I have very mixed feelings about this game.
If you compare it to two thrones only - its kinda better - it has less bugs, the graphics is better, the parkour system is enjoyable, the traps are on point, especially in the 2nd part of the game.
But if you compare it to all other games combined - it holds on rather poorly.
- the fighting system. Dualwielding swordsplay of sands trilogy was deleted and combos of the standalone are much more interesting to pull of (even tho they could get repetitive). Now you have just fast regular hits and power moves with some kind of hyperarmor
- the story is the weakest one of all 5 games. it kinda resembles the sands of time with sand monsters, the drama of dealing with a relative, affected by a curse, but young prince got character development during the 1st game. Forgotten sands show just the denial part, and the brothers dynamic was too fragmentary and I had little to no time to bond with Malik
- enemies. There are a lot of them with the new engine, but its a perfect example of quality over quantity. They are just sand creatures with simple movements, that require no counterplay. Enemies in previous games were low in numbers but more dangerous, blocking when you pressured them, surrounding you, having guardbreaks and unblockable attacks. This game only accentuates on what we lost, getting nothing in return
- abilities - the water freezing is really neat, and it blends in the parkour perfectly, making it more complex, responsive and spectacle, but other 4 "nature" abilities - not so much. The earth invincibility is like admitting your incompetence in game design, because it trivializes already simple fights, and other 3 make them more spectacle, instead of being the tools for solving some particular problems.

They ripped out soul from giants mini-bosses fights from Warrior Within. Their Rakash is just Dehaka from Temu ripoff.

Reusing ideas, simplifying complex gameplay that brough joy, losing best gameplay mechanics and getting nothing in return, cut out achievements...
Mechanically this game is mediocre, and has small issues with Uplay/network, but its very lacking in "soul" department.
You can play it once just for the story, but other PoP games have so much more to offer. And if I recommended against Two Trones I have no right to recommend this game either.

edit. I forgot about constant internet connection requirement for a SINGLEPLAYER GAME. FFS

the professional

i love the prince of Persia sand of time trilogy. the fact that this came out after the other three was a nice treat for when i first played the games. that being said i use to play this back in the day on my 360 and it was fine. Fast forward to now i wanted to replay all of them and surprisingly this one has a lot of issues. When you get knocked down by the bigger enemies. Your character just lays there like he is falling and the worst thing is the game keeps crashing when i get the final boss health to a certain point it has happen more than 5 times. but still great game