The Prince is back with a few changes that make it better in some ways, but lacking in other departments.
The new P.O.P offers some nice changes. The most noticeable change being in the art design. Previous players will notice this right away by just looking at the back of the case. But don't let this deter you. The art style is amazing and works great with the environment given. Especially with the detail they gave on The Corrupted. In a seemingly beautiful environment, the way they emphasized how The Corrupted effected their world is simply beautiful.
Another nice change for The Prince was the way the story was told. Instead of having one main character who was made a hero from the beginning, you have two main characters (one being the Prince of course and the other being Elika, the Princess). But the Prince will take some time to get used to. During some dialogue you will find his voice acting to cheesy and in some cases just downright flat. You will find yourself more interested in Elika's story rather than the Princes in most cases. Even though the story has too many highs and lows to be considered consistent, the ways its told is something that deserves mention.
The big part where the new P.O.P lost it for me was in the game play. The new combat system is nice when it happens, but you will find yourself chasing light seeds for majority of the time rather than using your sword, which for me is what made P.O.P so engrossing. In the previous installments you were able to use the walls and poles to your advantage, and in some cases, interpret them into your combos. In this version, you find the swordplay to be primarily based off of counters and blocking rather than linking awesome combos together. That, for me, left the combat a bit dull.
The part that frustrated me the most, however, was the way they made the interactive environment. It's not as nearly as interactive as the last ones. You find yourself in a "free roaming" world, when there's nothing free about it. Instead of finding multiple ways to reach places, or different angles to approach things, you find yourself following a track that is "One was to here, and one way to get back." I hate to say it, but I hope Ubisoft goes back to the old style of P.O.P for these issues. The reasons that P.O.P was such a success was in those two segments: The combat and interactivity of the landscape. Unfortunately, Ubisoft left those vitals out, when in all reality, it was the very heartbeat of the game.