Line #35 VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheForgottenSands


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4	''Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands'' is the collective title of four ''Franchise/PrinceOfPersia'' games ([[Platform/PlayStation3 PS3]]/[[Platform/Xbox360 360]]/PC, [[Platform/PlayStationPortable PSP]], [[Platform/NintendoDS DS]] and Platform/{{Wii}}), released by Creator/{{Ubisoft}} in 2010 alongside the movie adaptation of ''Film/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime''. It [[{{Unreboot}} disregards]] the ContinuityReboot of the [[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008 the game released two years earlier]] in favor of [[TrilogyCreep new chapters]] in the ''Sands of Time'' trilogy set between ''[[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime Sands of Time]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin Warrior Within]]''. All four games feature entirely different stories with different characters, locations and plots, rather than being multi-platform adaptations of the same game. In the home console version, for example, the Prince fights to save his brother's kingdom and the game features ElementalPowers, while the Wii version shows the Prince exploring a ruined kingdom overtaken by a sentient plant with the help of a genie.
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6	!!Tropes appearing in those games:
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8	[[foldercontrol]]
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10	[[folder:Tropes common in all versions]]
11	* AnarchicOrder: An interesting case where the different versions of the game do this on their own; most of them take place between ''Sands of Time'' and ''Warrior Within'', but [[spoiler:the DS version is actually set after ''The Two Thrones'']].
12	* {{Anthology}}: The different versions of the game result in this. Despite all having the same title, ''The Forgotten Sands'' covers four different adventures the Prince experienced after killing the Vizier but before discovering that the Dahaka was coming for him. [[spoiler:Except one is a StealthSequel to ''The Two Thrones'' which places it after the Prince had killed the Dahaka]]. That aside, the exact order these games transpire isn't stated, making this trope more prominent.
13	* BittersweetEnding: Every version ends on one, though the exact details differ between versions.
14	* {{Interquel}}: Most versions of the game are this, taking place between the first and second game. Since none of them mention the Dahaka, it's likely they take place before ''Battles of Prince of Persia'', which is what causes the Prince to shift into his darker personality seen in ''Warrior Within''.
15	* NonIndicativeName: As a subtitle, ''The Forgotten Sands'' isn't really applicable to any of these games. The closest would be the "next-gen" / PC version, where Solomon's Army emerges from sand, but the army's existence is not treated as being forgotten. Instead, the subtitle is closer to meaning "The Untold Adventures" or something of that ilk.
16	* OurGeniesAreDifferent: Both the console and Wii versions feature genies, or Djinn, as characters. This shows that there are several types, with the console version showing Razia, a member of a tribe of Djinn known as the Marid who are based in water and look like normal humans, and Ratash, a member of a tribe of Djinn known as the Ifrit who are based in fire and look like a giant monster, while earth and wind based Djinn are mentioned. Meanwhile the Wii version introduces a genie Zahra, who resembles a small golden person or light and comes from the kingdom of Izdihar, where genies acted as seers and protectors.
17	* {{Revision}}: Since ''VideoGame/BattlesOfPrinceOfPersia'' revealed that it took a full year for the Dahaka to actually appear after the events of the first game, the different versions of ''The Forgotten Sands'' reveal that the Prince had several adventures during that year.
18	* TrilogyCreep: The fourth game (or indeed, fourth-to-seventh games) in what was once the ''Sands of Time'' trilogy.
19	* {{Unreboot}}: [[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008 The last game in the series]] was a ContinuityReboot. This is a return to the ''Sands of Time'' continuity, which itself was a ContinuityReboot of the originals.This trope is somewhat wishy-washy given that the franchise had already done three different continuities by this point (the originals, ''Sands of Time'' and ''2008'') and had more afterwards. However the point remains that, as of 2024, this is the only time the franchise has abjectly ''returned'' to a previous continuity.
20	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Considering that ''The Forgotten Sands'' chronological placement between the first two games of the ''Sands'' trilogy, many fans of the series may be left wondering why the Dahaka never made an appearance in any version of the games. That's because ''The Forgotten Sands'' group of games are probably set in the year after ''Sands of Time'': according to the Platform/NintendoDS spin-off ''VideoGame/BattlesOfPrinceOfPersia'', the Dahaka didn't manifest immediately, but only some time later.
