PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE FORGOTTEN SANDS (WII VERSION) copyright 2010 Ubisoft Entertainment WALKTHROUGH written by grannyplayer, 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This document is my own creation, except as noted, where the work or contributions of other people are noted and acknowledged. I am indebted to both darthmarsden for excerpts from his Heroic Challenges FAQ and cripster1971 for his help, guidance, and encouragement. COPYRIGHT This document may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any website or otherwise distributed publicly without my written permission. Use of this guide on any other website or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited. This guide is copyright 2010 Judith Jaffray TABLE OF CONTENTS: I. CHARACTERS II. STORY III. SAVING THE GAME IV. LIFE ORBS & UPGRADES V. LIFE BAR & UPGRADES VI. HEROIC SKILLS VII. HEROIC CHALLENGES VIII.PUZZLE DOORS IX. UNLOCKABLES i) OUTFIT MANAGER ii) PRINCE WEAPONS iii)SECRET MAPS iv) ART GALLERIES v) VIDEOS X. WALKTHROUGH - The Stranded Castle - The Kingdom of Izdihar - 3 Life Orbs acquired - The Antique Road of the Merchants (the bridge) - The Alley of the Nobles - 12 Easy Steps - Boss Battle: The Guardian - The Souk of Izdihar - Life Orb Upgrade #1 (4th Orb) - The Gate of the Chosen Ones - The Menagerie of the Myths - 1st Scarab chase - The Gate of the Chosen Ones (1st return visit) - The Garden of Endless Blossoming - The Gate of the Chosen Ones (2nd return visit) - Gate of the Chosens One Puzzle - The Path of the Pilgrim - Evil Meeting with the Sorceress - The Gate of the Chosen Ones (3rd return visit) - Life Bar Upgrade #1 - The Souk of Izdihar - Life Orb Upgrade #2 (5th Orb) - The Palace Gate - The Water Bearer Map - Water Wheel Puzzle - The Palace Gate (2nd visit) - The Hearth of the Sacred Fire Map - The Palace Gate (3rd visit) - Embrace of the Ancients puzzle - The Fallen King Map - Eat My Dust scarab chase - Beast Battles #1, #2, and #3 - The Palace Gate (final visit) - Life Bar Upgrade #2 - The Souk of Izdihar (final visit) - Life Orb Upgrade #3 (final - 6th Orb) - The Challenge of the Gods - Life Bar Upgrade #3 (final) - The Forge of the Gods - The Challenge of Faith Map - The Challenge of Virtue Map - The Challenge of Wisdom Map - The Challenge of Humility Map - The Forge of the Gods (final visit) - repair the sword - Final Battle: The Sorceress - Post Battle Event: Princess Nasreen - The Stranded Castle (the re-run) - The Realm of Eternal Fire XI. REPLAY BONUSES INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION This game is the fourth installment of the Prince of Persia story. The first was "The Sands of Time, followed by "The Warrior Within", and then "The Two Thrones". That trilogy was sequential - each installment picking up a short time after the previous one ended. This game breaks that pattern. The story seems to take place in a time period after "The Sands of Time" and prior to the events in "The Warrior Within". I. CHARACTERS PRINCE As with all games in the Prince of Persia series, Prince is the only playable character. This story takes place after the events of "The Sands of Time" and before the events of "Warrior Within". Prince hopes to earn his father’s respect by finding his own place in the world and proving himself a worthy ruler. ZAHRA Zahra is a genie (a djinn) who is Prince’s constant companion throughout this story. Prince bought the genie "in a peculiar marketplace". She has promised to grant Prince’s wish to have a kingdom of his own. II. STORY Having promised to grant Prince’s wish to have a kingdom of his own, Zahra has led Prince to the Kingdom of Izdihar. He is not impressed. The Kingdom is in the stranglehold of a terrible curse and is in a state of ruin. Early in the story Prince comes across an inscription which reads "He who rescues my daughter and frees my kingdom from evil shall have both". Right beside the inscription Prince sees a sword imbedded in the wall and pulls it out before Zahra can stop him. By removing the sword, Prince has destroyed the barrier that kept legions of monsters at bay - in particular, The Sorceress, who seems to be the source of the curse and the creator of the monsters. An enormous monster (the Beast) immediately attacks Prince. During the struggle, Prince thrusts the sword he’s just acquired into the Beast. The sword breaks, leaving Prince with the hilt and the blade imbedded in the Beast. If Prince is to correct his mistake, he must catch and defeat the Beast to get the sword blade back, repair the sword, and use it to seal the Sorceress and her evil power, thus "freeing the kingdom of evil". III.SAVING THE GAME The game is saved automatically whenever Prince merely comes close to a fountain or enters an upgrade sanctuary. The only time you need to make a "deliberate save" is when the Prince has less than full health - press Z at a fountain so he will drink to replenish his Life Bar and save. The automatic save function is as annoying as it is helpful. On many occasions, Prince may be perilously short of Life Orbs when he reaches a fountain and you (the gamer) might prefer to rely upon a save point further back in the story when Prince was both at full health and had a full complement of Life Orbs. If you’re having great difficulty getting him through a particular section of the story, having to restart from a point at which he has few or no Life Orbs is not an advantage. Therefore, create a backup save whenever Prince is at full health with all (or most) Life Orbs intact. Creating a backup save is cumbersome. You must press (+) during game play, choose "Quit the game", and go back to the Main Menu. You must delete the previous backup save file, then copy the most current save file to fill the empty space resulting from the deletion. A total of 3 save files is allowed. IV. LIFE ORBS & UPGRADES In this installment of the series, Prince does not have any "sand powers" that can rewind time or alter the passage of time. However, Zahra grants him Life Orbs, which are described as "immortality at a price". Each Life Orb will resurrect him from death one time, allowing him to continue as though he had not been killed. Unlike sand powers which rewound time and allowed the Prince to retry a sequence of events, Life Orbs instantly restore his health and allow him to continue the current activity after a momentary blip. If he runs out of Life Orbs, he will die when injured and the story will automatically restart from the last save point (the last fountain he passed). As Life Orbs are used up, Prince can restore them by collecting 3 djinn souls to regenerate one Life Orb. Djinn souls are plentiful and easy to obtain. The majority of djinn souls are visible golden spheres littering the landscape. They can also be found by breaking any of the numerous pots lying about. Only in the most dire circumstances will Prince run out of Life Orbs and be unable to find enough djinn souls to replace the Orbs. Still, it does happen. Life Orbs are not restored by drinking at a fountain. Only djinn souls will restore Life Orbs. Prince initially has 3 Life Orbs. There are 3 Life Orb upgrades to be found to attain the maximum of 6 Life Orbs. They are all in the Souk of Izdihar, found at different times, using different skills. The details about finding each of the upgrades are described at the relevant points in the walkthrough. V. LIFE BAR & UPGRADES Prince’s health and stamina are represented by a blue crescent displayed in the health status symbol in the top left corner of the screen. Any injury from enemy blows, falls, environmental traps, or contact with poisonous plants will diminish his Life Bar. When all the blue is lost due to injury, one of two things happens: - a gold-coloured Life Orb will be used to resurrect Prince with full health and one less orb - if no gold-coloured Life Orbs remain, Prince dies and is resurrected at the last save point with the amount of health and the number of orbs that existed when the save was made Drinking at a fountain completely refills the blue Life Bar crescent. (Life Orbs are not restored by drinking at fountains). When Prince defeats enemies, a blue sphere will leave the enemy’s body and fly to Prince to replenish some portion of his blue Life Bar crescent by varying amounts determined by the type of enemy defeated. Therefore, Prince can enter a battle with low health and come out of it with restored health, simply by inflicting more damage than he receives! There are 3 Life Bar upgrades to be found. They are located in 3 different locations and will require Prince to use different skills to reach them. Directions to find the upgrades are described at the relevant points in the walkthrough. VI. HEROIC SKILLS & UPGRADES The Prince acquires 3 types skills in this story. - Sword Skills (attack) - Gauntlet Skills (defense) - Creation Power Skills (magic) The functions of the three types of skills are not entirely distinct. Some of the Gauntlet skills (e.g. Grab & Throw) are more offensive than defensive. Two of the three Creation Powers can be used as attack skills. While there’s nothing new in the sword or gauntlet skills, the creation power skills allow Prince to create hooks as handholds, whirlwinds to raise him to new heights, and magical spheres to encase him in mid-air bubbles. Those same creation skills allow him to petrify enemies briefly or propel them into the air to land, stunned and vulnerable. Skills are acquired in a predetermined order. Prince does not get to choose which skill will be acquired next. Nor can he determine which skill will be upgraded next. He can, however, affect the rate at which he learns and upgrades skills. The only way to upgrade them is to find and break treasure chests (blue, red, and gold). The resulting "experience points" will count toward the acquisition of a new skill or upgrading the next skill in line. HEROIC SKILLS DEVELOPMENT GAUGE The Skill which is next to be received or upgraded is displayed in the top right corner of the screen as an icon in a circle. The icon in the middle of the circle indicates which skill is being earned or upgraded. The green perimeter around the skill icon will fill as Prince finds and breaks chests of various colours. When the green perimeter is complete, the new Heroic Skill is learned or upgraded and the next "new skill" icon will appear in the middle of the circle. The Heroic Skills Development Gauge is displayed onscreen only when something has happened to add to that green border. During game play you can press(+) to open the Pause Menu. Choose Heroic Skills to see the skills icons displayed in a chart. At the start of the game only one icon will be there. As he learns new skills, additional icons will appear on the chart. Place the cursor over any skill icon to see its name and brief description of it. When the skill is highlighted look at the bottom right corner of the chart. If the skill can be upgraded, there will be 3 small circles - each upgrade achieved will fill one of those small circles with colour. If only one circle is displayed there, the skill cannot be upgraded. An announcement will be displayed during game play whenever a new skill or an upgrade has been obtained. ***********SWORD & GAUNTLET SKILLS - ORDER OF ACQUISITION** JUMP ATTACK - jump on enemy, shake Remote to rise into the air and slash downward. MASTER BLOCK - your gauntlet absorbs more damage GRAB & THROW - jump on enemy, shake Nunchuk to throw enemy TORNADO ATACK - shake both the Nunchuk & Remote to perform a spin attack JUMP ATTACK #2 - deals more damage and pushes the target away CHARGE ATTACK - wall run either horizontally or vertically, shake the Remote to perform a "dive attack". This attack is a one-hit kill for weaker enemies and will break the shields of the most powerful enemies. SWORD MASTER - your sword does even more damage KILLING BLOW - swing the remote (OR) swing the nunchuk on a proned foe to kill it instantaneously COUNTER ATTACK - hold Z and swing the nunchuk to counter an incoming enemy attack TORNADO ATTACK #2 - your Tornado Attacks affect a larger area and deal more damage GRAB & THROW #2 - you can throw an enemy farther SWORD MASTERY #2 - your sword attacks deal deadly damage GRAB & THROW #3 - you can throw an enemy further JUMP ATTACK #3 - jump attacks do even more damage and push your target further SWORD MASTERY #3 - your sword attacks deal deadly damage TORNADO ATTACK #3 - your tornado attacks affect an even larger area and deal even more damage **************CREATION POWER SKILLS - ORDER OF ACQUISITION** SPIRIT HOOK - can activate Spirit Hook wall plates - can petrify enemies in battle (place the cursor over the enemy and press B) WHIRLWIND - can activate whirlwind floor plates MASTER SPIRIT HOOK - can create Hooks and Whirlwinds "on normal surfaces" without the need for powerplates - enemies will remain petrified longer - can create whirlwinds in battle arenas to throw enemies into the air - hooks and whirlwinds cannot be created where there is yellow or red vegetation, nor on rough surfaces, or curved surfaces; a flat, clear wall or floor is needed WHIRLWIND UPPERCUT - swing the nunchuk when a thrown foe passes over you to deliver an uppercut - the only way to achieve this is to place a whirlwind on the floor during battle; when a foes steps on it and is thrown into the air, Prince must be where the enemy will pass overhead; time the uppercut accordingly MAGICAL SPHERE - can create magical spheres in mid-air; press B while jumping - can be used in battle to petrify 1 to 6 enemies at once; jump onto the head of an enemy and press B; the enemy (and any others standing within the "blast radius") will be petrified VII. HEROIC CHALLENGES There are 84 Heroic Challenges to be met during the main story and in secret maps. To complete them all requires playing the game a minimum of twice. Only a skilled and persistent player is likely to meet all the challenges in just 2 times through the game; many people will require more attempts than that. The list of completed and unfinished challenges cannot be viewed while you are actively playing the game. To see the whole list, you must quit the file, go back to the Main Menu, and choose "Heroic Challenges". The list gives a one-sentence description of the criterion to be met to complete each challenge. That sentence is often woefully inadequate! The location-specific challenges are listed chronologically, which should give you a clue about when and where the challenge must be met. Whenever one or more Heroic Challenges apply to a specific location in the story, they are listed at that point in the walkthrough. Instructions for meeting that challenge are detailed there, as well. Some challenges depend on your battle skills - for instance, the point at which you succeed at throwing 6 enemies into a pit will vary both in time and location. Completed Challenges will be marked by a "genie lamp" icon. Challenges that are not yet completed will have a "lock" icon. The effort required to complete the challenges ranges from zero to fiendishly difficult. The easiest ones to complete merely require that you reach a certain point in the story line where a cutscene will play. The most difficult ones require a complex & very precise sequence of activities. An announcement will appear onscreen when you have met the requirements for one or more challenges. Be certain to save at the earliest opportunity after that!!! Completing certain Heroic Challenges will unlock other items: - Outfit Manager - Prince Weapons - Dark Labyrinth and Prince of Persia Classic secret maps - Art Galleries - Videos There is no additional reward for completing all 84 Heroic Challenges, other than the personal satisfaction of having done so. ***********HEROIC CHALLENGES LIST*********** ****SPECIAL NOTE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT* While I was able to determine where, when and how to meet the criteria for most of the challenges, there were a few that I did not and probably could not have determined on my own. The Heroic Challenges Guide written by darthmarsden is invaluable. With his permission, I have included verbatim quotations from his guide for some of the challenges. I am deeply indebted to him for his help, encouragement, and generosity. The following list is ordered as it is in the in-game list with the game's one-sentence description of the conditions to be met and, in some cases, an expanded description of how to meet the conditions. Direct quotations from darthmarsden's guide are clearly noted. I have place brackets [ ] beside each challenge to serve as a checklist to help you keep track of which ones you've finished in the current playthrough. If the details of the challenge are in the walkthrough, I have listed only the location where that challenge is relevant. [ ] Green Retro Drink - find and drink the green potion This occurs on the beach in the event following the Stranded Castle. It unlocks the original Prince of Persia secret map. Details in the walkthrough [ ] You Broke It! - break the king's nose in the Kingdom of Delusions map. You will complete this challenge merely by triggering a cutscene when Prince returns to the giant head statue. It's an un-missable story line event. [ ] Perfect - beat the first boss and never miss an action input while playing the 3 finishing sequences. This refers to the battle with Guardian. Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] STAY DOWN! - stun the first boss in a minimal amount of time for each of 3 phases of the fight. This refers to the battle with Guardian. Complete details in the walkthrough. [ ] CLOSE CALL - move the stone pedestal on the bridge only one third of the way in the Antique Road of the Merchants map Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] SHADOWY - destroy the shield guard and claim your first magical power. Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] 12 EASY STEPS - use a max of 12 crystals and amplifiers in the Alley of the Nobles. "Amplifiers" are Hook Plates and Whirlwind Plates. "Crystals" refers to blue crystals required to make pillars rotate and, in one sequence, crystals that cause the archers' platforms to fall. "Crystals" does not apply to puzzle doors. I, like many others, could get through this area, but consistently failed the challenge until darthmarsden defined it precisely. from darthmarsden's posted update on the message board: "This challenge is tricky if you don't know what you're doing. It starts with the pillar where you activate a crystal for the first time. Start by dropping down to the floor and running to the other side of the pillar, then climbing up it to the ledge. Jump to the wall-plate,activate it and jump back to the ledge. Next, activate the lower-most crystal to spin the bottom layer round 90 degrees. Make your way to the other ledge and activate the other "low" wall plate. Once done, you'll need to wall-run up the actual pillar and jump onto the ledge above you. This is tricky, but it's possible. Jump at the last second to reach the ledge. Once on the ledge, activate the wall-plate. Now drop down to the ground and make your way to the other ledges. Climb up to the top one, then activate the the higher crystal to spin the top layer 90 degrees. Activate the final wall-plate, then make your way down to the ground. You'll hurt yourself, but you'll live. Make your way over to the 'connect the dots door. THESE DOORS DO NOT COUNT TOWARD THE 12. Past the door are three more pillars. Start by running to the left of the first pillar and climbing up to the ledge. Now activate the crystal to spin round. Wall-run up and jump to the next ledge TWICE. You'll end up under another ledge - climb up to it. Now you'll need to activate the crystals above you. The top crystal will only take one use, while the other layers will take two. When they're all lined up, activate one of the plates to create hook on them all, and climb up to the top of the pillar. Jump across to the next one. On the second pillar, hang over the edge and you'll see a crack below you that you can grab. Drop down to it. Instead of moving the pillar around, activate the green plate. If you move around the crack you're on, you'll see a green plate pretty far below you. Drop down to it, then to the ledge below it. Don't worry, you'll make it in one piece. Then, from the ledge, jump onto the wall and climb up to the top. When you're there, hang over the edge of the platform and move over the wall-switch, then activate the plate. Drop down to the plate, run along the wall to the next one and climb up. You need to continue through this corridor to the combat section, beat all the enemies (or the one glowing one, if you're smart)and then head past the fountain. Climb down the pillars and head down the next corridor, pausing only to throw the enemy that appears into one of the spiked pillars, before arriving at a 2D section. You need to make it through this section without using the crystals on the platforms which have archers on them. This can be tricky, but you can make it through the section. You can pause for a while to get your bearing by making sure you're facing away from the archers behind a wall or pillar. Also, you can die, so don't worry if you do - you haven't screwed up the challenge! Once you make your way past the 2D section, defeat all the enemies, use the crank to open the door and pass through said door. Beyond this is an area of saws. Again, you need to avoid using the plates on the walls. Take this path slowly, hang from the ledges until the saws go past and be careful. At the end, you'll need to step on a floor switch to make a wall raise, then jump to the crack in said wall, climb up it and wall run over another wall switch before jumping off and landing back on the first floor switch. Complete the 'connect-the-dots' puzzle on the door and step through. If you've done everything properly, you should now get the challenge." Thank you, darthmarsden!!!!! [ ] DON'T FEEL LIKE IT - skip the amplifier challenge in the Gate of the Chosen Ones Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] MOAR! - complete the main puzzle from the Gate of the Chosen Ones in 30 moves or more without resetting it Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] SHORT ‘n’ SWEET! - complete the main puzzle for the Gate of the Chosen Ones in 5 moves without resetting it Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] YOU GOT BRAIN - open the gate in the Gate of the Chosen Ones map Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] BUGS! - do not get hurt by any scarabs in the Menagerie of the Myths Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] FLUSH - get rid of scavenger scarabs in the Menagerie of the Myths Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] SQUISH - step on the lone scarab Complete details in the walkthrough (Menagerie of the Myths) [ ] BLUE RETRO DRINK - find and drink the blue potion Complete details in the walkthrough (Menagerie of the Myths) Unlocks the Sands of Time Prince in the Outfit Manager [ ] NATURE DODGER - never get hit by evil vegetation in the Garden of Endless Blossoming Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] LAWN MOWER - cut down the giant plant in the Garden of Endless Blossoming Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] EVIL MEETING - reach the sorceress in The Path of the Pilgrim map Complete details in the walkthrough unlocks the Dark Labyrinth secret map [ ] FAST ‘n’ FASTER - complete the Embrace of the Ancients puzzle in 5 moves without resetting Complete details in the walkthrough (The Palace Gate) [ ] BRAIN +1 - open the main door of the Embrace of the Ancients puzzle Complete details in the walkthrough (The Palace Gate) [ ] SWORDLESS - push or throw 6 enemies into a pit in the Water Bearer map Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] WATER - bring back the water from the Water Bearer map Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] RED RETRO DRINK - find and drink the red potion Complete details in the walkthrough (Water Bearer Map). Unlocks the Dark Prince in the Outfit Manager [ ] FIRE - complete the Hearth of the Sacred Fire map Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] EAT MY DUST - complete the scavenger scarabs chase without being hurt once in The Fallen King map Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] CRYSTAL - find and touch the red crystal Complete details in the walkthrough (The Fallen King map) Unlocks the King Sword in Prince Weapons [ ] MUSHROOM SAUTÉ - defeat the beast by burning him with sunlight Complete details in the walkthrough (The Fallen King map) [ ] BRAINIAC - complete the puzzle in the Forge of the Gods Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] YOU KNEW IT - open the portal to the Challenge of Faith in a single move Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] ROOT OF ALL - defeat the Sorceress in the final battle Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] ROGUE PRINCE - skip all challenge arenas in the Challenge of Faith Complete details in the walkthrough. **acknowledgement: the information about how to avoid the second Combat Arena is darthmarden's. I might never have figured it out!!! Thank you!!! [ ] SKY - bring back the energy from the Challenge of Faith Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] SLIPPERY - complete the Challenge of Wisdom map without performing any wall runs Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] WET - bring back the energy from the Challenge of Wisdom Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] CANNONBALL - launch yourself using the giant cannonball Complete details in the walkthrough (Challenge of Wisdom) Unlocks the Sand Dagger in Prince Weapons. [ ] HUNTER - find the secret arena in the Challenge of Virtue and kill all the enemies Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] UNDERGROUND - complete the Challenge of Virtue map Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] NO SAFETY NET - complete the Challenge of Humility map without using any fountains **ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - Because I consistently failed to avoid the third fountain and might never have succeeded without darthmarsden's guide, I owe him full credit Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] SPACE MASTER - complete the Challenge of Humility without falling Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] SPACE AND BEYOND - bring back the energy from the Challenge of Humility Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] MONOLITH - find and reach the Monolith Complete details in the walkthrough (Challenge of Humility) [ ] ACHIEVEMENT - you have unlocked a HEROIC FEAT (achieved by moving in the second run of the game) See Replay Bonuses at the end of the walkthrough [ ] YOU'RE GOOD - complete the Stranded Castle level without dying Complete details in the walkthrough [ ] PATHFINDER - use the hidden alternate path Complete details in the walkthrough (Stranded Castle map) [ ] BRONZE MEDAL - complete the first part of 2D (Secret Map) Self-explanatory [ ] SILVER MEDAL - complete the second part of 2D (Secret Map) Self Explanatory Unlocks Art Gallery: Environments I [ ] GOLD MEDAL - complete the third part of 2D (Secret Map) Self-explanatory Unlocks Video: Developer's Diary I [ ] BRONZE MEDAL - complete the first part of the Dark Labyrinth (secret map) Self-explanatory. [ ] SILVER MEDAL - complete the second part of the Dark Labyrinth(secret map) Self-explanatory Unlocks Art Gallery - Characters I [ ] GOLD MEDAL - complete the third part of the Dark Labyrinth (secret map) Self-explanatory. Unlocks Video: Developer's Diary ii [ ] BRONZE MEDAL - complete the first part of the Tower of the Gods(secret map) Self-explanatory. [ ] SILVER MEDAL -complete the second part of the Tower of the Gods(secret map) Self-explanatory Unlocks Art Gallery: Characters II [ ] GOLD MEDAL - complete the third part of the Tower of the Gods (secret map) Self-explanatory Unlocks video Developer’s Diary III [ ] BRONZE MEDAL - complete the first part of the Speed Run (secret map) Self-explanatory Unlocks ...?? [ ] SILVER MEDAL - complete the second part of the Speed Run (secret map) Self-explanatory Unlocks Art Gallery: Environments II [ ] GOLD MEDAL - complete the third part of the Speed Run (secret map) Self-explantory Unlocks Video: Developer's Diary IV [ ] RICK - roll 20 times in a row Press down on the D-Pad to make Prince do a forward roll. Can be done anywhere, anytime, if there's room. Save time and trouble by doing 20 forward rolls into a wall to complete this challenge and "Headache" at the same time! [ ] HEADACHE - do 20 rolls into a wall in a row Self-explanatory (see "Rick" above) [ ] PERSIAN HERO - complete the game once Self-explanatory [ ] NOBLE OF PERSIA - complete the game two times Self-explanatory [ ] RELENTLESS WARRIOR - defeat 100 enemies Self-explanatory. You will meet this criterion well before the end of the game. [ ] POP! - make an arrow trap destroy a magical sphere Pick any location where there is an arrow trap, but preferably one not far from a save fountain where Prince can heal any damage he sustains. Either jump off a ledge to create a sphere near an arrow trap or, if the arrow trap is above head height, create a whirlwind to stand on, then jump off to create a sphere. Wait in the sphere until the arrows pop it. [ ] SAND BLAST - petrify 6 enemies in the magical sphere This requirement is extremely difficult to meet. First, it requires an enemy party that consists of 6 enemies, all present at the same time. Second, all the enemies must be grouped closely together, so that the sand blast from the magical sphere will petrify all 6 at one time. If there are archers in the enemy group, they tend to distance themselves from the main group and (annoyingly) are likely to kill off one of their allies, leaving only 5 enemies to be petrified. Also, I found that archers tended to die when thrown. The ONLY place where this challenge can be met is in the "secret" combat arena found in the Challenge of Virtue (location is described in the walkthrough). The ONLY METHOD THAT SUCCEEDED was to enter that arena, step quickly into the midst of the FIRST WAVE OF ENEMIES, jump into the air, and "HOLD" B. Do not "tap" B. Expect to fail, quit, and retry many times before succeeding. *NOTE: In the following 4 challenges, the total time accumulated to finish the game is relevant. This