Prepare yourself for a great adventure, and prepare your wallet for a severe injury with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
Everybody knows Ubisoft; they’ve been around for longer than most gamers have been at it. This French company has gained massive notoriety for many things over the years, not just for games but also for some seriously scandalous news.
Ubisoft has been keeping a steady pace to keep its place at the top over the last few years with the Assassin’s Creed games, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, and even the Far Cry series. These are all great games, but there’s a certain game series that has always held a special place for us: the Prince of Persia games.
Ever since the initial release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in 2003, a fanbase sprang to life almost overnight. Things kept growing and improving after the release of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within in 2004, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones in 2005, and even with the 2008 spin-off release of Prince of Persia, along with several other releases in between.
However, with all that said and even the news of a remake of Sands of Time, Ubisoft still wanted to release something new in the form of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown on 15 January. Unfortunately, it’s not quite what you’d expect…
The world of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown takes a different turn when compared to the newer releases; it now comes in the form of a Metroidvania and platformer. First, it’s not the hack-and-slash adventure we got used to, and you’d think that the downgrade to what it is now would reflect a similar downgrade in price, but this is Ubisoft, and not all dreams come true. Though more on this later, for now, let’s jump into Sargon’s crazy adventure to save Persia.
You take on the role of Sargon, one of the Seven Immortals – Powerful warriors with their own unique abilities and combat styles who were called to action when Persia came under threat from the Kushans.
Now, the Kushans had much more than armies at their disposal, and no amount of Persian soldiers was enough to stop the coming threat. The Kushan general was about to claim victory and permanently change the course of history, but Anahita managed to summon the Seven Immortals, to prevent their destruction.
Jumping into the action with Sargon, you’ll have to go through a little practical tutorial showing you the basic controls like Jumping, climbing, sprinting, and basic attacks. However, the real damage comes when parrying an incoming enemy attack.
Parrying is pretty straightforward, but it only interrupts an enemy attack; sooner or later, they’ll begin attacking recklessly, and that’s where you strike with a Vengeful Counter. Your attacker will have a yellow indicator that will allow you to turn the tide of a fight with a crushing counterattack; this is probably your most important move to use and the most gratifying as well.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown still plays by the rules we know and love, and Sargon might be one of the Seven Immortals, but it’s only in name. You’ll still have a health bar to keep track of; naturally, running out of health means game over.
Luckily, you’ll still have the ever-present consumable item like a health potion to restore some of your missing health. Your only alternative for easy healing is to visit the Wak-Wak, a mystical tree that will give Sargon a much-needed break. Granted, these are few and far between, so you’ll need to use a little strategy and maybe an upgrade or two to make your health last.
Swinging a couple of swords around is great, but you’ll need an edge; Athra Surge is just the edge you’ll need to wipe the floor with armies. As Sargon attacks, he’ll generate Athra to power the surge, but taking damage will also remove it.
There’s always some give and take in cases like these, and you’ll need to use everything you have to keep fighting at full power. Now, the first Athra Surge will consume your entire bar, but there are other surges you’ll eventually unlock, each with different costs and effects.
Now, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has a lot more to offer to Sargon’s combat abilities and survival. This is where things become a little bit more complicated and maybe weird; you’ll eventually find a Magi Emporium where you can spend your hard-earned crystals to buy amulets.
Lucky for you, Amulets come in all shapes, flavors, and sizes with a whole myriad of effects. Sadly, there is a limit on how many amulets you can use at a time, though this is fixed pretty quickly with an amulet holder from the same shop. A slight downside to amulets is that buying them is easy, but you can only change them out at a Wak-Wak tree.
Sargon’s arsenal keeps expanding, and you’ll eventually unlock the Charged Attack, which is great for breaking down doors and even better for doing massive damage in a tight spot. On the other hand, as mentioned before, you’ll eventually be able to get different Athra Surges.
Granted, this depends on when you meet Kamil, this strange being who lives in the Wak-Wak trees. Kamil isn’t just there for looks and good conversation; you’ll need to visit him to get new Athra Surges and swap them out as needed.
Keeping everything you’ll have at your disposal in mind is nice because of the flexibility it gives you as you progress through the story. While this is an odd change of pace for the Prince of Persia franchise as a whole, there is some merit to going for the side-scroller genre and heavily expanding on it through the story and the ability to explore a vast world ahead of you.
However, that same flexibility can also become stale if you’re one of the few who like to get every little thing before even making it halfway through the story. The game’s like Hollow Knight and Ori and The Will of The Wisps use similar aspects, which can be somewhat damning but also open up endless possibilities. How Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown will turn out as time goes on is a mystery for the time being.
To save the best for last, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is already a massive game, and the map definitely testifies to it… You’ll need a way to get around without running all the way back, and you’ll be glad to know there is a form of fast travel in the form of Broken Plinths.
This is a weird one, to say the least, but these are essentially wild balls of energy that need to be repaired first with a simple attack. Once they’re repaired, you’re free to fast travel between them. However, if you don’t quite have a way to fast travel to where you need to be yet, you can use Memory Shards to mark places on the map for later investigation, too.
On the visual side of life, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown does a great job as an indie side-scroller, but it falls short as a AAA release when you consider the price tag attached. The game does have a brilliantly designed world and the visuals to match, but they don’t quite fit the bill when compared to releases like Ori and The Blind Forest or even the demo of The Devil Within: Satgat, both of which have much more detail as a whole instead of stiff texturing.
The same can be said about the cinematics; they are beautiful but lacking. The only thing that stands out is the minor character animations during dialogues. There were high expectations for the visuals that fell very far from what was anticipated.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown seems to shine when it comes to sound design, music, and voice acting. When implemented, these three things can make or break any decent release. Starting with the most obvious one, the voice acting is almost astonishing in terms of how well the roles were played, and each character still carries that familiar Prince of Persia feel.
The background music remained faithful to the original tracks, keeping the atmosphere semi-somber when exploring but more fast-paced during combat. There is a slight hitch with the sound effects, though; while most of them are well-timed and keep things interesting, they don’t always match up with the actions associated with them.
Overall, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a great release for the franchise, and the story has a lot of depth that will keep you going for hours on end. All this, combined with the visuals and sound design, builds into a great game with a familiar atmosphere we all know and love, but from a critical point of view… The AAA price does not detract from the fact that it’s still an indie side-scroller. However, if you’re willing to pay the piper, it becomes a matter of perspective as to whether or not it’s worth the price.
