Prince of Persia often has a princess who needs help of a prince...and eventually winds up kidnapped. It's a typical damsel in distress dynamic that is echoed across games. The reason Prince of Persia stands out among the rest is because of the setting of the game: Persia - which is undeniably the middle east (and other western parts Asia). Considering women are severely suppressed in the middle east to some of the most extremes across the globe it seems incredibly insensitive to simply ignore the experiences of these women and pretend things are far different from reality. To bypass the suppression of millions (dare I say billions) in a game where your character supposedly comes from seems cruel. In certain nations women can't even leave the country without their husbands consent (even if their father is present).
Cell phone apps actually track the location of women and alerts the husband if a wife attempts to leave.A 14 year old girl was attacked and shot simply because she was protesting for better education for girls. And despite the extreme amounts of suppression many women risk their lives to protest and demand human rights.
Even christian women are letting their voices be heard in Egypt despite the dangers of being both a christian and woman in a predominately Muslim country during the contemporary times of unrest. These strong women are a stark contrast from Prince of Persia's princesses, clearly a strong female role model who is representational of middle eastern women would be far from a damsel in distress. She would be a fearless survivor. It's understandable to be tempted to ignore these issues considering talking about these things can be like navigating mines, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be talked about. In fact, it is a sign that they
need t
o be talked about - especially if video games are to be taken seriously as a form of storytelling.