Platforming Tips

Prince of Persia®: The Two Thrones is equal parts combat and platforming, and while the two often go hand in hand, each subject is worthy of its own tips article. If you need a bit of help with the environmental challenges Two Thrones offers, these tips should fit the bill.

Use Them Eyes
Throughout the game, you'll enter an area and see two eyes pop up on the screen. This is an indication that you can press the white button to the see a top down view of the proceedings. Usually, this is because the room or area offers up a complex platforming puzzle. Make sure you use this view whenever it's available. It will allow you to plan out the entire platforming sequence at once, as opposed to discovering on the fly.

Well timed.

When in Doubt, Look Up
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, like its predecessors, is a vertical game. If you enter an area, and can't see an obvious choice on how to progress, make sure you enter first person mode (black button), and look around and above you. You'll often find a dagger location (the silver engraved areas on a wall you run up to and sink your dagger into), or a ledge you wouldn't have noticed.

In Position
Using the Speed Kill system as much as possible is highly advisable, but you'll often need to utilize your platforming skills to set up a Speed Kill. Any time you see an enemy you can't obviously get behind, look for ledges to climb up onto or any platforming element that can get you behind them. If they're across a chasm, you'll often find a rebounding panel just before them. If you do, instead of pressing A when you get to the panel, you'll have an opportunity to press Y to engage a Speed Kill. Look for these opportunities.

The Hurry-Up Prince
The Dark Prince is in ever-present danger (his health deteriorates slowly over time), and while the initial scenarios have lots of combat that refills your health, you'll find many instances later on where he'll need to go through prolonged platforming sections before he can find any health-regenerating sand.

Any time you start out as the Dark Prince, take a quick look at your surroundings and pause the game. This way, you can think about what you just saw, figure out what you want to do, and not waste any of his health while you make your plans.

Good Speed Kill position.

In the General Direction
Platforming games have always required some pretty precise timing, and Two Thrones is no different. That said, you don't always need to be spot-on when moving to the next obstacle. For example, if you're running up to a dagger location, you can be just a bit to the right or left and still attach to it just fine. The same rule applies to jumping from a ledge to a column, or any other number of movements.

Depth perception may be good in the game, but there are times when it's hard to judge just where the right location is. Two Thrones understands this, and won't penalize you if you're just a shade off.

Up from the Bar
You may find quite frequently that you're swinging around a pole, only to see that there's nowhere to jump to. Stop swinging, and press up and A to pull yourself on top of the pole. You'll likely find a location you can jump to from there.

Platform Bosses
The Prince of Persia games have always combined platforming and combat, but nowhere is this more applicable than when fighting a boss. In fact, you won't be able to do squat against them until you find the environmental trick to defeating them.

Take the giant sand gladiator in the arena for example. You need two different areas you can navigate up towards, in order to leap onto the gladiator in order to initiate a Speed Kill like sequence. After you blind both eyes, you can chop away at his legs to finish him off, but not until then.

Article by Alex McLain