Sands of Time is a game that has long been celebrated for it's platforming and movement mechanics, and deservedly so. Rather than relying on singular tools or one-off mechanics that are promptly forgotten, SoT smoothly introduces the player to mechanics, and then combines them into puzzles and platforming challenges that are satisfying to figure out and watch in motion. While the titular sands of time don't play into the actual completion of puzzles, it does provide an additional safety net, which greatly helps to prevent frustration with some of the more challenging cases. The combat, sadly, is a different story. While the sands do grant you some extra freedom with how to deal with enemies, it is still a rather stiff system, requiring you to simply attack and counter until you win, while having to regularly deal with crowds, and many times with a small area to move in, which can lead to frustration. On the whole, SoT is still a very fun title, and worth a playthrough in 2024
