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Fast Facts

“So this is it, what is written in the timeline cannot be changed.”

Ubisoft has been one of my favourite game developers in the gaming industry, from all their amazing franchises including a few of my favourites being Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Watch Dogs. They have made remarkable games that have built a huge fan base across all platforms. Whilst also being one of the best in the industry, they have brought back a classic but in a much different style and look to what original fans are used to. Honestly what a refreshing way to return a fan-favourite franchise, rebuilding what we knew into something bigger and more creative. This is Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.

So, for those who are unaware of the franchise Prince of Persia, it has a very similar style to the Assassin’s Creed games, with different incarnations of the prince, who is never referred to as just one character, but is the name given to any of the main protagonists in the series – like Assassin’s Creed’s different incarnations of the assassins. The games are set in ancient and medieval Persia, but when it comes to the newest instalment of Prince of Persia you do not truly need to have played the past games. This is a brand-new adventure surrounding a new character, a new style, and a new original story by Ubisoft so don’t fret to play the past instalments of the series.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has a few different difficulty settings from easy, to impossible, and even a custom difficulty where you can choose how difficult the game is to your liking so anyone can enjoy their playthrough. Like most Ubisoft games, there are two modes for navigating the map such as Guided, this shows you where you need to go, and Exploration which is based on clues and exploring to find your objective – and trust me this is a huge map for a platformer. Depending on how you like to play the choices are there for you to decide.

“I am the Prince of Persia, and the King of Blades”

Story

Welcome to Persepolis, an ancient city in Persia where you play as an Immortal named Sargon, who has been sent to protect the people of Persepolis and the royal family against the Kushan General Uvishka and his soldiers who have invaded Persepolis. Sargon and his fellow Immortals must fight to protect Persepolis and after a well-fought boss fight against the general, the Kushan are defeated. Sargon and the Immortals are victorious and Sargon is rewarded by the Queen of Persia, Thomyris, and Prince Ghassan with a royal sash.

The leader of the Immortals (Vahram) tells Sargon to meet up with the rest of the Immortals on the roof when you run into your mentor (Anahita), and after some dialogue, you proceed to the roof and meet up with the rest of the team (Orod, Menolias, Neith, and Artaban). After a brief cutscene you are interrupted by Radjen, another Immortal who has informed the rest of the Immortals that Prince Ghassan has been kidnapped and this is where the story gets very interesting. Now, I would love to go into detail about what happens next but that would be spoiling a huge part of the story and game and honestly, it took me completely off guard – so again, sorry but no spoilers!

The Queen tasks you and the Immortals to leave for Mount Qaf in search of Prince Ghassan and to return him safe and sound. Simple right… Is it though? Is it really that simple? Nope, not even close, but my goodness is this game full of action, adventure, and a suspenseful story – you’re in for a ride. You will find two types of missions when playing Prince of Persia, you will have your main quests, which will help progress the campaign and then you will come across characters throughout who offer side quests, you can pick and choose if you want to accept or decline but I highly recommend as you will need a lot of what they are offering in the story later on.

“You had your chance to take me, you won’t get another!”

Combat and Enemies

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a very Metroidvania platformer where you will need to focus when it comes to combat. This isn’t just an action game where you swing Sargon’s signature dual swords (Qays and Layla) and hope you come out victorious. No, this is a lot more complicated than that. You have many ways of defeating your enemies, I would recommend timing your combos accurately and using the dodge and parry mechanic when you can as the enemies are unforgiving in Prince of Persia and will go out of their way to kill you given the chance.

A tip – if you see them flash red dodge or slide, don’t try to parry this move as it cannot be blocked or parried, and the damage that is done will leave you with only one bar of health or an instant death. Yellow flashing is a move that can be parried, and this will cause an awesome special move that will pretty much defeat your opponent instantly more or less. You can acquire, as you progress through the game, the Bow of Menolias – not very powerful but it will help you hit targets that are too far away or for those pesky flying enemies that are just too quick for combat.

Throughout the game you will learn new skills referred to as Athra, a sacred energy that burns in every living being which also creates a special move that you can use in combat. This will build up as you defeat enemies, and, if for any unfortunate event, you are killed your Athra will dispel – that includes every time you take damage so keep your eye on the enemies’ actions.

