Prince of Persia Mega Compendium
September 20th, 2009
(My Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones review is now up at VGB so please take a read. Much like the others it’s an exhaustive write-up. Also, this review evidences my previous article Prince of Persia Trilogy: Purity, Transgressions and Dichotomy so please feel free to take a read of that as I’ve edited in all the required links.)
Popular bloggers, the ones with many hits and high posting frequencies, often tend to compile monthly or even weekly anthologies of their posts as a sort of round up, ‘best of’ collection, saving these compilations for the quiet days of the week.
I don’t do this much, because frankly it’s all pretty lazy. If you want to hear me discuss Half-life, find the Half-life tag and follow the trail. I should probably makes tags a little easier to find though. Hmm…I’ll get onto that – anyways, I’ve written something like 12,000 words on the Prince of Persia series over the past few months, not just here but externally too. So fittingly I should pretend to be a smug, successful blog and cobble my articles together into an anthology. Here goes;
Key Commentary
In these posts I discuss the three PS2 games and PoP Classic wholly. I focus on the narrative and platforming systems as well as the varying thematic attires of each game.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time review (PS2)
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within review (PS2)
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones Review (PS2)
Prince of Persia Classic Criticism
Additional Commentaries
These articles are written with a broader angle focusing instead on my overarching thoughts on the series and trilogy, plus the usual cultural snark.
Prince of Persia Trilogy: Purity, Transgressions and Dichotomy
Balancing Western and Middle Eastern Cultures in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
XIII Vs Prince of Persia (Next Gen) – Cel-Shaded Comparison
Additional Readings
Porting Two Thrones to PSP and Wii – Ben Mattes Blog
Balancing Western and Middle Eastern Cultures in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
September 2nd, 2009
(This is a canned GameSetWatch column. You might notice that I’ve moved from the biweekly format. I hope you enjoy.)
Middle Eastern folk tales have for centuries held a prominent place in the world’s rich thematic of story telling. The earlier stories began their lives existing within the fragility of spoken language. If a story could garnered enough interest within a community it would spread with a pervasive force to neighbouring communities, hoping from township to township. Each step would see the tale take on new forms as cultural influences push and pull various plot points. One Thousand and One Nights is a prime example of such a story, a culmination of Arabic, Persian, Indian and Egyptian traditions and beliefs all rolled into the one collection of fables.
Print would soon come to immortalize these stories and with cross national trade taking place it wouldn’t be long before what originated as a series of stories spread among a few townships became a larger part of the world’s global culture. These stories, now translated, compiled into books and distributed globally would become the foundation for western adaptions into film and then animation. Arabian Nights (1942) The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Aladdin (1992) represent some of the most significant western adaptions of prominent Middle Eastern folk tales. In this industry though, we have Prince of Persia, a game which I would argue has an elusive purity in large part due to the rich palette it draws from.
When creating a piece of media derived from such a rich cultural background it’s important to find a comfortable middle ground which both respects the source culture and the intended audience. After all, you want the audience to enjoy the media, yet at the same time your inspiration contains the beliefs and ideologies of other people, you’d be a criminal to trample all over that by misrepresenting their values.
The Prince of Persia series does partake in its fair share of trampling and a fair share positive representation too. Context is also important, so I say it’s well worth having a look at how Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (it’s my favourite) balances either end.
(The texts are symbolic of the culture, therefore I should clarify by saying that it’s not so important that the new piece of media abides by the original text as so much as to be respectful of intents and cultural differences.)
Generally speaking, Sands of Time is similar to many modern films inspired by the Middle East. Sands of Time is an innocent stab at a popular theme mixed with western ideals and influence. Just like other western attempts it very much takes the extremely oriental perspective, treating the subject matter as the weird and wonderful, yet never quite normal — like us. There’s always a distance to be drawn. The narrative, characters and setting are therefore all set within the appropriate cultural context of western expectations and there’s nothing too culturally offensive so to speak. It might be clichéd but even in this sense, the game deserves major kudos for at least not misrepresenting the culture in this post 9/11 world. Clearly the game was made with good if not a little characterized intent.
My presumption here is that by setting the game and its cast somewhere in the past all is seen as okay since after all Middle Eastern people weren’t really all that bad back then, they’re just not very good now. Taking the safe path through Persian history allows Ubisoft to avoid dealing with the aforementioned stereotypes that westerners hold against the contemporary Middle East. The game can never put modern Middle Eastern people and positive attributes in the same pool. The characters very much reflect this attitude by firmly planting themselves as traditional. If we extend our scope a little into the latest incarnation of the series we can see a contradiction in how the heavily western Prince of Persia (2008) protagonists are designed as people with modern day sensibilities, yet the Middle Eastern folk are reserved to the safe archetype of being traditional. If they’re traditional they’re even less like us and therefore that’s okay. Alas, I digress, let’s stay focused on the characters though.
