The Prince of Persia Q&A on Eurogamer discusses the upcoming return of the Prince of Persia with Ben Mattes (thanks Mike Martinez), who describes the project as a return to the roots of the series. As such the game will not carry a subtitle at all, presumably putting to rest previous rumors (story and story), a move Mattes calls a "bold statement" that differentiates the new game from the Sands of Time trilogy and the upcoming Disney movie. The Q&A goes into this PoP having a greater emphasis on exploration than the recent games, with the goal of reconnecting with what he calls the "DNA" of the series, but clarifying that Sands of Time is part of that double helix:

You controlled a young, powerful, acrobatic hero who saved the world in collaboration with a beautiful girl. There was a balanced mix of combat, acrobatics, and puzzles, with a great story and great characters. That's the brand DNA, that's what Prince of Persia is.

So as long as when you're doing acrobatics it has amazing flow, and when you're fighting enemies it looks super-cool, and there's a great story about the hero and the world and the supporting character... As long as we're truthful to all of that, I think we can paint the walls whatever colour we want.

To people who aren't convinced by that, I would say this game is more true to the magic of Sands of Time than either Warrior Within or The Two Thrones. And I was the producer on Two Thrones. It was my intention to bring the trilogy back in the direction of Sands of Time, which was just spectacular. For this game, we're doing that even more.

So yes, it's bold. Yes, it's risky. But I'm pretty confident that when people see all of these claims in action they're going to say, 'Okay, I get it, and he's right.'