When it comes to video game franchises, Prince of Persia made a name for itself in the 90s and early 2000s as an action adventure game. While not as massively popular as other franchises, it did have enough of a following to result in a movie production. However, the series remained mostly quiet in the 2010s, with the exception of a mobile game release. And now in the year of 2024, the Prince of Persia series has been brought back with its newest installment, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
Story
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown doesn’t revolve around the prince, as past games did, but instead a warrior known as Sargon. Sargon is one of the Immortals who are sworn to protect Persia and the royal family. The game opens up in the middle of an attack by the Kushans. The army is trying desperately to hold off the enemy forces, but are being overpowered at every turn. Just as things are about to take a turn for the worse, the Immortals appear to slay the leader of the Kushans, thus ending the battle. But they don’t have much time to rest, as during the celebrations, the prince is taken captive by Anahita, Sargon’s teacher. They are able to trace their whereabouts to the city of Mount Qaf, where time doesn’t flow in a normal manner.
Much like the map of Mount Qaf, the story slowly evolves and expands until it’s much larger than expected. Along with figuring out why Anahita abducted the prince, you’ll also figure out the secrets to Mount Qaf. You’ll pick up collectible items that will tell the stories of those who lived within Mount Qaf before and during the time that it came to its downfall.
Side Quests
As you slowly explore the city of Mount Qaf, you’ll come across side quests that you can complete. Many of these quests are posited as ones that you complete as you explore the entirety of the city (as they require going to multiple spots across the city), while others just require you to go to one specific location and bring back an item or defeat a monster.
Gameplay
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an action platformer with Metroidvania elements. As you explore the map, several areas will be inaccessible until you unlock a specific Simurgh feather that grants you a new platforming ability. Enemies are sprawled all over the map, ready to attack at any time. Additionally, there are a number of bosses, some that require subduing while others can be skipped over. You’ll collect a number of amulets, which can be equipped to give you stat boosts and additional abilities, such as increased damage based on your health and a treasure beacon.
Platforming
The platforming in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a mixture of easy and difficult. A lot of the earlier areas are easy terrains to run and jump throughout. But as you start exploring deeper into the different parts of Mount Qaf, some corridors will be covered in a variety of obstacles, from spikes to slithering enemies. Landing on an spike or being hit by a terrain obstacle results in you being teleported back to the earliest spot of safety, with a bit of your health depleted. While some of the later stages do feel more frustrating as they rely on you memorizing the exact path you need to take without messing up (or having quick reflexes to react in time to not hit an obstacle), the platforming feels very rewarding.
By default, your entire map will be blank. As you explore Mount Qaf, the map will fill out, although if you come across one of the inhabitants of the sprawling city (you’ll know she’s nearby because she’ll be humming to herself), she will sell you a map of the area you’re currently in, making it much easier to explore. Placed in multiple areas are golden trees known as Wak-Wak Trees. These trees will heal you, reload your arrow supply, and allow you to change your amulets and Athra Surge attacks. The tree is the only place where you can do the last two, although there are plenty that you’ll come across in your journey, so you’re never waiting too long if you find a new amulet that you want to equip.
Next to specific Wak-Wak Trees are also teleportation statues. There are considerably less of these than the Wak-Wak Trees, but they let you quickly move from one part of the map to the other with ease.
In order to advance through the game, you’ll need to obtain Simurgh feathers. These are typically given after major boss fights, so you don’t have to search hard for them within Mount Qaf. These feathers offer you new powers that allow you to explore new places, such as a double jump or a grappling hook. At first, some of these powers feel awkward to use and that they’ll only have a limited range of use, but each power has its own uses, even in combat.
Combat
Along with platforming, you’ll also be battling against monsters as you explore. You initially have a melee attack at your disposal, as well as a dodge, a parry, and an ultimate attack known as an Athra Surge. Parrying boosts your Athra Surge gauge at a faster rate, but there are specific attacks that can’t be parried. These attacks are shown with a flash of red by enemies. There are also some attacks, which appear as a flash of gold, that will result in a special animation and a lot of damage dealt if parried. You can dodge all attacks, although dodging doesn’t result in boosting your Athra Surge gauge, so you’ll want to parry whenever possible and use your dodge for attacks that can’t be parried.
After a while, you’ll unlock a ranged attack in the form of a bow, which you can use to interact with terrain to gain access to new areas, or to attack enemies. At the start, you’ll only have 10 arrows and you can only reload them at Wak-Wak Trees or at arrow loading podiums.
