Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the latest side scrolling adventure platform game from Ubisoft Montpellier that just dropped a demo for Xbox and PlayStation consoles as well as PC. The Lost Crown is more just a 2D platformer due to its heavy focus on metroidvania elements. I played the demo on PlayStation 5 for an hour and a half and have provided my initial impressions below.
Movement and Combat is snappy and fun.
I cannot overstate how much I was in love with the movement of this game. I loved being able to jump off walls, air dash over obstacles and enemies, parry deadly attacks, with the main character Sargon while keeping my momentum going as I sped on to the next room.
A little later into the demo I found myself fighting an enemy with a shield that would force me to parry. No big deal, it just killed the momentum I was moving at. I would end up encountering this shielded enemy again, but this time from below and I would learn this was the best way to take on shielded enemies as my attack from below would allow me to avoid parrying and force the enemy onto its back for an easy combo.
While the demo did state that some of the abilities in the game would be unlocked at later points in Lost Crown, I was already in love with what was being presented. It was clear I was still in the earlier sections of the game but given the movement and traversal options it felt like I was in the end game already. If this was a taste what does the rest of the game have to offer?
Modern Gameplay Features
One of the standout features that was introduced in the demo was being able to save “memories” on your map, or basically attach a screenshot of a room to your map. See a treasure chest or something you can’t reach yet but don’t want to forget where it was? Make a memory of that room so you can backtrack to that exact location easily without running in circles trying to retrace your steps from hours before. Given that speed seems to be a big focus on the gameplay I really like this feature because it removes the annoyance of having to rely on my personal memory or looking up guides to ensure nothing is missed.
Map Memories is a feature that seems like it’ll make backtracking less of a chore.
This Game Has Style
The art style of Lost Crown is evident right from the get go. The realistic cartoon approach definitely reminds of me Fortnite but I’m glad that Ubisoft Montpellier was able to put their own spin on the aesthetic. The cartoonish CG is definitely a different approach for the Prince of Persia series but I think it’s one that works really well due to the speed at which you’re moving through the game.
In the demo there were two kinds of cutscenes, one included character portraits and text boxes with very limited animation and full voice over, while the other was a fully animated cutscene. I am unsure if this will be the case throughout the entire game but I do love the detail that went into both sides of the presentation so far. I also have to call out the special attack animations. Every time I pulled one of these off I it was extremely hype to watch Sargon perform a powerful move in very anime inspired mini cutscene.
Yes There are Microtransactions
Excited for the Future
Despite only spending an hour and a half with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, I am already hungry for more. I can’t wait to see how Sargon’s adventure plays out and what cool new mechanics and abilities await me in the full game.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown releases on January 18th, 2024 on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, PC via Ubisoft Connect, and Amazon Luna via Streaming.
