same manner. After a while it becomes more obvious as a game mechanic than it does an influence on their relationship. As there is no change in the manner of this interaction there is no effect on the overall story arc. I am looking at the story structure as a possible reason for the game's failure to engage me with the characters and their relationship. Noting such a mecahnic could actually aid my argument, but it is a bit dicy of a subject so I left it out in favor of making my self more clear. P.S. Yeah that was more of a stream of conciousness post, but many were pointed out to me already and were corrected. If there were more I will double check. You bring up some counter arguemants and I appreciate them. The thing is about Eleka saving you through out the game, ignoring whether or not she loves you, ask the question ‘if you were falling to your death would she use her power to save you?’ The answer is yes. It is in her nature to be kind and alturistic. That is not my main reasson for ignoring it as a condition, however. My main reason, is that no matter how far you have progressed through the game or how much interaction the two characters have, she will always save you in the exact same manner. After a while it becomes more obvious as a game mechanic than it does an influence on their relationship. As there is no change in the manner of this interaction there is no effect on the overall story arc. I am looking at the story structure as a possible reason for the game’s failure to engage me with the characters and their relationship. Noting such a mecahnic could actually aid my argument, but it is a bit dicy of a subject so I left it out in favor of making my self more clear.

P.S. Yeah that was more of a stream of conciousness post, but many were pointed out to me already and were corrected. If there were more I will double check.

]]> By: Jon Porter http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/the-failure-of-prince-of-persias-story-structure/106/comment-page-1/#comment-12 Jon Porter Thu, 29 Jan 2009 15:28:51 +0000 http://www.thegamecritique.com/?p=106#comment-12 I agree with you on one point, that the game didn't need to be open world. Everything else however lies directly opposed to my views. Maybe I simply chose to defeat the bosses in the way Ubisoft Montreal intended but after each one my two portagonists crept noticably closer to each other, so much so that I even expected them to fall into each others arms at one point. These moments of intimacy are few and far between in the game. Why? They Pinrce and Eleka know they have a job to do, and it would be stupid to try and force them into a lengthy dialogue sequence mid-platforming section. Instead you're given the option to talk to her briefly at the tap of a button. At the beginning of the game these conversations borderline on complete banality, the Prince asks about each area they enter, and Eleka tells him about the history of her land but by the end their bond becomes ever so apparent, when they catch their breath by playing a little I-spy. You've also completely failed to mentiona point which I believe is completely crucial to examining the relationship between the two protagonists. Eleka is their to save your life. If it weren't for her the Prince wouldn't have made it to the end of the first area in my experience, and certainly not to the end of the game where he FINALLY repays the favour. To save a life creates a near inescapable bond between two people, and by ignoring it you have invalidated a huge portion of your arguement. - Jon Porter PS: You might want to try spell-checking your posts in future. Not this one, but the MGS4 article contained a couple of corkers. I agree with you on one point, that the game didn’t need to be open world. Everything else however lies directly opposed to my views.

Maybe I simply chose to defeat the bosses in the way Ubisoft Montreal intended but after each one my two portagonists crept noticably closer to each other, so much so that I even expected them to fall into each others arms at one point. These moments of intimacy are few and far between in the game. Why? They Pinrce and Eleka know they have a job to do, and it would be stupid to try and force them into a lengthy dialogue sequence mid-platforming section. Instead you’re given the option to talk to her briefly at the tap of a button. At the beginning of the game these conversations borderline on complete banality, the Prince asks about each area they enter, and Eleka tells him about the history of her land but by the end their bond becomes ever so apparent, when they catch their breath by playing a little I-spy.

You’ve also completely failed to mentiona point which I believe is completely crucial to examining the relationship between the two protagonists. Eleka is their to save your life. If it weren’t for her the Prince wouldn’t have made it to the end of the first area in my experience, and certainly not to the end of the game where he FINALLY repays the favour. To save a life creates a near inescapable bond between two people, and by ignoring it you have invalidated a huge portion of your arguement.

- Jon Porter

PS: You might want to try spell-checking your posts in future. Not this one, but the MGS4 article contained a couple of corkers.

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