Third time's the charm?
The Vizier intercepts your return and kills Kaileena unleashing the Sands. It alters everything it comes into contact with including you except this is not apparent at first. You'll alternate between you and your darker self for most of the game. His attacks and abilities are far more quicker than your own. His drawback is identical to the Sand Wraith so you need sand to stay alive as him.
The narrator this time around however is Kaileena even after she dies. You are mostly on your own yet Farah will come to your aid even after seeing your dark alter ego. The boss fights are multi-stage and often involve a new strike/kill move called stealth attack. So you have to hit at the 'right' moment to land the blow.
The Dahaka chases have been in some ways supplemented with the later shifts into Dark Prince mode. As the change lasts longer and longer while sand gets scarce to be found. Prince and Dark Prince argue a lot with each other. Water however appears to drive him away temporarily though I didn't pick up on that immediately.
So you are actively fighting a Sands altered Vizier and the darker side of yourself aside from all the other reality defying stuff that is going on.
The cut scenes are by far the best I have seen in the series though Warrior Within is a close second in certain scenes. The music is still very atmospheric so you certainly feel the tension and makes you feel like you could be there.
The life upgrades are definitely the hardest to get to even though Warrior Within had its moments there too except there's more reliance on the Sands at times too. The very source of your problem is also the source of your survival, hardly ironic though.
Still working towards the final show down with Zurvan the Vizier. Not exactly looking forward to it, but then it took me forever to finish Sands of Time. The games I find the most compelling are often the most infuriating in certain parts too. Two Thrones is no exception so I'll get through it somehow to find out how the story 'ends' this 'time'.