Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Ubisoft Montpellier, the studio behind the beloved Rayman Legends, recently previewed their upcoming 2D action-adventure platformer, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. At the preview event, attendees were able to go hands-on with an early build of the game on both PC and Nintendo Switch for around two hours.
A Sense of Adventure
In a presentation, director Munir Radhey spoke of a desire to bring back the core ingredients of Prince of Persia platforming puzzle-solving, time-based powers, and a sense of adventure. This new outing is set in a legendary Persia that is described as an age of heroes and gods. Players take on the role of Sargon, a young and impetuous hero who is part of a superhero-esque gang of seven warriors known as The Immortals. Sargon and The Immortals journey to Mount Caf, a land cursed with time anomalies, to rescue the kidnapped son of the Queen of Persia, presumably the titular Prince.
Striking Visual Style
Immediately apparent is the game’s striking visual style, combining 3D foreground environments with painterly backgrounds. Its vast world is made up of several visually distinct biomes. Beams of light beat down over the deserted streets of the lower city, leaves drift serenely through an autumnal forest, and sand dunes swallow crumbled ruins in the depths beneath the city. The backgrounds are richly detailed and are clearly intended to demonstrate Persia’s rich environmental diversity.
Question of Innovation
However, the question of whether the game has anything innovative of its own to offer remains to be seen.
Sargon: Exploring Mount Calf
Pop culture often portrays deserts and temples as the only thing to be seen in the world of high fantasy, but Sargon’s journey to Mount Calf is far from stereotypical. This metroidvania-style game offers plenty of scope for exploration, shortcuts and secrets, as Sargon moves through interconnected environments that make up the larger area of the mountain.
Navigation and Platforming
Ubisoft Montpellier’s 2D platforming heritage is evident in the way traversing around the world feels fun and effortless. Each area is crafted to be instantly legible and flow inducing, and subtle navigation hints can be found to nudge players in the right direction. Multiple exits in each room tease undiscovered challenges and rewards, and the game’s tutorial was not included in the demo, but all the moves expected from a modern platformer are present and correct, from air dashes to wall jumps.
Combat Encounters
Sargon has a pair of swords at his disposal, as well as a quick fire bow that can transform into a chakram-esque boomerang. Dodging and parrying are fundamental to success, and the traps found in Hollow Knight make a welcome return in the form of platforming puzzles. Later in the game, a challenging run was showcased, hinting at the kind of twitchy, pixel-perfect platforming pleasures to be found.
High Risk, High Reward Combat System
Sargon has a high risk, high reward combat system with enemies dishing out significant punishment for poorly timed moves. Players can use a variety of combat powers drawn from the catalog of generic 2D video game special moves. These include a powerful wave attack, a lunging thrust and an area of effect healing spell. Certain enemy attacks, indicated by flashing eyes, trigger special counter moves if successfully parried and function as an instant kill against grunts or an opportunity to take a sizable chunk from a boss’s health bar.
60 FPS Even on Nintendo Switch
The Lost Crown appears to run at a locked 60 FPS even on Nintendo Switch and its slick presentation makes combat feel fluid and responsive and looks spectacular too. Sargon’s animations and movements throughout the world are underpinned by prominent anime inspired visual flourishes. Dash moves trigger a flash of abstract color and instant kill. Parries include dynamic, 3D camera moves, dramatic color shifts and super satisfying animations. It looks impressive and its much more than mere window dressing. Rather, everything is designed to be in service of how the game feels much like special moves and counters in 2D fighting games. A successful parry is as much an aesthetic reward as mechanical.
Time Powers at Sargon’s Disposal
Sargon has time powers at his disposal, thanks to Simmer, a mythical bird and god of time and knowledge drawn from real Persian legend. These abilities were limited to an air dash and a kind of teleporting power, known as the Shadow of Simmer. Players can crystallize their Shadow of Sargon in a particular place and then teleport back into it at the press of a button, warping through hazards and enemies. As they do so, though, the move is accompanied by a satisfying rewind sound.
The Lost Crown: A Love Letter to the Franchise
The Lost Crown is Ubisoft Montpellier’s latest installment in the Prince of Persia franchise. The game features a unique power for the protagonist Sargon, the ability to crystallize his shadow at any point, allowing him to navigate past mobile hazards or pop up behind enemies. This opens up many opportunities for combat and exploration.
Persian Mythology
The game also draws directly from Persian folklore, with a number of creatures, friends and foes, making an appearance. Ensuring accurate, sensitive representation of Persian mythology was key for the development team. One boss battle sees players fight a fierce semanticore, a creature widely seen across Greek Egyptian and medieval Arts, but the team were keen to highlight its roots in Persian mythology.
A Love Letter to the Franchise
The team behind The Lost Crown are keen to acknowledge the franchise’s own mythology too. Animations frequently reference past entries, such as a finisher that directly quotes the iconic acrobatic Vault from the Sands of Time trilogy and a mini boss, lifted directly from the 1989 original, albeit reworked, into a much more traditional combat encounter. Their hope is that The Lost Crown is not a reboot of the franchise, but a love letter to it.
The Lost Crown: A Metroidvania-Style Adventure
The Lost Crown is a new game from Prince of Persia that is set to be released in January 2024. It is a Metroidvania-style game, which means it has elements of exploration, platforming, and combat. Players take on the role of Sargon, who is equipped with power-bestowing amulets, just like Hollow Knights.
Exploring the Sacred Archives
Players explore the Sacred Archives, a mysterious area filled with blind Invincible, jailers, and hunt. Sargon can also insert rooms that are functionally identical to Metroid dreads Emmys. The conversations with NPCs evoke the anime style portraits of Hades.
Immortal Phoenix Rising
Immortal Phoenix Rising appears to be a post-Breath of the Wild creation. It is hard to play The Lost Crown without constantly being reminded of the modern greats of the metroidvania genre.
The Lost Crown offers a unique experience, but it remains to be seen whether it offers anything truly innovative or simply stands on the shoulders of greatness. We will find out when The Lost Crown is released in January 2024.
