The Rogue Prince of Persiais an upcoming roguelike entry in the long-runningPrince of Persiafranchise and is being developed by Evil Empire, the studio best known for its work onDead Cells. By combiningPrince of Persia’s trademark acrobatics with the tight game feel and addicting “one more run” loop ofDead Cells, Evil Empire is tapping into the best of both thePrince of Persiafranchise and the roguelike genre.
Following ourhands-on preview ofThe Rogue Prince of Persia, Game Rant sat down with Evil Empire’s game director Lucie Dewagnier and art director Dylan Eurlings to discuss their approach to the game’s development and the team’s plans for the upcoming Early Access period that kicks off on May 14.This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: After working onDead Cellsand moving on to another roguelike, was there anything you wanted to do differently forThe Rogue Prince of Persiaor were there things you especially wanted to keep fromDead Cells?
Dewagnier:We wanted to make something new, something exciting. To makeThe Rogue Prince of Persiadifferent fromDead Cells, we focused on the traversal elements and the movement. The game is all about movement. Everything moves. You always need to be asking yourself, “Where should I go and how should I go there?” You can move enemies, you can jump over them; everything is based on the movement.
We wanted to keep the game feel ofDead Cells. We wanted more ofDead Cells’ gameplay in terms of how everything feels nice and smooth to play.
Eurlings:Lucie talked about the acrobatic combat and movement and that’s one of the main differences, but we also have the narrative side of the game that is a little bit more elaborate than inDead Cellsbecause we think it’s one of the pillars ofthePrince of Persiafranchise. Its story is important, so it has a bigger place inTheRogue Prince of Persia.
Q: Speaking ofPrince of Persia’s pillars, what did you feel was important to include so that this would feel like a truePrince of Persiagame?
Dewagnier:For us, aPrince of Persiagame is about the fluidity of movement and acrobatic combat, so we focused on that. As Dylan said, we also made an effort to blend the story into the gameplay. We tend to make the gameplay come first, and we put a lot of effort into making the storyline blend with the gameplay.
You’ll interact with the story by choosing your biomes, and in your run, you’ll be able to interact with characters in those biomes. Something might have changed in that biome, and you’ll be able to die and come back and try something else to see what happens and play with the time loop of the game.
We call that “Narrative Exploration” and you’ll be able to see one-third of itwhen Early Access launches.
The Rogue Prince of Persia’s Gameplay and Early Access Plans
Q: On the subject of gameplay loops, roguelikes all have different approaches to the power curves players can achieve each run, some of them allowing players to become virtually unstoppable. What was your approach to that inThe Rogue Prince of Persia?
Dewagnier:We want to be able to have those “god runs,” those totally broken runs. One time I had a build that made me launch missiles and I had a weapon that I could launch and it would come back to me, but I had modifiers to make it poison and fire so it’s an explosion. I was blasting everything and it was really fun.
We want to be able to have those god runs, but we don’t want the game to be totally broken. We want players who are new to roguelikes to be able to play the game, while also making the game interesting for veterans.
Eurlings:That’s where Early Access will be interesting for us because we will balance the game with the players. We will see where we stand on the difficulty level and maybe try to adjust it depending on who is playing our game andif they find it difficultor not.
Q: Of course,Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownwas also released recently. What was your relationship with that team? Did you compare notes and coordinate things behind the scenes?
Dewagnier:Yeah, we absolutely compared notes. We played their game when they were still in the alpha stages, so it was near the beginning of development forThe Rogue Prince of Persia. We communicated with each other regularly to ensure we were not doing the same things, and to take notes on what they were doing and what we were doing to make sure that we were making two different views of the same franchise.
Q:The Rogue Prince of Persiawill initially be released into Early Access. What do you anticipate will be added or changed throughout that Early Access period?
Dewagnier:A lot of things! I’m excited to launch into Early Access because I want to talk with my players and I want to talk with the community. ForDead Cells, during Early Access and post-release, working with the community was a blast.
As Dylan said, we will change a lot of things on the balancing side of the game. We will certainly change how our progression system will work because I’m pretty suresome progression elementswill be dropped or added. With community feedback, I think we’ll change a lot of things.
Eurlings:Those are things that we’ll change on the go depending on player feedback, but of course, we also have content that’s already planned. New biomes, new boosters, new weapons, et cetera, so we will do both at the same time.
Dewagnier:We plan to have twice the content we have now when we launch the game after Early Access.
Q: You’re pretty used to working on roguelikes by now, but were there any unexpected challenges you faced when working onThe Rogue Prince of Persia?
Dewagnier:That’s a good question. I think from a design standpoint, the progression system was a bit harder to approach.We worked onDead Cells, and we had a lot of experience working on its progression system and making a lot of changes. I thought the progression system ofThe Rogue Prince of Persiawould not be an easy task, but something approachable for us. Since we were so focused on the movement and traversal elements, I didn’t anticipate that the progression would be impacted by this focus on the movement.
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The Rogue Prince of Persia
WHERE TO PLAY
Experience a fast-paced, challenging but accessible roguelite as you master acrobatic moves and flow seamlessly between platforming and combat. Find new weapons, equip trinkets with special effects and upgrade them to make your own builds. Discover new characters, information and areas as you attempt to find a way to save Persia from a Hun invasion and become the hero you have always wanted to be.Lead the Prince in his fight against a Hun army corrupted by dark shamanic magic and find your place in the royal family as you explore a vibrant reinterpretation of Persia. Put the pieces of the puzzle together and discover new areas as you enter the fight again and again, meeting a cast of colorful characters through non-linear story progression.Flow seamlessly between platforming and combat, using your acrobatic moves to outmaneuver and outsmart your enemies. Use the iconic wall-run to open new routes of attack, avoid traps and explore hard to reach areas. Kick and dodge to manage groups of enemies when the odds are against you.Choose from a variety of deadly weapons and equip new medallions each run to unleash devastating effects, giving you the freedom to change your fighting style as you wish. Secondary weapons offer even more options, from bows to shields to grappling hooks. Switch your loadout mid-run to adapt to new challenges.
