This was my first entry into the franchise when I was a wee little kid. I remember I used to love this game for it's unique artstyle more than anything else, and after more than a decade and a half I finally came back to replay and finish it.
Keep in mind this review comes from a fan who's never played the original trilogy.
Prince of Persia (2008) is an absolutely underrated gem of a game. It has breathtakingly beautiful visuals with it's unique cell-shaded artstyle, the combat is dynamic reminiscent of a fighting game, the animations fluid, the platforming is innovative (at that time) and creative, the story was engaging, the characters charming with good chemistry, and the ending absolutely phenomenal. Now with all my praises, there must also be a talk about the negatives. A lot of the elements I mentioned have been very controversial among the fanbase.
1. The Visuals. Honestly, no downside here. The artstyle is gorgeus, the world and characters stunning, the use of color fantastic (specially in the final boss fight). The only downside is how, when you look at the ruins of the kingdom enough you start to wonder... how the hell was this thing even made? How can it exist? How did people traverse this in their daily lives? The locations are great for the game's platforming but make no sense when thinking from an in-game perspective.
2. The Combat. Whilst certainly a bold new approach for the franchise, and somewhat clunky, the combat was decently fun. Whilst some people dislike how the devs used Elika to remove death from the game claiming it gets rid of all the stakes, the reality is that the combat challenges in this game evolve as the game progresses, and as it does, so does the risk of a misinput that can lead to the boss regaining most of their lost hp.
3. The Animations. I love all the games animations, how fluid they are, and how detailed.
4. The Platforming. I both love, and hate it. Well... I don't hate the platforming as much as I hate the controls. There's no diagonal jumps, leading to you sometimes running around trying to collect light seeds and trying to jump diagonally to get one that's right there, but you realize you can't and fall off and 'die'. Despite the Elika save mechanic, the sometimes clunky and unresponsive controls bring a lot of frustration.
5. The Story. It's not the most extensive campaign, and it's pretty simplistic (don't go expecting an Expedition 33 levels or storytelling), but overall it's enjoyable. I like how you start to piece it together through flashbacks, cutscenes, and dialogs with Elika that are completely skippable if you just don't care. I do wish some things were more developed or we got answers to some of the lingering questions, but I understand the game was setup for sequels that never arrived.
6. The Characters. The dynamic between Elika and the Prince was wonderful. I loved to see all their interactions and growth through cutscenes and dialog and they had really good chemistry with each other (though I watched the Epilogue and was dissatisfied. It felt they went backwards in their relationship, but again, future setup that was never payed off...).
7. The Ending, in my opinion, was phenomenal. The final boss fight was climactic and had me at the edge of my seat despite knowing I couldn't die. The music, the visuals, the platforming, it was great. I won't dive into story spoilers, but I can say I see why it was so divisive among the fanbase since it's not an ending most devs dare to allow in their games. I was shocked when I finished, and left me wanting more... to then realize there wasn't. It's sad to see the wasted potential the series had to continue on the strong foundation of this game to create a new trilogy or saga.
TLDR: Prince of Persia (2008) has it's flaws, but it's still a really solid game with enough positives to outweigh the negatives and a finale that leaves you at the edge of your seat, and then desiring for more. If you're considering playing, do yourself the favor of trying it out.
P.S. Don't miss the teleport button on the map, I beat half the game backtracking - which was really tedious - until I realized I could've been teleporting back to previous areas easily with the map.
