The game was a disappointment so the disappointing sales. I don`t wanna go too deep into the points why the game sucks (If I did it for all the games I hate I would never play games anymore), so here is a "for dummies" version:
1) The prince is a dork. The Prince from SoT was easy to symphatize with, the Prince from WW was much harder because he was a jerk, this one is impossible. He is more annoying than Link from the Zelda Cartoon.
2) Not being able to die makes sense in this game because we would have to load the game again every time we die. However, that don`t go well along with dumbed down platform and combat mechanics. Also most of the deaths in this game doesn`t come from lack of skill. Sometimes we must "kill ourselves" to grab an orb (or waste 2 minutes doing it the way yo don`t get killed). The A button do everything, so it is easy to press it one time more or less than you should (sometimes I press A instead of B on those ring on the walls). The combat is lame so they reduce your life bar and the enemies life bar. It is much easier to get "killed" this way. Also, when you are in a boss battle you get back with less than full lifebar, making subsequent deaths more likely.
3) The game is a cheap ass project disguised as an innovative title. Compared to AC the graphics really suck. Wait, graphics are not important as long as the gameplay is solid. That is the problem, what gameplay? The game feels like a Rayman game with platform options set to "auto". The combat is almost non existent and the boss battles are rematches. To kill something just press attack 3 times, then "Elika" button and repeat. Blocking isn`t that important, it just makes a easy game easier. The world is made in a way that you spend most of the time backtracking. Enter a new area, make your way to the boss/purify point, go back and take all the orbs you can, move to the next area (most times in the opposite direction you went), repeat. Why you can`t teleport to areas you already visited? Why you can`t even teleport back to the temple? Why in every area there are at least 5 orbs you can`t collect without abilities you only get much later in the game? The answer to all these questions is the same: to make the game longer. In a 15 hour game, at least 7 hours were spent backtracking. That is not innovation, it is called lazy design.
Satan said:
"You are for ever angry, all you care about is intelligence, but I repeat again that I would give away all this superstellar life, all the ranks and honours, simply to be transformed into the soul of a merchant's wife weighing eighteen stone and set candles at God's shrine."
