Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an excellent Metroidvania – Review

 

Prince of Persia is back after a long and heart-wrenching absence. But it’s not the The Sands of Time remake that has been promised for years now. Nah, this is a whole new Prince of Persia in 2.5D, a smaller project from developer Ubisoft Montpellier and proof that Ubisoft can still produce some fantastic games.…

Prince of Persia is making a comeback after a long and agonizing hiatus, but it’s not the long-awaited remake of The Sands of Time. Instead, we’re getting a fresh take on the series with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a 2.5D game from Ubisoft Montpellier that demonstrates Ubisoft's continued ability to deliver impressive titles. This new installment is a fantastic Metroidvania experience, boasting striking visuals and engaging gameplay, and proving there’s still plenty of life left in the series. While the story may be somewhat lacking and the game a bit longer than necessary, The Lost Crown still stands out as an excellent game

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In a departure from the series' tradition, you don’t play as the iconic Prince of Persia. Instead, you take on the role of Sargon, the youngest member of the Immortals, an elite Persian squad led by Vahram. The prince is kidnapped early on by Sargon’s mentor and taken to the enigmatic Mount Qaf—a once-thriving city now in ruins where time behaves unusually. Sargon and his team embark on a quest to rescue the prince, navigating the perilous and intricate landscape of Mount Qaf, filled with challenging traps and enemies.

Truthfully, there’s not a whole lot going on in the story outside of a few dramatic twists and turns that fall flat, largely because the game never bothers to properly explore the characters enough to make them impactful. But it’s fun enough and a decent excuse to romp through the world which seems to sprout whole new spaghetti-like layouts every time you amble through a door. I did appreciate the anime-esque influences, though, with numerous moments where characters dramatically pose and power up like they are going to go full Super-Saiyan on your ass. It adds a little flair to the otherwise forgettable drama.

Sargon is a joy to control in his 2.5D world, which is crucial given that many of the platforming sections demand precise timing and accuracy. Once you’ve unlocked all the traversal abilities hidden like treats behind advent calendar doors—such as the essential double-jump—you’ll navigate through rooms without touching the floor, chaining wall jumps, mid-air dashes, and grappling points like a Parkour expert. The tight controls ensure that, while these intricately designed sections can be challenging, it never feels like the game is failing to keep up or respond as you intend.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown features some brilliantly crafted platforming challenges. Some sections test your pure dexterity, while others require memorization and practice. Both types are deeply satisfying to overcome, often leaving me breathless and on edge as I narrowly completed a tricky sequence or solved the final piece of a parkour puzzle. The gameplay provides intense, controller-gripping moments that had me on the edge of my seat, thoroughly enjoying the challenge—even if I occasionally needed a break to avoid the temptation of hurling my controller across the room.

Speaking of which, the puzzles tend to be less enjoyable, albeit a lot less frequent. Most of them are built around Sargon’s agility and his growing collection of Simurgh powers. For example, one sequence involves standing on a button to activate time loops and then figuring out what you need to do in each loop, like standing on a particular switch or dropping a clone down to teleport to later. In these moments, the solution itself is typically fairly straightforward, but the execution can be the sticking point as they require exacting platforming. That can lead to moments where you’ve already figured out the puzzle and are stuck repeating the solution a few times because the timing is difficult to nail. But it’s important to know that while the puzzles are probably the weakest of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s three core gameplay pillars, they are still solidly designed and fun to figure out.

All of Sargon’s prowess in parkour feeds directly into the combat system as well. Wielding his trusty blades Qays and Layla, he’s got a basic combo, a powerful charged attack plus the ability to launch smaller foes into the air, follow them up and smack ’em around a little more. It feels weighty and crunchy to pull off even these basic moves, and it’s augmented by the special Athra moves controlled by a meter.

The enemies in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown are no pushovers; they actively fight back, interrupting your moves and forcing you to rely heavily on dodging and parrying. Thanks to the excellent controls, with a bit of practice you can maneuver skillfully around the map and defeat foes without taking a hit. The combat feels satisfying, especially when you’re smacking skeletons, assassins, and bizarre bird monsters, sometimes sending them into environmental traps.

 Boss battles, however, are where the game truly shines. These encounters are some of the most exciting and challenging moments in The Lost Crown, featuring a series of formidable bosses. Whether you're facing an undead king, a lion-manticore hybrid, or a frenzied woman on a wolf, the gameplay may not be groundbreaking—screen-filling attacks, repeated patterns, and boss-specific tricks are familiar elements. Yet, Prince of Persia executes these encounters flawlessly. The battles are intense, often very tough, and immensely satisfying once you master the bosses' moves and take them down. These fights are among the highlights of the game and nearly worth the price of admission on their own if you’re a fan of challenging combat.

 Additionally, you can collect various amulets while exploring the ruins of Mount Qaf, which can be equipped to suit your playstyle. By the end, I favored a combination of amulets that enhanced my blocking abilities, with each successful block and parry replenishing my health and Athra resources. Although you can upgrade some gear and trinkets for stat boosts, the amulets had a more significant impact on how I approached the game.

A Metroidvania thrives on having a captivating world to explore, one that gradually unveils its secrets and new areas as players gain abilities to access previously unreachable zones. Mount Qaf in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a stunning example of this, featuring diverse environments from murky sewers to an awe-inspiring section where a pirate battle is frozen in time. The world is richly designed and reveals an impressive array of new areas. While basic abilities like dashing and double-jumping help you navigate tricky platforms, more unique skills like phasing between dimensions and throwing a discus add an adventurous touch.

 

However, The Lost Crown might benefit from a bit of trimming. The main story takes around 16 hours to complete, with an additional 4-6 hours for optional side quests. By the tenth hour, I started to feel that the game was stretching itself out rather than offering fresh and engaging content. Each new objective seemed to unlock another section of the map, and I found myself sighing at the sight of yet more interconnected routes. A more streamlined 12-14 hour experience might have been more satisfying.

 This issue partly stems from how long the game keeps you with only Sargon’s basic skills before gradually introducing new powers. Metroidvania games need to strike a balance: players should have enough time to master each new ability without feeling like they’re just waiting for the next skill to appear. The Lost Crown doesn’t quite achieve this balance, leaving a bit of room for improvement in its pacing.

 

Regarding the map, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown includes a couple of quality-of-life features that I found very useful. You can take a snapshot at any time, which gets pinned to the map, making it easier to track chests you can't yet access or areas that may require a specific skill you don’t have. Additionally, you can place various icons on the map, which helps create a shorthand system for tracking important

 

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a joy to play and marks a welcome return for a series that has been absent for too long, even though it differs significantly from its fully 3D predecessors. While a weaker story and some pacing issues prevent it from reaching the very top of the Metroidvania genre and competing with titles like Hollow Knight, it still ranks highly and is a fantastic start to the year. It could even make it into the top 10.

 

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