Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown review — 2024’s first must-play
11.01.2024 - 17:23
/ venturebeat.com
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I love Metroidvanias. It’s the genre of video game that I’m probably thinking about the most. There’s just something about that combination of 2D platforming, action and exploration that speaks to me.
In my head, I often organize my own personal “best Metroidvanias ever” list. It of course includes the standard bearers, Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (along with other games from those series). Then there’s the modern classics, games like the Ori series and Hollow Knight that have taken the formula and made them interesting with new mechanics and art styles.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown belongs in that latter group. Ubisoft Montpellier has created one of the best Metroidvanias ever, one that can stand up to the legacy of the genre founders and the modern masterpieces.
The Lost Crown launches on January 18 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. I played the Switch version.
I alluded to it earlier, but there are three important keys to a good Metroidvania: platforming, action, and exploration. Let’s talk about platforming first. From the start, Prince of Persia feels smooth and precise. Just the normal running and jumping control flawlessly — same goes for the wonderful wall-jumping (and, man, do I love me some good wall-jumping).
And then you get a steady stream of new maneuvers that make you faster, more agile and help you reach new heights. Of course, some of these are predictable, like a double jump. Others are wildly creative, like a chakram that you can throw and, eventually, teleport straight to.
Combat feels just as good. In fact, while other Metroidvanias might match The Lost Crown’s platforming excellence, I can’t think of one that features better fighting. You attack enemies with different sword combos that can get surprisingly complex. You can also juggle many enemies in the air, giving you the ability to extend combos to ridiculous lengths.
Prince of Persia also has a parrying system. For some attacks, this will just put an enemy off their guard for a moment and give the chance to counterattack. But parrying some attacks will have you instantly kill an enemy or deal a bunch of damage to a boss.
Oh, and speaking of bosses, dang they are good here. You can’t just spam attacks and tank damage. You have to deftly dodge and parry bosses while using your full kits of abilities.
Now, let’s talk about exploration. There’s a lot to see. This is one of the bigger Metroidvania maps you’ll ever see. It’s not quite Hollow Knight huge, but it is on the bigger side for the genre. It took me about 15 hours to beat the game