A remarkably well rounded Metroidvania, The Lost Crown stands as one of the best games of 2024
What Is It? Prince of Persia is a long running action adventure series dating back to the ‘80s. The initial games were popular at the time and the early 2000’s trilogy (The Sands of Time/Warrior Within/The Two Thrones) was likely the series’s popular and critical peak. The franchise inexplicitly received no traditional entries for nearly 15 years before The Lost Crown (2020 did see a VR escape room game). For all of the building anticipation over the series’s return, it was curious that Ubisoft decided a relatively low-key 2D Metroidvania would be the best way to reintroduce the world to PoP.
The Lost Crown does not have you playing as the prince, but rather as Sargon, a young member of a group of warriors sworn to protect the crown. Things quickly go astray as Sargon and the other warriors find themselves trapped in Mount Qaf in an attempt to rescue the captured prince.
The gameplay here is pure 2D Metroidvania to the fullest. There are three key aspects; exploration/progression, combat, and platforming.
Exploration is handled like most other Metroidvania: technically, the entire map is open from the start, but you will need to head off in certain directions to gain abilities which allow you to reach other sections. Repeat this for a while until you’ve seen the whole map. The game uses these skill unlocks wisely, with the vast majority of them being integral to your traversal and/or combat from the moment you gain them with the traversal areas, in particular, forcing you to use new abilities repeatedly throughout the game.
The combat is heavy and satisfying, placing emphasis on developing your parry timing in order to open up enemies for big damage by freezing them. Enemies are tough; I died a lot. Each new area presents new enemy types and it always took me a while to adjust to their patterns. It is a game where just about any enemy can kill you if you let your guard down. You will get a variety of abilities to help you fight, either directly through upgraded/new weapons or through traversal abilities which you will leverage to avoid danger in combat, the latter being an absolute necessity in the tough boss fights.
Traversal and platforming is every bit as good as combat. As you unlock new skills you will start having to chain them together to reach new areas. By the end of the game you will, by necessity, be pulling off some wild platforming combos. The game is, thankfully, forgiving with environmental deaths, only taking a bit of health and putting you back on the last solid ground you touched.
In addition to the core game, there are extremely challenging skill trials and a well-received DLC to add to the fun.
The Best Part: How well rounded the game is. Most Metroidvanias, in my experience, tend to lean into either combat or platforming aspects. The Lost Crown is perhaps the best example I’ve ever seen of doing both of those things really, really well. Every fight is fun and the traversal puzzles are a joy. It’s rare to see any game do either of these aspects as well as The Lost Crown does them, let alone both.
The Worst Part: The length. I loved this game so complaining about there being too much of it is certainly an odd stance, but I just don’t think Metroidvanias, or 2D action platformers in general, need to clock in at nearly 20 hours for the first playthrough. Most of this is due to how massive the map is. It is certainly packed full of fun areas, but I couldn’t help but think that some areas could have been trimmed without detracting from the overall experience.
The Verdict: This is one of the best all-around Metroidvanias that I have ever played. I’ve been slightly obsessed with the genre for a few years now and I was not expecting Ubisoft to deliver a title this strong. If you are a fan of Metroidvanias or 2D action platformers, give Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown a try. It’s an Ubisoft game, so you know it will be on sale every few weeks.
How to Play: PS4/5, XSS/X, Switch, PC, MacOS
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