Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - 10/10
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the first new Prince of Persia game since 2010. Developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and released in January of 2024, it’s a strict departure from the 3D games of the 2000’s, returning us to 2D space with an immaculate MetroidVania experience.
[!WARNING] This review will contain minor spoilers for the game, but nothing you wouldn’t encounter in the first few hours.
I’m a more recent MetroidVania fan, having started playing them in earnest in the last couple years, and while I’m by no means an expert, I think I’ve played a wide enough range to know what I like (and what’s good). The Lost Crown doesn’t have literally everything I enjoy (there’s a distinct lack of pogo-ing), but it doesn’t need to be a great game.
The game starts out far removed from it’s main setting, with the tutorial having us fend off an attack on Persia’s main city. It introduces the Immortals, warriors with seemingly supernatural powers that protect Persia, with Sargon, the player character, being the most recent addition to the team. At the end of the tutorial sequence, we fight, and manage to fend off the general of the attacking army. Victorious, we return to the palace where we are honored by Queen Thomyris, and given a royal sash as recognition of our deeds. As we start to celebrate with the rest of the Immortals, Prince Ghassan is kidnapped. Sargon, along with the rest of the Immortals follows the kidnappers to Mount Qaf, home of the previous ruler, King Darius. And this is where the real game begins.
Starting out, Sargon has precious few abilities, having nothing but his two scimitars, which have a light, heavy, and special attack (when your special meter fills up), and the ability to jump. As with any MetroidVania, we of course get more abilities and useful items as we go, and the first one we get is one of my favorite additions to any game I’ve played: a map.
Maps are almost a guarantee in a MetroidVania, but with few exceptions (Hollow Knight), they don’t usually have a reason to exist. The Lost Crown’s map is a mystical eye that follows you around, recording where you’ve been. There’s even a guided mode, which marks things, like areas you can’t reach yet, automatically. And look, I know it’s a video game, things don’t need a reason to exist, but for some reason it really just adds to the immersion for me. But the map having a reason to exist in universe isn’t the best part; you can add markers that include a screenshot. This means if you see something you’re sure you’ll need to come back to later, you can see at a glance exactly what it was you thought you needed to come back to. Markers are great, but the screenshot feature is such an amazing idea and it was genuinely so useful throughout the game.
That was a bit of a tangent, sorry. Getting back on track, after our arrival at Mount Qaf, we find out that time is weird here, which, let’s be honest, it’s a Prince of Persia game, of course time moves weird. What I didn’t expect, though, is how subtle, but deep the lore regarding the universe, and it’s time-weirdness. I’m obviously not going to talk about it in depth to avoid spoilers, but I wanted to immerse myself in this game’s lore in a way probably only Elden Ring and Dark Souls have made me feel. And even if you aren’t into reading every document, the story itself has intrigue, twists, and plenty of depth to keep you interested.
Where the story really stands out, though, is in the presentation. I’m not exaggerating when I say any of the cutscenes in the game could be from a Prince of Persia anime. And it comes completely out of left field, genuinely a “holy shit” and rewatch my stream moment. And throughout the game, they just keep getting better and better as you face stronger and stronger foes. The game takes the usually complicated topics of time travel, and parallel universes, and distills them into something digestible, and full of unique plot points unique to the game. What’s more impressive, is a lot of the main plot points, characters, and setting are straight from Persian mythology, something I’m always a fan of.
Obviously story isn’t enough to make a game (most of the time), we need good gameplay, and The Lost Crown delivers in spades. Movement feels great, even from the start when we have no abilities, and it manages to deliver an experience that feels a lot like the 2000’s games, but 2D. There’s brutally difficult platforming sections, sometimes complicated puzzles, and lots of room to maneuver around your enemies. The combat feels good, with satisfying melee combos and an emphasis on parrying. It’s not like Nine Sols, where it’s basically Sekiro 2D, but it’s something the game heavily encourages you to do, with most enemies having an attack that, when parried, is an insta-kill (or to bosses, a huge chunk of damage). Parrying is also the quickest way to fill your special meter, which allows you to perform an Athra (think Qi) attack, which is strong enough to kill most normal enemies, and again, deal a significant chunk of damage to a boss.
I’m sure no one was wondering how you get different Athra Surges, and I’m so glad you asked. You get them by fighting alternate-dimension Sargon’s. This makes for a great juxtaposition when compared to the other bosses, who are often hulking monsters from mythology. And there’s just something eerie about fighting yourself that I enjoy.
What about the other bosses, though? Well, I don’t think they’re the main attraction to the game, but I did really enjoy them. Most of the fights have a really good flow, which I think is critical to a good boss fight, with their attacks forcing a good mix of parrying, dodging, and jumping, while also giving you good windows to attack yourself. And balancing the two, boss attacks, and windows to attack is one of the main places I feel like many Souls-likes, and challenging MetroidVania’s stumble, but The Lost Crown nails it. Of the 15 bosses in the game, there was only 1 that wasn’t fantastic, most of them were everything I want from a boss fight: amazing set pieces, a good challenge, some spectacle, and solid rewards.
And surely, there’s a platforming type boss or challenge, right? Like the Path of Pain from Hollow Knight? What a specific, but topical question to ask!
There wasn’t what I could call a platforming boss section in the game on launch, but since then the devs have added the Divine Trials a set of increasingly hard platforming sections and boss fights that award you with new amulets (think charms). I haven’t completed these myself (yet), but they are brutally difficult, and very fun. For anyone looking for a platforming challenge in this game, this is where you get it.
I think about the only thing I haven’t talked about yet is the art. And holy shit, this game is gorgeous. The environments are beautifully detailed, making good use of multiple layers and parallax. Each area has a distinct look and tone driven by the art, with lush forests, baren desserts, and snow capped peaks, among others. I might have played a better looking 2D game before, but I couldn’t tell you when.
When this game was revealed I was originally a bit put off; I wanted the next Prince of Persia to be a 3D game with the same haughty prince that I’m nostalgic for, but after playing The Lost Crown I can’t imagine a better re-entry into the series. I had such an incredible time with this game, and if you have even a passing interest in MetroidVania’s, it’s a must play. There’s so much here for fans of every shape and size, whether you want your game hard and puzzle filled, if you want a beautiful looking game with a great story, or something in the middle, this game can deliver it.
- Zack
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