Prince of Persia has gone through several transformations since its debut over thirty years ago. What began as a 2D puzzle platformer was eventually given a 3D reboot with a greater emphasis on action. Despite its popularity, the series has remained dormant for over a decade. There was talk of a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, but expectations for that being released any time soon have died, making the franchise’s future remain uncertain. That is until Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was announced earlier this year. This new title is fresh take on the franchise, combining elements of the original games with greater emphasis on action and combat that was seen in the later reboots. Hardcore Gamer was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to spend about three hours with a work-in-progress preview build to get a better feel for what to expect from this upcoming game.
In keeping with the theme that this is a brand new original in the Prince of Persia universe, a new protagonist is introduced. The protagonist is a young man named Sargon, member of the warrior clan known as The Immortals. Like previous heroes in these games, Sargon is quite the nimble jumper and skilled with a sword. During the play session with the preview build after an introductory battle where The Immortals protected the palace from hostile invaders, the peace is short lives as Prince Ghassan has been kidnapped. Sargon and the other Immortals must now venture to the cursed city of Mount Qaf to rescue the prince from his captors.
Looking at the initial screenshots one may suspect that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a return to the series' roots by going the puzzle platformer route. This isn’t entirely the case as the developers stated they were going for the middle ground between the action heavy reboot and the platforming puzzle roots. It so happens the type of game that best represents this is metroidvania. After arriving in Mount Qaf, Sargon has to figure out where to go on his own. There are branching pathways, but not all of them are viable routes, at least not initially. By traveling through Mount Qaf, Sargon will acquire new items and abilities that will make these areas accessible, such as a horizontal air dash. There is a feature that allows the player to set a marker on the map for when they encounter areas that have a path that’s just out of reach or some inaccessible treasure, so it’s easy to remember where they need to go once they get the appropriate ability.
Sargon is touted as being a great warrior and his prowess on the battlefield is well represented within the gameplay. He is obviously quick with his sword and can skillfully dispatch his enemies with a series of attacks but also has some good defensive tricks. There is a parry mechanic that can stagger his enemies for a quick counter attack, in some cases can even lead to a devastating follow up attack. Not all attacks can be blocked, but there’s a dodge mechanic where Sargon can nimbly slide out of harm’s way and attack his foe from behind. Different charged attacks can also be executed when a meter is full, though only two of these abilities were witnessed in this build. One of these was a powerful attack that can be a lifesaver against some of the more relenting enemies. The other set up a field that offers a brief sanctuary from combat where Sargon can recover his health.
This game wouldn’t be true to the roots of Prince of Persia without requiring of acrobatic skills to avoid traps. Mount Qaf was designed to be inaccessible to most visitors and there are plenty of traps and hard-to-reach places. Getting to some out of the way areas requires Sargon to jump back and forth between walls in order to ascend to greater heights. There are platforming puzzles where a well-timed attack with a projectile will cause platforms to materialize, though their solid state may only be temporary or it may cause the platform Sargon was standing on to disappear. In addition to these platforming puzzles, there are some rooms where bladed and mechanical hazards require well-timed acrobatics to avoid.
Joseph-Antoine Clavet, cinematic lead, was gracious enough to spend a few minutes discussing some of the more interesting features of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The art style for Prince of Persia has a unique appearance, influenced from both previous games and anime shows featured on Weekly Shōnen Jump, but still doesn’t look like it will have any trouble finding its own identity. The anime influence is most prominent in many of the special attacks, where characters are able to unleash their power in a dramatic fashion. There are several available languages for both subtitles and voiceovers, but one language in particular that’s included in the voiceover is Farsi. Farsi is not a common option in games with western localization, but the decision to include it was meant to increase immersion and authenticity. Something that always seemed weird about Dynasty Warriors games is there were only voice options for English and Japanese even though the game takes place in China, so the inclusion of Farsi makes sense.
It takes more than a couple hours to evaluate how good a game actually is, but Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown shows a lot of potential for being a great metroidvania. The few hours spent with the game checked the boxes of what was expected from the genre such as becoming more powerful by equipping amulets and being able to reach inaccessible areas by finding new weapons such as a bow and arrow, but the time flew by quickly because of how enjoyable it was. Trying to master the parry mechanic in fights against common enemies added a new dynamic to combat while sliding behind them for a rear attack was just fun, if not perhaps a little dishonorable. The boss battles were usually large monstrosities that presented a feeling of accomplishment when the beast was finally felled. Exploring the land of Mount Qaf was a good mix of straightforward battles that were broken up being platforming and deadly traps.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is scheduled for release on January 18 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. 2023 was an incredible year for gaming, and based on the three hours or spent with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, it looks as though next year is going to be starting off right. Fully judging its quality simply cannot be done with such limited exposure, but what we saw so far left a favorable impression. Hardcore Gamer will continue to provide coverage for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown as more information becomes available closer to launch.