Characters are very important to this conversation as they’re role models of their culture. As with the game in general, the Prince conforms to typically western tropes, maintaining enough Persian influence through appearance and accent to justify his title of Persian descent. As a partly western character he plays the role of the masculine hero in pursuit of the buxom babe – and yes the babe is suitably buxom. His warrior’s attire very much highlights this, making him ever more masculine as he loses various pieces of his clothing. There’s both quality and detriment to this approach. Portraying the somewhat Middle Eastern protagonist as a competent, albeit western, hero is no doubt positive, yet doing so by means which suppress the Middle Eastern culture is itself misleading. An ideal means would be to depict the Prince’s gradual maturation through a Middle Eastern lens by their own perceptions of heroism. This itself though is difficult within a western context, hence the foregrounded western ideologies can be forgiven as the acceptable norm.
What cannot be forgiven though is how the most Middle Eastern appearing characters in the game; the sand creatures, are depicted as barbaric and dangerous. Most of the monsters are also significantly disfigured and equipped with privative weapons as well. Of course, they’re enemies, fodder for the Prince’s blade, they should look menacing and evil. Wrapping them up in turbans, vests and traditional garbs, and layering them with a grey skin colour and possessed eyes only appeals to our underlying racist sensibilities. Ironically, the Prince’s father in which the Prince must slay early on is the most dressed up of them all.
I’ve been rather critical so far of what is for the most part standard fair in the entertainment business, so let’s look at some of the better representations. Throughout the whole trilogy the importance of water is implicitly stressed through it’s symbolism of life. The Prince drinks water to heal and save, often having to go for multiple drinks to fully refill his health bar. Sand, through the sands of time and sand creatures may also be an opposing metaphor for death.
The game also acknowledges the early conflict between India and neighbouring countries, often referencing names within the real life setting. Furthermore the narrative frequently uses terms of Indian and Muslim hierarchy such as Maharajah and Vizier. Arabic is also encrusted on the Prince’s sword.
Conclusion
The underlying connotations of Sands of Time inherently underpin typically western ideas and norms. Yet Sands of Time‘s acknowledgement and mostly positive representation of the Middle East, while flawed, should not be understated. It’s a typical byproduct of dominant western ideologies, conforming to similarly misguided adaptions which created the precedence for Prince of Persia’s overall theme. This much is to be expected though, we see the world through our own cultural lens and our entertainment is nothing more than a reflection of that.
The Ideal Prince of Persia
August 31st, 2009
Beyond the stunning, cel-shaded visual design as shown in previous screenshots, two trailers released last year for Prince of Persia (2008) reignited my interest in the series. You can watch them below, they’re rather emotive pieces of media;
The gorgeous artistic direction and affectionate music are a stirring combination. They were encapsulating pieces of media which confirmed my faith that this new installment would embody what I have for a long time believed to be the essence of the series. This elusive purity in theme and story as depicted by the cel-shaded visuals, crisp colour and withering voice of the female singer.
I haven’t played Prince of Persia yet, but the consensus appears to be that the trailers were something of a ruse, where in actuality Prince of Persia clings tightly to safe ground. Specifically I’m referring to the westernized personas of the protagonists, and the narrative conclusion. The latter of which hasn’t been made apparent to me, knowing only that it attempts to leverage a possible sequel for itself, riding the money train yet again.
True or not, I hold the trailers up in high regard, because they’re ultimately the Prince of Persia that I want. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time minus all the noise – basically. I want to play a Prince of Persia which is not so self-conscious of being a video game. A game which is silent, rather than menacingly epic – just the player, a chain of ledges and platforms and no interruptions. The platforming is sublime, just gives us this slice, hold the pickles, please.
The Prince of Persia Trilogy in no way required the shallow story, button-mashing combat or a buxom female accomplice, nor did Sands of Time ever warrant a sequel. Why must games continue to over-egg the epic and provide more? Can’t this industry trim the fat, just a little, and make the less more refined rather than more less refined?
The end of Two Thrones captured glimpses of this silent portrayal of the series. Obviously the combat and sharp edged obstacles are nuisances here, so just skip those parts;
The visual design here is very indicative of this point of solace in the game’s narrative. A beautifully moody, yet calm atmosphere with glowing highlights which colour the fantasy environment. It’s an aesthetic wonder which Zelda: Twilight Princess made me first appreciate, particularly in the gorgeous Palace of Twilight. I’m not fond of all the visual elements of Twilight Princess, but the macabre black with green and pink highlights is a real visual peak for the company. The darker parts of the Prince of Persia trailer as well as the Two Thrones video above capture the visual look and feel.
A minimalistic Prince of Persia with such an aesthetic is what I would consider to be an ideal interpretation.
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