21	[[/folder]]
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23	[[folder:[=PS3=]/360/PC version]]
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25	Sent by his father to learn leadership from his older brother Malik, the Prince arrives to find his brother's kingdom under attack by forces wishing to acquire the magical Sand Army imprisoned within that once belonged to Solomon. Malik however ends up freeing the evil Djinn Ratash, who seeks revenge of humanity for imprisoning him, while the Prince joins forces with the water Djinn Razia who helped seal Ratash away, going on an epic adventure where he must learn the bear the responsibility of true leadership.
26	----
27	* AchievementMockery: You can permanently lower your current difficulty anytime in the game. Doing this earns you the achievement "Our Little Secret".
28	* AmbiguousSituation: You never learn who is attacking Malik's kingdom or for what reason, though it's implied that they were also after the Sand Army. Their only real purpose is for TheWarSequence opening and forcing Malik to release Solomon's Army.
29	* BigBad: This time, the villain is Ratash, a 1000-year old Ifrit who was sealed away with his army of sand monsters by King Solomon and unleashed by Malik.
30	* BigRedDevil: Ratash's basic appearence is that of a massive, brutal-looking demon with red skin and curved horns.
31	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Prince survives and saves Malik's kingdom and all its inhabitants, but at the cost of Malik's life.]]
32	* BloodKnight: The more Sand Creatures Malik slays, the more bloodthirsty and arrogant he becomes, until [[spoiler:[[DemonicPossession he's possessed by Ratash]]]].
33	* CallBack: Like in ''The Sands of Time'', a magical sand is released inside a grand palace in the desert despite the protests of one of the main characters. As well, the main characters possessing an artifact related to said sands is what protects them from being consumed by the sands, and towards the end the Prince picks up a sword that kills mooks in one hit.
34	* CallForward: Several themes and events are similar to ones in ''Warrior Within'' and ''The Two Thrones'':
35	** It's suggested that Razia has some idea of what her fate is and how the story will play out as far as her involvement is concerned. [[spoiler: In ''Warrior Within'', both the Prince and Kaileena are much less accepting of their fates once they are confronted by them]].
36	** The best sword in the game is the water-themed Djinn Sword, the most powerful in the game. [[spoiler: In ''Warrior Within'', the Water Sword holds the same title, and is key to defeating the Dahaka for the GoldenEnding]].
37	** Malik gradually focuses on trying to control Solomon's Army despite them inflicting horrors upon his city and people, with the Prince criticizing his leadership. [[spoiler: The Prince will fall into the same pattern in ''The Two Thrones'', focusing on killing the Vizier over helping his own people, which is similarly criticized by his own companion, Farah]].
38	** Malik winds up [[spoiler: being corrupted by absorbing the energy of Solomon's Army, focusing on selfish needs at the expense of his people, and eventually becomes a demon-like entity for his troubles. In ''The Two Thrones'', the Prince will also be physically corrupted by the Sands of Time, and the newly-emerged Dark Prince persona has a similar demon-like appearance and convinces the Prince to focus on his own needs over that of Babylon's citizens]].
39	** At the end of the game, [[spoiler: the Prince has a close family member die, causing him great anguish (much like Farah's death in ''The Sands of Time''). Trying to subvert death via the Dahaka is a major plot point in ''Warrior Within'', and he only grows out of it after he accepts being broadly responsible for the death of his father, King Sharaman, in ''The Two Thrones'']].
40	* ContinuityNod: If you look closely, before the Prince acquires half of the key to Solomon's Vault, he's wearing the Medallion of Time in his chest armor socket, which he'll wear and outright use in ''Warrior Within'' and eventually discard at the start of ''The Two Thrones''. Of course, this is also a continuity error, as Farah was shown with Medallion on her at the very end of ''Sands of Time''.
41	* CoolSword:
42	** This time, the Prince's only weapon is the royal saber he took with him from Persia.
43	** He later uses an enchanted one given to him by Razia. Malik wields a two-handed and royal-looking scimitar. [[spoiler: Said sword is so cool Ratash keeps it the way it is, rather than using his own.]]
44	* DamnYouMuscleMemory: If you're playing the games in release order and just finished ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008'', the added climb when doing a WallJump now has to be triggered manually with the Wall Run button rather than happening automatically, and the timing window at the end before the Prince slides back down is much less forgiving. If you're instead playing the ''Sands of Time'' games in chronological order, then you're ''also'' thrown for a loop as all the shoulder button commands have been rearranged, to make way for the added Djinn powers the Prince acquires from Razia. This can at least be fixed on PC to put Wall Run on the right bumper and Rewind and the left bumper.
