Summary
Prince of Persiawas once one of Ubisoft’s top franchises, with the PS2-era reboot trilogy earning a great deal of acclaim. A newPrince of Persiagame released nearly every year from 2003’sSands of Timeto 2010’sForgotten Sands, but the franchise has been mostly dormant since. That’s beginning to change thanks to theupcomingSands of TimeremakeandPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown.Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownis a 2.5D Metroidvania action platformer that takes the series in a bold, yet admittedly divisive direction. While some may seePrince of Persia: The Lost Crownas a downgrade compared to the larger-scale adventures from years past,The Lost Crownis easily one of the best games in the franchise’s history.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownputs players in the role of Sargon, a member of Persia’s elite warrior force known as the Immortals. Sargon and his fellow Immortals are sent to rescue the kidnapped Prince Ghassan, who has been taken to Mount Qaf, where the normal rules of time and space don’t seem to apply.The Lost Crown’s story has some interesting twists and flashy action sequences that look like they were pulled straight out of an anime.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s cartoony art styleworks for its stylish cut-scenes, though some are going to be underwhelmed with how it looks in-game.Prince of Persia: The Lost Crowndoesn’t look bad, but it sometimes looks dated and even generic at times, despite its stylized art. Many won’t mind howThe Lost Crownlooks, though it’s understandable that some fans will be somewhat put off by the game’s graphics as they explore Mount Qaf.
Shortly after arriving at Mount Qaf, Sargon is let loose to explore as he sees fit, limited only by his abilities. In typical Metroidvania fashion, players come across unreachable areas that they have to return to later once Sargon has acquired new powers. Sargon’s powers inPrince of Persia:The Lost Crownconsist of fairly standard fare, like a dash and double jump, as well as more interesting time-based abilities that are used cleverly throughout the game.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’sgameplay consists of combat, platforming, and puzzle-solving. Sargon starts off with basic strikes, but the moves he learns later in the game greatly expand his arsenal of attacks. Likewise, Sargon’s dash, double jump, and other abilities we won’t spoil let him pull off increasingly complex platforming sequences. When players aren’t busy fighting enemies or dodging deadly traps, they will find themselves solving tricky puzzles that require them to really think about how best to utilizeSargon’s unique abilities.
Both those new to the genre and hardcore Metroidvania fans are going to fall in love withPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
As players exploreThe Lost Crown’s massive Metroidvania map, they will be doing plenty of fighting, platforming, and puzzle solving, with the game offering a great deal of variety to ensure that things never get boring.The Lost Crownknocks it out of the park with everything it tries to accomplish in these key areas, and it does a great job of balancing the challenges associated with each of them. Platforming, for example, can be genuinely difficult, with some sections feeling almostCeleste-like in their design. But while these sections will take quite a few tries, they never get to the point of frustration. It helps that the platforming is extremely exciting, with Sargon able to leverage his unique skills to pull off some incredible feats, dashing through small openings, swinging off poles, and dodging obstacles at just the right time to avoid getting killed.
The Lost Crown’s challenging platformingpairs well with its challenging combat. While most of the gruntsLost Crownplayers encounter on their adventure can be dispatched with relative ease, the game features some genuinely difficult boss fights. These intense boss battles are really whereLost Crown’s combat shines the most, forcing players to utilize all the tools in Sargon’s arsenal if they hope to survive.
WhileThe Lost Crownis not a Souls-like, some of the boss battles in the game will certainly leave players feeling like they’re playing one. Assuming they’re playing on at least the standard difficulty setting,Lost Crownplayers can expect to die plenty of times when facing off against the game’s tougher foes. These bosses could have easily pushedThe Lost Crownoff balance and made it more irritating than fun to play, but the developers masterfully toe the line, delivering heart-pounding boss battles that challenge players without making them pull their hair out.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s boss fights deliver its most memorable moments. Overcoming these battles feels like an accomplishment, leaving players with the same sense of elated victory that they get from beating a tough boss in the best Souls-like games. The only downside is that some of the bosses are repeated multiple times, which can get repetitive, but otherwise, theboss battles inThe Lost Crownare thrilling, edge-of-your-seat fights.
Those having trouble with a particular boss have ways to help even the odds. While Sargon doesn’t level up, players can still increase his stats by finding helpful items hidden in Mount Qaf’s twisted corridors or by purchasing weapon upgrades and amulets.Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s massive map features huge swaths of optional areas that players can ignore if they want, but doing so means missing out on valuable rewards.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s Mount Qafis truly gigantic, filled with secret rooms and hidden areas that make exploring it a treat, even if the backtracking can sometimes become a little too much. Instead of letting players fast-travel from one save point to the next, there are dedicated fast-travel rooms, but they aren’t plentiful enough, and so, inevitably, there are stretches of the game where players are subjected to some tedious backtracking.
It took me 14 hours and 9 minutes to reach the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown end credits, but that was with only 63.97% of the game completed. The game has side quests to complete, optional areas to explore, and a lot more to offer beyond its main story.
Backtracking is an inevitable component of theMetroidvania genre, so fans expect it, but certain areas inThe Lost Crownare more annoying to explore than anything else, which makes having to go back through them multiple times a chore. On the bright side, going through already-explored sections with new powers means there will almost certainly be something for Sargon to find, whether it’s a new side quest, treasure, optional boss, or whatever else.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownintroduces an awesomequality-of-life feature called Memory Shardsthat marks the map and takes a picture of the immediate area. Players may come across an obstacle that they don’t know how to get through, but with the Memory Shards, they can take a snapshot of it and return later when they have what they need. This goes beyond simply marking the map and lets players know if backtracking to an area is worth it or not. Memory Shards are a game-changer for Metroidvania games and hopefully, they are something other titles in the genre adopt.
Memory Shards aren’t the game’s only quality-of-life feature that makes it more accessible.The Lost Crownlets players customize the experiencehowever they’d like, choosing from pre-set difficulties or creating their own custom difficulty. Someone who doesn’t care about mastering the game’s combat can tone it down, while someone who isn’t interested in platforming can get assists. Accessibility extends beyond the game’s combat and platforming, withThe Lost Crownfeaturing optional objective markers that can be turned off if players want a more traditional Metroidvania experience.
Both those new to the genre and hardcore Metroidvania fans are going to fall in love withPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown. It’s too early to say if it will be remembered with the same fondness asSuper MetroidorCastlevania: Symphony of the Night, butPrince of Persia: The Lost Crownis a fantastic Metroidvania and one of the best games in the entirePrince of Persiafranchise.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
WHERE TO PLAY
Dash into a stylish and thrilling action-adventure platformer set in a mythological Persian world where the boundaries of time and space are yours to manipulate. Play as Sargon and evolve from sword-wielding prodigy to extraordinary legend as you master acrobatic combat and unlock new Time Powers and unique super abilities.UNLEASH YOUR INNER WARRIORUse your Time Powers, combat, and platforming skills to perform deadly combos and defeat time-corrupted enemies and mythological creatures.LOSE YOURSELF IN THE PRODIGIOUS MOUNT QAFDiscover a cursed Persian-inspired world filled with larger-than-life landmarks and explore a variety of highly detailed biomes, each with their own identity, wonder, and danger.LIVE AN EPIC ADVENTUREImmerse yourself in a Persian mythological fantasy through an intriguing and original story as you use your wits to solve puzzles, find hidden treasures, and complete quests to learn more about this corrupted place.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownlaunches on January 18 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Game Rant was provided with an Xbox Series X code for this review.