is the time shown on your save file(s) and is ONLY THE TIME SPENT IN THE MAIN GAME. It does not include time spent in Secret Maps. You can spend as much time as you like in secret maps without adding to your total game time. [ ] FAST - complete the game in 13 hours You can achieve this on a first play through if you don't spend endless hours trying to meet other Heroic Challenges which are giving you great difficulty. There are plenty of easier ones to do and, since you'll have to play a second time anyway, leave some of the harder challenges to the replay when they will take less time. Due to replay bonuses, you can move through a replay faster, so you will have more time to spend on a few things and still finish in less time than a first run. [ ] FASTER - complete the game in 10 hours If you were able to find all the gold chests and achieve all the Heroic Skills upgrades in your first playthrough, you can move through the game much more quickly on your replay. You do not have to repeat any completed Heroic Challenges which also saves a lot of time. In fact, you can very likely finish in 7 hours and succeed at both this challenge and the one below. [ ] FASTEST - complete the game in 7 hours See above. To finish within this time limit, you cannot spend time looking for chests, you must make every attempt to move through the environment with familiarity and efficiency. Skip all the cutscenes that you're allowed to skip. The primary reason you would fail to achieve this time is if you still have some really difficult Heroic Challenges left and spend a lot of time repeating them. Instead, if you're having trouble, quit and reload - you'll still get to try a challenge as many times as you need, but "the clock will be stopped". If you want to finish this challenge (for time) and use a subsequent play through to finish other difficult challenges, you can do that. [ ] LIGHTNING FAST - complete the game in 5 hours You must have completed (or plan to ignore) all the Heroic Challenges, must have obtained all the skills upgrades which make battles go faster, and know your way through the landscape like the back of your hand to even consider attaining this goal. [ ] YOU GO DOWN? - push or throw 10 enemies into a pit The definition of "pit" is very loose. It includes throwing an enemy off any ledge or platform to any area below. However, the enemy must DIE as a result. If they land somewhere below, but survive the fall, they will not count toward the 6 you need. Nonetheless, this is very easy to achieve. [ ] TRAPPED - push or throw 10 enemies into traps The definition of "trap" includes almost anything and everything hazardous to health - spiked poles (horizontal or vertical), arrow traps, spike mats, etc. It is very easy to achieve this AND the one above, by throwing every enemy Prince can get his hands on when he has the Grab & Throw skill. [ ] YOUR OWN PATH - chain 10 magical spheres and spirit hooks Pick a wall, any wall. Create a hook above head height (Prince can stand on a whirlwind to get the most height). Jump to the hook, then wall run upwards, jump off and create a sphere. Create another hook on the wall and jump from the sphere to the hook. Repeat 10 times. Don't stop until the announcement appears onscreen, though!! [ ] BUBBLY - chain 10 runs on walls and magical spheres Just after Prince obtains the magical sphere ability, he returns to the Souk of Izdihar where he gets the final Life Orb upgrade (6th Orb). When he approaches the puzzle door to leave that area, STOP. Create a whirlwind close to, but on the left or right side of the puzzle door. Place a hook on the wall and jump to it. Wall run a few steps away from the hook, jump off, and create a sphere. Prince will be right beside the other wall leading to the puzzle door. Jump out of the sphere, hit the wall, and run a few steps toward the door, jump off, create a sphere. He'll now be right beside the first wall he ran on. Jump out of the sphere, run a few steps, jump back, create a sphere. Repeat until the announcement appears onscreen. [ ] HOOKED - chain 10 runs on walls and spirit hooks You cannot use a Creation Power hook for this challenge - it must be done on a hook plate. If there are 2 hook plates of the same colour (one above the other) it's fantastically easy. Activate the hook plates and jump to one. Either run up to the higher one or drop to the lower one. Run back to the higher one. Repeat. If there's only one hook plate, hang from it, wall run up from it, drop back to it, wall run up again...and again ... until the announcement appears onscreen. [ ] FULL OF WISHES - find all Life Orb extensions The locations of all 3 Life Orb Upgrade sanctuaries and how to reach them are detailed in the walkthrough. [ ] STILL ALIVE - find all Life Bar extensions The locations of all 3 Life Bar Upgrade sanctuaries and how to reach them are detailed in the walkthrough [ ] SWORD MASTER - earn all sword heroic skills See "Heroic Skills" for more detail. All Sword Skills must be fully upgraded. In short, the best way to acquire and upgrade any Heroic Skill is to find treasure chests - especially gold treasure chests. The instruction manual states that defeating enemies, finding djinn souls, and completing Heroic Challenges also contribute to Heroic Skills development. If they do, I couldn't perceive any contribution. Near the end of the game, in the Challenge of Humility, there is a location where repeated (virtually infinite) collection of gold chests is possible. You can stay there, collecting gold chests, until you've achieved all the upgrades for all the Heroic Skills. That location is clearly identified in the walkthrough, so you won't miss it!! [ ] GAUNTLET MASTER - earn all gauntlet heroic skills This challenge requires that all Gauntlet Skills are fully upgraded. See Heroic Challenge: Sword Master above. [ ] POWER MASTER - earn all creation powers heroic skills This challenge requires that all Creation Power Skills are fully upgraded. See Heroic Challenge: Sword Master above. [ ] FULLY EQUIPPED - learn all Heroic Skills This challenge is complete when all Sword Skills, Gauntlet Skills, and Creation Power Skills have been obtained and fully upgraded. Therefore, when you attain the final upgrade, this challenge will be completed at the same time. [ ] SHIELD BREAKER - break 15 Minotaur Champion shields Minotaur Champions are the first enemy Prince meets which carry shields. While they have the shield they are virtually invulnerable. They cannot be petrified while they hold the shield and they will block every blow aimed at them. In the first few encounters with Minotaurs, the only option Prince has is to observe their attack pattern. When they make a particularly violent swing of their sword it will lodge in the ground for a second. At that moment, Prince must roll (or run or jump) behind them and hit them in the back. After several such back hits, their shield will break, making them as vulnerable to attack as any other strong enemy. Later, when Prince acquires the Charge Attack skill, he can wall run either vertically or horizontally, shake the remote while he's running, and he'll launch himself at the targeted enemy. The Charge Attack breaks a Minotaur shield in one blow. Prince can also use a Tornado Attack to break shields, but until he has the fully upgraded Tornado Attack, it will require as many as 3 or 4 attacks to break a Minotaur shield. A fully upgraded Tornado Attack will not only break a Minotaur shield in one blow, but also drive the beast back out of arm's reach preventing it from counter-attacking. No matter which attack or combination of attacks you care to have Prince use, this challenge will be met during your first run through the game. [ ] GOLDEN - find all gold treasure chests The importance of this challenge is not so much that it's a Heroic Challenge, but that finding gold chests is the primary source of upgrading Heroic Skills. The exact number of gold chests that exist in the game is not known, but the challenge description is misleading. You do not have to find "all" gold chests - if you find 15 you will succeed at the challenge. There is a location in the Challenge of Humility where repeated (and virtually infinite) collection of gold chests is possible. That location is clearly identified in the walkthrough - as are quite a number of all types of chests (blue, red, and gold). Chests of every colour contribute to Heroic Skills development. Only gold chests count toward completion of this particular Heroic Challenge. If you want to cross-reference the description of gold chest locations in this walkthrough with the list in darthmarsden's Heroic Challenge Guide, you cannot fail this challenge. [ ] YOU ONLY DIE ONCE - Complete the game without dying The most important factor to understand in regard to this challenge is the definition of "dying". And then, how to prevent it!!! "Dying" means that Prince has used up all his Life Orbs (none remain). He then must suffer enough additional injury to completely empty his blue Life Bar and automatically resurface at the last save fountain he passed. If that happens, he has died and you have failed this challenge. Using a Life Orb does NOT count as dying. As long as Prince does not resurface at the last save fountain, he has not "died" and you have not yet failed this challenge. However, if you are trying to succeed at this challenge, you are strongly advised to quit and reload when he uses his last available Life Orb. It is far better to replay merely the previous segment of the game than to fail the challenge and have to start over from scratch in a replay game. Remember, you can press (+) to pause and quit the game, even in mid-battle, mid-fatal-fall, or any other time. If it looks like Prince is about to die, quit and reload. I have not yet confirmed this, but dying during the opening "Stranded Castle" event will cause you to fail this challenge. [ ] SOULS STREAK - collect 100 djinn souls without dying Djinn souls are the glowing gold-coloured spheres that litter the landscape and which, so often, point out the path to follow. They are also found in pots to be smashed - those pots are usually grouped with chests. Collecting 3 djinn souls will refill one Life Orb. Prince collects the first 3 during the tutorial on the beach very early in the game. There are many, many more than 100 djinn souls along the way. See "You Only Die Once" above for an explanation of what counts as "dying". If Prince dies before he collects 100 djinn souls, you fail this challenge. [ ] KING OF PERSIA - complete all Heroic Challenges Self-explanatory. [ ] THIS IS PERSIA - kick an enemy into a pit Getting Prince to "kick on demand" is simple enough in principle, but erratic and difficult in practise. To meet the challenge, Prince must be near the edge of a platform where there is drop-off area (a "pit"). There must be at least two enemies. You have to move Prince so that one enemy is standing very near the drop-off edge. Prince must have his back toward that enemy while facing the other enemy. He must be "locked-on" to the enemy he's facing. Quickly turn him around toward the enemy behind him and swing the remote. As cripster1971 pointed out, Prince is unable to swing his sword behind his back, he so he SHOULD kick by default. "Should", but often doesn't!! I tried every location I could think of and find to implement this move - with zero success. Until I noticed a suggestion on the discussion board posted by slyjakprinceico. The location he suggested was in the Path of the Pilgrim, just after the meeting with the Sorceress. It took only 2 attempts there to succeed! I then loaded my backup file and tried again - 2 attempts and success again. So - get out of the tower where Prince acquires the ability to place hooks and whirlwinds on any normal surface. **Be certain to save at the fountain** Go back to the entry point for this area, where there will be 2 archers on a very small ledge. The "very small ledge" seems to be a critical factor. Prince may take some damage as he jockeys for position - his back to one archer that is RIGHT BY THE EDGE and facing and locked onto the other archer. Use the Control Stick to turn Prince around and swing the remote. Apparently, there is a 50% chance he will kick the archer off the edge of the platform ("into a pit"). VIII. PUZZLE DOORS As Prince explores the Kingdom of Izdihar he will encounter the usual array of "security measures" designed to repel intruders - spike mats, spiked poles (vertical and horizontal; stationary, rotating, swinging), flipping panels with spikes on one side, various types of saw blades moving horizontally or vertically. All of these traps are familiar barriers to Prince of Persia fans. Puzzle doors (while not hazardous to health) are a new type of barrier that has been introduced in this story. Virtually every location requires that Prince unlocks one or more puzzle doors. As he approaches the door, a connect-the-dots arrangement of blue crystals is displayed. You must place the remote cursor over the first crystal in the series, press B to begin, then click on each crystal in the correct sequence. When done correctly the entire door will glow blue and the Z-prompt will appear to indicate that Prince can now go through the door. The initial puzzles are ridiculously easy - first 2, then 3, crystals! Predictably, the difficulty level increases. Not only will there be more crystals to connect, but many of the puzzle circles will rotate continuously while you're trying to replicate the pattern. Some of the door circles alternate the direction of rotation as you click on each subsequent crystal. Some rotate rapidly, although most will move at a leisurely pace. There is no time limit and no penalty for failure other than being stuck there until you get it right. The design will be displayed continuously as long as Prince stands in front of the door, so you will have plenty of time to study the arrangement before attempting to replicate it. Make a drawing of the design for the truly complex ones, then just take your time as you reproduce it. After a puzzle door has been opened, it never has to be unlocked again. It will remain usable for as long as Prince is in that area. If he has to return to an area, the puzzle door will still be unlocked. When the story line prohibits him from returning to an area, the puzzle door will be permanently destroyed after he passes through it - the puzzle circle will become a charred ruin. IX. UNLOCKABLES i) OUTFIT MANAGER When an outfit has been unlocked, click on it to change the Prince’s onscreen avatar. Forgotten Sands Prince Location: default Sands of Time Prince Location: in the Menagerie of the Myths map complete Heroic Challenge: Blue Retro Drink Dark Prince from The Two Thrones Location: in the Water Bearer’s Map complete the Heroic Challenge: Red Retro Drink ii) PRINCE WEAPONS When a weapon has been unlocked, click on the "genie lamp" icon to change the appearance of the onscreen weapon that Prince uses. There is no difference in strength or function, no matter which weapon is equipped. The Forgotten Prince sword Location: default Prince sword (from the Sands of Time) Location: In Menagerie of the Myths; complete the Heroic Challenge: Squish! King Sword Location: in The Fallen King map; complete the Heroic Challenge: Crystal Sand dagger (from the Sands of Time) Location: in Challenge of Wisdom map; complete Heroic Challenge: Cannonball Wall breaker Location: in the Challenge of Humility map; complete Heroic Challenge:Monolith iii) SECRET MAPS After a Secret Map has been unlocked, it becomes a playable location; a mini-game. Each Secret Map has 3 levels to complete. A Heroic Challenge is awarded for each completed level. Furthermore, completing all the Silver and Gold Medal levels of each Secret Map, unlocks Art Galleries and Videos. Silver Medals of each secret map unlock art galleries Gold Medals unlock videos GENERAL TIPS FOR SECRET MAPS Prince will enter a secret map with whatever upgrades he has attained in the main game events. It's possible to complete the Bronze Medal level of some secret maps with less than maximum upgrades to his Life Bar and Life Orbs, but I recommend waiting until he has all upgrades before attempting the Silver Medal and Gold Medal levels. Prince can use his Creation Powers in some, but not all, of the secret maps. Again, waiting until he has attained all of them is helpful in the maps where the Creation Powers can be used. Every time you exit/quit a secret map, regardless of where you were when you quit, you will have to start over from the very beginning when you re-enter that map. Remember that time spent in secret maps does not add to the "total game time" displayed on your save file. Time spent in secret maps will not jeopardize the Herioic Challenges which require you to finish the game in "x" number of hours. *************2D: A CLASSIC VIEW OF THINGS How to Unlock: Win the first boss battle to defeat the Guardian Heroic Challenge: Bronze Medal - complete the first part of 2D Heroic Challenge: Silver Medal - complete the second part of 2D - unlocks Art Gallery: Environments I Heroic Challenge: Gold Medal - complete the third part of 2D - unlocks Video: Developer's Diary I Description of 2D: This secret map plays out exactly like the 2D segments of the main game. It looks like Forgotten Sands, but plays like a side-scrolling game. Prince's movements are strictly limited to left-right and up-down movements. He cannot move in the 3rd dimension to avoid obstructions or hazardous traps. He can wall run, do a forward roll, and back-and-forth jump to climb a level. He comes to the map with his Life Orbs which work the same way here as in the main game. They will resurrect him from death once each until he runs out. In the Gold Medal level there is one place where he can collect 6 djinn souls to regenerate 2 Life Orbs. He does not have access to Spirit Hooks, Whirwinds, or Magical Spheres. As he completes each medal level, he will pass over a circular plaque on the ground. They serve as a "temporary save point". If he dies after passing that point he will be resurrected at the most recent plaque to retry the the 2nd and 3rd segments. If you quit this secret map, you have to start over from the beginning of Level 1 every time you re-enter it. The route through all 3 levels is relatively obvious. In general, Prince must find a way to the far left or right of an area, step on a pressure switct to open a door, and work his way back to pass through the doorway. A cutscene will play to show you where the opened door is in relation to where Prince activated the switch, The hazards are all familiar - spike mats, spiked poles of every type, various kinds of saws, and arrow traps. In the Gold Medal third level he will face some particularly difficult saw traps similar to (but even more difficult) than the saw trap in a vertical channel found between Beast Battles #2 and #3 in the main game. In those areas, he must wall run up, jump back to a beam, stand up to jump off the beam to wall run up again, before jumping back to land on the next higher beam. What makes it deviously difficult, in my opinion, is that the saws are moving up and down rapidly and give him only a fraction of a second to to climb to a standing postion on the beam to be able to jump to the wall again. Having the maxiumum number of Life Orbs is the only way I was able to complete that final level. A more skilled player might be able to do it with fewer than 6 Life Orbs, but I'd still recommend going in with greatest number of "retry orbs available. *******THE DARK LABYRINTH - find your way out of the dark and gloomy labyrinth How to Unlock: Heroic Challenge: Evil Meeting - reach the Sorceress in the Path of the Pilgrim map Heroic Challenge: Bronze Medal - complete the first part of the Dark Labyrinth Heroic Challenge: Silver Medal - complete the second part of the Dark Labyrinth unlocks Art Gallery: Characters I Heroic Challenge: Gold Medal - complete the third part of the Dark Labyrinth unlocks Video: Developer's Diary II Description: This secret map is perhaps the most difficult one of all to complete (Speed Run may be worse, but it's a close contest). Prince can use and will need all of his creation Powers to survive. He must find his way through 18 maze-like floors. Each floor is populated by only one type of enemy. His Life Orbs are his "lanterns" which allow him to see where he's going. The orbs diminish steadily and when all of them are consumed, Prince will find himself in total darkness. If the maze was confusing when he could see, it is many times more so in the dark. Along the way, there yellow-gold lamp oil icons Each icon will refill 3 Life Orbs. When the labyrinth is plunged into total darkness, those lamp icons will glow faintly in the dark. Prince can cast light in the darkness by placing a hook on a wall, creating a whirlwhind, or performing an attack move. Enemies glow in the dark, so he can still "see" them when he's out of lamp oil. His Life Bar also steadily depletes as he explores the route - he can suffer zero damage from enemies and still empty his Life Bar. As in the main game, he can restore some portion of his Life Bar by defeating enemies. However, the time he spends fighting enemies will consume more "lamp oil", increasing the odds of being plunged into total darkness. In general, I recommend avoiding enemy battles as much as possible, fighting only when he needs a health boost. Avoidance is not possible or wise on floors populated by archers because they will kill him from a distance well before he can get out of their range. There are "lunchbox" icons which will restore a portion of his Life Bar. If his Life Bar is completely emptied, he will be resurrected back at the beginning of Floor 1 with whatever Life Bar and Life Orbs he had when he first entered the labyrinth. There are no "temporary save points" when he completes the Bronze and Silver Medal levels. If he dies at any point along the 18-floor route, he has to start over from the beginning of Floor 1. The complexity of the floor plans becomes more difficult with each level. The final floors are hideously convoluted, with a large number of dead end routes. Holding (-) will display the floor map which develops as Prince moves through each corridor. He is represented as a black circle on a white map. You can move Prince through the level while the map is displayed. When plunged into total darkness, I recommend that you rapidly toggle the map on and off. You can move him on the map, but you need to be able to see any glowing lamp icons along the way which will restore light and visibility for a while. Enemies almost never attack Prince as he moves through the corridors when the map is displayed. The map feature is not available on any floor at the entrance point. Prince must move partway into the first corridor to see the beginning of the map. The exit for every floor is in the opposite corner from the entrance. If he enters a floor at the bottom right (BR), the exit is at the top left (TL), although there are many twists and turns to get there. Occasionally, there are stationary blue spheres along the route. If Prince bumps into those blue spheres they will not replenish his Life Bar, but they will rapidly move along the corridors to indicate the next few correct turns leading to the exit. They rush away very quickly, so be prepared to follow them! Annoyingly, if there are enemies along the that route, Prince will automatically lock onto the enemy and you will lose sight of the blue sphere route as he turns to face the enemy instead. The "exit" for every floor is a doorway facing a vertical crevice on the facing wall. Jump to the crevice and slide down to the next floor. The following is a list of the floors, the general location of the exit (TL = top left; BR = bottom right), and the type of enemy on each floor. Floor 1 (TL) Haoma Minions Floor 2 (BR) Archers Floor 3 (TL) Haoma Minions Floor 4 (BR) Haoma Minions Floor 5 (TL) Archers Floor 6 (BR) Haoma Warriors - Bronze Medal complete Floor 7 (TL) Hunter Archers (red jackets, have a sword to block attacks, rapid fire arrows; attack in multiples from several directions) Floor 8 (BR) Minotaurs Floor 9 (TL) Haoma Warriors floor 10 (BR) Minotaurs Floor 11 (TL) Chthonian Beasts Floor 12 (BR) Minotaurs - Silver Medal complete Floor 13 (TL) Temptress Assassins Floor 14 (BR) Chthonian Beasts Floor 15 (TL) Temptress Assassins Floor 16 (BR) Chthonian Beasts Floor 17 (TL) Large Scarabs - the map is VERY complex; avoid killing scarabs until Prince needs health as he will surely get lost and have to spend a lot of time retracing his steps as his Life Bar dwindles Floor 18 (BR) Large Scarabs - Gold Medal level complete ********THE TOWER OF THE GODS - fight your way out of the Tower of the Gods How to Unlock: win all three Beast battles Heroic Challenge: Bronze Medal - complete the first part of the Tower of the Gods Heroic Challenge: Silver Medal - complete the second part of the Tower of the Gods - unlocks Art Gallery: Characters II Heroic Challenge: Gold Medal - complete the third part of the Tower of the Gods - unlocks Video: Developer's Diary III Description: In my opinion, this is the easiest of the secret maps and the only one in which having all Life Bar and Life Orb upgrades is not necessary to complete all three medal levels. Prince fights a continuous series of battles with mixed groups of enemies. He can use all of Creation Powers here and can rely on his Life Orbs for resurrection. I do not know what happens if he dies on a level, because I played straight through the entire map without him dying. At least, not dying with no Life Orbs remaining. If you are having reasonable success in battles in the main game, there is nothing here that is any more difficult. Just as in the main game, defeated enmies release blue spheres to restore his Life Bar, so the overall likelihood of dying is low. Each enemy he defeats will heal him. Because there are Minotaurs in the advanced levels, I recommend waiting until Prince has the Tornado Attack (at least partly, if not fully upgraded). Although he can use the Charge Attack against Minotaurs, they appear on levels where Prince can't always wall run to use the Charge Attack. Plus, using the Charge Attack may result in Prince diving into a Haoma pit during or after striking the Minotaur or any other enemy on those levels. Each of the medal levels has a different battle arena. The Bronze Medal level is a circular toom with a complete floor. The Silver Medal level is a square room with a square platform in the centre; Prince call fall off or be knocked off the battle floor into the Haoma pit on all 4 sides of the battle arena. The Gold Medal level has a large rectangular battle floor and a small rectangular battle floor, both with drop-offs to a Haoma pit. Prince will have to jump from one rectangle to the other to defeat any archers in this level. ***********THE SPEED RUN - move through the environment as fast as you can How to Unlock: Finish the game once. Heroic Challenge: Bronze Medal - complete the first part of the Speed Run Heroic Challenge: Silver Medal - complete the second part of the Speed Run - unlocks Art Gallery: Characters II Heroic Challenge: Gold Medal - complete the third part of the Speed Run - unlocks Video: Developer's Diary III Description: This secret map is at least as difficult as the Dark Labyrinth. The platforming is massively more difficult, but it has "temporary save points". If you complete Level 1, enter Level 2 and die, Prince will restart from the beginning of Level 2. As with all the secret maps, if you quit and re-enter, you must start over at the beginning of Level 1. Prince can use all of his usual moves (wall runs, etc) and he can create Magical Spheres. However, using spheres is neither wise nor helpful. If he missed a landing, he's not likely to get to it from a sphere either. He cannot place Spirit Hooks. He is not allowed to use Life Orbs here. When he dies from injury he is thrust back to the beginning of the level. There are no second chances. The only way to succeed is to repeat a level until you've memorized the route and the strategies and timing to get past the hazards without injury and without making a single mis-step. The environment is a "bare bones" represenation of all the familiar hazards. The map description which says "move as fas as you can" is paramount. There is no time to assess, observe, or think about how to negotiate the hazards. The bright red sand is rapidly rising and will consume and kill Prince very quickly if he hesitates. This is pure platforming that requires quick thinking, masterful control of Prince's movements, and has no room for error. *****PRINCE OF PERSIA CLASSIC - the original Prince of Persia game (SNES) How to unlock: complete the Heroic Challenge: Green Retro Drink in the first story event (There are no Heroic Challenge medals for this secret map) Description: This is the classic game that brought Prince of Persia to fame and adulation. I suggest that you search the Web to find a walkthrough. I found the controls so frustrating that I lost interest. I will return to it at some point, but not now. iv) ART GALLERIES ENVIRONMENTS I - beautiful landscape art pieces used to develop the game How to Unlock: complete the Silver Medal level of 2D: A Classic View of things CHARACTERS I - beautiful character art pieces used to develop the game How to Unlock: complete the Silver Medal level of the Dark Labyrinth secret map CHARACTERS II - beautiful character art pieces used to develop the game How to unlock: complete the Silver Medal level; Tower of the Gods secret map ENVIRONMENTS II - beautiful landscape art pieces used to develop the game How to Unlock: complete the Silver Medal level; The Speed Run secret map v) VIDEOS DEVELOPER’S DIARY I - How we did animations for the game How to unlock: complete the Gold Medal level of 2D: A Classic View of Things DEVELOPER’S DIARY II - How we did the levels for the game How to unlock: complete the Gold Medal level; Dark Labyrinth secret map DEVELOPER’S DIARY III - How we did the environments for the game How to unlock: complete the Gold Medal level; Tower of the Gods secret map DEVELOPER’S DIARY IV - How we did cinematics for the game How to unlock: complete the Gold Medal level; The Speed Run secret map X. WALKTHROUGH As a player, I dislike having to flip back and forth between the instructions for