45	* DemonicPossession: [[spoiler:Malik ends up succumbing one when Ratash decides to take control of him.]]
46	* ElementalPowers: An optional plot point is the ability to upgrade the elemental powers associated with the weapon: [[PlayingWithFire Fire]] (leaves a damaging trail of flames), [[BlowYouAway Wind]] (knocks down all surrounding enemies), [[DishingOutDirt Earth]] (covers the Prince in an invulnerable stone armor), and [[AnIcePerson Ice]] (launches waves of frost with each attack).
47	* ElementalRivalry: Razia is a Marid Queen and rules over water and other natural elements. Ratash is a massive Ifrit Lord who rules over an army of sand-based monsters and is a force of death and entropy.
48	* {{Greed}}: Entering the treasure vault will lead you to a treasure-filled room where some invaders are busy ransacking all the gold they come across and discussing how they're going to spend it.
49	* GuideDangIt: Lampshaded. One of the Achievements requires you to find and break every sarcophagus. The name of this Achievement? "Got walkthrough?"
50	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Razia merges herself with the Djinn Sword in order to empower the blade so that it can kill Ratash.]]
51	* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Djinn Sword you get towards the end of the game one-shots every normal-sized enemy and absolutely ''chews'' through miniboss characters. What pushes it from "Minus One" to "Plus One" is that it automatically breaks the guard of shielded enemies that opens them up to a follow-up attack, rather than bouncing harmlessly off the shield like the standard sword. It's overall far more powerful in combat than even the black and gold sword from the end of ''Sands of Time''.
52	* LampshadeHanging: The Prince does a lot of this. Noting that every time he gets into one of "these situations" there's a woman ordering him around. Noting that just once he'd like a trap system that could tell him from the enemy. Asking [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes why it's always sand]], and who built a particular puzzle that needed to be solved in order to reach some stairs. Complaining that Razia didn't warn him about certain traps.
53	-->"I suppose if I were a thousand years old I'd forget things too. Like ''giant collapsing staircases that could kill people''."
54	* LaterInstallmentWeirdness: On several levels. Many of these come about because the game is actually built up from the 2008 entry and adds the classic mechanics to that (the traversal animations, floaty cloth physics and swirly tentacle-like textures for mystical elements are giveaways).
55	** The Prince can run across beams with ease like the 2008 Prince rather than slowly balancing across them like in the [=PS2=] Trilogy. Roll and jump are separate commands, water no longer heals you (breaking pots and killing enemies does), and the game saves automatically rather than at drinking fountains.
56	** The combat has the greatest change, playing more like a HackAndSlash where a fight can have as many as 30 enemies swarming the Prince at once in a single wave, rather than attacking foes a handful of foes more individually like the [=PS2=] trilogy. He can also kick enemies to break the defenses of shielded enemies, has a charge attack, but cannot hold more than one weapon like he does in ''Warrior Within'' and ''The Two Thrones''. And, as a sign of the more modern Ubisoft, there's an XP system with a skill tree, including elemental powers.
57	** The Prince himself only superficially resembles his other appearances in the series. While he has the brown hair from ''The Sands of Time'', his outfit doesn't quite match his look in ''Warrior Within'' or the movie this game released alongside. He's also the most muscular he's ever been in this continuity, and his face is closer to Creator/YuriLowenthal specifically.
58	* LedgeBats: This game subverts their role and pretty much allows you to take your revenge on them: with the Djinn power of "Flight" you can, when in midair, rush at enemies, which allows you to traverse gaps and abysses by rushing-jumping on flying enemies or enemies standing on the rim of platforms to stop you, so that you can traverse the level.
59	* LockedOutOfTheFight: To defeat Ratash, Razia becomes a part of the Prince's sword. She then promptly [[spoiler:loses her magic]] when the final battle begins due to Ratash's interference.
60	* MalevolentArchitecture: Justified in the underground city, which is said to be collapsing due to centuries of disuse. Razia has to give the Prince the power to reimagine certain components of the palace. And similar to ''The Sands of Time'', the unleashing of the Solomon's Army sands physically weathers Malik's city (which gets cranked to the extreme when they merge with a powerful sandstorm at the end of the game).
61	* MiniBoss: "Trolls" are colossal sand soldiers with large clubs who act and fight like Ratash during his first phase and are encountered as minibosses in Rakem.
62	* MortonsFork: Malik in the beginning: Either loses and the invaders get their hands on the vault containing Solomon's army, or he unleashes the army to save himself... bringing untold destruction on the country.
