If someone put a gun to my head and told me to write reviews that didn’t start and end with statements of only borderline relevance, I would probably tell them to pull the trigger. A good hook is critical to piquing interest, and compromising its effectiveness in any way can dramatically weaken the entire review, or prevent the establishment of an interesting through-line altogether. It would be like requiring a game to lack a unique selling point, which is hard to even imagine when it’s such a basic rule of marketing a product. However, Prince of Persia might just be an example of what that would look like. It doesn’t add anything to the series’ parkour gameplay, the iconic time manipulation of the Sands of Time trilogy has been taken out, and the overarching structure has shifted into a basic collectathon of 540 glowing orbs. Much has been said over its decision to have the prince’s companion always rescue him from fatal mistakes, and while I disagree that this contextualized checkpoint system makes the game easier, it does drain the tension that was unique to this style of gameplay. The only hook Prince of Persia could be said to have is its beautiful animated-movie style presentation, with all its polished animations and details that flesh out the characters without interrupting gameplay. However, details like these are supposed to be icing on the cake, and aren’t a substitution for fun and engaging interactivity. A spoonful of icing can be a treat, but it’s not a good idea to make an entire cake out of the stuff.