each section of the game and "other resource material" that contains info I need. So I have structured this walkthrough with as much info as possible grouped together in a continuous narrative. If there are Heroic Challenges that must be completed in a particular location, they are listed in that location's instructions. If a detailed explanation of a challenge is required, that's where you'll find it. Since some Heroic Challenges must be completed over time, I have indicated when you can START to meet the requirements for that kind of challenge. When you complete it will depend on when and whether you fulfill the requirements. Finding chests of all sorts (red, blue, gold) must be done as you go through a location. I have tried to include the instructions to help you find them as you go along. I have indicated where in the story line that Heroic Skills were acquired as I played through the game. Since acquiring Heroic Skills depends upon finding a sufficient number of chests, you will likely acquire those same skills at about the same time that they're listed in the walkthrough if you have collected the chests described to that point. Playing through a game is not an exact science. Even if you follow this walkthrough carefully you will find variations and improvements of your own. Quite often there is more than one way to get from Point A to Point B. This walkthrough describes only one of those many ways. Enjoy the adventure! ***THE STRANDED CASTLE*** ================ There are 2 Heroic Challenges that can be completed either now or very late in the game. [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: YOU’RE GOOD - complete the Stranded Castle level without dying This challenge is moderately difficult at the beginning of the game. You will have to quit the game and reload to start over every time Prince dies. You should find it remarkably easy if you do it when you return to this location near the end of the game. The challenge ends when Prince dives off a tower in a cutscene. [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: PATHFINDER - use the hidden alternate path There are two possible routes through this story segment - one more obvious than the other. The specific directions for taking the "alternate path" are clearly highlighted in the walkthrough notes that follow. The challenge is complete when the cutscene occurs and Prince dives off the platform. ============== The Stranded Castle event is, in fact, almost the end of the story. Most of the game is a flashback to explain the events leading up to this hectic event. Although you will have no idea where Prince is or why he’s racing through a collapsing castle grounds which are sinking rapidly into the sand, this event is designed as a movement tutorial. Instructions appear on screen to tell you which buttons to use to implement Prince’s notoriously acrobatic moves. He gets an infinite number of retries, no matter how many times he dies in this segment. He will die and have to start over if he: - makes contact with the sand - misses a jump or falls from too great a height - stands on a collapsing beam until it does collapse If he does die, you’ve lost nothing but the chance to complete a Heroic Challenge sooner rather than later. (I have not yet confirmed this, but I believe that dying during The Stranded Castle makes it impossible to complete the Heroic Challenge: You Only Die Once. Not to worry. You have to play the game at least twice anyway. In a replay, you will easily get through Stranded Castle the first time without dying.) As Prince bursts onto the screen, emerging from a blue door, a female voice urges him, "If you want to live, follow me!" When the cutscene ends, go forward through the doorway, along a short corridor, and outside. Go down the stairs and keep to the left side. Then ahead, at the top of a short set of stairs, jump to the slightly higher ledge beyond. Go down the ramp, move to the left & run ahead, jumping over each gap as Prince gets to it. After the 3rd gap, move to the right. Then immediately turn left. Wall run horizontally over the next gap. Run a few steps, then jump to the left so Prince will grab a horizontal crevice in the stone wall. Edge left and climb onto the next walkway. The path curves down. Follow it to a wall where Prince must wall run vertically to grab hold of a crevice. Whenever he is in such a position, just move the Control Stick to see a white line that will indicate where he can and will move when you press A. Go to the top, run straight ahead and jump to a collapsing wooden beam (don’t linger!), then to the platform beyond it. Jump toward the next structure with 3 stone railings and jump over all 3. Then to a smooth platform ahead. Turn right, then jump to an octagonal platform with railings. From there, turn left and jump to the crevice on a cylindrical pillar, then to another flat octagonal platform. A huge stone column falls from above and lands at the left. Jump onto it, then to the nearby wall face with crevices. Prince will grab the bottom crevice - go up to the next highest, then to the top. Run forward and jump to the next flat platform. ***Pathfinder: The Alternate Path*** Immediately go to the right and hang off the edge where there’s a gap in the stone railing (the camera angle will change). Wall run to Prince’s right to a small protrusion. From there, jump across to the next flat platform to the right. There is a vertical channel in the stonework. Run up either side and press A repeatedly to make Prince jump back and forth between the two side walls to get to the top. Go up the dark stone wall - immediately turn left to find a wooden beam. Jump from the beam to the wall with crevices. Follow the crevices to the top, moving left or right as necessary. A cutscene will occur to signal the end of the segment - Prince dives off the final platform into a seeming void at the urging of a female voice. That’s when the game truly begins. ************THE KINGDOM OF IZDIHAR*** You will learn that "Searching for untold riches, the Prince had been traveling for months with a small genie that he had acquired in a peculiar marketplace." From their conversation, you will also learn that the genie promised Prince she would lead to him to a kingdom he could claim as his own. And this is it. He is not impressed. They arrive at a beach-like area with a statue on the shore. You will be given a camera control tutorial and be told to have Prince approach the statue. In a cutscene, he will kiss the statue - 3 Life Orb spaces will be added to his life meter. Each filled orb can be used to resurrect him one time if his blue life crescent empties due to injury. If he runs out of golden Life Orbs and empties his blue life crescent again, he will have "died" and will automatically restart his adventure at the last save fountain. He must collect 3 djinn souls to fill each Life Orb - djinn souls are the glowing gold spheres visible in the environment. You are told to collect the 3 djinn souls only inches away to fill the first of his 3 Life Orbs. Djinn souls can also be found by breaking pots. =============== There are 2 Heroic Challenges which you can start now, but can't complete for some time: HEROIC CHALLENGE: YOU ONLY DIE ONCE - Complete the game without dying "Dying" is defined as using all available Life Orbs and suffering enough additional injury to empty the blue Life Bar. Prince will "die" and automatically emerge from the most recent previous save fountain. If that happens, you have failed the challenge. To avoid that, quit without saving if Prince has used up all his Life Orbs (and before he actually dies) and reload from your last save. Being resurrected by a Life Orb does not count as dying. HEROIC CHALLENGE: SOULS STREAK - collect 100 djinn souls without dying At the start of the game the djinn souls are plentiful and the enemies are the weakest you will ever meet in the story. The same conditions apply in regard to what constitutes "dying". Until you complete at least Souls Streak, make it a practise to quit and reload after every Fountain and make a backup save. ================== Press (+) to pause the game and select "HEROIC SKILLS" to learn that Prince currently has no Heroic Skills. But if you look carefully, you’ll see that Sword Attack (the first skill he will acquire) has a different kind of circle around it. Very shortly, the perimeter of that circle will start to fill with green. When the entire perimeter of the circle is green, he will acquire that skill and the next skill in the predetermined order will have a fill-the-green perimeter around it. (*see Heroic Skills section) According to the game's instruction manual, Prince acquires the "experience" to learn his next Heroic Skill by: - finding and breaking blue, red, and gold chests - defeating enemies - collecting djinn souls visible in the environment and found by breaking pots - completing Heroic Challenges Of these, breaking treasure chests is the preferred action; the only one that will produce enough experience points to be immediately noticeable on the Heroic Skills Development Gauge (the green circle). The point at which Prince will likely have enough experience to acquire the next Heroic Skill will be noted in this walkthrough, but depending on the number of enemies and chests he’s dealt with at any given point, the Heroic Skill might be acquired slightly sooner or later than indicated. ===================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: GREEN RETRO DRINK - find and drink the green potion After Prince kisses the first statue, look behind the nearby waterfall to find the green potion. You may not see the potion unless you manipulate the camera angle, so be watchful for the Z prompt to appear onscreen. Press Z to drink it and you'll unlock the Prince of Persia Classic (the original PoP game), as well as complete this challenge. ==================== THE HINT BUTTON (Press up on the D-Pad) At certain points in the game, the word Hint and the Hint button icon will appear onscreen. Press up on the D-Pad for the hint to be displayed. If you leave Prince motionless in the environment for a minute or two, the hint icon can be made to appear almost any time. In general, the hints are useless. For instance, when faced with a complex puzzle, don't look for help from the Hint button. It will merely state the obvious goal. The hints NEVER include a suggestion about how to solve any puzzle. The most useful function of the Hint button is that, occasionally, it is not clear where Prince should go next. The hint button will tell you where to go - it will point out the nearest doorway to start Prince on his trek to the next location and it will name the destination to be reached. =========================== Nonetheless, use the Hint button now. Go through the opening that the Hint button will indicate and follow the only available path. Very quickly, Prince will meet his first enemy and you’ll be given an introductory battle tutorial. Continue to follow the only available route until Prince arrives at a FOUNTAIN. To the right of the fountain drop down two ledges to trigger a second battle (the first in which there are multiple enemies). After the battle, drop down and look behind the nearby waterfall for pots and a chest. You’ll have to backtrack a very short distance to retrace the route to the fountain. At this point Prince may receive ... >>HEROIC SKILL: JUMP ATTACK - jump on enemy’s head, shake Remote to rise into the air and slash them from above If you become disoriented after this battle (or any of the many to come) and can’t quite remember which direction you were heading, look for djinn souls. A trail of them will always indicate which direction Prince should be moving next. Continue following the path to arrive at an area with a number of broken walls below with the obvious goal of walking along the tops of the walls to get to the next area. Do so, but stop after collecting the last visible djinn soul, and retrace the route to the beginning of this area. Hold (-) to see an overview of the area (OR) use C + Control Stick to rotate the camera to see a blue chest and some pots in an upper alcove on the left side. Starting from ground level, climb wall cracks to reach and break them. You will then be in exactly the same place as you would have been if you’d continued forward after the final djinn soul was collected and can continue following the only route forward. Prince will arrive at a clearing where there is a giant stone face carving and (inexplicably) the game’s title will be displayed. Apparently, to signal that the tutorial is over and the real game begins now. Follow the djinns to the bottom of this area and walk forward to trigger a cutscene. Prince finds an inscription: "He who rescues my daughter and frees my kingdom from evil shall have both". You’ve now been given the premise of this story. The remainder of the game is devoted to meeting those two goals - rescue the daughter and free the kingdom of evil. As the cutscene continues Prince sees a sword embedded in the wall near the inscription. When he pulls out the glowing sword, he unwittingly releases an evil being, the Sorceress. Immediately afterward he is attacked by a hideous beast!! In the struggle with the Beast, the sword becomes lodged in the beast’s body and breaks, leaving Prince with the hilt and the beast with the blade. Zahra, the Genie, chides Prince. By removing the sword, he removed a powerful ward that kept monsters at bay. However, if he can retrieve the sword blade (literally from the belly of the beast) it can be repaired and will be the most effective tool to destroy the monsters. For most of the rest of the story, Prince will be pursuing the Beast to retrieve the sword blade. He will see occasional glimpses of the Beast as he goes along, but it’s a long journey before he’ll catch up to it. Note that to one side of the giant head carving, there is a glowing blue door. There is no way to open it at this time - a return visit is required. So start Prince on his pursuit of the Beast by climbing the wall vine and following the only route available. Tip: green vines with blue flowers are safe to climb on. The red vines he will soon come across spell instant death the moment that he touches them. The enemies Prince comes across will now start to become more numerous and stronger, so he may start to suffer more damage from enemy attacks. Defeated enemies release a blue sphere which flies to Prince and partially refills his health bar. The next area is another beam and wall maze with 2 possible routes through it. Use (-) to see the overview and look for a high alcove with a blue chest. Use the walls and wooden beams to get up there. (Don’t climb the cliff face until you’ve collected all the djinn souls, chests, and pots). >>HEROIC SKILL: GRAB & THROW - swing the Nunchuk while on an enemy to throw the enemy. ========================= There are now 2 Heroic Challenges to begin to work toward. In general, try to throw enemies as often as possible until these goals are met: HEROIC CHALLENGE: YOU GO DOWN? - push or throw 10 enemies into a pit (off any ledge to a lower area) HEROIC CHALLENGE: TRAPPED - push or throw 10 enemies into traps (e.g. Spike mats, spiky poles) ========================= Climb the cliff face and follow the route to the next FOUNTAIN. From there, Wall Run and Vine to go down one level where Prince will enter the first of many COMBAT ARENAS. The entrance and exit to the area will suddenly be blocked by yellow vines and enemies will appear out of nowhere. All the enemies must be defeated to be able to go on with the story. This battle group introduces Archers who are physically weaker than other enemies, but who have unerring bow skills to inflict a great amount of injury in the least amount of time. Hold Z continuously to deflect arrows as Prince approaches an Archer. Get rid of them first and quickly. There are pots to break in this area. >>HEROIC SKILL: TORNADO ATTACK - shake both the Nunchuk and Remote at the same time for a powerful spin attack that will hit every enemy in a radius of arm’s reach. Go through an arch and follow the tunnel to come to a vine wall that leads to an arrow trap. Observe the timing of the arrows, jump to the ledge and quickly jump up to the next higher level. Stop, turn 180 degrees to see a blue chest on a small ledge. Smash it and resume traveling in the original direction to arrive at a T-Beam. Jump to the top of the T; observe the timing of the arrow trap carefully - step out onto the perpendicular arm of the T and immediately drop to hang from that arm; scoot along to the end while still keeping track of the arrow trap firing sequence. When it’s safe, jump up to stand on the beam and immediately jump to the vertical wall crack. Follow the route to the next FOUNTAIN. This one is at the bottom of a two-level area. The game instructs you to use Z and Control Stick to move the pedestal to sit on the pressure switch on the ground. Doing so opens a door at the upper level. Stand on the pedestal, jump to the upper level and go through the open doorway. *************THE ANTIQUE ROAD OF THE MERCHANTS*** A cutscene will show the Beast thundering across a bridge up above. The task is to negotiate a maze of bridge support pillars to find a way to get to the top of the bridge. Use (-) for an overhead view. There is an alcove above Prince’s head that has a chest and pots and a similar alcove with chests and pots across the chasm. Use wooden beams and cracks in the support pillars to get across to the other side. Prince will have to back-and-forth jump between 2 pillars to climb a level (but not yet reach the top of the bridge). If you want both sets of chests, DO NOT JUMP TO THE CLIFF FACE. Instead, at this higher level, go back the way Prince came from - to arrive at the chest alcove. Once again, cross the chasm. You can see the blue chest "right there", but can’t get to it yet. Jump to the cliff face and use vines to climb to the top. Prince will be at the top of the bridge and is free to cross. If you want the chests in the other alcove, don’t cross the bridge. Carefully hang off the edge of the cliff, rotate the camera to see below him, and use the nearby vertical crack to slide down to the alcove. Climb back to the top and cross the bridge. Prince will have to battle a number of enemies, including archers, to get to the other side. He will come to a closed door . Nearby there’s pedestal sitting at one end of a zig-zag path on the ground. DON’T MOVE THE PEDESTAL YET. ================================= [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: CLOSE CALL - move the stone pedestal on the bridge only one third of the way in the Antique Road of the Merchants map. First, climb onto the pedestal to learn that the pressure switch on the top of the pedestal opens the door. But as soon as Prince steps or jumps off the pedestal, the door will slowly close. Use Z to push the pedestal forward to the end of the first straight section. DO NOT MOVE THE PEDESTAL SIDEWAYS. Climb the pedestal again, wait for the door to be fully open, jump off and run to the closing door. Press down on the D-Pad for Prince to roll under it at the last second. Challenge complete. ================================== The next hazard Prince comes to is a swinging spiked log. He can either jump over the log at the lowest part of its swing or roll under it at the height of its swing. Follow the wall cracks to arrive at the next FOUNTAIN. Just beyond the fountain, Prince must back-and-forth jump between 2 walls while a spiked log swings back and forth near the bottom. Start the vertical wall run as the log swings away from either wall (pick whichever side you like). At the zenith of his wall run, jump toward the opposite wall and continue to the top. A cutscene will draw attention to a blue mesh door. Before he can approach the door, he is thrust into... ============================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SHADOWY - destroy the shield guard and claim your first magical power BATTLE: MINOTAUR CHAMPION - This is the first enemy which has a shield. Prince can do zero damage to it while it holds the shield. By contrast, the Minotaur can do massive damage to Prince. Guard, keep your distance, and observe its movements. It will swing its sword so violently that the sword lodges in the ground for a second. Prince must roll behind the Minotaur at that second and strike it from behind. After several such back strikes, the shield will break. The Minotaur is then as vulnerable as any other strong enemy and Prince can use any attack moves to defeat it. If Prince has the Tornado Attack skill, it will also break Minotaur shields. After the battle, Prince can pass through the blue mesh door to receive: ^^CREATION SKILL: SPIRIT HOOK - point the remote and press B to activate hook plates on walls. Prince can jump or wall run to reach those hooks. While holding onto a hook, he can wall run further up or wall run sideways - either to another hook, a wall crack, or solid ground. The game requires you to use this new power on a nearby hook plate. (technically those hook plates are called "amplifiers"). Prince will automatically have completed the Heroic Challenge: Shadowy ============================ Note: Prince can now place the Remote cursor on an enemy and Press B to petrify that enemy for a short time. It won’t work on shielded enemies until their shield is removed. =================================== THE "RULES" OF HOOK PLATE USE: - all hook plates must be "activated" by using B to click on them - until you activate them, they are merely "plates" with no "hooks" - if there is more than one hook plate of the same colour ALL matching hook plates are activated by clicking on any one of them - if there is more than one colour of hook plate in an area ONLY ONE COLOUR OF HOOK PLATE CAN BE ACTIVE. If there is both a green and a blue hook plate in the same area, EITHER blue OR green can be active - NOT BOTH colours at once. - if the green hook plate was activated and you click on the blue hook plate, the hook on the green hook plate will disappear. ==================================== All doors like this first one lead to a sanctuary where Prince will receive a magical Creation Power, a Life Bar Upgrade or a Life Orb Upgrade. The locations of all of them will described during the walkthrough, just as this first one was. Activate the hook plate, run up the wall to grab the hook. Continue along a series of hook plates. Cross a gap with a swinging log and arrow traps; break the nearby pots and blue chest. In the next ledge-arrow-trap-hook maze, the arrow traps reload "slowly". Just drop down to hang off the beam as the arrow heads start to protrude to get through it without injury and arrive at the FOUNTAIN. Activate the series of spirit hooks. Wall run to the first hook, follow the series to a chest on an upper ledge. >>HEROIC SKILL: JUMP ATTACK #2 - Prince’s jump attack now does more damage and pushes the target Then go the opposite direction to reach a gap with red Haoma (lethal) plants. Carefully follow the blue vine route on the wall without touching the red vine sections. Prince will arrive back at the big stone head carving. This time he can go through the blue door beside the carved stone head to arrive at the next FOUNTAIN. He will be in a courtyard with many vertical columns. Most have stone sections (which he can’t cling to or climb) as well as wooden sections (which he can use). Negotiate the maze of columns, jump to wooden beams and swing to the top of the area. Look around to see some chests and pots on top of a column. From this high area Prince has reached, he can wall run to get there and use wall vines to get back. Drop down on the other side to land in a smaller courtyard to trigger a Combat Arena with a battle group that includes a Minotaur. Follow djinn souls through the next series of hooks, wall crevices and beams to a FOUNTAIN. Go past 2 sets of vertical spike poles to reach Combat Arena in which the "enemy leader is marked by a column of blue light". When the enemy leader is defeated, all other monsters disappear. This applies to all subsequent battles in the story. ***************THE ALLEY OF THE NOBLES*** =================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: 12 EASY STEPS - use a max of 12 crystals and amplifiers in the Alley of the Nobles ** see the Heroic Challenge list for detailed instructions to get through this area and meet the requirements of this challenge*** In a first playthrough, I opted to skip this challenge in favour of finding chests to build up Heroic Skills as early as possible instead. The instructions for this section assume you are making the same choice. Following this part of the walkthrough will contribute to Heroic Skills development, but cause you to fail the Heroic Challenge. =================================== Note 1: "Amplifiers" = the blue "turning crystals" and the hook plates. The crystals on the puzzle doors do not count as amplifiers. Prince must negotiate a rotating column & balance beam puzzle to remove 4 bars from the door on the opposite side. All 4 bars are removed the same way. Get on a wooden beam, use the Remote to click on a blue crystal to rotate the column until the bar he’s standing on is opposite a wall-mounted pressure switch, jump from the bar to the plate, wall run up to press the switch and jump back to the beam. When the 4th bar is removed from the door, rotate the column to place Prince opposite the exit door, drop down the beams, and jump to the exit ledge. The door now becomes a simple puzzle door with 2 dots to connect. The next area is a nearly identical puzzle of 3 columns with beams and "turning crystals". There are 2 blue chests on the left side before Price starts on the beam-column maze. You have a choice of completing a Heroic Challenge or finding chests and pots for experience points (you can’t do both). Start by moving the first layer of the first pillar once. You can then wall run up and jump at the apex of the run to reach the next ledge above, skipping one along the way. Spin this level twice, then climb to the next level. Spin the three levels around until they line up above Prince, then activate one of them and climb to the top. Note 2: If you’d rather get experience points toward activating the next Heroic Skill by finding chests and pots (that are in an alcove in one of the columns), follow the directions to get to the ledge with the exit door. Prince can jump to the pillar with the hidden chests from the exit door platform and work his way down and around to get the chests, then return to the exit door. There are also chests to be found in an alcove on a side wall. You will get the chests, but fail the challenge. >>HEROIC SKILL: CHARGE ATTACK: swing the remote during a vertical or horizontal wall run to perform a "dive attack" that results in an instant kill for weaker enemies and instant destruction of a Minotaur shield Just beyond the exit door, Prince must pass 2 vertical spike logs. His next task is to get through a beam and column maze while 2 archers are shooting at him. Note 3: Both archers are standing on platforms with a blue crystal on the front edge. Use B on those crystals to drop and kill the archers, making the beam and column maze completely safe. If you do so, you will fail the 12 Easy Steps challenge. When Prince arrives at the area where the archers were (or still are if you chose not to kill them) he enters a Combat Arena. If he already has the Charge Attack skill, he can make short work of the Minotaurs and Archers in this group. After the battle, go out through any of the 3 openings to reach a turnstile that will open a door directly below the turnstile. Use either of the 2 ledges that separate the turnstile and two smaller archer platforms, slide down the vertical crevice and go through the open door to reach the next FOUNTAIN. Beyond the fountain turn right to find a Hook Plate that is essential for Prince to reach the next higher level. Note 4: This Hook Plate counts as an "amplifier" in the 12 Easy Steps Heroic Challenge. Next, Prince must get through the area with 'enough saws to build a kingdom'. There are Hook Plates that will allow him to cross above the saws. Using them will result in failure of 12 Easy Steps. It’s easy to get past the saws using the ledges, though. Be aware that hangind from some of the ledges will cause Prince to touch the red plants below, resulting in instant death. If he's hanging from a ledge to wait for a saw to move out of his way, don't go sideways unless you're certain there's room. When he gets past the saws he must stand on a pressure plate to cause a vertical wall crevice to appear, jump to the crevice, wall run over a pressure switch on the wall to remove a bar from the door. This is the puzzle door that is the final step in 12 Easy Steps. When he goes through that door, the challenge is ended. The door leads back to the gate where the huge stone head carving is. Activate the Hook Plate up and to the right, then wall run to a series of ledges. In a cutscene, Prince falls, the nose breaks off the carving, and Prince clambers into the opening created. There is a FOUNTAIN a few steps ahead. ================================ [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: YOU BROKE IT! - break the King’s nose in the Kingdom of Delusion map (automatically completed during the cutscene) ================================ Prince comments that there is "a whole series of caverns behind that statue". Jump to the pole, then to the vine wall. Follow the vine sideways and up to a ledge with a puzzle door. Beyond that door is a another pillar with Hook Plate. There are several chests on an easily reached side ledge, but that ledge is a Combat Arena guarded by 2 shielded Minotaurs. The experience points from those chests will likely produce. . . >>HEROIC SKILL: SWORD MASTERY - your sword deals even more damage The Sorceress suddenly appears, looks at Zahra contemptuously, and says she thought that all Genies had been expelled from this kingdom long ago. Prince challenges Sorceress to fight, but she declines & activates an enormous monster to kill Prince on her behalf. ======================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: PERFECT - beat the first boss and never miss an action input while playing the 3 finishing sequences * more detail to follow below * [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: STAY DOWN! - stun the first boss in a minimal amount of time for each of 3 phases of the fight. To meet the criterion of "a minimal amount of time", Prince must not be hit, stunned, or killed (use a Life Orb) due to blows from the Guardian. He must get to the flower buds and hit them quickly and often. He must negotiate the wall maze efficiently. If he fails to press A or shake the remote before the onscreen prompt turns red he will have to stun the Guardian again, using more time. It sounds a lot harder than it is! You may have to quit and reload a couple of times before you get the timing right. ======================= BOSS BATTLE: THE GUARDIAN This battle will play out in 3 nearly identical stages. When the Guardian was activated it took a small (by comparison) head carving off the wall to serve as its face/head. The goal is to cut off that head. Phase #1: Guardian will swing its massive arm and crash its fist to the ground. The fist has 3 flower buds - the buds will open only when the fist is on the ground after a blow. Prince must slash any of those 3 flowers to inflict injury on Guardian. The buds will not open if Guardian actually hits Prince; only when its fist hits the ground when Prince successfully dodges a blow. Run and dodge and try to predict where that fist will come crashing down - one blow from that fist will deplete Prince’s health by three-quarters. When sufficient damage has been done, the Guardian is stunned, and its arm will lie near the wall. Prince must clamber up the arm, activate Hook Plates and work his way to a wooden beam that extends above the proned Guardian. When Prince leaps from that beam to the Guardian's body, a series of onscreen prompts will be displayed. You must press A or shake the remote immediately in response to those prompts. If you get it right, the onscreen prompts glows green. If you don't get the timing right, the onscreen prompt turns red. If you fail an action input and the onscreen symbol glows red, Prince will be thrown back to the ground and will have to inflict more damage to the Guardian before being allowed to climb back to the overhanging beam. Prince will either slash (A prompt) or leap (remote prompt) until he cuts off the Guardian's head. One "finishing sequence" has been completed. You'll know you've done it right if a brief cutscene shows Prince walking away from Guardian. Phase #2 and Phase #3: The Guardian's health bar is fully refilled at the beginning of each phase; Prince's Life Bar and Life Orbs will not be restored. After its head is cut off in Phase 1, Guardian pulls another face carving off the wall and repairs itself. In Phases 2 and 3 the Guardian's other arm comes into play - holding a massive stone column it uses as a cudgel. Prince must dodge blows from both arms. When it uses its left arm to swing the cudgel, it tucks its right arm close to its body, so Prince may have to run a long way to slash at the flowers on its right hand. The climbing sequences to get to the beam above the Guardian’s body are slightly more complex. When the Guardian's 3rd head is severed, the battle is won and the two Heroic Challenges are complete. By winning this battle you will have unlocked Secret Map 2D: A Classic View of Things. After the next save point you can get to the secret map by quitting, going back to the main Menu ->Extras ->Bonus ->Secret Maps. Prince can now go through the blue door to one side of where the huge stone head carving used to be (the carving is now completely destroyed). This is an upgrade sanctuary. In the cutscene he kisses the statue to receive. . . ^^CREATION POWER: WHIRLWIND: Prince can activate floor plates to create a vertical column of air (a whirlwind) that will elevate him when he steps into it. If there is a whirlwind plate in a combat arena, he can activate it. Enemies that step into it will be thrown high into air and crash to the ground, momentarily stunned and vulnerable. *****************THE SOUK OF IZDIHAR*** Prince now enters an entirely new area - one that he will return to several times. It contains a number of treasures and upgrades that he can obtain at different times. Several Hook Plates are visible high on the right hand side, but none of them can be accessed yet. Go down the stairs to the FOUNTAIN on the lower level. Activate the Whirlwind Plates. Jump across the 3 whirlwinds to pass above the lethal red plants, then ... beam x2... hook plate...wall crevice...hook plate.. horizontal bars...ledge above the lower level Save Fountain. There is an Upgrade Sanctuary door here. Prince kisses the statue to receive: **LIFE ORB UPGRADE #1: 4TH ORB** Leave the sanctuary and find a puzzle door to Prince’s right (your left). Zahra says "this is the path to the garden". Follow the djinns to 2 Hook Plates (one green, one blue). There is a blue crystal on the side wall that will change the colour of the top plate until it becomes blue - (OR) - activate the green one, jump to it; activate the blue one which will cause Prince to fall from the green and grab onto the blue one below. Wall run over the spike mats to reach a Combat Arena. There is a Whirlwind Plate that can be activated to throw enemies into the air if they step into it. After the battle, use that whirlwind to get to a balcony. Activate and use the hook plates to cross the room to another balcony where there are chests and pots to break. Jump from that balcony to the whirlwind (reactivate it if has stopped) to get back to the first balcony. Once again, use the Hook Plates, but this time climb to the level above to arrive on an outdoor ledge. Ahead there is an arrow trap on the left wall and 3 Hook Plates to the right of the arrow trap. Time your run carefully, then wall run to the arrow trap and jump right catch a hook. The jump-off point is precisely centered on the arrow trap. The following sequence is...hook plates...stone beam...ledge with a blue chest...wooden beams...blue hook...wall run past arrow trap... wall crevice... wooden beams...horizontal crevice...vertical crevice. Then create a whirlwind to reach the next Hook Plate, wall run to a 2nd Hook Plate (passing over a pressure switch that opens the door below, jump back to the whirlwind, drop down, and roll under the slowly closing door. ********************GATE OF THE CHOSEN ONES*** Prince will be facing a wall of 8 various-coloured hook plates arranged in two vertical columns. There are also 4 blue crystals which will change the colours of the hook plates. You have 2 choices here - change the colours of the hook plates until Prince has a path of blue hooks to get to the top - (OR) - leave all the hook plates unchanged and get to the top. Leaving the hook plates unchanged will complete a Heroic Challenge. (remember:hook plates and crystals are "amplifiers') ==================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: DON’T FEEL LIKE IT! - skip the amplifier challenge in the Gate of the Chosen Ones. If you use the 4 crystals in the centre to change the colour of any of the hook plates you will fail the challenge. To succeed at the challenge, activate the whirlwind below the right hand column of hook plates; activate the bottom right orange hook plate and jump to it. Start a wall run up to the the green plate & activate it in time for Prince to grab it. Go up to the next green hook (already activated). Wall run up to the blue hook, activating it in time for Prince to grab it. Wall run to the right to grab a blue hook on the side wall. In an act of faith, wall run to the right again - just before reaching the back wall jump back to reach a wooden beam. Walk along the beam to be able to jump up to enter the next area **the identical process can be used starting from the left side** =================================== In this next area there are 3 low walls segmenting a lethal red plant area. DO NOT WALL RUN...JUMP TO EACH DIVIDING WALL SEPARATELY. From there, use the Hook Plates to reach the end of the corridor where Prince will run over a wall-mounted pressure switch. A moving boardwalk will roll closer to Prince, who will be hanging from the final crevice. Jump back to land on the boardwalk before it retracts and walk ahead to reach the FOUNTAIN. *Save* >>HEROIC SKILL: KILLING BLOW - swing the Nunchuk - or - the Remote on a proned foe to kill it instantaneously (from now on, using Grab and Throw or a whirlwind to knock down an enemy, makes them vulnerable to instant kill if Prince can slash them before they get up) ============================ [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: BUGS! - don’t get hurt by any scarabs in the Menagerie of the Myths To succeed at this challenge, Prince must not be touched by any type of scarab from now until the end of the Menagerie of Myths map. Just beyond the fountain, Prince will be attacked by a group of Scarabs (the big ones, not the smaller red Scavenger Scarabs which are invincible). If he’s injured by these Scarabs he will have failed the Bugs challenge before it even begins! If any Scarab so much as touches Prince, quit and reload. I suggest that you return to foundtain and save before going forward. At least you won't have to repeat this first battle if you have to retry this segment. The next puzzle door leads to a new area. ***************THE MENAGERIE OF THE MYTHS*** ============================= [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: FLUSH - get rid of scavenger scarabs in the Menagerie of the Myths *complete details to follow* [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE - SQUISH - step on the lone scarab *complete details to follow* ============================= The cutscene will highlight a swarm of small red scavenger scarabs surrounding a turnstile and a nearby alcove with a brightly coloured plant. Slash the plant to cause the scarabs to swarm to it. Turn the turnstile to open the door to the next area ... then RUN!!! Annoyingly, a cutscene prevents Prince from starting this chase until the scarabs are right at his feet, so jump over them and run through the newly opened door. I found that it helped to place Prince with his back to main room when he started to turn the turnstile. If he's in the alcove and facing the main room when he start to turn the crank, he tends to get trapped there when the scarabs arrive. The corridor Prince enters has lethal red plants on the floor and the walls, so it is extremely hazardous to his health even without a swarm of scarabs chasing him. Wall run along the right wall to get over the red plants. At the next obstruction, wall run on the right and jump left to a small safe spot. Follow the narrow path and jump forward over the small patch of red Haoma to reach the collapsing horizontal bars (activate the hook plate as he runs and swings, even though it's not strictly necessary to use the hook plate) and swing to a ledge. Finding the "sweet spot" where Prince can jump over that last little patch of Haoma before jumping to the bars is difficult. He must make that jump at the last possible second before actually stepping on the plants. There is an open pit with beams above. From Beam #1 wall run up and jump right to Beam #2. Wall run up and jump left to Beam #3. Follow the corridor of beams to a lower corridor of beams. From the third beam in the lower corridor, repeat the wall-run-jump-back manoeuver, timing jumps to avoid the arrow traps on the left wall. Prince must jump to the final 3 beams in one fluid movement (DON’T HESITATE FOR A FRACTION OF A SECOND) to reach the vertical wall crevice. Slide down the switch to open a door; activate 2 whirlwind plates. Jump from the first to the second whirlwind to get over the spike poles. The new room has a central turnstile, scarabs, and a plant in an alcove. Slash the plant and start turning the turnstile to open the gate to a cage. WHILE PRINCE IS STILL TURNING THE CRANK, ACTIVATE THE WHIRLWIND PLATE INSIDE THAT CAGE. At the first possible instant, run into the cage & use the whirlwind to get up to a platform. IGNORE ALL THE CHESTS AND POTS IN THE CAGE. Wall run to 2 Hook Plates, drop carefully from the second one. Follow the obvious route, wall running to a series of platforms on the wall, to get to a series of horizontal bars; swing to a vertical crevice then drop down narrow ledges to a battle arena and on to the FOUNTAIN. The next series of movements: wooden beam (activate the whirlwind plate and hook plate) ->hook plates x2 ->whirlwind ->hook plate ->wall run + charge attack to land on platform, killing the waiting archer instantly. Wall run to a vertical crevice; use the crevice to get to the next room. Zahra says this is a water holding tank which might be useful. She’s right. The "floor" is fan blades with metal mesh between the blades. As soon as the cutscene ends, the scarabs catch up. Run or jump from blade to blade to reach a Hook Plate, cross 2 wooden beams and jump to a vertical pole. From there jump to a nearly invisible wooden beam nestled among the red plants on the wall. Wall run to the next hook point (it looks to be too far away, but isn’t). Run up to a narrow ledge and jump to a balcony with a turnstile. The turnstile activates the sluice, water rushes out, the metal mesh retracts, and the scarabs are drowned to meet the criterion of the "Flush" challenge. A FOUNTAIN is just beyond the turnstile. I suggest saving before continuing. Retrace the route down to the fan blades. Go carefully from blade to blade (there are gaps where the mesh used to be) to reach a red chest. Go up a short stairway to find a dead scarab. Walk over it as many times as necessary until the challenge "Squish" is complete. Return to the turnstile at the top. Prince faces a series of beams with spiked logs swinging back and forth above them. With care and good timing, Prince can jump over the spiked logs like skipping ropes if he moves without hesitation. He then faces an area with an arrow trap on the left wall, a spike mat in the centre and vertical spiked logs on both sides. Simply run forward based on the timing of the arrow trap. Prince enters a COMBAT ARENA with spiked logs moving around the perimeter and one in the centre. It’s a good opportunity to throw more enemies into the spiked logs. During and just after this battle, I got... ============================= [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: TRAPPED - push or throw 10 enemies into traps ============================= >> HEROIC SKILL: COUNTER ATTACK - hold Z and swing the Nunchuk to counter incoming enemy attack >> HEROIC SKILL: TORNADO ATTACK #2 - your tornado attacks affect a larger area and deal more damage From the whirlwind, jump to Hook Plates and wall run to reach an outdoor balcony; hang from the pull switch to open a door to enter a 2D segment. The pressure switch on the floor moves a see-saw boardwalk. Jump down and go right to find 2 blue chests and the **Blue retro drink which unlocks the Sands of time Prince Outfit** - you can change the onscreen avatar to Prince’s former appearance, but only when you quit and reload. Go up the boardwalk, stand on the pressure plate near the next door on the left, jump down, return to the first pressure plate in the upper right area, jump down and run to the slowly closing door on the left side (roll under it). Be careful as you pass through that doorway - there are 4 flipping spike panels just a few steps into the new area. Go over the flipping spike panels to enter the next area. Wall run to the right to horizontal bars, swing to a ledge on the right and run over collapsing stone stairs. Wall run to reach a pull switch which opens a time limited door back at the left. Jump directly from the pull switch to a beam right above and swing on the horizontal bars over the collapsed stairs and the Haoma pit to reach the slowly closing door. Jump to the nearest wooden beam, swing across 2 bars to reach a wall switch. Wall run up to press it. Turn around, swing on the bars to reach wood beams at a higher level and to reach an upper ledge at the far right. Hang from the pull switch. A door above the pressure switch opens at the far left. Jump to the highest beam and swing on horizontal bars to reach the closing door (end of 2D section) Prince is now on an upper balcony in the initial area of the Menagerie of Myths. The ever-helpful Hint says to return to the Gate of the Chosen Ones, so retrace your route. When Prince arrives there, he must move a pedestal onto a pressure plate to re-enter the area. **************GATE OF THE CHOSEN ONES (1st return visit)*** Prince has met the first goal - to get rid of the scarabs that were swarming one of the statues (it is, in fact, only half of a statue). Well almost all the scarabs are gone - one scarab remains which Prince promptly stomps to death. At the beginning of the previous task, the game said that Scavenger Scarabs are invincible, but perhaps they thought Prince and we would derive satisfaction from stomping one to death. I did. The next task is to break the stranglehold the Haoma plant has on the other statue. Go through the doorway near the plant-strangled statue to find a lethal plant pit. Wall run on the right hand side to a ledge; edge left, jump to a crevice and drop down to a FOUNTAIN. **************GARDEN OF ENDLESS BLOOMING*** ==================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: NATURE DODGER - never get hit by evil vegetation in the Garden of Endless Blooming [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: LAWN MOWER - cut down the giant plant in the Garden of Endless Blooming. To succeed at the Nature Dodger challenge will require that you save at every opportunity. If Prince is hit by evil plants (which he will be) quit without saving, reload, and repeat that segment until you can get Prince through it unscathed. There are 3 areas where he will use a turnstile to cut part of the plant’s root system. There are plenty of fountains in all 3 areas which allow you to save while he is still free of injury, so quitting and reloading won’t involve much repetition of activities. Simply finishing all 3 areas will meet the criterion of the Lawn Mower challenge. ===================================== Follow the djinns across wooden beams and horizontal bars to an alcove. Back-and-forth jump to climb. At the top, there are 2 spike mats that form a double-wide spike mat and 4 vertical rotating spike logs. Simply wait until the logs are in the 4 corners and run quickly over the spike mats without injury. Wall run to two successive platforms. Edge along the narrow ledge, wall run to the right to a narrow ledge on the opposite side. Wall run up to a crevice, move left, wall run up to another crevice, move upward, then wall run to the opposite side, jump to a beam and go through the doorway. Wall run to the first of a series of horizontal bars; swing continuously to all 5 to go around a corner and arrive at the next FOUNTAIN. Go past the fountain to reach the COMBAT ARENA. After the battle, use the puzzle door to arrive at a bridge. This bridge is the hub which connects all segments of the garden. There is a FOUNTAIN and a turnstile which will rotate the bridge to reach the other 3 doors which lead into the separate segments of the garden. The order that Prince completes each segment does not matter. With Prince’s back to the fountain, rotate the bridge one segment to the left. Open the puzzle door. Area #1: To the right and left, there are some pots that contain 3 djinns (at the base of stone structures), but it might be wise to leave them until after clearing the Combat Arena. Just beyond that, Prince comes to the COMBAT ARENA where he faces a Haoma’s Warrior. A spike mat occupies the centre of the arena. For whatever reason, trying to throw the warrior into the spike mat usually ended with Prince throwing the warrior well above and beyond the spike mat, while Prince stepped into the trap doing himself major injury. Because dying in the Arena doesn’t count as being injured by vegetation it’s not necessary to quit and reload if he’s so injured that he uses a Life Orb (replace it with those 3 djinns in the pots). Just past the arena is another FOUNTAIN on a balcony. The cutscene will pan the area and highlight the location of the turnstile which Prince will use to cut the Haoma root in this area. Wall run to 2 platforms (there’s an archer on the 2nd one). Wall run up to a wooden ledge. Wall run to the right past a saw blade to get to the next wooden ledge. From there wall run to a wall vine and drop down onto a small balcony. Wall run to a platform and drop down to a narrow ledge. Stop to observe the hazards below. Prince must drop twice more while avoiding a saw and an arrow trap. Move left around the corner. He must now drop down 3 times, avoiding another saw, to reach the grassy ground level. He faces a Hook Plate and there are two more Hook Plates to the left. The first one is stationary, but the other two slide back and forth horizontally in opposing directions. Those two plates align vertically for a second or two. Grab the 1st hook, wall run left when the other 2 are aligned, and immediately drop to the lower of the 2 and immediately wall run to the left to reach safe ground and the turnstile. The turnstile causes huge blades to emerge from the wall & cut the Haoma root. It also causes a wall panel to appear with a column of 3 Hook Plates. There is a whirlwind plate at the base of the column, so use all of them to return to the fountain. Then return to the bridge. Rotate the bridge left once more. Open the new puzzle door. Area #2: A new plant hazard is introduced - a "spitting blossom" that swells up then spits out lethal pollen in a fairly wide spray pattern. There is one on the left wall at the beginning of this segment. Getting past it is effortless. Up ahead, Prince must stand by the right wall, do a wall run to the corner straight ahead and jump off to the left. However, there is a spitting blossom precisely at the point where he has to make that jump, so he must time his wall run to arrive at the jumping point between "spits". His next task is to wall run to a hook plate, then wall run beyond the hook. However, the spitting blossoms have another effect - the pollen they spew deactivates hook plates or whirlwind plates when the spray hits the plates. So Prince must wait for the blossom to spit, activate the hook plate, run to grab the hook, and wall run beyond it before the blossom spits again. Next is a similar task - activate a hook plate, wait for a blossom to spit, activate a whirlwind, jump on it to reach the hook above, wall run to the left, and jump back off the wall to pass over lethal vegetation and land on safe ground. The obligatory COMBAT ARENA is next, after which Prince can get to the FOUNTAIN Go to the alcove ahead and to the right of the fountain. The cutscene will show an overview of the area and the location of the turnstile. Get onto the whirlwind, face the right hand wall, and jump to start the back-and-forth jumping sequence to get to the top left. Follow the narrow ledge to reach a double arrow trap, run past them, following the ledge to the left. Activate the Hook Plate below, drop down to a narrow ledge and around the corner to a ground level grassy alcove. Activate the hook plate, wait for the blossom to spit, activate the whirlwind & jump to the hook. Wall run left past a saw to a 2nd hook...wall run left again to a 3rd hook... wall run left again to a 4th hook. Drop down to the turnstile which will cut the Haoma root in this area. Jump down to see two pedestals straight ahead (they’re so close together that they look like one). Move the nearest one to the left & place it on a pressure switch at the base of a brick structure. A hook plate will appear on the wall. Use the pedestal to reach the top of the brick structure where there is another pedestal to be moved onto a pressure plate right beside it. A 2nd hook plate appears on the wall. Get back to ground level & move the remaining pedestal onto the pressure plate directly ahead, revealing the 3rd hook plate required to get out of here. Wall run to all 3 hooks and jump left to land safely by the fountain. There are 3 chests (2 blue, 1 red) in an alcove to the right of the fountain. To get to the exit, go to the whirlwind plate with a hook plate above it and a spitting blossom on the ground between them. The spitting blossom cannot spray high enough to deactivate the hook plate, but it CAN spit high enough to kill Prince if he’s hanging from that hook. So activate the hook, wait for the blossom to spit, activate the whirlwind, jump to the hook & wall run off it to the left in double-quick time. Return to the bridge and rotate it once more to the left. Open the puzzle door. Area #3: Yet another new lethal plant species is introduced - the Whipping Plant. This one is a vertical plant (horizontal varieties to be introduced later) that whips around in a set pattern, emitting red pollen. Prince will either die from being whipped or be injured by pollen spray. To get past any of these plants requires taking the time to observe its movement pattern, the range of its reach, and the safe "borders' near it. Whipping Plant #1: hug the left wall, run straight ahead, turn left. Turn left again. Whipping Plant #2: stay left, duck into a shallow alcove to the left as Prince comes level with the plant. PAUSE HERE before moving past the next Whipping Plant #3. Turn right. Djinns indicate that Prince should hug the wall to pass Whipping Plants #4 and #5. Just beyond them is the COMBAT ARENA and beyond that, the FOUNTAIN. Turn left. Use the whirlwind plate to reach a series of horizontal bars that will take Prince to an upper balcony at the end of the corridor. Wall run up to a crevice, follow the series of crevices to reach another balcony above the whirlwind plate where this sequence began. Smash the chests; hang from the balcony railing, drop to the whirlwind and return to the other balcony at the end of the corridor. Go through the doorway to the left. >>HEROIC SKILL: MASTER SPIRIT HOOK - enemies will be petrified longer Up ahead there is a horizontal Whipping Plant protruding from the wall. It will not move as long as Prince stands here, but WILL whip around as he gets close to it. Wall run toward it and jump left exactly where the djinn is (just this side of the plant) and use back-and-forth jumping to get to the top where there is both an archer and a vertical whipping plant. Guard with Z against archer arrows (and/or petrify him) while edging around the plant to get close to hit the archer. Movement space is limited, so petrification and slashing is the safest plan. Tornado Attack also works well. From the wall ahead, a series of stone platforms is protruding and retracting. Observe the timing, then wall run along the right wall, jump left to land on the first platform and run non-stop across all 4 and jump to a crevice. Move left and pause. Use B on the blue crystal below to bring an elevator platform up, drop to it, and ride it to ground level where the turnstile is located. The turnstile not only cuts the final Haoma root, but also raises a portcullis that was blocking the exit. Go through that doorway, turn right to find an alcove with a blue chest, a red chest, and some pots. Retrace the route past all the Whipping Plants and return to the bridge. Rotate the bridge to get to the exit door (the door through which Prince entered this area). Retrace the route to the Gate of the Chosen Ones (just follow the djinns). ***************GATE OF THE CHOSEN ONES (2nd return visit)*** Both halves of the statue are now freed from hindrance - the scarabs and the haoma roots are gone. The next task is to solve the puzzle that will reunite the statue halves and open the door to the next area. ========================== [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE: MOAR! - complete the main puzzle in the Gate of the Chosen Ones in 30 moves or more without resetting it. [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SHORT ‘N’ SWEET - complete the main puzzle from the Gate of the Chosen Ones in 5 moves without resetting it. Obviously, you can’t succeed at both challenges at the same time. You will fail both of them if you reset the puzzle to its default layout. Decide which challenge you want to complete on your current playthrough - you can meet the other challenge on your next play through. ========================== Go up to the balcony and save at the fountain. At the midpoint of this balcony two things have changed. A previously blank wall plaque displays the solution to the upcoming puzzle. If Prince wall runs up and over the pressure plate in the centre of that wall plaque he can reset the puzzle to its default setting. Resetting the puzzle means you will fail both challenges. At the foot of that plaque, the control mechanism for the puzzle is now accessible. One half of an obstructive metal mesh was removed as each statue was freed. The control mechanism overlooks the puzzle below. The two halves of the statue must be reunited so they can move to unlock the door at the top of the puzzle. There are concrete tiles that must be moved to create a path as illustrated on the wall plaque. Using the remote to point and pressing B to click on the blue crystal on the moveable tiles will cause them to move. The 5-Step Solution: - click on the bottom left tile (it will move up) - click on that same tile again (it will move right) - click on the top left tile (it will move down) - click on the top right tile (it will move left) - click on the bottom right tile (it will move up) ================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: YOU GOT BRAIN - open the gate in the Gate of the Chosen Ones map (complete) ================================== Go through the newly opened gate. *********************PATH OF THE PILGRIM** =================================== [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE: THIS IS PERSIA - kick an enemy into a pit Getting Prince to "kick on demand" is simple enough in principle, but erratic and difficult in practise. To meet the challenge, Prince must be near the edge of a platform where there is drop-off area (a "pit"). There must be at least two enemies. You have to move Prince so that one enemy is standing very near the drop-off edge. Prince must have his back toward that enemy while facing the other enemy. He must be "locked-on" to the enemy he's facing. Quickly turn him around toward the enemy behind him and swing