Days into 2024 and we’ve currently got a strong competitor for Game of the Year. Yes, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is that excellent. I wish to return to playing as rapidly as possible so I’ll keep this short.
(Editor’s note: She does not keep this quick.)
The Lost Crown is a 2D sidescrolling metroidvaniaYou play as Sargon, a member of the Persian army’s elite Immortals team. After the prince is abducted, Sargon and the Immortals journey to Mount Qaf to save him. Throughout the journey, Sargon will get a toolbox of tools, weapons, and ornaments that will assist him get rid of the hazards of browsing the strange (and huge) mountain.
This is just a portion of the map. It’s big.
This might sound a bit counterproductive, however the intriguing feature of The Lost Crown is that, mechanically, it does not do anything especially brand-new. The powers Sargon gets to fix the numerous platforming puzzles are all things you’ve most likely seen in other places. There’s an air dash, a weapon (that changes into a boomerang-type weapon that ricochets off surface areas), a dimension-shifting power that exposes incorporeal platforms, and an inscribing power that enables Sargon to basically “conserve” his area in a place then teleport back to it.
I’m refrained from doing with the video game right now so this isn’t a detailed list of powers, however Ubisoft isn’t transforming the platformer wheel here. What it has actually done is craft a video game that uses every one of these basic powers unbelievably enjoyable. Yell out to the level designers since the very best part of The Lost Crown is determining the complex waltz of buttons I require to push to obtain from point A to point B, carrying out that waltz, then indulging in my godlike expertise. Sargon’s motion is fluid and the cooldown on powers is liberal, so even when puzzles aren’t simple (and ho-boy they are not, I do not feel disappointed having to duplicate a series till I get it.
Among my preferred puzzles comes a bit later on in the video game where you’re secured a space and the only escape is to utilize ghost doubles of Sargon to gather an out-of-reach crucial product. The ghosts just have a restricted quantity of time to finish one part of a bigger puzzle, like triggering a lever that will open a door that will let another ghost walk through. Throughout 3 ghost doubles I had 12 seconds to fly down a shaft, make a double, base on a pressure plate, double dive up a various shaft, trigger a lever, teleport to my double’s area, then wall-jump my method to the objective. I hate repeating, it’s the most aggravating part about playing hard video games, however I was so secured, like a sax gamer in the middle of a Charlie Parker solo, that I didn’t mind that it took up of 40 attempts to not just determine the puzzle’s service however to then perform it.
Image: Ubisoft
Fight is similarly challenging and gratifying. As you advance, whatever from routine opponent battles to employer encounters need you to utilize every power Sargon needs to come through unharmed. Much like the platforming puzzles, you’re remembering attack patterns, reaching into your extensive toolbox for the ideal tool, then carrying out a complicated dance versus an employer that will penalize the hell out of you for being too greedy with damage. Throughout the video game, Sargon will make brand-new battle capabilities like a recovery wave or an effective thrust however while a few of them work for really particular encounters, I discovered that I had the ability to overlook every brand-new capability beyond the very first 2. They simply didn’t appear substantial or differed enough beyond “hit more difficult than typical” to require usage.
Image: Ubisof
Due to the fact that of the intricacy of puzzles and manager battles, yet the relative ease of utilizing your tools and weapons to conquer those barriers, The Lost Crown advises me more of a soulslike than a metroidvania. What’s asked of you, whether in a battle or a puzzle, never ever feels unreasonable or tiresome, however more like a progressive evaluation of your development. It seemed like the video game was stating “Okay, you’ve had your air dash capability for a while now, let’s see how successfully you can utilize it.” My preferred thing in computer game is when gameplay strengthens story, and if you integrate this concept that the video game is checking your proficiency of abilities with the real story of Sargon being a more recent, more youthful member of the Immortals excited to show himself, then The Lost Crown ends up being a video game in which you as a gamer seem like you’re growing together with Sargon.
Beyond buttery smooth platforming and elaborate battle, the most ingenious element of the video game is the map. Yes, the map. Of all, it’s enormous as hell. There are many locations to go and tricks to discover that even when you’re not heading towards the next story objective, anywhere you wind up you’re getting something — either currency to purchase tips or upgrade products or locket beauties that boost Sargon’s capabilities. Each location has an unique style that affects what kind of platform shenanigans you can anticipate. There’s a sand location that has waterfalls of sand push you through tight passages lined with insta-death spikes and in the cursed library area, you’ll need to utilize your bow-boomerang to sound bells that’ll expose concealed platforms.
Metroidvanias as a category can get laborious as hell if you do not understand where to go next with the powers you have. In The Lost CrownUbisoft has actually executed a signpost system where you can take screenshots of where you are, which are then pinned to their place on the video game’s map. Every time you get a brand-new power, you can review those screenshots to see if your brand-new toy opens a brand-new location. I enjoy these navigation systems, it truly reveals that Ubisoft is appreciating gamers’ time.
After in 2015’s excess of extensive, lengthy, however hella enjoyable smash hits, I desired something smaller sized and easier to invest my time on. With The Lost CrownUbisoft has actually taken a technically and mechanically simple formula– 2D sidescrolling metroidvania– and transformed it into something amazing both narratively and in gameplay.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown launches on Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on January 15th.