History VideoGame / PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime

* ArbitrarySkepticism: Farah surely had known about the dagger's time-twisting power before the adventure began, but [[spoiler:after the ResetButton is pressed, she believes that the whole story told by the Prince could be nothing but a fairy-tale.]]

* CutsceneIncompetence: The cutscene where the Prince falls into the prison. He runs onto a bridge, and the ground collapses under his feet. Apparently he forgot that he could rewind time.

* CycleOfHurting: There is no MercyInvincibility when you take a hit and enemies don't necessarily abide by MookChivalry either. Thus, if you get knocked down and multiple enemies are trying to attack, it's very possible to take several hits before you're even allowed to get on your feet. Luckily you are able to block while lying on the ground but this doesn't make every instance of damage unavoidable.

* DeathGlare: The Prince gives an absolutely ''withering'' one [[spoiler:after he wakes up to find that Farah stole his weapons and ran off]], though its target is long gone, so no one but the player gets to see it.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: The Prince [[spoiler:saves Farah from death by rewinding time to the max (and also unwittingly unleashing the Dahaka on himself), and he still doesn't get Farah in the end. At least, not until VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones]].

** Hitting enemies with the Dagger freezes them in place, open to a OneHitKill. While this move consumes a Power Tank, it can be abused in areas where there are plenty of enemies. In the third game, the Dagger acts like a typical weapon.
** Absorbing enough Sand Clouds will increase the Prince's maximum Sand Tanks. Similarly, absorbing enough Sand from enemies will increase maximum Power Tanks. In ''Warrior Within'' and ''The Two Thrones'', the Prince only obtains Sand Tank upgrades in specific locations.
** There are no sub-weapons in this game unlike the sequels. Instead, the Prince's weapons are obtained through progression, and aren't dropped by enemies.

** Saving is done by walking into beams of light, which gives The Prince visions of his next actions. In Warrior Within and Two Thrones, The Prince drinks from small fountains to save.
* EleventhHourSuperpower: Zig-zagged. [[spoiler: The Prince temporarily loses the Dagger of Time when Farah steals it, meaning no more rewinding, but does get a sword that [[OneHitKill instantly kills all enemies]]. Even when he recovers the dagger, it's empty, and the one-hit-kill makes it harder to recharge the dagger]].

** The game is peppered with premonitory visions that show you exactly how to traverse the incoming platforming section and what enemies to expect. However, as the game progresses, the visions become increasingly ominous, cutting away to Farah in a suspicious way and occassionaly showing her death. Even the Prince himself is shown to die in a few visions. This of course plays on the gamer's forged trust on said visions.

** Any time the Prince visits the magical fountain that increases his maximum health counts as this. They all follow the same pattern: the Prince finds a hidden passageway leading to a massive void filled with rope bridges that all lead to the fountain. Once the Prince drinks from the fountain, he seizes up, eyes glowing brilliant blue, before he comes to back outside the passageway entrance, which has now disappeared. One time, Farah even seems to see him enter one of the passages, but when he reappears outside the passageway, she acts as though he hadn't gone anywhere.

* PermanentlyMissableContent: It can be easy to miss at least some of the collectibles that you'll need to expand the Prince's max health and sand energy, and the fact that the game discourages backtracking with numerous [[PointOfNoReturn points of no return]] (i.e., jumping out of a window you can't climb back into) doesn't help matters. Better keep some backup saves if you want your to keep your quest for OneHundredPercentCompletion short!

* PointOfNoReturn: There are more than A HANDFUL of places in the game where once you pass, you cannot return, frustrating many completionists. And the game gives no warning whatsoever that you have passed such a point.

** [[spoiler:The hourglass can serve as an even more powerful button, which the Prince takes full advantage of.]]

* ShoutOut: When the Prince ends up at a place with the Life Extension Fountain for the first time:
-->'''Prince:''' [[Film/TheWizardOfOz I have a feeling I'm not in Azad anymore.]]

* UnresolvedSexualTension: The Prince and Farah bond over the course of the game, growing closer and closer. The Prince even starts considering asking her hand in marriage. [[spoiler:It's implied they may have even had sex. After she dies, he's forced to rewind time, undoing her death but also their bonding, to the point where the game ends without them really knowing each other in the first place. The Prince even tries kissing her before leaving, but he even rewinds that event when it doesn't go along as planned.]]
* UnreliableNarrator: [[spoiler:Since the entire game is narrated via flashback, when you die, the Prince backs up and says "that's not how it happened" or something similar.]]