the remote. As cripster1971 pointed out, Prince is unable to swing his sword behind his back, he so he SHOULD kick by default. "Should", but often doesn't!! Technically, this move should be possible anywhere there's a pit and multiple enemies. I tried every location I could think of to try to implement this move - with zero success. Until I noticed a suggestion on the discussion board posted by slyjakprinceico. The location s/he suggested was in the Path of the Pilgrim, just after the meeting with the Sorceress. It took only 2 attempts there to succeed! I then loaded my backup file and tried again - 2 attempts and success again. So - get out of the tower where Prince acquires the ability to place hooks and whirlwinds on any normal surface. **Be certain to save at the fountain** Go back to the entry point for this area, where there will be 2 archers on a very small ledge. The "very small ledge" seems to be a critical factor. Prince may take some damage as he jockeys for position - his back to one archer who is RIGHT BY THE EDGE and facing and locked onto the other archer. Use the Control Stick to turn Prince around and swing the remote. Apparently, there is a 50% chance he will kick the archer into a pit. ============================== Go left up the incomplete staircase. Jump to ->vertical pole x2 ->balcony. Stand on the balcony railing, jump to ->trapeze bar x2 ->crevice x2. Wall run left, jump left to a pole ->to another pole ->to a platform above the balcony. Go through the door to face a multi-hazard passageway. There are arrow traps on both facing walls, 2 spike mats and sliding spike poles in the middle. Wall run on the right wall just after the arrows fire. Turn right to arrive at an outdoor balcony. Stand on balcony railing; jump to a pole, slide down (you can see chests on an opposite balcony; you can get them later). Hang from the pull switch near the fountain to open the door and go outside. To the left, there’s a wall with crevices. Go up, over, and down the other side for 3 chests (2 red, 1 blue) - then back up and over again. Walk ahead, then wall run to 2 collapsing bars & swing to a small platform with an archer. Jump left to the next small platform and archer. Ahead, there are two whirlwind plates, a spitting blossom and a tall pole. Wait for the blossom to spit, activate the whirlwind, jump from it to a 2nd whirlwind and to the pole (all before the blossom spits again). Jump to a wall crevice, then a small staircase. Wall run to the next landing, then back-and-forth jump to the top left. Turn left and walk to a pull switch. Hang from it to move a wooden platform. Wall run from that platform past a saw blade, land on a very small platform guarded by 2 Minotaurs. (Prince can escape that battle simply by going through the doorway - the Minotaurs won’t follow. I recommend avoiding them for now). The next corridor has 4 protruding blocks. There is "just" enough space between the blocks for Prince to go past one, wait for the next one to retract, and get to the end unhurt. The FOUNTAIN is next. Just past the fountain is the COMBAT ARENA with the first Haoma Priestess. She floats in the air and connects herself to the other combatants with a quivering green filament(which may strengthen both her and them?). The only way to strike a blow to her is if Prince petrifies her - otherwise she darts about and evades every blow. After the battle, pass through the arena, through the door in the corner, down the stairs and turn left to enter a room with several visible hook plates. Straight ahead there’s a moveable pedestal and a brick column to the left. The column has a pull switch, a hook plate above it, and another pull switch above the hook plate. Drag the pedestal to sit upon a wood floor section to the left of the brick column (place it snugly against the brick column). Activate the hook plate on the column, wall run up to the hook plate and then to the pull switch above it. Hang there until an upper panel moves all the way to the far left, then quickly drop to the pull switch below the hook plate & hang there. The wood floor section that the pedestal is sitting on rises, the wall panel moves back to the right & sweeps the pedestal onto the top of the brick column. Climb to the top and drag the pedestal to sit upon another wooden platform. Activate the nearby hook plate. Leave the pedestal there and return to ground level. Wall run or jump up onto another platform nearby. There is a pull switch there. It causes a lower wood section to move horizontally, but only for a limited amount of time. Quickly return to the column and get to the upper wood section, wall run to hang off the pull switch near the pedestal Prince moved. The upper section the pedestal is sitting on will move to the right where an obstructing wall will hold the pedestal in place as the upper wood section moves away and the lower wooden section moves under the pedestal - to catch it as it falls. Push the pedestal off the lower wooden section onto a pressure plate on the nearby platform. A door at floor level will open. There is a FOUNTAIN there. From the fountain, go left. Wall run to 2 hook plates, slide down a crevice. Activate the nearby orange hook plates which are too high for Prince to reach. Turn around to find an alcove below the fountain above. Hang off the pull switch in the alcove to activate spiky poles in this lower corridor and cause the orange hook plates to lower. Hurry back to the now-lowered orange hook plates that will rise and take Prince to an upper balcony at the other end of the corridor where there are 2 visible blue chests and 2 red chests further back. Return to the lower corridor and continue in the original direction. The next area is a COMBAT ARENA (Haoma Priestess and Minotaurs). Beyond that, a cutscene indicates that Prince must get to the top of a tower. The route: Horizontal bars x2 ->beam ->wall run up to crevice. Wall run left past two saws to horizontal bars x2 to a ledge in the corner. **Prince will land on a collapsing beam and must IMMEDIATELY back-and-forth jump to reach 2 crevices and the next higher level. From the 2nd crevice, wall run past 2 saws to horizontal bars to another collapsing beam. Jump to the right; back-and-forth jump to the top left to reach a balcony and a FOUNTAIN. There is an incomplete staircase to the right (facing a corner with red plants) Wall run toward the plants, jump left precisely where the djinn is located, to land on a wood beam. Move left. Drop to a crevice, move left to the corner. Prince must get past 2 parallel saws and above them. Follow the lower saw, jump to a window and enter the tower. The area where Prince lands is a COMBAT ARENA full of large scarabs. In the next area jump over the 1st swinging spiked log and roll under the 2nd swinging log. Hang off the pull switch to reach an outdoor area (2 red chests visible up and to the left; to be collected later). Follow the djinns through the obvious path to a "tilted" pillar with crevices and saws. Follow the crevices around the pillar. Wall run up and jump back to a trapeze bar; swing up to the next level, go around the corner. Drop down 2 crevices past a saw (stay to the right!!). From the crevices, jump back to a platform with a door and a FOUNTAIN. Hang off the pull switch to open the door. Directly opposite his entry point in this room, there is an Upgrade Sanctuary. ^^CREATION SKILL: Prince can now create Spirit Hooks where there is no hook plate and whirlwinds where there is no floor plate. This can be done almost anywhere. It can't be done where red or yellow plants exist, nor on many columns or rough wall surfaces. ========================= Notes about Homemade Whirlwinds Unlike whirlwind plates, when Prince is standing on a homemade whirlwind he can "cancel" it by pressing Z. This always ensures a soft landing and will be a useful strategy late in the game. Prince can now create whirlwinds in any battle. Place a whirlwind directly in front of an enemy. When the enemy moves toward Prince, it will step into the whirlwind, be thrown high, and land hard. This is particularly useful in battles with multiple Chthonian Beasts or Minotaurs. Place a whirlwind in front of one of them while it is "charging up" prior to rushing at Prince. He can then concentrate on attacking another one. It is not a useful tactic for archers who seldom move far and never rush toward Prince. ========================== The Sorceress appears and tries to tempt Prince. She says she can give him the Princess and the Kingdom of Izdihar, but Zahra cannot. Prince says he will earn his victory and will take nothing from the Sorceress. He must now get back to the top of the tower room he’s in and out the window highlighted in the cutscene. As he makes his way to the top of the room the Sorceress will fire damaging red balls that can knock him off the wall if he hesitates too long and bits of Haoma plant will erupt unexpectedly from walls to injure him or knock him off the wall. Start by creating a whirlwind to get Prince up to the balcony in this room. The necessary path is obvious & repetitive. He will have to wall run to hook plates (passing over a pressure switch that makes a wooden platform emerge from the wall),then to wooden platforms and then to trapeze bars to reach a central column. On the central column he must create a whirlwind to reach trapeze bars that take him to the opposite wall where he will repeat the hook-and-run procedure. Near the beginning, there are hook plates he can activate; the further up he goes, he must create his own hooks. The final segment before reaching the window is a series of wooden beams with saws between them. Drop to the ledge outside the window, move left, create a hook, wall run to it. Wall run left to a narrow ledge, go around the corner. Create a hook where the djinn is; wall run to the hook, then to a vertical crevice that leads back down to the FOUNTAIN. ***SAVE HERE TO ALLOW YOU TO RELOAD & RETRY IF YOU ARE TRYING TO SUCCEED AT HERIOC CHALLENGE:THIS IS PERSIA*** ================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: EVIL MEETING - reach the Sorceress in the Path of the Pilgrims map (This is automatically completed and unlocks the Dark Labyrinth Secret Map) ================================== Place a whirlwind at the edge of this platform and retrace the route that got Prince here. Just past the tilted pillar, stop on the balcony with a square brick structure. Create a whirlwind to get on top of that structure, walk to the end of the wood beam and jump across to the next brick structure. DON’T BE TEMPTED BY THE VISIBLE RED CHESTS - they can’t be reached yet. (***THIS IS THE RECOMMENDED LOCATION FOR HC:THIS IS PERSIA***) Drop down to the small platform to the left where 2 archers are waiting. Use the strategy described earlier to kick one of them off the edge. Quit and retry if you fail. There is no other location where you will have a better chance of success. Jump to the main ledge where Prince first entered this area. Create a whirlwind and hook to finally reach those red chests. >>HEROIC SKILL: GRAB & THROW #2 - you can throw opponents farther Hang off the edge of the main platform, use crevices and a homemade hook to go left and down; right and down, land on a narrow ledge and enter the next room. Go left up the stairs; turn right. Create a whirlwind to get over horizontal spike logs. Turn right to enter the COMBAT ARENA ( big Scarabs - 2 waves). Stay on one side of the arena - blocks will protrude and will crush Prince if he is too close to them when they slide out. The nearby puzzle door leads to a cylindrical room with a turnstile. The crank opens the ceiling. Create a whirlwind and hook to get to a wood ledge near the top, then up a crevice to another COMBAT ARENA with a Haoma Priestess and Minotaur x2 (you were here before). There are pots in an alcove in this combat arena. Look around for a high balcony. Create a whirlwind, then use a spirit hook to reach the balcony and a GOLD CHEST. Go to the nearby FOUNTAIN and outside. Instead of negotiating the protruding blocks beyond the fountain, create a whirlwind to reach a series of bars to pass safely above the moving blocks. Go through the door to the small outdoor balcony. If Prince avoided the 2 Minotaurs here previously, they’ll still be there now. He can create a whirlwind that will lift and toss the Minotaurs if they step into it. He has just enough room on this tiny platform for a Tornado Attack that will remove the Minotaur shields. Create a hook under saw level, just below the djinn. Wall run to the wood platform, go forward, stand on top of a narrow wall. There is a ledge not far away with visible chests and pots. Rotate the camera so you can get Prince to hang off the edge of the wall (his back will be to the chests). Drop to a crevice, move right, and create a hook on the wall halfway to the chest ledge. Wall run to the balcony with 2 red and 3 blue chests. Hang off the railing, drop to a crevice, a wood beam and another crevice to reach ground level. Hang off the pull switch to open the door to the FOUNTAIN. When Prince gets to the room with a tall wood pole, create a whirlwind & a hook to reach a balcony with the 2 blue chests and pots you saw earlier; use a hook to descend safely. Create a whirlwind to get onto the pole, jump to a balcony, drop to the lower balcony and wall run to get to the bottom level. Use poles, a homemade hook, and a whirlwind to get to the next area, where Prince must defeat 3 Hunter Archers before re-entering the Gate of the Chosen Ones. Before leaving this room, look up to see a chest in an alcove above. Use a whirlwind, hook, and wall run to get to it. Hang down and place a hook on the wall to descend. *****************GATE OF THE CHOSEN ONES (3rd visit)*** ***LIFE BAR UPGRADE #1*** Start from either side of the door that opened when the statues united (Embrace of the Ancients). Create a whirlwind and hook to reach the first balcony and another whirlwind and hook to reach the next higher balcony where there is an Upgrade Sanctuary. Go back to ground level, then up to the save fountain balcony. Wall run up to a pressure plate to open the door and return to the Souk of Izdihar (follow the djinn trail if you’re uncertain where to go). ****************SOUK OF IZDIHAR (2nd visit)** Zahra says the Beast and the blade are "there" in the Palace. Prince can now use a whirlwind to reach the first in a series of hook plates high on the wall to get to the area with a blue chest and a network of beams to drop down. Several of the beams will collapse if he lingers on them, so be certain he’s positioned to land on the beam directly below whichever one is collapsing. In the next room there are blue chests at ground level, so drop down to collect them. Then start at the blue hook plate & work your way around the wall. The pull-down switch at the corner of the wall opens a "secret" wall and the entrance to an Uprgrade Sanctuary: **LIFE ORB UPGRADE #2: 5TH ORB** Hang from the pull switch to exit the sanctuary. Hang from the edge, shimmy right, and up to the next area. Follow the path to be introduced to a new hazard/limitation - yellow vegetation which prevents Prince from using any creation powers. He can’t create hooks or whirlwinds if yellow vegetation is on the wall or floor & he can’t create those things on otherwise "acceptable" surfaces while he’s standing on or hanging from yellow vegetation. Touching yellow vegetation is not harmful to Prince. In this current location, he CAN create a whirlwind very close to the vertical spike poles. Activate the whirlwind plates among the red plants on the floor. Create a hook half way along the wall, wall run to it and then to the djinn. Jump back to the whirlwinds. The nearby puzzle door leads to a FOUNTAIN. Use a whirlwind to reach the balcony where enemies will attack. Activate the whirlwind plate on the floor, wall run over the yellow vines, jump to a whirlwind. At the spiky poles, watch the timing, then nip into the space beyond the first pole on the right to a "safe spot" near the wall. Create a whirlwind to get over the front right spike pole. Create 2 whirlwinds to be able to jump over the spike poles. Enter a room with a very tall vertical pole that gets Prince onto a balcony with a blue chest. NOTE: There is a vertical channel lined with arrow traps that also leads to the level above. It's not only more hazardous, but you will still have to go back for the blue chest anyway. Skip the arrow traps and take the safer pole route!! Create a hook and wall run to the opposite balcony which allows Prince to pass above the alcove with arrow traps!! Go downstairs to the puzzle door. *****************THE PALACE GATE*** Zahra explains that the gate has a devious lock that has never been breached. There is a FOUNTAIN at ground level. The task requires two actions - bring both water and fire to this room. There are two puzzle doors - one to the left of the fountain and one to the right. The Hint button will identify which leads to water and which leads to fire (depending on which half of the room Prince is standing in when you press the hint button). It does not matter which door he goes through first. Open the puzzle door to the right of the fountain. *****************WATER BEARER MAP*** ============================ [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: WATER - bring back water from the Water Bearer Map This challenge will be complete when Prince returns to this area (Palace Gate) [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: RED RETRO DRINK - find and drink the red potion This will be detailed below [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SWORDLESS - push or throw 6 enemies into a pit in the Water Bearer Map Note: "into a pit" includes throwing them off any ledge to a lower level where they die. Keep this goal in mind & throw every enemy off a ledge in the next few areas. ============================ In the first room use a whirlwind and hook to reach a narrow ledge, create a hook to get past the first saw, then wall run past the next 2 saws. The next area has a Whipping Plant with a spike mat on either side of it. Just like in the Garden, observe its whipping pattern and run past it quickly. Use a whirlwind to be able to wall run up the stairs, another whirlwind to go over the spike poles, and defeat 2 archers to get to the puzzle door that leads to a FOUNTAIN. Then up the stairs to a balcony. The lower level is a COMBAT ARENA (CHTHONIAN BEASTS) These horrible creatures are powerful, have horns, & make a devastatingly damaging charge at Prince. If possible, petrify them before they can charge and/or use a Charge Attack to inflict the greatest amount of damage to them. Prince can now create a whirlwind in front of a C.Beast while it is "charging up" prior to its rush attack. There are 4 waves of enemies in this combat sequence. After that, use hooks and whirlwind to reach the upper balcony. Create a hook, wall run to it, then to the djinn and leap backwards to a pole, dropping straight down to another pole to land on the FOUNTAIN balcony. There are 2 blue and 2 red chests and 6 pots in the area below the fountain guarded by Minotaur champions and Chthonian Beasts. At this point I completed ... ==================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SHIELD BREAKER - break 15 Minotaur Champion shields. ==================================== Beyond the fountain there is a corridor with a horizontal arrow trap that extends the full length of the left side. At the far end, there is a section of yellow vegetation that covers both side walls and the end wall. The arrows erupt from where Prince is standing, all the way to the yellow vegetation and then fire in sequence back to the direction where they started. Prince should follow the arrows to the yellow area, wait for the arrows to start their "return sequence", quickly step outside the yellow area to create a whirlwind, stand on it to create a hook on the side wall and jump to it before the arrows return. Even though Prince is above the arrows, they will "cancel" his whirlwind if it's in their line of fire. Wall run to the top of the end wall. Go down the stairs lined with arrow traps. **At the top of the next set of stairs (which is also lined with arrow traps) create a whirlwind to reach the horizontal bars that pass over the arrow traps & lead to a balcony with 2 blue chests, 2 red chests, and some pots. Hang off the balcony, make a whirlwind below to be able to drop to it at the bottom of the stairs. In the Haoma-filled room, turn left. Before moving anywhere, create a hook on the opposite wall, halfway between the djinn and the floor. Wall run to that area which has yellow plants on the floor. Wall run up to the hook, then up to the djinn, and jump back to a beam on which a devilish saw is moving back and forth - the saw has both vertical and horizontal blades. From that beam, quickly jump up to a wooden ledge with chests and pots (by-passing that horrible saw trap which runs below this wooden ledge). Hang from the edge of the chest ledge, drop to a crevice, and create a whirlwind below Prince (change the camera angle to see a good location). Jump to the wood beam across the gap and move right. Activate the hook plates. Wall run and jump back to beams (alternating sides) to reach the FOUNTAIN. To the right of the fountain, create a whirlwind, place a hook by the djinn, and run up to it. Wall run to the right to a wood beam and the next platform where an archer will appear. Use a whirlwind, a hook, and a wall run to get to the next higher level. Turn around. Place a hook halfway to the ledge with 3 blues chests and pots, wall run to collect them, and return to the same spot. DO NOT use a whirlwind and hook to try to pass above the saw blades - there’s an obstruction on the wall at that height. Place the hook by the nearest djinn, wall run past the saws to the second djinn, and jump right to land on the balcony. **caution ** There is a spike mat at the precise point where Prince will land on the balcony, so move forward or left very, very quickly. An enemy group will attack immediately after he clears the spike mat. Go left to a corridor. Create a whirlwind on the 6-sided pillar in the middle of the gap below. Create a hook on the left wall so Prince can wall run to it and jump from there to the whirlwind (the hook is mostly for insurance). While on the whirlwind, create a hook on the opposite wall, jump to it and wall run left to the next balcony. Wall run across the gap. Create a whirlwind on the low circular platform to be able to reach the area above through the hole in the ceiling. The FOUNTAIN is right there. Jump to a wood beam on a central square pillar. Edge along the collapsing beams around 2 sides of the pillar to the point where the saw trap is directly below Prince. **Look up to see more beams above** Wall run to those beams and climb to reach an alcove near the top of that pillar where there is a **GOLD CHEST**. Drop from the chest alcove back to the beams below and return to the point directly above the saw hazard. Rotate the camera to be able to create a hook at the djinn location on the opposite wall. Wait for the saw to move directly below Prince so he can jump over it and as quickly as possible move to the wall to run up to the hook, then the crevice. Wall run to the right, jump back at the djinn location to land on a U-shaped beam structure, then to the next platform. A Priestress and shielded Minotaurs will attack. Walk out on the T-beam on the far side. The djinn indicates that Prince should jump to a crevice on a pillar with yellow vegetation - DON’T! Instead, face the wall on the left. Place a hook, jump to it, wall run to the right, and jump back to reach the top of the vegetation-coated pillar (an Archer attacks). Collect 2 blue chests, 2 red chests and 3 pots. Hang off the edge of this pillar, drop to a crevice, then down to a beam. Place a hook just above the flipping spike panel, wall run to the FOUNTAIN. Step on the pressure switch to open the nearby door. The segment is a series of increasingly difficult traps: - Run over the flipping spike panels in the next corridor. - Run over flipping spike panels and move left or right to dodge spike poles - Run over a series of flipping spike panels and roll under the lowering saws at the end (* be careful - the panels here do a "double flip", not the usual spike up/spike down alternation. The spikes will come up twice in a row.) The final leg of the corridor has a swinging spike log that passes over the pressure switch that opens the door at the end of the corridor. Prince must stand on the switch and play "jump rope" with the spiked log, so that he continues to jump on the pressure switch enough times to fully open the door, then time his run to that door so the spiked log doesn’t kill him from behind. ***************WATER WHEEL PUZZLE*** Solving the puzzle in this room is the whole purpose of being here. The goal is to direct running water to get all 4 water wheels turning simultaneously. The water source is 4 overhead pipes that drop vertical columns of water. There are a number of stone pedestals, each with an angled slab on top. Prince must place 4 pedestals under the 4 columns of water so that the slabs on top of the pedestals direct water to the waterwheels. All the pedestals are arranged on 2 moveable rings. The rings overlap at one point. There is a turnstile to rotate each ring. Where the rings overlap, it’s possible to move a pedestal from one ring to the other. There is no reset switch to return the puzzle to its original arrangement, so if you make errors, it can take a long time to sort it out again. Save before starting the puzzle, so you can reload to its original configuration if you get hopelessly muddled. ...(OR)... follow these steps: Prince should stand across the room, facing the save fountain. - Move the left turnstile clockwise 2 "notches". - Move the right turnstile counter-clockwise 1 notch. - Move the left turnstile clockwise 1 notch. The door for the return journey will open beside the save fountain. Wall run to crevices across the gap, drop down to the lowest one. Wall run to the crevices on the right and drop to the lowest one. Wall run back to the left and jump back to grab the pole. Jump to a series of poles to reach a stone landing. Jump to a beam on the nearby wall, place a hook above Prince’s head, and use it to wall run to the ledge on the left where there are 2 red chests, 2 blue chests, and pots. Wall run back to the beam and jump back to the stone landing. Go forward to the next stone landing. Change the camera angle to see the best location to place a hook on the wall. You won’t be allowed to have a first-person camera view when Prince makes that jump - you can only see the jump from the side. If the hook isn’t placed precisely, he will jump to his death. Jump to that hook, wall run left to the next djinn and jump to the next stone landing. From there, wall run to the next djinn and jump to the wooden beam and ledge. Run over flipping spike panels & jump over the swinging spiked log. Large Scarabs will attack. Defeat them, then stand on the pressure plate to open the door to a 2D segment. In this area, Prince can move only on a set left-right, up-down axis. Drop down, run over the spike mat, past the arrow trap and try to jump over the final spike mat to start back-and-forth jumping without triggering the spikes in that mat. Jump to the top right. Stand on the switch to open the door. Jump over the saw to a slightly higher ledge ahead. On the other side, drop to beams to get to the bottom. Step on the pressure switch to open a time-limited door up a level and further to the right. DON’T GO TO THAT DOOR YET. While still on the pressure switch, run to the right and wall run up the facing wall - Prince will disappear from view. At the height of the wall run (which you can’t see), Prince must jump to the left. When done correctly, the apparently solid wall that blocked your view will magically become transparent. Prince will have landed on a ledge inside that secret area, the Z-prompt will appear onscreen. Prince will find and drink the Red Potion - which unlocks the Dark Prince Outfit. Go back over the pressure switch, hustle to the closing door, & roll under it to the next area. As Prince jumps to the left, parts of the structure collapse. Hang from the pull switch. A time-limited door to the far left will open. Prince must retrace the route to the right, drop down to the beams, and run left. Prince will be hit TWICE by an unavoidable arrow trap!! Jump to the wall above the arrow trap and back-and-forth jump to the top left and roll under the door. Once again, go left over flipping spike panels and hang off the pull switch to open a time-limited door further left. Run back to the right, drop down two beams, jump to a series of beams with saws moving up and down between them, and then roll under the door to end the 2D segment. In the next room, play jump rope with another swinging log while standing on a pressure switch that will open the door ahead. There are a good number of pots along the sides of this room - if Prince’s Life Orbs have been depleted by unavoidable injury in the 2D section, there are enough djinns in the pots to replace 3 Life Orbs. There is a FOUNTAIN on the other side of the door ahead. If you didn’t do it earlier, hang off the edge just past the fountain, edge over to the wall crevice, place a hook on the wall halfway to the floor below and drop down. Defeat 2 Minotaurs and 2 Chthonian Beasts to get 2 blue chests, 2 red chests, and 6 pots. From here, it’s simply a matter of retracing the route to the Palace Gate. - create a whirlwind, use hook and wall run to crevice, place hook halfway to the ledge on the right and run to it (archer appears) - drop down and across beams to the Combat Arena - whirlwind up to the next higher level (2 archers) - go downstairs to the FOUNTAIN and puzzle door - wall run over haoma on the stairs; use whirlwind to pass over spike poles - climb ledges, place a hook beyond the closest saw blade. Wall run between the next 2 saw blades to the next ledge and then down to the exit door ********************PALACE GATE (2nd visit)*** Prince has completed one half of the first task in this area - he has caused the flow of water to return. The shield on the water statue now glows blue, water is running in the wall sconces near that statue, and one