Once your Athra gauge is filled, you can activate a powerful attack – such as Verethragna’s Smite – which makes Sargon rush toward enemies or an enemy with a piercing strike that will shatter all defences but can only be triggered from the ground. There are a lot of different special moves you can unlock throughout the game and each one has a cooldown period before you can use it again. This is a Level 1 Athra, and as you progress you will find stronger Athra powers from Level 2 and Level 3.

Each enemy in this adventure is unique, you will not find a single enemy that is similar in any way, they all have their own looks and moves – including the bosses that you will face – and I will not lie to you, this game is not easy. I have had to memorise some of the boss battles moves just to beat them. I would recommend saving when you can and upgrading as well, you do not want to have to redo an hour’s worth of gameplay because you never reached a checkpoint. Keep an eye out for Wak Wak trees as these are your save points and checkpoints, and they will also restore your energy, arrows, health, and health potions. Wak Wak trees are also where you can change your Athra moves and amulets.

“Most people think time is like a river that flows swift and sure in one direction.”

Exploration, Items, and Upgrading

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a huge game and an even bigger open world where exploring is extremely important, I have spent hours exploring Mount Qaf and I mean hours.  You will come across a lot of different locations, that have their unique look and feel. You will find items that are rather referred to as quest items or lore items which will also give you a bit of background information regarding the story of Prince of Persia.

There are many collectibles to find in the world, some easy to get to and some not. One main mechanic of the Prince of Persia games is Parkour, you will need to run, climb, jump, swing, and wall jump to get to different parts of the world, and this makes it easy yet sometimes hard when trying to reach that one item you’ve got your eye on. If for example, you are unable to reach a collectible or chest you can use your memory shards that will leave a marker on the map and a photo of the location so that you can return to it later when you have the skill you need to reach it. This was a very helpful mechanic and helped me so many times when it came to collecting everything.

There are a few different items you will come across whilst exploring. The first will be chests which will have a very valuable metal ingot called Azure Damascus, which is used for upgrading your weapons and making them stronger. Xerxes are very hard to find gold coins that can be used when buying or upgrading Sargon’s weapons and skills, these can also be used to buy from the depths of the citadel. They are extremely hard to find, so do not waste them. You will also find lots of lore and backstory around the map surrounding the story of King Darius and the gods of the citadel and Mount Qaf.

As you explore you will also come across Time Crystals which are found from defeating enemies or breaking items or larger crystals around the world. This is the currency for buying items and upgrading your amulets. Sargon can collect Amulets, which are used for many things such as making your weapons slightly more powerful or giving you a boost with health and energy. If you own the deluxe edition, you can get an amulet that will spawn a bird that whistles near collectibles or valuable items, this is unbelievably a time saver, and could not recommend it any more than I am now.

You can also collect amulet slots that will give you more space for better amulets as some take 3 slots. You can upgrade Sargon’s blades and bow at the blacksmith’s Goddess Kaheva’s forge. If you start to get lost and you run into Fariba, she will give you a hint for 30-time crystals or buy a mapping that she adds to your eye of the wanderer. This is your map for a cost of 50-time crystals, so you can see how much of the map you haven’t explored yet, being something I have used every time I ran into her.

Graphics, Sound, and Voice Acting

“Father, I have brought us honour and glory.”

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has one of the most beautifully designed worlds I have ever seen in a platformer. Every location is different, with different environments and world elements – even the enemies in each location. One of the locations that really stood out for me and honestly felt like I was playing a horror game was the Depths of the Citadel, so dark and creepy with creatures coming out of the walls… Gave me a few jump scares when I didn’t expect it!

The music changes depending on where you are in the world, which also fits the location you are exploring from slow and calming to quick and fast-paced – just to fit every scenario, it was so well done. The voice actors of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown did an amazing job when bringing the characters to life, especially for a game that wasn’t a third-person narrative. You connect with Sargon throughout the story, learning about his path and feeling his emotions through both the dialogue and the cutscenes and watching his relationships with the other characters build.

Final Thoughts

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was a very different game than I was used to, with the originals being a third-person action-adventure. This was something entirely different, and yet I loved every minute of it. I must admit I had a few moments of rage when fighting a boss but that comes with the territory when playing this kind of genre, but a few retries later I finally got through it. Ubisoft has always been a favourite of mine when it comes to playing their games and when I first saw Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown I didn’t think I would enjoy it but I was hugely mistaken! This was a welcomed revival for such a nostalgic franchise and it gives a lot of hope to what Ubisoft will create next.

Rapid Reviews Rating

You can buy Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown in the PlayStation store