Which game should be played first?

[ShadowHawk81]

I'm trying to decide if I should start from Sands of Time and play through the series in order.

Is there a timeline between all games, where story works better if you play them in a certain order?

I want to play them in order, but Im also tempted to start with Prince of Persia 2008. If I'm not mistaked this version was a new style, that took another direction in the storyline.

[McChadworth]

There is a timeline that connects the sand of time series, so playing them in order will be better, but is not completely necessary to enjoy the game its self. I do believe the newest one takes place between 1 and 2, and is meant to make the drastic shift in the Princes characterization make more sense.

You could play the 2008 whenever, because it is it's own timeline. You may enjoy playing this one first, since many players were disappointed in the shift from the first trilogy. You may be able to enjoy it for what it is, rather than what it is not.

[maul_inc01]

Play Sands of Time then Warrior within and finally Two Thrones. They are the Sands of Time trilogy, with a pretty cool but complex story about time travel ;)

Imho, the story is awesome if you like time travel stories like Back to the Future. Warrior Within is a bit too much with the metal music, but the story is great, and The Two Thrones combine the best of SOT and WW, and finishes the story.

The Forgotten sands is not bad, but it is Imho a tacked on short chapter which is Imho unnecessary to the SOT story.

POP 2008 is about a different prince in his own universe.

[ShadowHawk81]

I think I'll play it in order. I'm easily entertained by different aspects of games, so I'm not too worried about the changes.

[mongoloid]

The chronological order of the games is:

Sands of Time
Forgotten Sands
Warrior Within
Two Thrones

Prince of Persia '08 should probably be played first as it's unrelated to the other games, and the weakest by far.

[ShadowHawk81]

I already completed Sands of Time, so I'll just have to deal with whatever is wrong about The '08 game. But, personaly, it looks pretty good to me. I got it for a good deal anyway. Also, as a gamer with a liking for game art '08 looks pretty cool. So the story and gameplay might be a change, as others say. Though, I might still like it.

*Im just kind of confused, because I'm getting different answers to what the correct gameplay order should be. But, my guess in mongoloid is right. I thought Warrior within was before Forgotten Sands.

[Mehbah]

Warrior Within was released before Forgotten Sands. Long after the trilogy had already been finished, Ubisoft released Forgotten Sands, which is shoehorned in between Sands of Time and Warrior Within. That's why it's not really considered to be part of the rest of the Sands of Time trilogy.

As for the 2008 PoP, it does look great. The gameplay and story and pretty bad, however. Especially the story. Seriously, try not to have any expectations whatsoever for the ending; it's so bad that you WILL be disappointed.

[ShadowHawk81]

Yeah, well I've heard comments about the story on both sides of the fence. Although I have not read into the meaning of the ending of '08, for spoiler sake. I have read that there are players who examined the end, and got some meaning out of it. Meaning is better than nothing. It may be something where it's all in the way you think about it.

Also, while I think The Sands of Time story and game is well done, it is overated. There are aspects of certain level design that really annoyed me, but I got through over multiple trial and error. Also the more I examined AI in the sands of time, the more I realized how stupid it was. And stupid AI = annoying gameplay at times. I hated the blue sand guards, until I figured out how to affectivly block and counter their strikes. While the Story was good, and ending was interesting, these days I'm hardly suprised by endings. Even without spoil, I had an idea what I was up for in the end.

[Mehbah]

Oh, certainly, there's meaning in the ending. It means that the prince, or whatever he is, is an enormous asswit and jerk. And that the entire game was completely pointless.

[ShadowHawk81]

Oh, certainly, there's meaning in the ending. It means that the prince, or whatever he is, is an enormous asswit and jerk. And that the entire game was completely pointless.

Is every story supposed to have a good ending? Not that I'm aware. I know when people dislike games, they tend to exagerate their hate for it. I hope this is not the case. but thanks for not spoiling with the specifics.

[Mehbah]

Is every story supposed to have a good ending? Not that I'm aware. I know when people dislike games, they tend to exagerate their hate for it. I hope this is not the case. but thanks for not spoiling with the specifics.

What I said is so vague that the only concrete thing you got was that the main character is a jerk. That is something you will find out as early as in the intro movie, IIRC. It would only be a spoiler if you had clairvoyance. That the game was pointless has many meanings, including that it was a waste of time.

Not every story needs a good end, but they do need a good end in the sense that it feels like a good end to the story. PoP 08 doesn't provide that. It's not bad in the "oh no, the main characters died" sense; it's bad in the "why is this end so hair-pullingly stupid?!" sense. Ubisoft were even aware of it, seeing as they released an epilogue as paid DLC.