and please, for the love of god developers - keep using color! Mud all looks the same.

robotleawesome

McKack

riffleraffle

cluster1990

Sooku

dmcshinobi

excaliburps

With you on that one. Granted the sequels weren't up to par with the first (Sands of Time). The second tried to be all-extreme too much. The first one's charm will surely be missed.

Seems to early to retire the Sands concept. But hey what do I know? Wonder what the Dagger's ability will be?

Hmm maybe they're going to add some Assassins Creed elements into it? Like the repetitive missions? Heehee Ok I went there!

excaliburps

StevenRafael

gencid

GuntherZiti

blueshoals

belo

Not to mention that the SandWraith mask made everything a cakewalk.

At least the third game was relatively good, except for the chariot bits and glitches, one of which forced me to replay the game all the way to the first boss.

@nerdBOY01: You misspelled "pretty".

Jonn

I never really liked the other games of the series. and it pissed me off that I never got very far in them.

chaos_isnt_here

resetbutton

I agree. I dig cel-shading. It keeps the game timeless. I can't play a PSX game without thinking it's hideous, but I can play Jet Set Radio without a single issue - it still looks awesome.

dunetiger reads kotaku, seems pleased

Curious to see what else they may show off come UbiDays, and later E3.

kadosho

What could possibly be more tired, trite, and old-hat than regular 3D, non-cell-shaded graphics?

I don't think this art style has been explored enough, and I'm glad that the developers behind PoP have gone in this direction; it suggests to me that they are inventive, open-minded, willing to try new things, etc..., which is by and large good.

shikaningen

Fawaz0008

It is early doors yet, and I may be proven wrong, I'm just going by my gut instincts when I say I don't think this will work.

furiku

i want this one on the wii =(

(俗・ ) Grey Gecko

If they're comparing it to Zelda and Okami, I'm actually foreseeing a large connecting central field covered in all sorts of living, vibrant colors --- at least after a "light-well" has been tapped.

Arttemis

---

Plot: "The game's plot draws on a Zoroastrian myth: the war between good and evil gods (and twins) Ohrmazd and Ahriman. Ohrmazd wins and imprisons his brother in a box hidden in an oasis. But Ahriman is freed by an unwitting thief centuries later, and remakes the world in his image, corrupting all living beings. It falls to the thief to undo his actions and return colour to the world, and in so doing he turns from robber into the titular Prince."

Mechanics: "He heals the land by killing boss guardians, in the style of Shadow of the Colossus or Twilight Princess, and unleashing the power of the light-wells they guard. The land is then transformed in real-time - unlike Okami's cut-scenes - with grass growing and lighting and colour changing dynamically as the Prince moves through the world."

... Please, not a dark world again >.<

Chopper_Mike

nerdBOY01

This could be for the better though, we never know..

Kra1oS

That's all good news though because the visuals are certainly more original and pleasant to look at than the general fodder coming out from most developers.

sascha23

Going from DMC3 to GoW was a nightmare.

Arttemis

"Guyot said the style was "Zelda-esque, old school, with very contrasting levels". The settings will be more open and organic than in previous games."

Arttemis

optimusprime

I'm curious now as to how they'll use the Scimitar Engine.
Will the Cel-Shading free up system resources to allow more events/effects/objects on the screen at once?

@blackmanfu: Considering how everyone predicted that this game was going to run on Assassin's Creed's engine, I don't see how predicting this game also being open-world is any kind of achievement.
That said, I thought the main focus of the gameplay in AC (the parkour) was done perfectly. Hopefully this sequel emulates it.

@furiku: Clumping a game together with others simply because of its art style seems highly ignorant. We know nothing of how this game will actually play.

That seems as relevant as clumping a new blue Ferrari with all other blue cars simply because of how it looks.

That said, I have to admit that you compared it to some great games. Zelda and Okami aren't bad company for a game to be associated.

Arttemis

That being said, I could tell they definately listened to the fans when they worked on Twin Thrones. I hope they'll carry those lessons as well over to this one which visually looks fantastic; I hope they got a good story for it.

vonfaustus

Here are more them

[img255.imageshack.us]

[img255.imageshack.us]

[img255.imageshack.us]

[img170.imageshack.us]

[img526.imageshack.us]

[img255.imageshack.us]

[img255.imageshack.us]

[img170.imageshack.us]

Garo

blackmanfu

Bring it on.

heretrix

Ashurahori

Ashurahori

nerdBOY01

Even so, it makes sense: Everybody was saying that after Assasins Creed, PoP wouldn't be the same. That they were too similar. Changing to Cel-Shade would mark the deifference between the two franchises

Chopper_Mike

I think this will be just as good if not better than the Sands of time series.

Can not wait.

mordennight

cornerman8

Cartman86

The problem is people seem to think cel shading as more of a fad or gimmick that's already been done, when they should be thinking of it as a style in the same sense that fantasy is a genre.

Lastly, as a game design major, I'm all for moving away from the traditional graphics push. Graphics in games should be all about creating memorable imagery and creating a sense that you are part of a world (which is more about level design, dynamism, and attention to detail), rather than just making pretty pictures. All the polygons in the world won't help games today if they can't figure out that there are other colors in nature besides brown.

Tiber

Well, I hated Warrior Within because I love Sands of Time probably more than is healthy. That whole game had a fantastic sense of wonder about it. You get into a new area and would just have to take everything in with wide-eyed awe. The Prince and Farah had a terrific rapport and came off as fully rounded characters. Plus, the Price also had a healthy dose of whimsy in him. Him complaining about Farah to himself while doing backflips between hanging scaffolding was priceless. Plus, it's visual style and soundtrack are spot-on (I still find myself walking around humming the ending song).