63	* MythologyGag: In the astrolabe level, the outer red platform and the green dome in the center re-use the textures for the Step of Ormazd and Breath of Ormazd power plates from ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008''.
64	* NewGamePlus: A rather unconventional take on the trope: starting a new save at any point will give you the option of retaining your current XP and unlocked skills, even if you haven't completed the game yet. Sadly you do not get to keep the Djinn Sword from the end of the game.
65	* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Razia gives the Prince powers one by one as the story progresses, such as the power to rewind time, freeze water, and the ability to reconstruct parts of the decayed underground city, among others. These are given the moment before the Prince needs them, which is somewhat justified as it's implied that Razia knows how these events will pan out, and thus knows exactly when the Prince will need them.
66	* NightOfTheLivingMooks: The Sand Creatures making up the core of Ratash's Army look like mummified skeletal remains wielding ancient-looking swords. Other monsters are named after the Undead and look the part.
67	* OnceAnEpisode:
68	** The Prince yet again attains a method to rewind time. After the Dagger of Time in ''Sands of Time'', Razia gifts him the ability to rewind time an hour or two into this game. ''Warrior Within'' would use Farah's medallion and ''The Two Thrones'' would reunite the Prince with the Dagger of Time.
69	** The Prince yet again acquires a new sword that one-hit-kills standard enemies and is mandatorily acquired as part of the story.
70	* OneHitKill: The Djinn sword can dispatch all lesser enemies with one blow, two with EliteMooks and four for the MiniBoss. Mitigated by the fact that the enemies tend to attack in hordes.
71	* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: You first fight Ratash, then Malik-possessed Ratash and finally Ratash transformed into a titanic, laser-spitting behemoth after absorbing the power of a sandstorm.]]
72	* PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling: A unique example in the Enemy Tides Challenge Mode unlocked after beating the game. In it, you fight eight waves of increasingly difficult enemies, and you can easily earn 500+ XP in this mode that makes it ideal for grinding out the remaining upgrades in the skill tree,
73	* PetTheDog: Once confronted by the first trapped corridor, the Prince loudly complains about how these traps do not make distinctions between he and his enemies. In a later corridor, a series of rocking axes chop some mooks into pieces much to the Prince's relief.
74	* RememberTheNewGuy: Malik, the second son of King Shahraman, is only mentioned in the opening. Apparently he was stationed in that fortress to protect the vault of Solomon's Army from enemies.
75	* SealedArmyInACan: Solomon's Army. Sadly, [[AmbiguousSyntax not as in]] "an army belonging to Solomon" but in "an army created to destroy Solomon, who sealed them away". It was composed of evil creatures of destruction and, by coming in contact with sand, they can grow in numbers until they'll become simply too numerous, and thus unstoppable.
76	* SealedEvilInACan: Ratash, a rebellious Ifrit, along with the entirety of Solomon's Army. Malik opened the can in a desperate attempt to fend off the invaders.
77	* SoleSurvivor: Razia is said to be the last of a long line of good djinns, most of whom were killed off by Ratash.
78	* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: The Prince spends the first half of the game not heeding Razia's advice and instead trying to save his brother. When he realizes that Malik can't be saved, the Prince begrudgingly gets the sword from the ancient temple, and allows Razia to fuse with it in order to defeat Ratash and Malik.
79	* TakenForGranite: The fate of Malik's people touched by Ratash' sands.
80	* ThouShaltNotKill: Downplayed (as you still "kill them"), but since it's still not at the time of ''Warrior Within'', the Prince uses less lethal methods against human enemies (if they're prone he just hit them really hard with his fists instead of stabbing them).
81	* TheWarSequence: One of the game's selling points was the massive amounts of enemies onscreen at one time. Near the end, the Prince fights his way up a staircase on the outside of a tower, killing around ''two hundred'' enemies as he does so.
82	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcQQq7xwn9U The Prince lampshades this]] after his brother releases a mystical sand-based army -- an entirely different one from the earlier games.
83	-->"Why is it always sand?"
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86	[[folder:Wii version]]
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88	Wishing to find his own kingdom so he can step out of his father's shadow, the Prince discovered a genie at the market named Zahra who agrees to help him. Creating a bond between the two of them that gives him some abilities, she takes him to the hidden kingdom of Izdihar, where the Prince unwittingly frees a trapped Sorceress and unleashes the Haoma, a magical plant responsible for ravaging the kingdom. Now the Prince and Zahra must destroy the Haoma before it spreads to the rest of the world and defeat the Sorceress.
