If you love roguelikes, you need to play The Rogue Prince of Persia. It might be in Steam Early Access, but it’s already shaping up to dethrone my favorites. Between the slick combat, movement, and unique art style, it offers an incredibly different experience from the genre you’re used to. The problem is, it doesn’t have nearly the number of players it deserves. Despite the pedigree of Dead Cells studio Evil Empire, the launch hasn’t been that big. 2024 is filled with updates for the game, though, and the most recent one makes it well worth trying.
As I write this, The Rogue Prince of Persia has 25 players on Steam. The launch peak doesn’t even reach 1,000 concurrents either. This is a crying shame, as Evil Empire’s newest game is one of the best roguelikes around. It’s similar to Dead Cells, but channels Prince of Persia’s penchant for parkour in a way that elevates the game into something truly special. So if you’ve been on the fence, a brand new update called ‘The Weapons Within’ adds an awful lot to be excited about.
Naturally, the weapon changes are this update’s biggest addition. Evil Empire has introduced 13 new weapons and reworked seven more, so your options just went through the roof. You can now use a monk staff, cestus, corrupted sword, chain dagger, or even a dented pot. After exceeding with Dead Cells, Evil Empire’s skill at creating and balancing weapons is unmatched, so having all these new toys is a total joy. If you’re new, that’s 20 total weapons to pick from right now.
You can now choose a weapon right at the start of a run too, just like in Dead Cells. The difference in The Rogue Prince of Persia is that you can instead start out with just your fists instead, if you think you’ve got what it takes.
Evil Empire has also implemented a plethora of bug fixes, reworked some mechanics, and changed the glimmer currency so you can now invest it in different items at the same time.
Our own The Rogue Prince of Persia early access review has no score, but that doesn’t mean you should wait for 1.0. As Ian writes, “If you’re a fan of the genre, it’s one you definitely should keep an eye on as it makes its way through early access.” I couldn’t agree more.
I know it’s still early days, but if you’re a roguelike fan you owe it to yourself to try The Rogue Prince of Persia. With Supergiant Games quiet as it works on Hades 2 patches, and Dead Cells finally over, now’s the time to try Evil Empire’s next game.
You can check out The Rogue Prince of Persia on Steam right here. Before the end of 2024, the roguelike is also getting more biomes and bosses, a medallion mechanic rework, and an art overhaul as well.
Alongside The Rogue Prince of Persia, there are plenty more platform games and indie games deserving of love. So if you’re looking for something new to play and don’t know where to start, I’ve got your back.
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