Calvin Dimas
A skeleton launches an arrow at you as you slide under a fallen pillar that blocks your path ahead. You parry it and air dash behind the skeleton archer to land quick combo before knocking it up into the air to continue your punishment. Before you hit the ground, you perform another air dash and wall jump your way up to platforms above you to take on a skeleton with a spear and shield. This all happens in less than 10 seconds and is what makes Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown a satisfying experience.
The Setup of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown released on January 18th 2024 with a demo releasing a week prior on January 11th and was published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Montpellier.
Lost Crown is my latest return to the Ubisoft brand of games as I do not have a rich history with Ubisoft gaming experiences. Most of my history involves the first three Rayman games before the Rabbids came into play, a handful of the earlier Assassins Creeds, and Far Cry 3 which I never finished after not liking where the story went.
Even though I was not the biggest Ubisoft fan I would always look forward to their showcases to see what they might debut. I was always hopeful that there would be a game in their mix for me. Enter, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Its unique art style, hip-hop flair, and refined Metroidvania elements definitely caught my eye when first revealed. I wrote out my initial impressions when a demo dropped and loved zipping from each room as I sliced through enemies and tried to parry the ones that caught me off guard.
The Setup of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown released on January 18th 2024 with a demo releasing a week prior on January 11th and was published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Montpellier.
Lost Crown is my latest return to the Ubisoft brand of games as I do not have a rich history with Ubisoft gaming experiences. Most of my history involves the first three Rayman games before the Rabbids came into play, a handful of the earlier Assassins Creeds, and Far Cry 3 which I never finished after not liking where the story went.
Even though I was not the biggest Ubisoft fan I would always look forward to their showcases to see what they might debut. I was always hopeful that there would be a game in their mix for me. Enter, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Its unique art style, hip-hop flair, and refined Metroidvania elements definitely caught my eye when first revealed. I wrote out my initial impressions when a demo dropped and loved zipping from each room as I sliced through enemies and tried to parry the ones that caught me off guard.
Lost Crown’s Story and Gameplay Overview
The story of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown revolves around Sargon, a warrior who fights for Persia with a group of fearsome allies known as the Immortals. We’re given a pretty good look into the group dynamics early on but these relationships are not the star of the show. When I look back at the stories from games I’ve played in 2024 I do not think Prince of Perisa: The Lost Crown will stand out for its story. The plot is by no means bad, it includes elements of betrayal, deception, and a desire to uncover the truth so that Perisa can flourish. That being said, I feel that the story is just an added bonus to the fantastic gameplay of Lost Crown. Others may feel differently but at the end of the day the story didn’t hook me and that’s fine because while it was nice to have small cutscene breaks in between the rapid fire action, it was the gameplay that kept me coming back.
My experience with Lost Crown would continue to evolve in other ways such as the game asking me to hone my platforming skills to time jumps both for puzzles and in combat. In some cases I was able to knock out a tricky series of jumps, falls, dashes, and wall jumps as if I had mastered the route a 100 times and other situations I failed over and over again knowing I reacted too early or too late. Both experiences were equally as satisfying.
Something else that I was pretty fond early on in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was the focus on immersion. During hectic fights enemies may begin jumping into battle from the foreground and background of the environments to try and stop Sargon in his tracks. It’s an old trick 2D games have been pulling off for a while but I love that Lost Crown decided to use this effect to make the world feel more alive.
Combat in Lost Crown
The focus on immersion is extended through combat as well. Sargon can knock enemies into traps that are meant to hinder your progress but can actually help you set up combos.
Early on you also have some opportunities to fight alongside your allies that bring a lot of life to the world.
Combat is not just about immersion thought. It’s actually about mastering your combos, abilities, and improvising as tougher enemies adapt to your combat style. An example of this was when I was fighting a giant pig boss that I thought I could slide under to avoid taking damage by not getting charged into while also landing some easy hits. The boss quickly figured out my strategy after doing this a few times and quickly shifted to kicking me from behind once the giant pig monster realized it could not take me head-on anymore.
Abilities called Athra Surges allow you to unleash power attacks after building up a meter. This meter can be refilled much quicker if you can avoid getting hit and can parry attacks effectively.
Some items can be equipped that can increase your surge meter depending on if you are taking or dealing damage. The items are amulets that Sargon can wear and switch out at checkpoints to customize your playstyle or make difficult enemies more bearable by mitigating their damage type. Speaking of checkpoints, I found that Lost Crown did a great job of making these plentiful meaning that backtracking after a death or missed jump felt like less of a chore because you were only a room or two away instead of on the other side of the map. Even in boss fights you are given the option to restart the fight immediately without having to retrace your steps into the boss room.
Exploration in Lost Crown
While combat is a huge part of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, the Metroidvania genre is known for having high-quality exploration experiences. Ubisoft Montpellier nailed this aspect of the game. I talked about in my impressions of the demo that I was in love with the Map Memories feature that allowed you to take screenshots of rooms you want to revisit and easily mark them on your map for a later time. I was unsure how much I would use this feature as the game does provide standard map markers but as I began to revisit areas I quickly learned that my reminder system via map markers failed when compared to Map Memories. So the short version is I really like this feature a lot as it cuts down on mindless backtracking.
If you end up getting lost or are unsure where to go maps can be bought and hints can be provided on where to go next. If you play on an easier difficulty the game will also highlight your next objective for you. This feature is optional for those who want to figure it out for themselves.
Even if you do get lost there’s a ton of side quests to encourage exploration and take on additional puzzles and challenges. While side quests may not be for everyone, I do think that they fill out Lost Crown by giving the player more to do and asking them to test their skills if they’re up for a difficult task. I also appreciated they fleshed out the world even more and led you down different pathways and environments that you may not see if you just follow the critical path.
When it comes to the different environments Sargon speeds through I would say they all stand out pretty well from one another and each transition into a new environment feels organic. Early on you can enter a forest and you’ll slowly see more foliage appear in Sargon’s path until you’re jumping on mushrooms to make your way to the next room. My personal favorite environments were the catacombs and a seaport area. The catacombs because of how unnerving and gross they were to the point that it felt like I was playing a horror game at some points. The sea port area on the other hand has one of the coolest set piece moments I’ve seen as several areas are frozen in time.
Final Thoughts
I had a blast with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown from a gameplay perspective. While the story may be hit or miss the game does a great job of keeping players immersed in the world through several different means. I also experienced a few minor bugs during my time with Lost Crown but nothing that was game-breaking just enemies or objects not animating properly until the area was reset.
That all being said, if you’re looking for a great Metroidvania game I highly recommend picking up Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is available on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, PC via Ubisoft Connect, and Amazon Luna via Streaming.