89	----
90	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Prince rescues princess Nazreen, put an end to the Haoma threat but the Kingdom of Izdihar sinks into the sands and Zahra sacrifices herself to save the Prince.]]
91	* HowWeGotHere: The Wii version starts with the Prince and Zahra escaping the collapsing of Izdihar then the games flashes back to the beginning.
92	* NarratorAllAlong: [[spoiler:The narrator turns out to be the Sorceress who's also Princess Nazreen corrupted by the Haoma.]]
93	* ShoutOut: Kicking 20 enemies off cliffs nets you a trophy named [[Film/ThreeHundred This Is Persia]].
94	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:Even though the Prince saves Princess Nazreen by granting her his immortal spirit, she isn't seen during or after the collapsing of Izdihar. Her narration indicates that she survived and hopes to see the Prince again.]]
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97	[[folder:PSP version]]
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99	Long ago a prophecy foretold that a member of the Prince's royal family will destroy the fire spirit known as Ahihud, who rules over a mystical land and to try and avert this has sent out his minions to kill anyone with royal blood in Persia. The Prince's father seeks to keep his son safe by keeping him in a tower, but the Prince escapes and encounters Helem, one of the Daughters of Time who wishes to help the Prince defeat Ahihud in returns for freeing her sisters from imprisonment.
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101	* TwoAndAHalfD: This version is a side-scrolling platformer with 3D models.
102	* BittersweetEnding: Though this version has the happiest ending out of the four. [[spoiler:Ahihud is defeated and the Prince fulfils his role in the prophecy, but he has to bid Helem goodbye much to his regret with it being unclear whether they will ever see each other again.]]
103	* DisneyDeath: Helem seemingly sacrifices herself to allow the Prince to follow Ahihud in the Etheral world but a few seconds into the next level it's revealed that she survived.
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106	[[folder:DS version]]
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108	Captured by a cult who robs of his memories, the Prince is reunited with Razia who similarly had her powers robbed when the cult used the Djinn sword and the Prince in a ritual to resurrect their leader. She suggests that killing the four cult members, who have been transformed into sand monsters, will restore both her powers and the Prince's memories. The two thus set out on their quest for revenge against the cult and to regain what had been taken from them.
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110	* TwoAndAHalfD: This version is a side-scrolling platformer with 3D models.
111	* AmnesiacHero: The Prince lost his memories as the result of the ritual to resurrect the Master.
112	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The Prince defeats the Master and ends the spreading corruption but Razia ends up dying for good, Babylon is in a worse state than at the end of ''The Two Thrones'' and Farah is still nowhere to be seen.]]
113	* ContinuityNod : In the Nintendo DS version, [[spoiler:the first memories has the Prince in Azad and the second has the Prince saving Kaileena from the Dahaka]].
114	* GenericDoomsdayVillain: The Master of the cult who only appears at the end, only has three dialogues, never displays characterization nor states any goal.
115	* HappyEndingOverride: This game [[spoiler:does this for ''The Two Thrones''. After taking Babylon back from the Vizier, the Prince ends up being abducted by a cult. They used his blood and Razia's blade to revive their master. Unfortunately, the cursed sands destroys a few cities and turns their inhabitants into monsters. One of them turns out to be Babylon. And at the end of the game, the Prince is once again separated from Farah]].
116	* InSpiteOfANail: [[spoiler:Despite the CosmicRetcon that erased the events of ''The Sands of Time'' completely, it appears that the console/PC version of ''The Forgotten Sands'' still occurred in the new timeline shown in ''The Two Thrones''. Presumably the PSP version remains canon since erasing the Sands wouldn't affect Ahihud, though whether the events of the Wii version still occurred it up for debate since it depends on the Prince still wanting his own kingdom.]]
117	* MissionPackSequel: The DS version uses the same gameplay of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheFallenKing''.
118	* OddlySmallOrganization: The {{cult}} consists of three members and their deceased master.
119	* StealthSequel: This version has a twist: [[spoiler:Unlike the three other versions, it doesn't take place between ''Sands of Time'' and ''Warrior Within'' but after ''The Two Thrones''. When the Prince recovers his memories, he has a vision of himself saving Kaileena from the Dahaka.]]
120	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:The Prince ''briefly'' alludes to Farah after the third boss when he mentions having to save "his beloved." Still, even at the end of the game, her whereabouts remain unknown.]]
121	[[/folder]]

Context VideoGame / PrinceOfPersiaTheForgottenSands