Video games and narratives are, by traditional standards, part of entirely different genres. Narratives occur in text, whether printed or digital, and games, while technically interactive and fictional, represent a different and discrete medium. This assumption is misguided, however, when games such as the Prince of Persia series are examined. The basic structural elements of the game are relatively familiar: the player controls a single avatar, the Prince, guiding him through increasingly difficult levels of platform-based gameplay. Unlike many games of this type, where the narrative structure and story-based objectives are straightforward and simplistic, the Prince of Persia games present a deeply immersive, episodic story, in which the narrative is just as important as jumping the gaps and killing the enemies, if not more so.

Right from the opening scene, the player is left with questions, about who the main character is, what the initial scenes represent, and where the story is taking them. The opening scenes grab the player's attention far more effectively than most text-based narratives could. Coupled with the interactive and immersive elements of gameplay, the narrative is instantly absorbing, and the player wants to know where the story is going, and what is going to happen next. The dialogue that occurs throughout the game acts in concert with this, reinforcing the atmosphere of a story being retold. This is amusingly obvious whenever the player makes a fatal mistake, and a short voice-over from the Prince lets them know that this wasn't what happened. Instead of simply restarting the sequence over, the player is reminded that they are a particitant in a story that is being retold - and that occasionally, the narrator makes an error in the retelling.

The best evidence that the Prince of Persia series is just as much an epic narrative as it is a trilogy of games is the story-based motivation for the sequels. Instead of simply making the game bigger, better and shinier, the narrative thread remains unbroken through all three games: Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones. Players do not simply wish to play the game more; they want to find out how the story ends, or where the next part of the narrative leads. While not conventional by any means, the Prince of Persia series presents a valid form of digital narrative that has distinct aesthetic advantages for a digitally accustomed generation.