When Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’s remake was first unveiled in 2020, it was very clearly not a project that Ubisoft had pumped a lot of resources into, but once, after backlash from fans, it was handed over to Ubisoft Montreal in 2022, hopes were high that the new development team would make a much more ambitious reimagining of the beloved 2003 classic.
A recent tease of the game at Ubisoft Forward didn’t give much away, but in an interview published by Ubisoft not long afterward, the game’s two leads have revealed some brief details on the new elements we can expect to see in the remake that weren’t present in the original game.
Speaking specifically about the game’s story, game director Michael McIntyre said. “We’re not going to tell a different story; it is still the same story that we know from the original, because it was really a beautiful story. It was nice to have a love story being told in a game that way, and so we want to honor that, but there are a lot of nuances to how we can deliver a story that we think will really enrich the players’ experience.
“The characters should feel familiar to people who play the game, and that’s a goal for us – but it should feel a little bit like a layer is being peeled back and you can see more, that you get to know more about them.”
As per McIntyre, the biggest story-related change the remake is making is giving Farah a larger and more involved role. “Probably the biggest development that we’ve done is to make Farah more present,” he said. “We’re able to add more interactions between her and the Prince, so you can get more from their relationship. They will simply spend more time beside each other.”
Creative director Bio Jade Adam Granger spoke about Farah as well, adding that the remake will look to modernize her portrayal and “revamp her as a great character” by giving her greater depth and agency. That said, as per Granger, a lot of the new Farah-related content that is being added in is going to be optional.
“One of the things that’s very dear to me is modernizing Farah,” she said. “While she was a great character in the original, I think she lacked agency and depth as a person. So we really make her a true companion; she has reasons to be there, she’s a true ally, but also a full-fledged person with a background, wants, needs, desires, and tastes. We really want to revamp her as a great character, even if she’s not playable.
“To us, the affection between both has to feel earned, and it needs to be realistic or relatable that she falls in love with the Prince and vice versa. That being said, we’re keeping the plot as-is; we are not adding tons of additional scenes. What we add for Farah is often optional, to give her more depth without overextending the narrative.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the devs also revealed that the remake will also be making changes in areas such as the level design, the scale of the world, and the combat. Read more on that through here.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is due out sometime in 2026.
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