of the columns flanking the enormous door glows blue. The next task is to bring fire to this area by lighting 4 torches in another location. Open the puzzle door to the left of the save fountain. *******************THE HEARTH OF THE SACRED FIRE*** =========================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: FIRE - complete the Hearth of the Sacred Fire map =========================== In the first room, create a whirlwind to get to beams guarded by spitting blossoms. In the second room, create a whirlwind to get up to a balcony, then a whirlwind to get to a wall ledge. Place a hook above Prince as he stands on the ledge. Wall run to the right to pass above the saws to land on the next wall ledge. Place the next hook as close as possible to the open doorway on the left. Wall run to the hook and climb to the doorway leading to the FOUNTAIN. Near the fountain, enter the circular area with a turnstile and use it to descend to another FOUNTAIN where the main challenge will begin. Wall run over the pressure plate on the wall to open the door. NOTE: The same pattern will be repeated in each of the 4 areas to follow. Prince will enter the door to a combat arena. He must find his way up to a torch to light. After lighting the torch, he must run over a wall-mounted pressure plate that will open an exit door on the opposite side of the room from the entrance door. Torch #1: Priestesses and Chthonian Beasts are in the combat arena. Note that retracting-protruding hook plates in this room must be FULLY FLUSH to the wall for Prince to be able to wall run to or from them. Place wall hooks so that Prince runs over a pressure switch on the wall. While hanging from the hook, click on the nearby blue crystal which causes a small ledge to emerge from the wall. Stand on that ledge and repeat, then jump to the bridge where the torch sits - Prince will ignite it in a cutscene. Retrace the route over the small platforms, run over the wall switch to open the exit door (not time-limited) Jump to the retracting hook plate and go across the wall to the exit door which leads to a FOUNTAIN. Beyond the fountain, place a hook on the wall halfway across the gap and time a wall run to reach the other side of the gap so Prince can HANG OFF THE EDGE where crusher blocks are moving back and forth. While hanging from the edge, wait for the nearest block to retract. VERY QUICKLY jump up & move forward to the next pair of blocks, jump up onto them & drop down on the far side of them. This must be done rapidly. The slightest hesitation or mis-step will result in instant death. Beyond those blocks there is a clockwork-like mechanism with rotating hook plates. Active them. Jump to the first one and from it, to a wall crevice. Slide down and jump back to the next hook plate. Stay on it as it rotates to access a "hidden" alcove with 2 red chests & pots. Then back to the hook plate, another crevice, and the next doorway where there is a FOUNTAIN Torch #2: There are Archers, Priestesses, and Chthonian Beasts in the combat arena. Place a hook below 2 saws. Run to the next djinn and jump to a pole. Place a hook on the wall where the next djinn is located and jump to it. Wall run past 2 saws to a platform. Use a whirlwind to reach a crevice; place a hook so Prince can wall run over the flipping spike panels to the next crevice. And from there to the torch bridge. A whirlwind makes it easy to pass over the blades to light the torch. Pass back over the blades to reach the pressure switch to open the exit door (not time-limited). Use the retracting hook plates to go to the exit on the right where there is a FOUNTAIN Beyond the fountain there is another hook plate clockwork mechanism with 2 sets of hook plates leading to the next area. The alternate route is to stand by the edge, place a hook above Prince's head, wall run to the hook and then to a crevice. Wall run horizontally to crevices around to the next door. A hook is needed between the 2nd and 3rd crevices. Torch #3: Go down the stairs; wall run to a crevice; wall run to hook plates. Jump to the first wooden beam of a beam-and-arrow-trap maze which is simply a matter of timing jumps & drops according to the firing pattern of arrows. At the bottom, use whirlwinds to pass over 2 hazards:crusher block & blades/spike mat& blades. You can simply jump over them or (good practise) jump from the whirlwind to do a wall run over them. Climb the nearby rubble to reach the pull switch to open a time-limited door. Go back over the 2 hazards and roll under the time-limited door which leads to a FOUNTAIN. There is an alcove with 3 red chests nearby, but they are behind a barred gate. Use a whirlwind to go over the first spiked log; roll under the second. The combat arena contains Shielded Minotaurs, Chthonian Beasts, and Archers. The wall on the opposite side of the room has a number of vertical columns with hazards between and above them. The column furthest to the right (as Prince faces them) has a red chest on top of it, but must be accessed by using a whirlwind, hook, and wall run to get to the top of the column to its immediate left. Neither of those columns leads to the torch. Look for the column to the left of a vertical arrow trap to start the climb to the torch. Via whirlwind and hook go up to hang from the top edge of that column. A horizontal saw blade passes over it; another blade goes up and down between it and the next column. Observe the timing, then stand on the column Prince has been hanging from and very quickly jump to the next column - he will either grab the top edge of it or land on top of it. Place a hook on the flipping spike panel and jump to the torch bridge. Run over the pressure switch to open the exit door (not time-limited). GOLD CHEST - Use a hook and wall run to get to the first wall crevice; follow the "crevice trail", but watch for crevices leading up to a high alcove where there is a gold chest guarded by Shielded Minotaurs. >>HEROIC SKILL: WHIRLWIND UPPERCUT - swing the nunchuk when a thrown foe passes over you to deliver an uppercut. The only way to accomplish this is to place a whirlwind in a battle arena; when a foe steps into it and is thrown into the air, Prince must be located where the enemy will pass overhead and time his uppercut accordingly. It's not easy to get the timing right, but it's very satisfying and effective when it works. The exit door leads to a FOUNTAIN. From there, activate the whirlwind plate. Place a hook just beyond the flipping spike panel (near its bottom edge), wall run to the hook and then to the darker-coloured strip on the wall and jump to the whirlwind and from there to the ledge. Go down the stairs by rolling under and jumping over rolling spike logs (under and over depends on the timing of Prince’s movements toward each log). Torch #4: Prince is facing a HUGE furnace; place a whirlwind to reach the vertical slit on the front of it. At the top, step out onto a beam and jump across. Place a hook just above the arrow trap; go from the beam to horizontal bars to a crevice. Create a hook just below the upper arrow trap in the vertical alcove before starting a wall run. When Prince gets to the arrow trap he must back-and-forth jump to the top - the hook is a safety measure in case he needs it. At the top of the back-and-forth jump he will grab a crevice; follow it sideways. Create a hook just above the next arrow trap, run up, and move left immediately to avoid a sliding saw blade. There are 2 vertical rows of arrow traps above. If he places a hook between the rows of arrows he cannot climb safely. Place a hook halfway up, either to left or right side of the arrows. That means Prince has to avoid only one row of arrows on his ascent. Above the arrows he will grab another vertical slit leading to the top of the furnace & the final torch balcony. Beyond the torch there is a FOUNTAIN. DO NOT LEAVE YET. GOLD CHEST: Turn around to face the furnace. Go back to the vertical slit - at the very top of the slit, place a hook above Prince’s head to reach an invisible handhold at the top edge of the furnace. Shimmy all the way to the left to reach a ledge where there are 2 blue chests, 2 red chests, and a gold chest. Return to the fountain and from there, to the entry hall. Stand on a whirlwind, place a hook on the wall halfway to the flipping spike panel (the hook must be placed high enough not to be injured by running above the spike mat), then wall run over the panel to the other side of the gap. Use the pedestal as a shield while Prince drags it through an arrow trap corridor and places it on a pressure switch to open the exit door. Just beyond that door there is an alcove with 3 red chests (when Prince entered this area the first time, there was a barred gate in front of those chests). Return to the circular elevator and use the turnstile to go back up. Retrace the route to the Palace Gate. **************PALACE GATE (3rd visit)*** When Prince returns from the Hearth of the Sacred Fire: - the fire statue shield glows red (the statue is activated) - there is fire in the wall sconces indicating that fire is available - the pillar flanking the huge doors glows red Zahra says that fire and water must be combined in the floor beneath them to create steam. The fire and water statues are the keys that will open the doors. *************EMBRACE OF THE ANCIENTS PUZZLE*** There are 9 circles on the floor. Each of them is grooved to allow the passage of fire and water. There are 4 turnstiles which will rotate some of the floor circles, changing the orientation of the grooves. There is a pressure switch on the floor which will reset the puzzle to its original configuration. The task is to rotate the circles to create two paths: - a path for the water statue to reach the glowing blue pillar - a path for the fire statue to reach the glowing red pillar. =========================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: FAST ‘n’ FASTER - complete the Embrace of the Ancients puzzle in 5 moves without resetting. - move the top left turnstile clockwise once - move the bottom left turnstile clockwise once - move the top right turnstile counter-clockwise once...the water statue will move to the blue pillar - move the same turnstile counter-clockwise once more - move the bottom right turnstile counter-clockwise ...the fire statue will move to the red pillar ========================== The great doors will open. **Before going through the open doors, turn around to face the save fountain. On a high ledge directly above the fountain there is a Life Bar Upgrade door. Prince cannot reach it now, but remember this spot when he returns here later with the magical skill that will give him access to it. ****************THE FALLEN KING*** One side of the room beyond the great doors is completely covered by yellow plants. Look up to see inaccessible balconies near the vaulted ceiling. There are climbing crevices on the support pillars in this room, but Prince needs a new magical skill to get from the pillars to the balconies. He can do that when he returns here later. There is a FOUNTAIN at the far end of the room. ============================= [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE:EAT MY DUST - complete the scarabs chase without being hurt once in the Fallen King map *detailed instructions to follow* [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE:CRYSTAL - find and touch the Red Crystal (unlocks the King Sword) *detailed instructions to follow* [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: MUSHROOM SAUTE - defeat the Beast by burning him with sunlight This challenge will be complete after the 3rd Beast battle. ============================ Hanging from the pull switch opens the door only partway, so roll under it. >>>>BEAST BATTLE #1: This is the first of 3 such battles. There are factors consistent to all three battles: - the battle arena is a circular platform suspended over a sea of Haoma plants (don’t fall off the platform!) - the floor of the battle arena is segmented into coloured sections; the number of coloured segments differs in each battle - when Prince downs the Beast, an overhead view will allow you to see which coloured segment it’s lying on (pay attention when that happens!) - coloured panels will appear on the wall; Prince must click on the coloured panel which is the same colour as the floor segment the Beast lies on, causing sunlight to stream down from an opening in the ceiling to burn the Beast, ending the battle - failure to choose the right colour means that the sunlight won’t hit the Beast and it will arise with full health (you REALLY don't want that!) BATTLE STRATEGY: The Beast is equipped with an enormous hooked club in his right hand. He can swing the club to left and right and behind himself. He has a very long reach with that club!! In his left hand he holds a boulder on a chain. He will throw that boulder a considerably further distance than he can swing his club. If Prince stays "fairly" close to the Beast’s left side it is less likely to throw the boulder-chain weapon. A blow from the club will reduce Prince’s health by at least half. A blow from the boulder is a one-hit kill, even if Prince is at full health at the time. All frontal attacks on the Beast are useless - he will use his weapons to kill Prince instantly. The Beast’s only vulnerable spot is his back. But Prince has to exercise great caution, remembering that the Beast can swing his club behind himself, easily reaching Prince there. Prince must use a hit and run strategy - mostly running!!! Stay out of range of both the club and the boulder while running. Prince does run faster than the Beast, so with diligence and a great deal of patience, he can get behind the Beast to attack its only vulnerable spot. Observe its attack pattern. Every once in a while it jumps, swings both arms, and comes to rest with both arms more or less crossed in front of itself. That is the "safest" time for Prince to attack. The best attack to use is the Jump Attack (jump and shake the remote). Prince should never linger long enough to inflict more than two blows. The Beast will swing his club behind himself, reducing Prince’s health by half (or more) with a single blow. At some point in each of the 3 Beast Battles, a group of large scarabs will appear. This is a good thing!! If either Prince or the Beast kills a scarab, the blue sphere will refill part of Prince’s life bar! This first battle arena has 2 coloured segments - green and blue. After the battle, the arena collapses, the Beast chops a surprisingly precise square hole in the floor in the yellow plant area, and jumps into the subterranean area. Prince will almost certainly need to heal at the fountain before going on. Hang from the edge of the square hole, edge around if necessary to place him above a section that is clear of yellow plants below him. Place a hook near the bottom edge, drop to a crevice, then the hook. Create a whirlwind on the platform below and drop to it. ***A new type of enemy is introduced - the Fugu Plant. It is a floating, spiked spore-like thing. It eats anything Prince creates with his creation powers - hooks and whirlwinds. It will hover close to Prince, waiting for him to create something, then zoom in, eat the hook or whirlwind and injure Prince in the process. The only way to proceed is to distract the Fugu by creating a hook or whirlwind in some distant part of the room, wait for it to fly over there, then use whichever creation skill Prince needs to make his next move. Prince must use his hook or whirlwind very, very quickly before the Fugu Plant arrives to eat it out from under him!!!*** Jump to the next platform; create a hook anywhere (as far away as possible) to distract the Fugu. Quickly create a whirlwind to get Prince up to the horizontal bars. Swing to the wall crevice and edge along it until it ends quite a distance away. Create a hook between Prince and the floor (drop to it quickly before the Fugu eats it). Two Shielded Minotaurs attack at floor level. Create a hook somewhere to distract the Fugu, then a whirlwind to reach the next level up where Scarabs will attack. Jump up to the next higher level. The Beast will be shown running away through a patch of Haoma where Prince can’t go. When Zahra says, "Quick! Follow him!" Prince asks "How do you think I should do that?" There is a FOUNTAIN nearby. ================================== [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE: EAT MY DUST! - complete the scavenger scarabs chase without being hurt once in the The Fallen King map This challenge is probably the most difficult one in the game. Expect to fail and retry MANY times before you succeed. Create a whirlwind & jump to hang off the pull switch to open the first gate in a long, devilishly hazardous corridor. If Prince is injured the slightest bit in any way during this chase sequence you will fail the Heroic Challenge at stake. The route is divided by a number of gates, each of which is opened by clicking on the blue crystal on it. Try to click on those crystals while Prince is moving toward the gate. Don’t wait until he gets to a gate to open it. In the first segment, run along the left wall over red plants, then through the gate. The second segment is identical. Beyond the second gate Prince will cross a collapsing bridge with an archer at the other end of it; use B to freeze the archer. Remember that enemies don’t stay frozen long, so time the freezing so the archer doesn’t have time to shoot an arrow, but will stay frozen until Prince passes him. The corridor curves to the left behind the archer, making it harder to open the gate ahead of Prince’s arrival. In the next segment Prince must jump to horizontal bars above a section of red plants. Don’t linger on the bars; they will collapse. The corridor curves to the left, making it difficult to open the gate in advance. Wall run on the left side over red plants to the next gate. Again, Prince must jump to horizontal bars above red plants, but... The bars are quite low to the ground. It takes precise timing and placement to get Prince onto the first bar and to prevent him from swinging on the bars which will cause him to be injured by the red plants below. He must jump from bar to bar, not swing on them. (once or twice among my hundreds of attempts, Prince did manage to swing on those low bars without being hurt by plants below, but precise placement of where he can swing safely never became clear to me). The final section is next & it is the most difficult by far. Prince must first wall run on the left side, take a few steps while moving rapidly to wall run on the right side, cross again to wall run on the left side, open the gate at the end, and jump across a gap. The Hunter Archer at the end of the corridor will start firing the very instant that Prince steps into this section. He fires very, very rapidly and never misses a shot. Typically, he kills Prince one second into this segment. The only way to survive is to be lucky enough (and luck truly is required) to get Prince started on the first wall run on the left, then aim and freeze the archer while Prince is still running on the wall. Again, with luck, the archer will remain immobilized long enough for Prince to start his wall run on the right. The Archer will "thaw" at the very instant that Prince finishes that right-hand wall run (sometimes while he’s still in mid-run). One of two strategies will work next - either freeze the archer again or jump on his head and throw him into the red plants. Either way, there is only a fraction of a second to stop the archer’s next shot before Prince makes the final wall run on the left, opens the gate and jumps the gap. I found that re-freezing the archer worked better because, in the time it took to throw the archer, the scavenger scarabs caught up to and killed Prince. A cutscene plays in which Prince is hanging from a crevice on the other side of the gap while the horde of scarabs fall to their death in the chasm below. The Beast is seen escaping through a doorway above Prince. Challenge complete ======================== GOLD CHEST - As Prince hangs from the crevice, move all the way left and up to a ledge where 2 blue chests are visible. Roll through the low hole to find 4 blue chests, 1 gold chest and some pots. Wall run back to the crevices and use the series of crevices to get to the next higher level where there is a FOUNTAIN. The door opposite the fountain leads to the next Beast Battle. >>>>BEAST BATTLE #2: Everything remains the same - the Beast has the same weapons & attack patterns; Prince’s strategy is the same. The main difference is that the battle arena now has 3 coloured segments - blue, green, and yellow - which means that Prince will have to choose among 3 coloured panels to cause sunlight to stream down. The Beast’s stamina has increased slightly, so it will require more successful blows from Prince to make the Beast collapse. If Prince has used up all or most of his life orbs during the beast battle, consider reloading and refighting the battle until you can finish it with the greatest number of Life Orbs. Upcoming events are difficult & will be more so if Prince has very few Life Orbs to sustain him through hazardous times. After the battle, go back to the fountain to heal. Beyond the fountain Prince must go through a corridor with 4 flipping spike panels and 2 spiked logs swinging above the panels. Observe the timing carefully and Prince should be able to run along 2 panels on one side and either jump over or roll under the spiked logs to land safely on the other side. Again, if Prince is badly injured here, consider reloading and retrying until he gets through with the maximum amount of health and the maximum number of Life Orbs. As Prince enters the next room, the Beast is seen to be escaping at the upper reaches of the room. Immediately after the scene, the COMBAT ARENA activates. There are two waves of enemies, consisting mostly of Chthonian Beasts and assorted other strong enemies. After the combat groups are defeated, Prince must ascend a narrow vertical channel which has 4 stationary saw blades. Before attempting the ascent, place a hook on the inside right wall at a level just below the top saw blade. DO NOT PLACE THE HOOK ON THE BACK WALL WHERE THE SAW BLADES ARE ATTACHED. Create a whirlwind at the base of the narrow channel (on the left side). Jump to the left wall, wall run up only one or two steps, then immediately jump to the right between the bottom 2 saws, hit the right wall, and run up to catch the hook (by-passing the next highest saw). From the hook, wall run upward to clear the top blade and resume back-and-forth jumping to reach the crevice hand-hold at the top. Edge along the crevice to its end. During the cutscene at the beginning of this room, a huge red crystal was shown to be floating above a balcony. If you missed seeing it then, you can’t miss seeing it as Prince hangs from the end of the crevice route now. It will be necessary to come back here later. Jump to the horizontal bars and swing to the other side of the room. Prince will be hanging from a bar with a huge pennant hanging from it. Behind that pennant there is an alcove with a spitting blossom on the inside right wall. Place a hook on the back wall opposite Prince. Wait for the blossom to spit. He must swing to that hook, wall run to the right, and jump back to the same bar (on the far side of the pennant) before the blossom spits again. Further to the right on that same bar is a nearly identical set-up. This time there is a spitting blossom on each side wall. He can’t place a hook on the back wall in advance of his swing-jump because the spitting blossom will remove it. So wait until both blossoms have spit, place the hook, jump to it, wall run to the right, and jump back to the bar before either blossom spits again. From there swing across a series of horizontal bars to a crevice; edge over to hang above the balcony, place a whirlwind to drop onto, and get to the floor. Wall run to a beam, jump to a ledge. Prince is facing a huge circular symbol with 3 blue crystals that control the movement of 3 hook plates to the left. Use the crystals to align the hook plates to allow Prince to get to the far left side. Jump the gap to a vertical crevice, slide down to a puzzle door and a FOUNTAIN. There is an upgrade sanctuary directly beside the fountain, but Prince cannot enter it until he has defeated the Beast once more. Roll under the door directly opposite the fountain. =========================== [] HEROIC CHALLENGE: MUSHROOM SAUTE - defeat the Beast by burning him with sunlight >>>>BEAST BATTLE #3: The arena now has 4 coloured segments - blue, green, yellow, and purple. The Beast’s stamina has also increased, but his attacks and Prince’s strategy remain the same. When the Beast is defeated this final time ("Mushroom Saute" is complete), it’s revealed to be the last Sultan of Izdihar, Amir Rahman. He was transformed into the hideous beast by the curse of the Haoma. He begs Prince to save his daughter, Nasreen. And, after telling Prince that Prince’s father must be proud to have such a son, Rahman dies. The sword blade is released. Prince now must find a way to reforge the blade and hilt into functional sword again. ============================ Go back to the fountain and enter the upgrade sanctuary. >>CREATION POWER:MAGICAL SPHERE - you can now create magical spheres in mid-air Press B while jumping. Prince can also use the sphere in battle; jump above an enemy and hold B; the sphere will not only petrify the enemy, but also any other enemies within its "blast radius" =============================== HEROIC CHALLENGE: SAND BLAST - petrify 6 enemies in the magical sphere. To succeed at this challenge, you must petrify 6 enemies at the same time with one sphere; either stand and wait for enemies to approach Prince in a group, or deliberately throw them into a corner. The ONLY place to find 6 enemies at once is in the Challenge of Virtue (an upcoming event). In the meantime, practise this move as often as possible. "Hold" B, don't just tap it briefly. =============================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: CRYSTAL - find and touch the red crystal *unlocks the King Sword* Now that Prince has the magical sphere ability, he can return to the Red Crystal in the previous area. Go back through the puzzle door. There does not seem to be a way to backtrack, but use a whirlwind to place a hook on the wall, jump to it, run up the wall, jump back and press B to create a sphere. While suspended in the sphere, create another hook on the wall (be sure that a "safe jump" white line connects the sphere to the hook; if not, place the hook differently until it’s clearly safe to jump to it). The goal at the moment is a crevice high on the wall from which Prince can wall run to the ledge. Backtrack to the room where Prince had to ascend that channel with 4 saw blades. He will emerge on one of the two high balconies, but the Red Crystal is on the high balcony on the other side of the room. Jump off the balcony, create a sphere. Create whirlwind to land safely on the ground floor. Make your way back up the saws channel. Follow the path to the first horizontal pole, then stop. Drop off the pole and quickly create a sphere and jump onto the platform. Create a whirlwind and wall run or simply jump to reach the crystal. Challenge complete. ============================ Return to the fountain and upgrade sanctuary by the final beast battle location. ========================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: POP! - make an arrow trap destroy a magical sphere. The next time you come to an arrow trap, create a sphere and just wait for the arrows to destroy the sphere. ========================== Use the sphere to cross the next 2 gaps - jump out over the gap, press B to create a sphere, jump from the sphere to the other side. Prince will come to a series of ready-made spheres. Jump into the nearest one, check for a "safe jump" white line, and jump to the "connected" sphere. The following area requires a combination of hook plates and spheres. Jump from a hook, create a sphere, jump to the next hook. You can dally in this area (or any nearby area) to complete another Heroic Challenge: =================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: YOUR OWN PATH - chain 10 magical spheres and spirit hooks Create a spirit hook on a wall. Jump away from it and create a sphere. Create another hook in the same place and jump back to it. Repeat 10 times to complete the challenge. Don't stop until the onscreen announcement appears. =================================== Backtrack through the subterranean area where the Fugu Plant hovers and back up through the square hole to the room half-covered in yellow plants. There are *THREE GOLD CHESTS* in this room. