New Prince of Persia DS: The Fallen King

Xagarath

Ok, so I'd never heard of this before today.
I imagine you hadn't, either.
But there is, all of a sudden, a trailer:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/player.php?mode=article&id=1794

This is, of course, a tie-in with the big PoP game being released on the HD consoles. It's cel-shaded (and fairly pretty) and the sidekick would appear to be present.
What has me interested is that the controls look primarily stylus-based, which I don't think we've seen on a standard run-and-jump 2D platformer yet.
I'm interested. Are you?

EDIT: trailer: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/37394.html

Chance

I'm all about platformers (lately I've been putting together an uberthread on the subject actually), particularly beautiful 2D platformers - but this just doesn't appeal to me.

I'm not sure why, but I think it's the stylus control. Tap this edge to leap to it, tap this hanging-circle thing to go there... okay. Yes, I get it - using the unique control possibilities of the DS is a positive thing - but (perhaps it's my ancient and jaded gamer's heart) I think it would be better served by goin' a little old school. Apart from the 360 degree magic-shooting with Elika (is it Elika?), nothing in that trailer couldn't have been done with a d-pad and two face buttons.

(dirty hippy voice): simplifyyy, man!

Edit: (using the stylus is simpler than a d-pad and two face buttons)

Lunker

Hey, the trailer actually looks interesting. I had written this off based solely on what I had seen of Ubisoft's concept art:

But the trailer shows off some interesting stuff. I'm curious as to how it controls; blend of control pad and stylus? There are parts in the trailer where the stylus isn't doing anything but there's definite action on-screen.

Xagarath

Lunker wrote: »

I'm curious as to how it controls; blend of control pad and stylus?

I think that's probably the case.

JihadJesus

Any 2D platformer being released has my attention up until it proves itself to be complete shit. That chib-prince is strike 1, Ubi, and the emphasis on stylus controls could go either way depending on whether or not you fuck it up.

Still, add to list of games to be aware of.

Renzo

The art, especially the environments, reminds me of Wind Waker. Looks fun. But I wonder if you can choose between buttons or stylus control.

darleysam

Can't watch the trailer here at work, but yeah, that concept art is attrocious.

It's like the polar opposite of Warrior Within, and that's still not a good thing.

Arceus

Chance wrote: »

Elika (is it Elika?)

Why is she flying? Is it like Celia in Phantom Hourglass?

Anyway I was sceptical about this kind of control in Phantom Hourglass but it turned out to work like a charm there so I'm gonna give The Fallen King the benefit of the doubt for now as well. I'm sure they wouldn't choose this control scheme if they didn't think it added anything to the experience.

Saddler

I don't know, reminds me of Ninja Gaiden DS. That kind of control seems more like pointing at the screen to me than playing.

yalborap

I would totally buy it if that concept art was how it looked.

Assuming it was good and all, you know.

Chance

Arceus wrote: »

Chance wrote: »

Elika (is it Elika?)

Why is she flying? Is it like Celia in Phantom Hourglass?

Anyway I was sceptical about this kind of control in Phantom Hourglass but it turned out to work like a charm there so I'm gonna give The Fallen King the benefit of the doubt for now as well. I'm sure they wouldn't choose this control scheme if they didn't think it added anything to the experience.

Good point - and without a hands-on to tell us more, anything else is just conjecture - which I'm more than happy to attempt. In Phantom Hourglass the stylus worked beautifully, you're right. It gave the boomerang in particular great functionality and made sending bombs and arrows at their targets a breeze.

Based on the (limited, which is why this is all surmise) gameplay we've seen, nearly everything we've seen thus far could have been served by the same controls scheme used in, for example, New Super Mario Bros. Aside from the Elika(?) bit.

I'm just playing at devil's advocate here - a review of the actual game as opposed to comments based on a short little video may well reveal that, like PH, the stylus controls allow for gameplay that could not have been possible otherwise. It's worth noting the devil can be a douche and makes a habit of being wrong - losing golden fiddles to boys named Jonny, et cetera.

Glal

Saddler wrote: »

I don't know, reminds me of Ninja Gaiden DS. That kind of control seems more like pointing at the screen to me than playing.

Pushing buttons is gameplay, but using a stylus isn't?

Htown

Yeah, didn't you know? Also, all mouse-based PC "games" are really non-games, and light gun games do not actually exist in normal space-time.

Darlan

Man, the audio couldn't clash more with the visual style.

slash000

Interesting. Just saw this.

I'll wait and see how this game plays out before judging it.

It could be great or it could be bad. Can't much tell from the trailer.

apotheos

I can't help but feel this is a cash in.

We don't need more cash ins. We need more originality.

Somestickguy

Whoa whoa stop the presses.

Look at the picture of the prince in the corner in the part before the last.

Why does he have grey hair? And look nothing like the prince?

Lord Jezo

Coins and stuff..

Sort of reminds me of Aladdin on the SNES.

Opium

apotheos wrote: »

I can't help but feel this is a cash in.

Weird, to me it's exactly the opposite. Why would they go chibi if it was a cash in? Especially with this franchise. And why would they even bother with innovative touchscreen controls and gameplay? They could also just pump out a generic standard platformer, like a rehash of the old 2D PoPs, and call it a day. This doesn't come across to me as a cash-in at all, I really don't see where you got that from.

Darlan

How does the chibi-style indicate that it's not a cash in? Uh, this is a DS game, you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#Nintendo_DS

Somestickguy

Why is no-one talking about my amazing discovery

EggyToast

Yeah, I'm with the "why is this entirely with the stylus" guys. Phantom Hourglass worked because Zelda games are largely about puzzles, so the notes & maps were great. The combat, though, was a little clunky using just the stylus, and you could tell that they toned down the quantity of monsters and generally made monsters easier to kill.

Which is OK in Zelda, because combat isn't in the forefront there. Here, it looks like there's a lot of combat & jumping. Well, jumping isn't fun when it's just "tap here," which is why NSMB barely used the stylus.

Still, it could prove to be more of a supplement to the gameplay, and since Ubi seemed to make good changes to the console version of PoP, I'm optimistic about the DS game. It doesn't look bad, just possibly meh.

Zombiemambo

Chance wrote: »

I'm all about platformers (lately I've been putting together an uberthread on the subject actually), particularly beautiful 2D platformers - but this just doesn't appeal to me.

I'm not sure why, but I think it's the stylus control. Tap this edge to leap to it, tap this hanging-circle thing to go there... okay. Yes, I get it - using the unique control possibilities of the DS is a positive thing - but (perhaps it's my ancient and jaded gamer's heart) I think it would be better served by goin' a little old school. Apart from the 360 degree magic-shooting with Elika (is it Elika?), nothing in that trailer couldn't have been done with a d-pad and two face buttons.

I don't think that's the point.

Ziggymon

I like how some elements are taken from mario galaxy. But from what it looks like from that video, like someone said earlier that the game is playing its-self rather than you having full control. Still have to wait until we get a hands on or something.

DeMoN

The art is pretty horrible. Reminds me of an educational cartoon.

AbsoluteZero

Jumping around collecting coins? Sign me up.