* WalkingShirtlessScene: Pretty much the rest of the game, from the moment the Prince takes off his shirt in the dungeon.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The Prince narrates throughout the game. [[spoiler:This is because he's in fact narrating to Farah in the present time. The whole game is one big flashback, with the exception of the FinalBoss, which happens right after the Prince finishes his tale.]]

** Hitting enemies with the Dagger freezes them in place, open to a OneHitKill. While this move consumes Sand, it can be abused in areas where there are plenty of enemies. In the third game, the Dagger acts like a typical weapon.
** Absorbing enough Sand fields (including those dropped by enemies) will increase the Prince's maximum Sand Tanks. In ''Warrior Within'' and ''The Two Thrones'', the Prince only obtains Sand Tank upgrades in specific locations.

* ArcWords: "Honor and glory." It's even the title of the final part of the game.

** More literally, the Prince says these exact words whenever you get a Game Over.

The game was originally released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}} and UsefulNotes/PlayStation2. A UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance ReformulatedGame came out at the same time, [[CompressedAdaptation loosely following the console storyline]] (plus a few {{Call Back}}s to ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia1'') but with completely different gameplay. It could be [[OldSaveBonus linked with the GameCube version]] for extra bonuses in both games. [[UpdatedRerelease An HD rerelease]] of this game, along with its sequels, came out for UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation 3}} in 2010.

* ApocalypseHow: The Prince and Farah are trying to prevent a Class 4 one throughout the game. If the Sands of Time are not re-sealed, they will eventually spread and consume the entire world, turning all humans and animals into sand monsters.

* ApocalypseHow: The Prince and Farah are trying to prevent a Class 4 one throughout the game. If the Sands of Time are not re-sealed, they will eventually spread and consume the entire the world, turning all humans and animals into sand monsters.

* InformingTheFourthWall: The Prince will occasionally gripe about Farah and her attitude, or reminisce about his love for her. This gets lampshaded twice, by the Prince himself, no less. "Why am I talking to myself?"

* EleventhHourSuperpower: Zig-zagged. The Prince loses the Dagger of Time, meaning no more rewinding, but does get a sword that {{One Hit Kill}}s all enemies. Even when he recovers the dagger, it's empty, and the one-hit-kill makes it harder to recharge the dagger.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Farah's hostile reaction to the Prince when he kisses her at the end. [[spoiler:Since the Prince ended up rewinding time to before the game began, all his adventures with Farah were undone, as were the feelings she developed for him. From her perspective, she's only known him for a few hours at most.]]

A 4K remake was announced on September 10th of 2020 for release in March 18th 2021. However, it has since been delayed. Peep the trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38t8AA-vaDs here]].

* {{Claustrophobia}}: The Prince mentions this once. It doesn't come up at all afterwards.

* ZombifyTheLiving: The glittering dust clouds of the Sands of Time do this to any unprotected creatures they come in contact with, creating a localized ZombieApocalypse within the palace when the Hourglass is unlocked.

A remake was announced on September 10th of 2020 for release in March 18th 2021. However, it has since been delayed. Peep the trailer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38t8AA-vaDs here]].

* ContinuityReboot: The critically-panned 1995 version of ''Prince of Persia'' led Jordan Mechner (the creator of the franchise) to create a new, likeable Prince with an interesting storyline, and an AppliedPhlebotinum that justifies the players' ability to rewind time rather than repeat a segment over and over again. It worked.

* LapPillow: The Prince finds himself later in the game being held like this twice by Farah while he's unconscious from entering the Sand Vortexes. The first time this happens, she's [[PleaseDontLeaveMe begging him not to leave her]] while calling him her love, and the second time, she's fondly stroking his head.

* StandardStatusEffects: Some enemies shoot projectiles that can cause Fire (extra damage), Poison (damage over time unless you use an Antidote) or Ice Paralysis (frozen in place until you mash B to break out). Also, touching a Sand Zombie causes Dizziness (reverses your D-pad controls for a short time).

* BulletTime: The Slow ability.

* EleventhHourSuperpower: Zig-zagged. The Prince loses the Dagger of Time, meaning no more rewinding, but does get a sword that {{One Hit Kill}}s all enemies.