Most enemies are not much of a threat. You can easily overpower an enemy by hitting them with melee attacks nonstop, not allowing the enemy to follow up with any attacks of their own. There are some enemies that have shields that can block your attacks, or that have status dealing moves such as poison or freeze. But outside of those minor quirks, getting past them isn’t too hard. Flying enemies and those that can fire projectiles may be tricker to deal with, especially if there are multiple enemies to fight against. There are only a couple of enemies that provide a challenge, whether due to their incorporeal form or the fact that they can’t be defeated (at least initially).
There is only one reason to fight in battles against minor enemies, and that is for the Time Crystals. Time Crystals are your main source of currency, although after a certain point, they do become worthless (as you will likely have the amulets that you’re happy with, and will require little else in the way of upgrades). From that point, the only reason for clearing out enemies is if too many of them have spawned at one time and you need to clear the way.
Dying in combat results in a game over, in which you’ll be teleported back to the last Wak-Wak Tree you healed at. Any progress you’ve made is saved though, but you will have to make the trip back to where you died. That’s why healing at every Wak-Wak Tree you see is very important, as one wrong move can result in making a long trek back.
Boss Battles
Each area has its own boss battle that you’ll have to fight through in order to earn a new Simurgh feather, which grants you with new platforming abilities that will allow you to continue exploring Mount Qaf. The bosses each have their own patterns and each one is easy enough to figure out in order to overcome. But if you do find yourself dying during a boss battle, you have the choice to either restart the battle right from the beginning, or teleporting back to the last Wak-Wak Tree you healed at. Typically, this will be right outside of the boss area.
Upgrades and Amulets
Amulets can be found in treasure chests scattered throughout the city, as well as purchases in several shops by characters. The effects that these amulets can offer vary between locating treasure chests (hidden or in plain sight) or dealing more damage depending on your health. However, each amulet has their own value attributed to it, with the more valuable amulets taking up more slots on your necklace. You can unlock more slots by exploring around and finding them or by purchasing empty slots in the shop, but you will be picking and choosing which amulets give you the most bang for your buck.
You’ll also unlock the ability to upgrade your weapons power and increase the amount of arrows you hold thanks to Kaheva the Blacksmith, who is available in the Haven. Using the crystals that enemies drop, as well as special stone tablets that you pick up, you can upgrade your sword or arrow damage. She also has the ability to craft new amulets that aren’t available in the shop to purchase.
Accessibility
There are a number of accessibility features in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown that makes the game easier for those who are not familiar with action platformers or Metroidvanias. Along with your typical accessibility features, such as alternative fonts and altering the contrast mode and different difficulty modes, there are also several assists available to toggle on and off. You can adjust the aim assist on your weapons, toggle a platforming assist which will generate a portal to skip challenging platforming sections, toggle auto unfreeze which shakes off the Frost Effect that freezes you in place for several seconds, and toggle visible interactions, which places a marker that shows when you can interact with the environment. Some of these features will be overkill for those who are comfortable playing action platformers, but for those just starting out and wanting to get their feet wet (or those just looking to take in the story with little difficulty), this offers a gateway into the game.
Aesthetics
The aesthetics of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown are absolutely breathtaking. Even on the Switch, the game looks and runs well. The art style is reminiscent of a painting, which becomes more apparently when cutscenes play out. Colors flow together as though it’s straight out of a painting. And the game is just as impressive when in motion, the 3D models of the characters looking clean. Just as impressive are the vast backgrounds that show behind your character. From luscious forests to grimy catacombs, you’ll see the entire range of the city.
Soundtrack and Voice Acting
The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown definitely leans into the large scale of the game, with acoustics that build upon itself to present a large orchestral performance. Bringing in the composer of Ori, Gareth Coker, along with Iranian musician Mentrix, brings forth a feeling of adventure and battle. A mix of Persian string instruments, a large orchestra, and synths up the wazoo leaves players with a excellent soundtrack that doesn’t disappoint.
There is also full voice acting available in multiple languages, from including Persian. The voice cast was amazing and it was great to see the variety of languages offered when it comes to the voice acting.
Conclusion
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an absolute treat to play through. From the smooth platforming, snappy combat, beautiful art direction and music composition, this game hit the ground running right from the get go. The attention to detail, the accessibility features, and the well rounded story leaves the player with a sense of adventure, one that stays even after defeating the last boss, as you’re open to continue exploring the entirety of Mount Qaf. It’s a delight to play through and definitely a game that shouldn’t be passed up on.
Score: 9/10.
