Legend of Hiraq

An epic quest across a mystical desert

Legend of Hiraq is a solo-developer third-person action-adventure inspired by 1001 Nights and oriental folklore, sending players scaling ancient ruins, solving puzzles, and battling foes across a mystical desert on the way to the legendary Mount Qaf. Its clearest touchstone, named outright by reviewer after reviewer, is classic-era Prince of Persia, updated into a fully three-dimensional world of crumbling monuments and lost temples. This review draws on the full English review sample available at the time of research, all 10 reviews out of 10 total rated Positive, a small sample this review reads carefully given its size, weighing the consistency of what reviewers independently praise and criticise rather than treating unanimity alone as proof of quality.

Praised repeatedly for its nostalgic Prince of Persia-style parkour

The dominant theme across this review's sample is recognition of, and affection for, exactly what the game is reaching for. "Legend of Hiraq delivers a nostalgic Prince of Persia-style experience with fun parkour, beautiful environments, and a unique Arabic fantasy atmosphere," writes one reviewer, while another simply states "it's been a long time since I played a game like Prince of Persia. I loved it." A third, an explicit fan of the genre, writes "as a fan of PoP games i really like the fact that someone is trying to make a game like the old PoP titles," singling out the "running jumping climbing" as capturing the feeling they were after. This review reads that convergence, reviewers spanning different levels of enthusiasm all reaching for the same specific comparison, as strong evidence the homage lands.

Praised for its evocative desert setting and level design

A second consistent theme is appreciation for the game's atmosphere and the care evident in its world. "If you miss the golden era of high-stakes 3D platforming and Tomb Raider vibes, buy this. The environment design is beautiful, the puzzles are engaging, and it has a ton of charm," writes one reviewer, while another independently notes "you can feel the passion behind every little detail, level design has a lot going for it and the design choices are lowkey impressive." A separate reviewer praises "that classic adventure game charm that's tough to pull off." This review treats that as fair, specific praise, since reviewers repeatedly point to concrete details, ruin design, puzzle placement, atmosphere, rather than vague enthusiasm alone.

Praised near-unanimously as an impressive solo-developer debut

Running through nearly every review in this sample is an explicit acknowledgement that Legend of Hiraq is a first project from a solo developer, and that this context shapes how reviewers weigh its rough edges. "It's not perfect, but I think it's a huge achievement for a first game project," writes one reviewer, while another calls the whole effort "insanely impressive" once factoring in that "this is the developer's first project." A third writes they are "curious where this dev goes from here." This review treats that framing as legitimate context rather than a free pass: reviewers are explicitly grading the game against its origins as a debut, not simply excusing flaws, and that distinction matters for readers deciding whether to buy in early on a promising new developer.

A fair, corroborated complaint about clunky parkour tuning

Set against that praise, this review found a specific, corroborated complaint about how the game's signature movement currently feels. "The parkour mechanics could definitely use a bit of tuning since the movement feels a little clunky in places," writes one reviewer, in the same review that otherwise calls the gameplay's combat "super satisfying." A separate reviewer, while praising the world as "interesting to explore," independently notes the movement, though "enjoyable," still needs work. This review treats that as fair rather than dismissive: it's precisely the mechanic the game is most directly compared against a genre classic on, and reviewers who love the homage are still flagging it as an area needing polish.

A fair, corroborated complaint about repetitive combat and rough animations

This review also found a fair, corroborated complaint about combat and animation quality. "It needs a bit of fine-tuning on combat and animations, but for a solo-dev project, it's highly impressive," writes one reviewer, while a separate reviewer independently notes "combat can feel a bit repetitive and some animations still need refinement." This review reads that repetition across otherwise glowing reviews, two reviewers landing on the same specific pairing of complaints in reviews written independently of one another, as a genuine, corroborated soft spot rather than an isolated gripe, even within a sample that recommends the game unanimously.

A note on this review's small, early sample

With only 10 reviews total, Legend of Hiraq carries one of the smallest samples this review has covered, and this review's own check of Steam's global achievement data found no achievement statistics tracked for the title at all, consistent with a very early-life release still settling in after launch. This review weighs that small size honestly: unanimous positivity from ten reviewers is a meaningfully weaker signal than the same result from a hundred, and prospective buyers should treat this as an early, promising first impression of a solo project rather than a mature, fully battle-tested verdict.

Final verdict

Legend of Hiraq is a charming, nostalgic love letter to Prince of Persia that this review found genuinely delivers on its core promise: parkour across crumbling ruins in an evocative desert setting, built by a single developer on their first project. Its small review sample credits that ambition and atmosphere almost unanimously, while fairly, and repeatedly, flagging clunky parkour tuning and repetitive combat as areas still needing polish. For fans of the genre willing to forgive some rough edges in a promising debut, it's worth a look; players wanting tight, precise platforming or varied combat encounters should wait to see how the developer refines it, or temper their expectations going in.