Similar to the original Prince of Persia game from 1989, Prince of Persia The Lost Crown is an adventure where you move from left to right, trying not to get hurt by traps as you explore ninth-century Persia to find missing royalty. Spiky things cover the floors, swinging blades try to hit you, platforms break, and you even have to handle a copy of yourself. Luckily, the tough warrior Sargon, the main character, has learned some time-bending powers to help him.
But The Lost Crown is mostly different. This version is like a game called Metroidvania, and the folks at Ubisoft Montpellier have made a big map where you go from scary dungeons to the top of Mount Qaf, a mountain from Persian stories. They mixed classic level design with stuff you might know from other Metroidvania games, like using a sword carefully, fighting tough bosses, and finding items that make you stronger. From what I played for about two hours, it looks promising.
My time playing started after a quick lesson and introduced Sargon and his friends, to a group called The Immortals. They’re like characters from comic books or Japanese cartoons – huge and strong – which shows that this game is different from the old ones. And, as you might have guessed, you don’t play as the Prince of Persia. Instead, you’re on a mission to find him because he’s gone missing.
Alongside Sargon’s fighting skills are his time powers. They aren’t as flashy as in the older games, but they’re still useful. One lets you dash to avoid getting hurt, and another lets you put down a marker and go back to it later, like a checkpoint. Think of it like a movie from a game called Overwatch.
You can make the teleport move even better with an item called an amulet, which changes how it works. I had one that shot a beam of light back to where I started, so I used it to attack enemies. Other amulets do cool things, like making your arrows set things on fire or healing you when you block attacks. These amulets make the fighting more interesting, and I hope there are lots more to find.
The story in The Lost Crown has lots of surprises; some characters I liked turned out to be bad, and things didn’t happen the way I thought they would. It’s not super complicated or just for adults; even a kid who likes history would enjoy it. The bosses and puzzles can be hard, but there are lots of options to make the game easier if you need them.
Fighting in this game is equally hard and satisfying. As you move forward, everything from normal enemy battles to big fights needs you to use every ability Sargon has to succeed without getting hurt. Just like the jumping puzzles, you’re remembering enemy attack patterns, searching through your big set of tools for the right one, and then doing a complicated dance against a big enemy that will punish you a lot for being too greedy with attacking. During the game, Sargon will get new fighting abilities like a healing wave or a strong push, but while some of them are helpful for very specific fights, I found that I didn’t need to use any new ability beyond the first two. They just didn’t seem important or different enough beyond “hit harder than usual” to be worth using.
Because of the hard puzzles and big fights, but the fairly easy use of your tools and weapons to beat those challenges, The Lost Crown reminds me more of a game like Dark Souls than Metroidvania. What’s asked of you, whether in a fight or a puzzle, never feels unfair or boring, but more like a gradual test of your improvement. It felt like the game was saying “Okay, you’ve had your air dash ability for a while now, let’s see how well you can use it.” My favorite thing in video games is when gameplay supports the story, and if you combine this idea that the game is testing your skill with the story of Sargon being a new, younger member of the Immortals wanting to prove himself, then The Lost Crown becomes a game where you as a player feel like you’re getting better along with Sargon.
Apart from smooth jumping and detailed fighting, the most new thing about the game is the map. Yes, the map. First of all, it’s really big. There are so many places to explore and secrets to find that even when you’re not going toward the next part of the story, wherever you go you’re getting something — either money to buy tips or upgrade parts or special charms that make Sargon’s abilities better. Also, each area has a different theme that affects what kind of jumping tricks you can expect. There’s a sandy area where sandfalls push you through narrow paths with spikes that kill you instantly, and in the cursed library section, you’ll need to use your bow-boomerang to ring bells that show hidden platforms.
Metroidvania games can become really boring if you don’t know where to go next with the powers you have. In The Lost Crown, Ubisoft has made a system where you can take pictures of where you are, which are then put on the game’s map. So every time you get a new power, you can look at those pictures to see if your new toy lets you go to a new area. I really like these navigation systems, it shows that Ubisoft is respecting players’ time.
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown might seem different from the other games, especially with the Sands of Time remake being changed so much. But it’s a great Metroidvania game with a character you wouldn’t expect, and it’s brought some new life to the series. It looks great and tells stories from history and myths in a fun way.
