Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - Welcome back to Persia!

(Nintendo Switch code provided by Ubisoft) 

By Sam Coles: 

Prince of Persia is a franchise that Ubisoft has had lying in dormancy for about 14 years, with the last game they released was The Forgotten Sands in 2010. Fans such as I have been asking for a new game, and here we are with The Lost Crown as side scrolling Metroidvania game. Not what a lot of fans would want, as they would want a game in style of the PS2 trilogy, but it makes sense to go back to the routes of the series from the 1980s, plus it is a great game, but I will get into that. After 14 years is this Prince of Persia game worth your time? Absolutely, so let's get into it.  

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown sees you play as Sargon, an elite member of the Immortals and for you history buffs out there (me included) the Immortals were a real-world special unit within the Persian Empire who carried out special missions as well as guarding the Persian Royal Family. It is great that Ubisoft, with most of their historical based games always pay attention to aspects like this, and The Lost Crown is no different. Anyway, Sargon is one the protectors of the prince, but one of his comrades betrays him, kidnaps the prince and takes him to an ancient and mysterious ruin with time altering magic. The story is compelling enough to keep me playing, with good voice work from the main cast, with well animated cutscenes for the major story elements but most of it is voice and scrolling text which isn’t bad for this genre of game as it is about the gameplay.

 

The game is a side scroller in a similar vein to its routes from the late 1980s, where you must avoid spiked traps, navigate difficult and narrow platforms but with the added Metroidvania twist. Let’s talk about platforming first as that is what most associate Prince of Persia with, and I have to say it feels fantastic! At first glance one would think it is your typical platformer, but once you start moving it maintains the speed and agility of the PS2 trilogy, where it requires quick reactions and timing with each jump. You get into a trance once you get the rhythm of the parkour, plus it feels more satisfying when you gain more platforming abilities like the dash to name a few.  

The combat is no different, it is simple but that doesn’t mean it is easy as it is fast and requires quick reflexes. You have your standard, light attack, heavy attack, dodge and parry but I found if you are too reckless with your swings and strikes you can be overwhelmed quickly. This is especially the case when you fight groups of enemies, you need to put plenty of space between the enemy and yourself as well as making sure you time your parry attacks because otherwise you die quickly in this game. There were moments where I felt I had a good feel for combat, for the game to introduce new types of enemies that immediately repurposed me as a windscreen wiper and smeared me onto the nearest window. Patience is key with combat, and when you get the hang of the fast pace of it, you will feel like a ninja in most encounters as you slice through enemies with ease.  

Like with most Metroidvania games you will slowly upgrade your character, you start off weak with limited health and basic attacks, but as you progress you can gain more health, new abilities and attacks and more through beating bosses or general exploration. You find check/save points in the form of Wak-Wak trees (no laughing at the back of the class), you can save, regain health points (outside of potions) as well as swap out amulets. Amulets give you a passive bonus, this can range from extra health bars, added damage when in the air or with perfect parries, standard stuff. However, it works in your favour when you get the right combination, and you will stick with the same loadout of amulets that works for you throughout the game.  

Visually the game looks good, I have seen a lot of flak for the game’s graphics online, but I think the more cartoonish and exaggerated look works in the game’s favour within its genre. Let’s not forget the old PS2 trilogy, and the later games on Xbox 360/PS3 had a cartoonish and exaggerated look they weren’t aping a realistic art style as most seem to think. They always had a stylistic tone with their visuals, and this game looks great with its colourful graphics and highly detailed backgrounds. I played this on Nintendo Switch and the game ran well, it runs at 60 fps during gameplay, however in a lot of cutscenes the game will drop to 30 fps but that doesn’t really matter as they are not gameplay focused. Visuals and performance wise, even on the Nintendo Switch it works perfectly!  

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a great comeback for the series, it brings back its old routes of side scrolling platforming but injects a sense of speed into it. Combat is fast, fluid and requires quick reflexes and platforming requires the same attention. If you are looking for a game in the same vein as Celeste or the Ori games, then this is a game for you. It is challenging but not unfair, with a beautiful art style perfect for the Nintendo Switch I might add, I highly recommend this game.   

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