Warrior Within took all that joy and focuse-gouped it into a big steaming pile of shit. A light-hearted main character? That won't sell, let's make him an angsty scarred asshole. Monsters made of sand? That won't sell, let's make them erupt in volcanos of blood when you look at them crossways. An soundtrack that is evocative of Arabian Nights stories? That won't sell, let's toss in some generimetal and that Godsmack song from the Mummy 2 (not a crack at Godsmack, as I really like them quite a bit). Bright colors? That won't sell, make it grey, the kids love grey.

Now, I get that the story is written in such a way that some of these changes can be justified. However, those changes took a game that stood out from it's competition and jammed it into that "just another gritty action game" mold. All the wonder and fun I felt from the first game was gone and replaced with the same crap that you could get anywhere else. If WW was the first game of the series, I could have loved it. But it was wasn't. It was a sequel to SOT and basically changed everything I loved about it.

Two Thrones I cannot make a judgment on because I never played it. I took the changes WW made as a slap in the face and refused to give Ubisoft a second chance that generation. The new one I'm open to trying, but it better focus on platforming above the combat.

dry-roasted-peanuts

TheCleaningGuy is no longer (that) disappointed with DMC4

the story sucked, the level design sucked. and even with the 3rd installment's "improvement" over the 2nd one (not saying much). that series pretty much died (at least to my eyes)

and AFAIK, the original developers in SoT isn't involved in the sequels.

That being said, I'm a tad worried about this game because there's nothing mentioned about Jordan Mechner being involved.

bubuli

Simkin-phd

And it's coming to pc! yay! (No, I still haven't bought any of the new systems. Have you seen the price of gas lately?)

Ajh

tomato_kai

Three games of doing that wasn't enough? I like doing those things too but I'm ready to move on. Keep some good ideas if they can be integrated with the new ones, but forge ahead. For good or ill.

Replica23

futurebiblehero

If the combat is fun, fine. But I start hearing that this is God of Persia where it's all about the combat; my Warrior Within warning bells will start going off and all still be gone from this franchise.

dry-roasted-peanuts

ach77

I'm into it so far, can't wait for more shots and more info.

Gavelwrench

They're basing it around the Fables and Myhts present in the Arabian Nights stories, making it Cell shaded grounds it into those old art-forms, just like Okami's art form linked the game to it's Mythology and inspiration.

I don't know why Cell Shading is being ripped on so much, but I am getting sick and Tired of "Gritty and Realistic Near Future FPS 4". Assassins Creed was based on Political Events and Assassinations set in a very specific time zone, that they tried to recreate as realistically as possible.

New Prince of Persia is taking place in a fictional universe based on old stories and myths that were illustrated with pen and ink.

I think the difference between the two explains why the different styles suit them... The first 3D PoP was quite caricatured and saturated in it's art direction as well, and I think a lot of people are jumping hte gun on the art style.

I'll reserve any major judgement on it until i've seen it in motion but I have a sneaking suspicion that i will be welcoming our new Cell Shaded Overlords.

Tempestora

I'll take artistic cel-shading over shoddy photo-"realism" any day. Even if photorealism is able to achieve a level indiscernable from real life, I feel that great art direction and style still better portray the fantastical and supernatural effects we seek out for these genre titles.

0ldb0y

yuutokun

Also...well, I didn't like wind waker's art style at first, either. It'll probably look good in motion.

rdj

Blah8

MugenNoKaze

Thankfully they say they're putting something else in that achieves some of the same functions, hopefully that means rewinding when you screw up on the platforming sections is still there. And I like the idea of enemy encounters being more like Soul Calibur.

Since Sands of Time is one of my favourite games ever, I look forward to this game in the hope it will play as well as SoT and not be the let down that WW and TTT were.

photoboy

The graphics and technology involved in Assassin's worked fine, why does it need to be different for PoP? I mean, they could do so much with that engine. It probably would look miles better because it's not a free roaming game. AC is like PoP's cousin. How can they screw it all up like this.

Damn you, Ubisoft. Damn you.

Candlejack

suburbancowboy

See what I did?

Aimless

I think the style is really cool and adds to the more adventurous nature of this style of play. Looking forward to it!

DCSimian

captain_laxpants

physical

Shiryu

Grow up people.

Markyboy

I like the cel-shading, because even though a few successful games had that, it's not like most games out there have that look and personally I think it looks very good.

The one-on-one fight is also very intriguing. If they can make a good fight system, I don't care if I have one or a hundred enemies to beat at the same time. Remember people: Quality over Quantity.

WhiskeyJak

I guess this comes from my experience as I had started working with cell shaded graphics in about 1999 got bored by about 2000.

I suppose they have to try new things, but come on! Cell shading is not new.

furiku

Luke Plunkett

Syril

WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE!?

Grinman

Sobe318

shaunomacx

FightingChance

TheContender

everysystemgamer

DigiMish

jayntampa

Ugly Toy

To quote from myself here. "Just another cell shaded game".

furiku

Cel-shaded art style is fantastic when done right (Zelda or Okami being the most impressive, although No More Heroes struggled with the hardware I thought - great game, but not great technically) so could add a bit of graphical flair to proceedings.

Looking foward to it - but I don't think it is fair to judge one one fairly unassuming screen shot. But stuff like Open World and 1v1 battles sound promising.

johnny_ultimate

Mech_Master

I am very grateful that they are willing to try something different with the new story.

Randomcitizenx

furiku

Automageddon!

jihadjoe343

Josh*

I am not very optimistic about this :(

KroKan