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: although I found all 3 chests on my own, I simply can't find a way to describe the locations that is sufficiently different from darthmarsden's description in his FAQ. Therefore, I quote his description here with full credit to him. (1 of 3)Return to the now blocked entrance in this room. Create a whirlwind to the left of it and climb the wall to reach a crack in the wall right above the blocked entrance. From there, wall-run to the right, then jump away from the wall, create a sphere, and jump over to the balcony where the gold chest is located. (2 of 3) From the last gold chest, jump over to the pillar using a sphere. You'll need to make your way to the next balcony along, using the pillars (and a wall-run) to do so. Another gold chest awaits you there. (3 of 3)From the last gold chest, return to the ground and head to the pillar opposite the last one you climbed on. Use a whirlwind to reach the lowest ledge, then make your way from pillar to pillar until you reach the last balcony with the final gold chest of this room." (END QUOTE) *****************THE PALACE GATE (final)*** ***LIFE BAR UPGRADE #2*** Return through the giant doors to the Embrace of the Ancients puzzle room where Prince moved the fire and water statues to open the Palace Gate. Remember that there is an upgrade sanctuary high above the save fountain. Save before going up to the upgrade sanctuary. Start on either side of the save fountain. Use a combination of spirit hooks and spheres to reach the upgrade sanctuary. Jump off the life upgrade sanctuary ledge, let Prince fall until there is a slight "hesitation" in the animation. That tiny signal indicates the maximum distance he can fall before creating a sphere. If he falls further than that, it is too late to save him with a sphere. Given the proximity of the save fountain and the recent save this is an ideal time to practise!!! The goal now is to return to the Souk of Izdihar, and from there, get to the Forge of the Gods to repair the sword. Climb the pole to the upper balcony, go through the puzzle door, and up the stairs. Jump off the balcony, create a sphere, jump to the pole & slide to the floor. Simply follow the trail of djinns to retrace the rest of the route to the Souk. ****************SOUK OF IZDIHAR (3rd visit)*** At the first railing, drop to the ground (between it and the second bridge) to find 3 blue and and 2 red chests. Go up to the second railing/bridge. GOLD CHEST: The trail of djinns leads to a series of horizontal bars, but again, go to ground level first to find 3 blue chests, 2 red chests and 1 gold chest. Go back up to the second bridge and swing across all the horizontal bars to get to the upper level on the opposite side of the courtyard. When Prince lands on the balcony there, hang off the edge of the railing, drop, create a sphere, and jump to an upgrade sanctuary. ***LIFE ORB UPGRADE #3: 6th ORB (* final upgrade) ==================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: FULL OF WISHES - find all Life Orb extensions (complete) ===================================== Jump off the upgrade sanctuary ledge, create a sphere and use a combination of spheres and hooks to get back up to the balcony. Go up the stairs to the puzzle door that leads to a FOUNTAIN. Don't go through the puzzle door yet. ============================ [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: BUBBLY - chain 10 runs on walls and magical spheres This short corridor is an ideal place to complete this challenge. Place a whirlwind near the door. Stand on it, place a hook on the wall, and jump to it. Wall run only a few steps, jump off, create a sphere. Turn around to face the other wall, and jump to it. Run a couple of steps toward the door, jump off, create a sphere. Jump to the other wall and run only a couple of steps before jumping off to create a sphere. Repeat 10 times, going back and forth between the two closely spaced walls (don't stop until the announcement appears onscreen!) ============================= Go through the puzzle door. Wall run and jump off, create a sphere ->create a hook ->bar ->jump in the air ->sphere ->top edge of narrow wall. Continue in the same manner through the passageway ahead, and go up a crevice wall to a platform where Temptress Assassins will attack. Continue through the next passageway, using the same skills, to reach the next FOUNTAIN. ******************CHALLENGE OF THE GODS** Look beyond the fountain. At the far end the destination door is at the top. An upgrade sanctuary is immediately below that door. There are a number of haoma-covered pillars in between. Create a whirlwind at the front edge of the foundtain ledge to get some height, jump out, create a sphere. Place a hook on the nearest pillar to the right; jump to it. Jump back, create a sphere, place a hook on the nearest pillar on the left side. Repeatedly use spheres and hooks to get past the remaining pillars. At the end of the pillars there is a cylindrical pillar with a flat surface - place a whirlwind there and jump to it. Jump from the whirlwind toward the destination door ledge, create a sphere, place a hook, and climb to the destination ledge where a Priestess and Minotaurs attack. Hang off the right side edge of the platform and drop. Create a sphere. Place a hook on the wall - the edge of the platform will not accept a hook. Jump to the hook on the wall. Drop again and create another sphere. You may be able to jump to the upgrade sanctuary from the 2nd sphere. If not, repeat. ***LIFE BAR UPGRADE #3 (final)*** ================================= [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: STILL ALIVE - find all the Life Bar Extensions (complete) ================================= Return to the balcony above using the same sphere and hook skills. To open the door, Prince must press 2 pressure plates located high on the side walls "in a short amount of time" (according to the ever-helpful Hint button). Create a whirlwind beneath either one, place a hook just below the pressure switch, and wall run up over the switch. Immediately jump toward the other switch, create a sphere, place a hook right in the middle of the switch if you can (just below it, if necessary) and wall run over the second switch. (It may take several attempts to satisfy the time limit). When the doors open, they are time-limited, so don't waste any time getting through them. In the new area, a statue rises out of the floor, a barred gate blocks forward progress, and an identical statue on the other side of the gate. Both statues have a blue crystal. Click on the blue crystal on the statue beyond the gate. According to the Hint button, this will take Prince "to the spirit world". What happens is the lighting changes to "twilight", the barred gate disappears, and Prince can walk to the far end of the room. Click on the second statue to return things to normal. The pressure switch on the floor behind the statue opens the door ahead. ********************FORGE OF THE GODS*** ================================ [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: BRAINIAC - complete the puzzle in the Forge of the Gods "Brainiac" will be awarded when Prince returns to this room after having completed all 4 challenges to follow - Faith, Virtue, Wisdom, and Humility ================================ Zahra tells Prince he must prove himself worthy to forge the sword. This room is a "hub' that connects to 4 challenge areas. To open the doorway to each area 4 crystals (3 of the same colour plus 1 white crystal) must be aligned so that a beam of light will pass through all 4 of them at once. The crystals sit on overlapping floor circles identical to those used to solve the Water Wheel puzzle. And, just like that previous puzzle, crystals can be transferred from one circle to the other at the point of overlap. When all crystals of one colour are aligned with the white crystal and the light source, the door to a challenge area will be opened. To align the crystals for any of the challenges, Prince must get a crystal at "12 o’clock" and "6 o’clock" on each circle (2 coloured crystals on one circle; 1 white crystal and 1 coloured crystal on the other circle) It doesn’t matter in which order Prince completes the 4 challenges, but doing "Faith" first always makes sense: - Challenge of Faith (yellow crystals) - Challenge of Virtue (green crystals) - Challenge of Wisdom (orange crystals) - Challenge of Humility (purple crystals) There are no visible turnstiles to rotate the circles, so activate the blue crystal on the one shorter angel statue standing away from the circles. The turnstiles appear on a low platform near the fountain. **Don’t do anything with them yet** ***CHALLENGE OF FAITH - yellow crystals ================================= [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: YOU KNEW IT - open the portal to the Challenge of Faith in a single move. The yellow crystals are already placed on the circles where they need to be. Prince should stand with his back to the fountain and face the crystals. All he has to do is turn the right hand turnstile one move counter-clockwise. [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: ROGUE PRINCE - skip all the challenge arenas (combat arenas) in the Challenge of Faith *details to follow* ================================== NOTE: Prince now has everything he needs to attempt to complete all of the secret maps. This is a good time to save, quit, reload, and spend some time trying to complete those challenges. Use the turnstile. Go through the newly activated portal. In this very first area, hang off the edge of the bridge at the bottom of the stairs; at the bottom there are 3 GOLD CHESTS on the floor. Use whirlwind + Hook + Sphere to get back up. Go through the "wet" doorway to an outdoor area;the bridge ahead will collapse. Across the chasm, there is an archer above the destination door. Cross the chasm as quickly as possible, use hooks and spheres to reach the archer and defeat him. If you want the Rogue Prince challenge, don’t hang from the pull switch at the archer’s location - it opens the door below which leads directly into a combat arena. Instead, use a combination of hooks and spheres to go around the outside of the building, moving to the right. The next FOUNTAIN is on an outdoor ledge at the back of the building. (if you need djinns, you can collect a few on the way to the fountain, but don't enter the building through the window above the djinns). Again, the walkway and stairs ahead will collapse, leaving a great chasm to be crossed. Create a whirlwind on a lower pedestal at the mid-way point. Jump, create a sphere, jump to the whirlwind. Jump again, create another sphere, and jump to grab a crevice and then up to the puzzle door. Temptress Assassins will attack (this is not a combat arena - only those areas where yellow vegetation blocks the exits meet that definition). The room in the next building has a Fugu Plant that will "eat" any hooks, spheres, or whirlwinds that Prince creates. The trail of djinns says "go to the right" and around the perimeter of the room to the door on the opposite side. DON’T DO THAT. Instead, hang off the edge of the entrance platform, change the camera angle to see directly below Prince where there is a "chest island" just below; use a sphere and whirlwind to get to the 2 blue chests and pots. Use a whirlwind & sphere to get to a similar nearby "chest island". Then stand on a whirlwind to get to the nearby wall crevice; climb wall crevices to reach the puzzle door exit that leads to a FOUNTAIN. This room has a door at the far end with 4 bars across it. Prince must get to 4 pressure switches located on high ledges in the room. The cutscene will show the overhead view, as will the (-) button. As each pressure switch is pressed, a bar will be removed from the door. ***when all 4 bars are removed, this room becomes a Combat Arena the instant that Prince steps on the floor again*** If you’re trying to complete the Rogue Prince challenge, he must open the puzzle door without stepping on the floor after the 4th switch is pressed. Switch #1: It is directly ahead of Prince when he enters this room. Step on it. Switch #2: Stand facing the barred door; go left; use a whirlwind and sphere to reach the platform above. Jump the gap; place a hook past the 2nd saw and wall run to it. (pause) The next pair of saws never move far enough away to wall run sideways from this hook to the ledge. So wall run UP, jump off to create a sphere, then place a higher hook that will let Prince wall run safely ABOVE the saws to the next ledge. Jump into the gap and create a sphere. A Whipping Plant wil emerge on the next platform, exactly where Prince needs to land. As before, observe its movements and jump to grab the EDGE of the platform. While hanging there, shimmy around to a point where it’s safe to climb onto the ledge & step on the pressure plate. Switch #3: Create a whirlwind in the back corner and use a hook & sphere to get one level higher. Follow the spike poles on their tracks and dodge left to get out of the way of their return - being careful not to move left until the space is wide enough to avoid stepping on red plants along the outside edge. Place a hook past the 2nd saw ahead, but lower than usual. Wall run to it. Up above, a whipping plant will have emerged from the wall - if Prince tries to go any higher, the plant will knock him off the wall. Jump off the hook, create a sphere then create a hook between the 3rd and 4th saws. From that hook, Prince can safely wall run UNDER the saw to reach the next ledge safely. Wall run to the ledge with the pressure plate; a spitting blossom on the right wall spits directly onto the switch, so time Prince’s approach to the switch to occur between spits, then step out of range of the blossom. Switch #4: Place a hook on the wall in the back corner. Based on the timing of the spitting blossom, create a whirlwind in the back corner to reach the hook & go up another level. Again, there is a spitting blossom on the right side, but also red plants covering all but a small portion of the ledge. Prince must wait for the plant to spit, jump off this ledge from directly in front of the blossom, create a sphere, and jump to the next nearby ledge before the blossom here spits again and deactivates the sphere. The next ledge has an arrow trap, but it’s simply a matter of walking quickly past it between salvos. Prince again has to jump, create a sphere and jump to a ledge without being obliterated by the spitting blossom. The next ledge is divided by a barrier wall - the switch is, naturally, on the other side of the wall. Jump out, create a sphere, and jump back on the other side of the barrier. Step on the switch. **From this moment, the ground floor is a Combat Arena to be avoided.** - drop from the final switch; use a sphere to reach the platform immediately below - wall run to the ledge where there is just one spitting blossom - get back to the whipping plant ledge (be careful of timing - don’t let it knock Prince to the floor) - the previously barred door is now the puzzle door and exit, but Prince cannot stand on the floor to open it. (darthmarsden's solution):The best way to do this is to hang off the ledge and jump away from it. Create a sphere, then, on the floor in front of the door, create a whirlwind. Jump onto the whirlwind, then get rid of it. As Prince is falling, create another sphere. He should be right in front of the door now, so go ahead and solve the puzzle. Jump through the doorway to reach the next FOUNTAIN. ("Rogue Prince" complete) This next area has a Fugu Plant flying around and like the previous Fugu room, the trail of djinns indicates that Prince should go around the right side of the room. DON’T DO THAT. GOLD CHEST: Hang off the left edge and go down to a red chest and pot and then down once more. Place a hook on the wall halfway to a low ledge with a red chest and pots. Directly opposite this ledge there is a crevice in the wall. Jump to the crevice. Distract the Fugu by placing a hook or whirlwind somewhere distant, then use hooks to get to an alcove near the top of this wall. The gold chest is in the alcove. Use hooks and spheres to get to the puzzle door directly above the alcove and exit to an outdoor area. There are 4 archers standing on Haoma-covered pillars. If Prince lingers or hesitates, the archers will quickly kill him. BUT - each archer pillar has a blue crystal. Click on them to instantly kill the archers - (OR) - Ignore the archers and move forward quickly to the opposite side. Get onto the balcony railing, jump out, create a sphere, and jump forward. When Prince gets to the other side, go up the outside wall, moving left around the corner to avoid the whipping plant on the wall; then up to the "roof" where Archers and Temptress Assassins are waiting. After defeating them, jump down toward the djinn and the next puzzle door to enter the building. There is an enormous staircase ahead. Go to the left side of the staircase to find 6 blue chests and pots. Go to the right side for another 6 blue chests and pots. The FOUNTAIN is at the top of the stairs. A cutscene will draw attention to a pressure plate on the wall. Place a hook just beyond the pressure plate and wall run to it. Exactly like the series in the Hearth of the Sacred Fire, click on the nearby blue crystal to cause a platform to emerge from the wall (directly under Prince if the the hook was placed correctly). Use a whirlwind, sphere & hook to get to the balcony on the left. Continue to follow the procedure of placing a hook, wall running, and bringing platforms out of the wall until Prince reaches a place where he is facing a corner. Place a hook halfway to the corner, wall run to it, click the blue crystal to cause a ledge to emerge temporarily (it retracts into the wall quite quickly, so move!) Repeat for the next ledge. The "final" ledge is below 2 green hook plates; wall run UP from the top hook plate and jump back to a ready-made sphere, to a second ready-made sphere, to a balcony. Use a whirlwind & hook to go up the wall; jump back to a ready-made sphere. Follow a series of ready-made spheres to the next higher balcony; go outside. The cutscene shows the massively high tower to be climbed. There is a FOUNTAIN around the corner. Go beyond the fountain and around another corner to find 4 blue chests, 2 red chests, and some pots. The tower climb is a simple series of crevices (vertical and horizontal). Near the top, a Fugu Plant and a Whipping Plant require some caution. Distract the Fugu by placing a distant hook if it's not allowing Prince to proceed. Just remember to be very quick about placing and using any other hook he needs to ascend. At the top there is a complex puzzle door; jump the gap to be able to see and solve it. It leads back to the "hub" - The Forge of the Gods. ========================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SKY - bring back the energy from the Challenge of Faith This is automatically completed when Prince re-enters the hub. ========================== **************CHALLENGE OF VIRTUE - green crystals*** - Move the left turnstile counter-clockwise once - Move the right turnstile counter-clockwise once ==================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: HUNTER - find the secret arena in the Challenge of Virtue and kill all the enemies. *details to follow* [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SAND BLAST - petrify 6 enemies in the magical sphere The only place to complete this challenge is in the secret arena you must find for the "Hunter" challenge. *details to follow* ==================================== The first room has a barred door and fountain on a balcony at the opposite end of the room. There are 2 pressure plates - each one high on the wall on either side of the barred door balcony. Left side: Wall run to the 1st narrow ledge, then the 2nd (hang off it quickly - there’s an arrow trap above it). Place a hook just below the pressure plate flanked by 2 saws. Wall run up over the pressure plate, jump back, and create a sphere. Use a sphere and hook to get to, then onto, the barred door ledge where there is also a FOUNTAIN. Right side: Hang off the front edge of the fountain/door ledge and drop to a narrow ledge. Go to the right & around the corner. Place a hook above Prince, run up, jump back, and create a sphere. Turn around to face the pressure plate, place a hook on or above it, jump from the sphere to the hook; drop down over the pressure plate, then create a sphere. Use hooks and spheres to get back to the fountain/door ledge. Open the nearby puzzle door. Beyond it, there is a ready-made sphere over a square hole in the floor. Jump into that sphere (you may need to create your own sphere to be able to get into the ready-made one). Below, there is a spitting blossom and another ready-made sphere. Time your drop to occur between blossom spits. From the bottom sphere, drop to the ledge. Prince should land on a pressure plate that opens the door at the end of a corridor just ahead. If he doesn’t land on it, step on it!! That short corridor is full of traps!! It starts with a double-wide spike mat, immediately followed by another spike mat. There are arrow traps on both side walls - in an alternating left-right arrangement. Move the nearby pedestal and position it at the middle-point of the start of the corridor. Prince must stand on the right side of the pedestal. The spike mat will not activate as Prince drags it sideways over the spike mat. But...if Prince stands behind the pedestal and pushes it, he will be impaled. Drag the pedestal to the end of all the spike mats & stop moving. Place Prince on the side of the pedestal where it will act as a shield between him and the first arrow trap. Stop. Prince must climb over the pedestal and use it as a shield from the next arrow trap on the other side of the corridor. Repeat. When Prince drags the pedestal into the next room, it will move of its own volition onto a pressure plate, to reveal a square opening in the floor. There is a puzzle door in this room, but it can’t be opened yet. (If you look up, you can see that Prince is immediately below the original entrance door and the first save fountain) In the square hole in the floor, there is a ready-made sphere above 2 spitting blossoms and a whirlwind plate below. Activate the whirlwind plate, jump into the sphere, and drop down between blossom spits. There is a FOUNTAIN nearby. The level below the fountain has a barred door (3 bars) which means that Prince must find 3 pressure plates. Place a hook at the djinn location on the left wall. Wall run to the hook. Wall run and jump to the ready-made sphere. Place a hook on the facing wall, wall run up, jump back to the sphere, & jump to the landing with the whirlwind plate. Activate the whirlwind plate; activate the top orange hook plate. Stand on the whirlwind to get over the wall to the hook plate. Drop down the vertical row of orange hook plates, between arrow trap salvos. Wall run toward the left switch, jump off, create a sphere. Place a hook by the switch, wall run over it, and jump back to create a sphere. Return to the top orange hook plate, wall run to the right over the wall. Create a sphere and hook to land safely. Activate the blue hook plates, drop to the lower of the two (timed to avoid arrow traps). Wall run to the left, create a sphere. Jump to the blue hook plate below the pressure switch, wall run over the switch & jump back to create a sphere. Use the ready-made spheres to drop to the balcony below. Go through the puzzle door - it leads to a Combat Arena (2 waves of Priestesses and Temptress Assassins). A red chest can be found along the side wall. Move the pedestal onto the floor switch to open the Subterranean Level. Jump down using the ready-made sphere to land on a pressure plate that opens the door. Jump to the balcony where there is a pedestal. Use the pedestal as a shield against the arrow traps. Drag it to and through the doorway and activate the puzzle door by the FOUNTAIN. **Save here; be sure to have a backup save** The puzzle door leads to a room with ready-made spheres, a square hole over an abyss, and a lower level with pots and a door. The medallion on the wall above and opposite the door is the "puzzle key". Use a combination of ready-made and homemade spheres to cross the gap. Step on the floor switch to activate the medallion puzzle and solve it. A blue sphere will emerge and open the exit door in another part of this building. DON'T LEAVE YET. ============================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: HUNTER - find the secret arena in the Challenge of Virtue and defeat all the enemies [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SAND BLAST - petrify 6 enemies in a magical sphere After solving the puzzle medallion, the ready-made spheres below will have disappeared. Use hooks and spheres to get to the bottom level. Go through the door to the ** THE SECRET COMBAT ARENA **. This is only place where 6 enemies attack at once. Only the first wave of enemies has 6 members. If you can petrify all 6 at once you will complete the "Sand Blast" challenge. Step into the combat arena and try to place Prince as close to the centre of the group as possible. Jump into the air, and "hold" B (don't just tap B) to get maximum "blast radius". If you don't petrify all 6 immediately, quit and reload - by the time Prince can make a second sphere, the archers will have killed at least one of their allies, leaving only 5 enemies. Don't be surprised if you fail more than once. If you do succeed, the announcement will appear onscreen right away. There are at least 3 more waves of enemies before you can leave. No matter how you defeat the enemies (all 6 at once or one at a time), you will have completed the "Hunter" challenge when all the waves of enemies are defeated. =============================== There are 7 chests in the combat arena - 3 blue, 3 red, 1 gold. Use hooks and spheres to get back up and return to the previous room. Although there are ready-made spheres intended to help Prince ascend above the band of yellow vegetation that rings this room, I prefer a different route. Prince must now negotiate the wall above the fountain. Start to the far left of the fountain. Place a whirlwind to be able to reach the narrow ledge on the wall just below the yellow plants. Use a hook to get Prince up to the next highest narrow ledge. Activate the green hook plates and run up to all 3 of them. From there, wall run to the right over flipping spike panels to 2 more hook plates. Jump back, create a sphere, and jump to the next FOUNTAIN. Activate the nearby whirlwind plate. Place a hook on the wall and jump to it. There are 2 spitting blossoms above. Wait for them to spit, place a hook between and above them and jump to it before they spit again. After the next spit, jump back, create a sphere and quickly jump to grab the edge of the floor above. Prince is almost back where he started (the original entrance to this area is overhead). The puzzle door that was inactive when he placed the pedestal here can now be opened. It leads to a Combat Arena (Chthonian Beasts and Priestess). After the battle, find the vertical channel in this room with spheres and arrow traps. Use a whirlwind to get into the spheres where Prince will not be hit by arrows. If you've failed or forgotten to complete Heroic Challenge: Pop! now is the time to do it. Place a hook on the back wall below the nearest arrow trap. When it's safe, wall run up, quickly jump back to create a sphere, and quickly place a hook below the next highest arrow trap. Repeat until you can activate the hook plates at the top. Wall run to the left to reach the next landing. Turn left to find the portal leading back to the "hub". ================================= [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: UNDERGROUND - complete the Challenge of Virtue map (completed) ================================= ***************THE CHALLENGE OF WISDOM - orange crystals** ================================= [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SLIPPERY - complete the Challenge of Wisdom without performing any wall runs To avoid wall runs you will have to do a few things differently than usual. Pull Switches: use a whirlwind in front of a switch, cancel it with Z, then immediately create a sphere and jump to hang off the switch. If you use only a whirlwind, there’s a chance Prince will still run up the wall a short distance before grabbing the pull switch ring. Wall Runs: use a combination of spheres & hooks to replace wall runs when you need to move sideways along a wall. Be certain when you place hooks that Prince can jump directly to them and not risk wall-running a short distance. Make each sphere and hook just a short distance closer to your destination. Wall Hooks: again, on solid ground locations, use a whirlwind to reach any hook you place above Prince’s head. Be certain he can jump directly to the hook without wall running even a single step to reach the hook ** If you are trying to obtain "Slippery" substitute the appropriate move(s) whenever you see "wall run" "pull switch" or "wall hook" in the instructions for this challenge. [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: CANNONBALL - launch yourself using the giant cannonball *details to follow* ======================================= 1st Room: GOLD CHEST: Hang off the left side stairs to see chests in an alcove 1 red, 1 gold, and pots). Use spheres and hooks to get back up. Hang off the right side stairs to see a large red pipe below. Place a hook and drop to it; then jump back toward the pipe and create a sphere. Jump from the sphere to enter the pipe. At the far end of the pipe interior there is a ready-made sphere. Walk into it to trigger a cutscene. The pipe is a cannon of sorts. Prince will be shot from the cannon while in a sphere, ricochet several times, and land on an upper balcony (unhurt). Even if you’re not trying for the Cannonball challenge, this is the most efficient way to arrive at this location so I will not detail the "long route"!!! At this high landing there is a large, split staircase curving up to the left and right. The door at the top is guarded by huge saw traps on both sides. Place a whirlwind by either saw trap. Go back down the stairs and hang from the pull switch to open the time-limited door; hurry back up the stairs, use the whirlwind to pass over the saw trap, and roll under the door. 2nd Room: Jump into the ready-made sphere, watch the timing of the arrow traps. Between salvos, hit the blue crystal which will raise the sphere to the top. (Pay attention - Prince will come back down this way near the end of the challenge) 3rd room: This is a Combat Arena (Priestess and Haoma Minions). When all are defeatd, a turnstile rises out of the floor. It causes the room’s "dome" to rotate and a new door to open - leading to a FOUNTAIN There is a pull switch beside the fountain that will open a time-limited door in a parallel corridor. Place a whirlwind at the left front edge of this area so Prince can jump to horizontal bars ahead. Go back to hang off the switch. Use the whirlwind to reach the bars. At two points in the swing-jump sequence, Prince will land on a 4-way bar that changes his direction of travel - pause very briefly to let that direction change take place before letting go of the 4-way bar. Land at the end of the corridor and roll under the door. If Prince arrives too late, use a whirlwind and a sphere to get back on the horizontal bars to retrace the route to the pull switch (a whirlwind alone will not get him onto the bars at this end of the U-shaped corridor). Back to the 1st Room: The entrance balcony here is completely covered in yellow vegetation. GOLD CHEST: Press (-) for an overhead view. The chest is prominently on view. It’s directly above the entrance where Prince is standing. What is NOT shown is that the chest is protected