Ubisoft’s forthcoming downloadable content for Prince of Persia will not be integral to the story established in the full game, associate producer Jamal Rguigui has revealed.
Rguigui was responding to criticism taken from CVG’s forums in which gamers expressed their dissatisfaction at the idea of forking out cash for the DLC in order to obtain the original game’s ‘true ending.’
"Prince of Persia is a complete game and the ending is definitely the one we had in mind, literally, from day one," said Rguigui.
"The Prince of Persia Epilogue is a special added bonus that goes on to illustrate events in the characters’ lives following the closure of the game. In fact, that’s basically the definition of an epilogue – it’s a passage that is not integral to the story but that gives an insight into the future of the characters.”
"The creative team behind Prince of Persia developed a story that they hoped would make players reflect upon the adventure that they had lived and why the story unfolded as it did. Sometimes, wrapping up all of the mysteries of a story is not the best way to conclude – we wanted to leave some doors open to mystery. There is a short narrative text at the beginning of Prince of Persia:
The wind is free, but the sand goes where it is blown.
Unaware of the world around it, whirling on the breath of the Gods, at the mercy of the storm that engulfs it.
What is one grain of sand in the desert?
One grain amongst the storm?
"It was our hope that people’s interpretation of this text would change as they played the game and as they lived the adventure of Prince of Persia. What did this phrase mean to you when you first started, what did it mean when you finished? And, possibly, does your perception change once again once you play the Epilogue?"
In addition, Rguigui noted that community feedback has resulted in the development team upping the difficulty level for the DLC in the form of new puzzles and more challenging combat/acrobatic sequences.