I was also pleasantly surprised by the quality of The Lost Crown’s combat. Even the best Metroidvania games can sometimes treat combat as a simple extension of the largely progression-based abilities you acquire along the way. The Lost Crown initially emphasizes a seemingly simple “parry and combo” 2D combat system that feels fundamentally satisfying to execute perfectly yet becomes surprisingly complex once you add enhanced abilities (and the enemies that demand them) to the mix. 

Crucially, that rhythmic combat system works in harmony with the game’s wonderfully smooth platforming and navigation elements. Nothing makes you feel more like the hero the game casts you as than dashing over a spike trap, bouncing off a nearby wall, and cutting your way through a nearby enemy without ever having to sacrifice significant momentum. In a game that often requires you to figure out where to go next, you can’t overstate the value of having the time spent outside of map screens be this engaging. 

Yet, I continuously found myself more impressed with The Lost Crown’s ability to deliver such a fundamentally satisfying Metroidvania experience rather than anything revolutionary the game does. That may sound like a backhanded compliment, but it’s not. From the moment that The Lost Crown was revealed, a shocking amount of gamers reacted negatively to its very existence. Some felt that it looked like a cheap indie game cash-in on a famous name, while others argued that Ubisoft should have invested the resources that went into this project into that struggling Sands of Time remake or an entirely new Triple-A game in that style. It’s honestly kind of shocking that they didn’t given the company’s recent history. 

What matters more than what anyone else wanted, though, is that this is the game that developer Ubisoft Montpellier was not only capable of making but clearly wanted to make. You can see their passion in every frame of animation, background detail, enemy design, and item function that is so much more creative than it ever needed to be to simply be functional. There were times when I swore I could practically hear the exclamations of glee that surely preceded the creation of one of the game’s many surprising moments or wonderfully inspired pieces of world design.

That’s what makes The Lost Crown a true Prince of Persia game. Once upon a time, The Prince of Persia made a name for itself by tapping into our desire to embark upon a certain kind of mythical adventure in ways that few other titles quite could. The evolution of the medium has made it difficult for any game of that style to feel quite so revolutionary again but Ubisoft Montpellier’s contagious passion for this project will undoubtedly awaken your own spirit of adventure in ways that no Prince of Persia project has in the last 20 years. The Lost Crown may not look or play like a traditional Prince of Persia game, but it certainly makes us feel like the best games in that franchise have long aspired to make us feel. 

More than just a return to form for Prince of Persia, the Lost Crown also feels like a pleasant detour into greatness for publisher Ubisoft. In recent years, that company has slowly challenged EA as the foremost name in major video game publishers who churn out regular installments in increasingly formulaic franchises that are often plagued by greed. Once upon a time, though, Ubisoft was known as one of the most reliable sources for fundamentally well-made original experiences and franchise continuations that respected the heart of their series’ identities while exploring new ideas. The Lost Crown feels like an all-too-rare example of the latter that Ubisoft has delivered in recent years. 

Danofgeek