by a horizontal saw blade. Hang off the balcony railing; use hooks & spheres to get up to a wall crevice that is beside the saw trap, then into the chest alcove. Return to the entrance balcony below. The goal is to get to the upper balcony on the opposite side of the room where there is a turnstile. Press the ever-helpful Hint button if you want a close-up look at it. The room has several vertical poles; each one with 4-way swing bars attached. There are side landings on the far half of the room, below the destination landing. It doesn’t really matter which pole-and-bar Prince starts from - one way or the other, just pick one & keep swinging and jumping to reach either side landing at the far end of the room. Just remember - every time he swings on a bar, it will rotate by 90 degrees. "Think before you leap" is the guiding principle. The worst that will happen is that Prince will end up back on the entrance balcony and have to try again. From either side landing (it doesn’t matter which one Prince lands on), create a whirlwind and jump back to the nearest pole. He will be at a level above the 4-way swing bars. Look for the trail of djnnns which indicates which side wall Prince must cross to get to the destination landing. Jump from pole to pole until he’s in position to jump to the wall with the trail of djinns. Jump back toward the wall and create a sphere. Place a hook, jump to it and wall run to a crevice. Use hooks and spheres to get to the final crevice, then onto the destination landing where there is a turnstile. It activates water flow in the lowest level of this room. Descend to either side ledge, then down to the basement. Note that there's a red chest high up on one side of the room. You can make a side excursion to collect it before descending to the basement. There are 3 concentric circles on the floor, each one with a number of channels cut into it. Each circle also has a small plate with a blue crystal. There is a turnstile in the centre. - Water will enter the circles at the 9 o'clock & 3 o’clock positions and must flow out from the 12 o’clock position. - The plates with the blue crystals must be lined up at the 6 o’clock position - clicking on the blue crystal plates will determine which of the 3 circles moves in response to the central turnstile. When Prince succeeds, Chthonian Beasts will attack. Defeat them, then open the puzzle door that leads to a FOUNTAIN. From the fountain, walk out on the protruding ledge. Prince is back at the "sphere elevator". Jump to the ready-made sphere, hit the crystal to descend. If the original sphere doesn’t get broken, jump off onto the landing to the left. If the arrow traps break the sphere, create a sphere and rotate 180 degrees. There’s a solid wall there, so Prince can use spheres and hooks to descend. Keep rotating the camera, though, to see when he’s level with the doorway and landing that is now behind him. The doorway leads to a Combat Arena (Priestess & Minotaurs,2 waves). When they are defeated a turnstile rises from the floor, which causes the room to rotate. Go through the open doorway. Ahead there are arrow traps on both sides of the room. There are 2 whirlwind plates in the centre (surrounded by Haoma), but the arrow traps will "cancel" the whirlwinds when the arrows fire. Prince must jump forward, create a sphere, wait for the arrows to fire, activate the nearest whirlwind, jump to it, then quickly jump toward the next whirlwind and create another sphere. Repeat. At the other end, Prince will land on a cross-shaped bridge with a FOUNTAIN. GOLD CHEST: With his back to the fountain, Prince should move to the northeast quadrant, hang off the edge and use hooks & spheres to drop to the chests below. Use hooks and spheres to get back up to the fountain level. Go through the doorway. There are 3 sphere-generating tubes in the walls; 2 on the right side of the room, 1 on the left. There is an enormous Haoma pit in the bottom of the room. Create a whirlwind on the right hand side to get some height, jump out and create a sphere. Click on the nearest sphere tube and it will eject a sphere - quickly jump into it to be carried to the left side of the room. As you get close to the sphere tube there, jump out of the ready-made sphere and create a sphere. Click on the tube so it will eject a sphere & jump into it to be carried back to the right side of the room. Repeat the process there to be carried to the left again where Prince can jump off to the exit landing. The doorway leads to a Combat Arena (Priestess & Temptress Assassins, 2 waves). The turnstile that appears will rotate the room & open a door to a split stair case. This time there are no traps guarding the time-limited door, so hang from the pull switch and hurry to the exit. Back to the 1st room: The water that Prince directed from the basement has filled an enormous glass cylinder. The water must be transferred to another, identical cylinder. Just turn the turnstile. As the water fills the new cylinder, a platform is floating on the water. Go up the stairs and jump onto the platform in that water-filled cylinder to activate a puzzle doorway. Open the puzzle door to return to the "hub". ======================== [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE: WET- bring back energy from the Challenge of Wisdom (complete) ======================== ******************CHALLENGE OF HUMILITY - purple crystals*** ===================================== [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: NO SAFETY NET-complete the Challenge of Humility without using any fountains *details to follow* [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SPACE MASTER - complete the Challenge of Humility without falling The only way to succeed at this challenge is to quit and reload whenever Prince is ABOUT to fall. If you are trying to complete "No Safety Net" you won't have any saves and will have to repeat the entire Humility area from the beginning. I don't recommend trying to succeed at both challenges in the same play through [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: MONOLITH - find and reach the Monolith *details to follow* [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: SPACE AND BEYOND - bring back energy from the Challenge of Humility [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: GOLDEN - find all the gold treasure chests You should have been trying to meet this challenge for some time, collecting a good number of chests along the way. There is a location in the upcoming route where you can not only collect at least 7 gold chests, but you can collect the same chests repeatedly!! Repeat collection is possible only if Prince has at least 2 Life Orbs when he gets to that point (which will be flagged in the instructions to follow). Collect all the chests and pots, die on purpose, and Prince will be resurrected at that same spot with all chests and pots having regenerated for repeat collection. As long as you break enough pots to refill one Life Orb each time, Prince can die on purpose as many times as you like. **you cannot use this technique if you are trying to complete "Space Master" which requires that Prince never falls. It CAN be done in the same game as "No Safety Net" as long as you don't let Prince run out of Life Orbs to die completely. Any remaining Heroic Skills under development are very quickly completed here, so you should also be able to complete the following challenges: Note: "earn" = acquire and fully upgrade all possible skills in a category [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE:SWORD MASTER - earn all Sword Heroic Skills [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE:GAUNTLET MASTER - earn all Gauntlet Heroic Skills [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: POWER MASTER - earn all Creation Powers Heroic Skills [ ] HEROIC CHALLENGE: FULLY EQUIPPED - learn all Heroic Skills This means that you have acquired & fully upgraded all possible skills in all three categories ========================================= Prince is baffled when he enters this area - he doesn’t know where to go or what to do. Zahra suggests asking Mah, the god of this area, for advice. Mah is the huge statue that is opposite, but far distant, from the entrance. Immediately use (-) to see the overview of this area. It is a ring of rubble floating in space. There is no way to cross the centre of the ring. To get to Mah, Prince will have to make a complete circuit of the confusing rubble. As he points out, it’s all floating in nothingness - falling off any of the rubble spells certain death. Happily, this is the only location where there are virtually no enemies. Small comfort, really, since nearly any misstep results in death. At least monsters can not only be defeated, but they heal Prince into the bargain with the blue sphere they release. The hazards ahead are complex, confusing, and life-threatening. Go forward, jumping to the small islands to reach a more substantial structure, with a crevice to get to the top of it. Temptress Assassins and Archers will attack. Use a whirlwind to get to the top of the table-like structure where there is a blue chest, then come back down. To the right there is a structure with several saws rising and falling along the length of a wall. There is a FOUNTAIN beyond the saws. Jump to that structure and use a whirlwind to get to the narrow top edge of the wall where Prince can simply walk above the saws. If you are avoiding save fountains, jump off into space above the fountain and create a sphere from which Prince can jump to the next "island", with 2 red chests and many pots. Hang off the top edge, drop to a narrow ledge about half way down, then jump to a vertical pole. From there jump across 2 small islands. Beyond them there is a rising/falling structure with a narrow ledge on its side. The next "chunk" has Haoma on the top, crevices on its sides. Edge around its bottom crevice and jump to the vine-covered wall which also has 2 blue crystals on it. Hang onto the vine and activate either blue crystal to make the wall turn to be flush with a flipping spike panel. Wall run to the next vine section. Hang from that 2nd vine panel, activate its blue crystal to rotate that panel 90 degrees. Wall run toward the corner (to the left) and jump off to create a sphere. From the sphere, jump to the 3rd vine panel. Activate a blue crystal on the brick surface ahead - the protrusion will recede to make that area flush with the rest of the wall. Wall run to the left and jump into a ready-made sphere. Go from sphere to sphere to reach a structure with a pot and a pressure switch on top. The switch causes a small island to rotate, putting its Haoma-covered side up, and making it unusable. Create a whirlwind and jump to a nearby vine panel. Activate the crystal to rotate the panel 180 degrees. This side has hook plates and a pressure switch. Use the hook plates to wall run over the switch, causing the Haoma-covered island to rotate again. Follow the crevices under and around this current structure to find a curved wall with a pressure switch. Wall run over the switch and jump to the ready-made sphere near it. The little island ahead rotates a final time, turning a "safe" surface up. Use the ready-made spheres to get back where you started. The rotated island is between Prince and the next FOUNTAIN. To reach the fountain, jump into space, create a sphere, and jump to the fountain platform. To avoid the fountain, jump, allow Prince to drop below the fountain platform, create a sphere, and jump to the wooden trapeze-like bar below. From there, jump to two ready-made spheres and then to any one of the series of rotating bits of rubble (each of them has a crevice to grab onto). From there, jump to a ready-made sphere, jump again, & create a sphere. Place a hook on the facing wall, wall run to the right over a pressure switch and jump back to another ready-made sphere. The switch causes a panel in the structure to drop, creating a landing platform. Place a whirlwind on the landing and jump from whichever sphere Prince is in to the whirlwind and go through the doorway. Prince is facing a huge curved inside wall of a cylindrical structure. There is a small "island" between Prince and the wall and there is a Fugu Plant hovering about. Quickly jump toward the wee island, create a sphere, and jump again before the Fugu eats the sphere!! Distract the Fugu by placing a hook somewhere distant. When it flies away, create a whirlwind, jump out to create a sphere, and jump to a narrow ledge with a vine-covered area above it. Distract the Fugu again by placing a whirlwind somewhere. Then place a hook on the wall to the left, wall run to it, then to a crevice. Wall run from the crevice and Prince will run to a crevice which is best described as "behind him". The outside edge of this structure is completely covered in Haoma. But there are blue crystals imbedded in it. Click on each crystal and sections of the Haoma fall away, leaving a smooth, safe surface. Follow the crevice in that surface, drop to the next cevice and climb. Place a wall hook, wall run to it and climb to the top edge. Jump off, make a shpere, place a hook on the next structure, wall run left to a vertical crevice and up to the top. Use a whirlwind to reach a wooden beam. The next structure looks like a huge bowl with a whirlwind plate in the centre. Jump to the rim of the bowl, activate the whirlwind, and jump to 2 ready-made spheres to reach a pillar on the right where there are pots. Hang from the edge, place a hook below, drop to it & wall run left to a crevice. Wall run left again and jump off to a tiny island (create a sphere, if necessary, to get there). Create a whirlwind on the island to get to the FOUNTAIN just above. If you’re avoiding fountains, jump toward the vertical poles on the left and don’t walk close to the fountain itself.(credit to darthmarsden for that tip!) Jump from pole to pole, creating a sphere as Prince jumps from the final pole. Jump to the wooden bar contraption which will start to rotate when Prince lands on it. Swing jump to grab a ledge on the rotating cylindrical structure ahead. It seems to be part of a once-enormous pillar which is now broken into 5 segments. Each segment is floating where it would be if the pillar were still intact. But there are gaps. Go to the top edge of the cylinder, jump out & create a sphere. If Prince got enough height with the jump, he should be able to reach the next segment up. If not, go back the first segment and try again. Repeat the process until Prince is on the second-highest segment. If you get all the way to the top, drop back down to the second-highest segment. Stand on its outside edge as it rotates. The next destination is a small flat island with a HUGE chunk of rotating Haoma beyond it. Jump to the small island and create a whirlwind. Observe the gaps in the Haoma as they come around - one is bigger than the others. Time the jump carefully, then jump through the gap, create a sphere, and jump to the platform beyond the Haoma. Depending on how the Haoma rotates, the jump from the sphere to the platform may have to be "on faith" because the view of Prince may be partially obscured. Face the large wall to the left. Create a whirlwind and jump to the vertical wall crevice. Edge to the right to reach a horizontal bar. ** This is the location where repeated collection of gold chests is possible. Every time Prince dies here, he will restart from this horizontal bar. As long as he has more than one Life Orb and/or can break enough pots on the floating rubble ahead to regenerate at least one orb, he can repeat this segment indefinitely. ** Swing to any of the floating bits of rubble that circulate here. It doesn’t much matter whether the particular chunk of rubble has a gold chest or not. From whichever piece of rubble Prince is standing on, observe the movements of the other bits of rubble - he can hang off the edge of the current one and drop to another. Or, he can jump back to the horizontal bar and wait for a piece of rubble with a chest on it to come by. Note that there are two rings of rubble with chests available. To get to the other ring of rubble, just jump out into space, create a sphere, and wait for the first available bit of rubble to come by. Again, he can drop from one to another, with care. When you’ve finished collecting gold chests and pots, Prince must be on this second ring of rubble. The final FOUNTAIN is next. If you’re avoiding fountains, jump to the roof above the fountain (a sphere is necessary). Jump off that roof to a ledge sticking out beyond the fountain. If you're not avoiding fountains, wait for the current chunk of rubble to come level with the small platform sticking out from the fountain platform. Go to the ledge sticking out on the other side of the fountain platform & jump to small island inside an enormous rotating tube of Haoma. Place a hook on the wall to the left and jump to it. Wall run to the right. There are two identical wall segments with a space between them. Hang off the top edge of the first one. Wait for a large opening to pass overhead, stand on the top edge, jump to the next top edge, and hang down quickly before the Haoma hits Prince. Edge as far to the right as possible. There is a wall behind Prince as he hangs here. Rotate the camera to get a good look at it. Jump off this wall, create a sphere, then place a hook on the wall that was behind Prince, and jump to the hook. Wall run to Prince’s left, jump back to the first side, wall run to Prince’s right along that wall and jump back again to reach a T-shaped bit of rubble in the middle. Hang off the top of the T, wait for a suitable opening below as the Haoma rotates, then drop through the opening to a ready-made sphere. Activate the whirlwind plate below, and drop to it. Jump to a series of ready-made spheres, plus any created spheres you may need to reach a crevice in one "leg" of a 4-legged structure. Each leg has crevices to hang onto. Go from leg to leg, by jumping back, creating a sphere, and placing a hook on the next leg. When Prince gets to the 4th leg, edge around it, follow the crevices as high as they go, place a hook above Prince’s head, wall run to it, then jump off into a ready-made sphere. Jump out of that sphere, create a sphere, then jump to a small platform with a turnstile. The turnstile will rotate the 4-legged structure 90 degrees. Legs that were vertical, are now horizontal. Jump off the turnstile platform, create a sphere, and jump to the lowest leg. Create a whirlwind to get up to each leg in turn. At the top, jump to a vine-covered panel. It will start to rotate as soon as Prince lands on it. It is the first of 5 vine panels he has to jump to. It is very difficult to see when it’s safe for him to jump from one panel to the next, so rotate the camera as close to an overhead view as you can manage. When he lands on the 5th vine panel, it is stationary. Activate the blue crystal to rotate it 180 degrees. Drop to the crevice on this panel, then wall run to the crevice on the right. Prince should be near the top of this crevice for the next step. He must wall run further to the right over some brown panels, then jump off at the end to reach a vertical pole. Those final few panels will fall away as he runs on them. While clinging to the pole, notice that there are a number of blue crystals floating in the area ahead. Activate all of them to reveal a number of small islands. Be cautious. There are flying saw blades that pass beween the islands Observe the saw movements before jumping from one island to another. On the last one Temptress Assassins will attack. From the final wee island, Prince will finally have arrived at Mah’s statue!!! Follow the stairs to the back of the statue where there is a vertical crevice leading to the head. DON'T CLIMB YET! Go to edge of this level, hang off, then use hooks and spheres to descend the sheer wall below. At the bottom Prince can see a huge black slab lying horizontally under this structure. It is the ** MONOLITH **. Jump onto it to complete that particular Heroic Challenge. The Monolith will slide out from under the structure just far enough for Prince to be able to create a whirlwind, place a hook, and ascend the sheer face again. Climb the vertical crevice to the top. Stand on the floor symbol to activate a rotating door puzzle. When the puzzle is solved, a boat will appear below (you can’t really see it from here). Prince says, "Ah! A boat! With no water! Suspended above nothing!" But he decides to get into it anyway. It makes as much sense as anything else in this confusing location. Slide back down the crevice - the boat is docked in front of the statue. Prince will ride it back to the hub in a cutscene. *************FORGE OF THE GODS** By completing the 4 challenges, Prince has proven himself worthy, so the forge is activated. Zahra tells Prince to put the hilt and the blade "into the light" where they are reconstituted into an impressive-looking weapon. She then says that all that remains is to "strike at the heart of the enemy". The portal is activated and will lead to a battle. Break pots as necessary to ensure that Prince has all Life Orbs filled and save before going through the portal. This is also your last chance to spend time in the secret maps in this play through. Automatic saves will occur, but Prince will not see another fountain where he can quit and reload. *************FINAL BATTLE: THE SORCERESS*** Following the cutscene, the Sorceress breaks the room apart. The battle arena is one remnant of the ruin. This is another 3-stage battle - each stage essentially the same. The Sorceress hovers above the battle arena, out of reach. She throws damaging balls of Haoma and occasionally sends out a rolling wave of Haoma at ground level. Prince’s gauntlet will deflect the thrown Haoma, but it’s next to impossible to avoid the rolling wave which can kill Prince instantly. Expect to lose one or two Life Orbs, depending on how often she sends out that wave. I tried putting Prince on a whirlwind to get him closer to her level, but she constantly flits about & warps to some other part of the battle arena. The ONLY attack that worked was for Prince to run toward her as rapidly as possible, jump into the air, and use a Jump Attack (shake the remote). When her health bar is approximately 9/10 depleted, she calls upon the "Heart of the Haoma". A big ugly plant erupts, destroying the battle arena. Chunks of it are floating about. Prince must place whirlwinds and use the occasional sphere to get from chunk to chunk. On the final chunk, there is a wooden beam extended out above the Haoma. When Prince steps out onto that beam, a cutscene takes over to show him plunging that glowing new weapon into the heart of the Haoma. After which, the battle arena reassembles for Stage #2 and Stage #3. In the final 2 phases, the Sorceress adds a new attack. She will scoop Prince up, fly around in a sweeping circle and drop him from a great height. The only challenge that poses is getting the timing right to create a sphere for him at the right moment to break his fall. Too soon, and he’ll also have to try to create a whirlwind as the Sorceress bombards him Haomo balls. Too late, and he’ll die from the fall. In Stage #3 there are not only more chunks of debris to negotiate, but it’s the only stage where it seems to matter how much time it takes for Prince to reach that overhanging beam. Failure to get there within the time limit only means that the battle arena reassembles for Prince to have another go-round with the Priestess and then the climb back to attack the Haoma. There are always a good number of djinn souls on the debris as Prince wends his way to the Haoma plant, so Life Orbs shouldn’t run out, even if he dies a few times from the rolling wave of Haoma. ***************POST-BATTLE EVENT: PRINCESS NASREEN*** When Prince has plunged the sword into the Haoma for the 3rd time, the Sorceress flies into the air, screams, and transforms. What remains is the Sultan’s daughter, Nasreen. She thanks Prince for releasing her, but before anyone can draw breath, green tendrils of Haoma are snaking about - all of them reaching for Nasreen. Very quickly, she is hopelessly ensnared, being pulled over the edge and into the sands below. Prince struggles to pull her free, but both of them can see it’s a losing battle. She is going to be consumed. She shouts that she brought the curse down upon her people and urges Prince to let her go to her death and save himself. Zahra says that Nasreen MUST be saved for the lineage to continue. Prince leans close to Nasreen and says, "I grant you my immortal spirit". He kisses her as he has kissed the statues. Zahra immediately fuses physically with Prince, her essence entering his body as he transfers to Nasreen the protection that has kept him alive in this kingdom. Nasreen slips away and disappears beneath the sand. Prince is thrust back through the portal, with all of Izdihar crumbling and sinking into the sand. ****************THE STRANDED CASTLE*** The flashback is over and the story loop is complete. This segment is identical to the opening segment - other than now you know where Prince is and (more or less) why he’s running for his life. [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE:YOU’RE GOOD - complete the Stranded Castle level without dying [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE:PATHFINDER - use the hidden alternate path If you didn’t complete the two challenges at the beginning of the game, you certainly should be able to complete both of them easily now. At the end of the route, Zahra urges Prince to jump into the void and he says "I trust you." before diving off into a vortex. ***************THE REALM OF ETERNAL FIRE*** This is a strange surreal environment. Everything is twilight blue and slightly blurred. Prince is transparent. His movements are slightly surreal as well. He moves both slower and with greater ease. He asks, "Am I dead?' Zahra says "Remember!" In fact, no matter what Prince says, Zahra urges him to remember and to follow the sound of her voice. The only instructions for this segment that I can offer are to keep moving forward. Buildings and walls arise out of nowhere, and it’s virtually impossible to discern whether there’s a hand-hold to aim for. It doesn't seem to matter if Prince misses a jump and falls to what would normally be his death. He doesn't die, he just reappears at the point of the same jump. The scenes repeat themselves, so it’s hard to tell whether that occurs because an error was made or because it was designed that way. Periodically, Prince will reach a "bowl" with a shaft of light rising out of it. They seem to be "restoration fountains" of a sort. He enters the light and is shown as his "normal" self, flailing and reaching out, as though trying to climb out of the vortex. Then he is sucked back into the mysterious realm for more of the same. The entire sequence is repeated either 3 or 4 times (I lost count). Every once in a while a real-looking hazard appears, but disappears just as quickly. Eventually, when he enters that shaft of light, he manages to get out - more like he’s ejected. To land on the beach from the beginning of the story. The statue there shatters and crumbles - the cutscene draws attention to the broken remnant of the face. Zahra's face. Prince drops to his knees, bent in grief, holding that remnant of a face. His body language changes. He stands, squares his shoulders, lets the facial fragment fall from his hand, and walks into the desert ... ...as Nasreen’s voiceover tells us "As Izdihar sunk into the sands, destiny tore us apart. But I know that, one day, he will come for me. I will meet my Prince again!" RUN THE CREDITS!! XI. REPLAY BONUSES After the credits run, the game is automatically saved. To start a replay, go to the Profile menu and select the end-of-game file to load. It will have a circular icon and the numeral "1" by the file name. Choose "re-tell the story" to begin again. LIFE BAR & LIFE ORBS Upgrades to the Life Bar and Life Orbs do NOT carry forward and have to be obtained again in the replay. HEROIC SKILLS All Heroic Skills learned & fully upgraded in the previous game are available (and upgraded) at the beginning of a replay game. Skills learned, but not fully upgraded are carried forward "as is". You can finish upgrading them in a replay. Creation Skills are not on the skill chart and are not available at the START of a replay. When Prince reaches the story line point where those skills are re-acquired, though, they will be fully upgraded when he gets them back. Or, at least, as upgraded as they were at the end of the previous game. You should find all battles, but especially the early ones, much easier than they were the first time through. A lot of time is saved when just about every hit that Prince lands is a one-hit kill! Minotaurs, in particular, are far less of a challenge since Prince has a fully upgraded Tornado Attack and his Sword Attack Skills are at maximum strength. If all skills are fully upgraded, you no longer have to go in quest of chests. Ignore them all (another big time saver). HEROIC CHALLENGES All completed Heroic Challenges carry forward and don't have to be done again. [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE:PERSIAN HERO-complete the game once(automatically awarded) [ ]HEROIC CHALLENGE:ACHIEVEMENT - you have unlocked a HEROIC FEAT (achieved by moving in the second run of the game) - automatically awarded. In a replay game, you have a much better chance of completing the Heroic Challenges relating to total game time - 7 hours is achievable in your first replay (which satisfies 3 challenges at once - 13 hours, 10 hours, and 7 hours) UNLOCKABLES All items that were unlocked in the previous game are present and unlocked at the beginning of a replay game. The Speed Run Secret Map is unlocked at the start of the replay game. THE STORY LINE Nothing has changed and nothing carries forward. All puzzles have to be solved again and all puzzle doors have to be unlocked again. However, you will likely find that puzzles that stumped you previously are now easily and quickly solved and areas that you found confusing and difficult are much easier to negotiate quickly. Not only is that a big time saver, but it leaves you free to use the "time gained" to devote to some of the Heroic Challenges that remain to be completed. Enjoy!