The Story Timeline Order of the Prince of Persia Games
Prince of Persia is a franchise of action-adventure video games. In Prince of Persia games, players take the role of the prince, an adventurous character that must overcome different challenges and defeat enemies in order to progress through the storyline and change his reality.
What Are Prince of Persia Games Like?
In general, Prince of Persia video games are action-adventure puzzle-platformer video games, in which players must overcome different puzzles as well as platforming challenges, while also defeating enemies and progressing the storyline of each game. Some Prince of Persia games also feature supernatural powers and abilities. Many of the Prince of Persia games have a recurring theme of the effects of time.
In What Order to Play the Prince of Persia Games?
The Prince of Persia video games can be played and enjoyed in any order. However, quite often these are story-driven games that present narratives which are told across multiple story events. More often than not, the story events of different Prince of Persia games are related to each other. For this reason, knowledge of the story events of the different games is important to have the most comprehensive story experience possible. For this reason, it is suggested to play the Prince of Persia video games in the chronological story order, which is presented in this article.
The Story Timeline Order of Prince of Persia Games
This is the story timeline order of the Prince of Persia video games. This is not the same as the chronological release order of the Prince of Persia games. This is the suggested order in which to play these games for the most comprehensive story experience possible.
The Prince of Persia video games are set in different continuities. I am sure that there are at least two different continuities, and some people argue that there are three different continuities. Each continuity in my chronological story order list is separated from another by a blank space. This means that everytime you see a blank space in this list, it means that the continuity has changed.
Prince of Persia (1989) | Prince of Persia Classic
Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame
Prince of Persia 3D
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003) | Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2022)
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
Battles of Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Prince of Persia (2008)
Prince of Persia: The Fallen King
Most people agree that the first three Prince of Persia games ever released are set in their own continuity and that this continuity is different from the continuity presented in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2003) and the other games with this game character as protagonist.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003) and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2022) are different games, but they tell the same main story. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2022) is generally considered to be a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). For this reason, considering that both of these games tell the same story, it is reasonable to include both games as a single entry in my chronological story order list of the Prince of Persia video games.
Both Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and Battles of Prince of Persia are set between Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (2003) and Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. However, it is not completely clear to me which of those two games, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and Battles of Prince of Persia, are set before. However, both of those games take place during this time period that I mentioned.
It is debatable whether Prince of Persia (2008) and Prince of Persia: Fallen King are set in a different continuity. Personally, I see no reason to consider Prince of Persia (2008) not to be canon and not to belong to the same continuity of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). Rather, it is simply set in a distant time, either in the past or in the future. However, regardless of canonicity, it is reasonable to consider Prince of Persia (2008) and Prince of Persia: Fallen King to belong to a very distant time when compared to the time period of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). For this reason, I decided to include Prince of Persia (2008) and Prince of Persia: The Fallen King with a blank space after Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.
Some people believe that Prince of Persia (2008) and Prince of Persia: The Fallen King are set before Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). I do not think it is set before. I believe it is set after Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003), in a very distant time. However, there is no clear evidence to whether Prince of Persia (2008) and Prince of Persia: Fallen King are set before or after Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003), or that they are even set in the same continuity. For this reason, considering that I do not have clear evidences, I cannot clearly conclude which placement for Prince of Persia (2008) and Prince of Persia: The Fallen King would be the best in my chronological story order. Regardless of its true chronological time period or continuity, it seems reasonable that Prince of Persia (2008) and Prince of Persia: The Fallen King have no clear, direct relation, story-wise, at least not in an approximate time period, to the other Prince of Persia games, and for this reason it is reasonable to place these games after a blank space in the way I did. For all effects, it is reasonable to consider these two games to belong to their own continuity, which may or may not have story relations to other Prince of Persia games.
Is Prince of Persia (2008) Canon?
While Prince of Persia (2008) is clearly set in a different time period when compared to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003), there is no clear evidence that Prince of Persia (2008) is not canon. Even more, there is no clear evidence that Prince of Persia (2008) does not belong to the same continuity of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). For this reason, there is no reason to consider Prince of Persia (2008) not to be canon, even if it does not have clear story relations to other Prince of Persia video games.
Some people argue that Prince of Persia (2008) could be considered an "what-if" scenario in the Prince of Persia games universe. Instead, I view Prince of Persia (2008) as to be set on a distant time, either in the past or in the future, in relation to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). For this reason, I also view Prince of Persia (2008) to be set in the same continuity of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003).
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