When I first saw Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, I was cautious. This was a proper return to form for the series, going much further back than The Sands of Time era on PS2; a return to its early days as a side-scrolling action platformer. Sure, the reveal might've radiated a bit of "how do you do, fellow kids?" energy with its bizarre mix of rap and a traditional score, but I figured it wasn't going to leave a very strong impression on most people still hungry for its God of War-esque third-person approach. After playing the game, I couldn't have been more wrong.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is set in the prosperous kingdom of Persia under the protection of seven legendary warriors called the Immortals. The youngest among them, Sargon, wields two swords and carries an air of arrogance and snark. He's good and he proudly boasts about it, much to the sighs of his peers. One day, the Queen of Persia sends the Immortals on a mission to Mount Qaf to rescue the Prince, though there's a lot more going on in the Ancient City than they initially expected.

Sargon is a very interesting protagonist in that he's deeply flawed. His arrogance is his biggest weakness but as the journey goes on, dire situations quickly humble him.

The story is fairly straight-forward. Playing as Sargon, you'll have to power through the Ancient City in your efforts to locate and save the Prince, all while uncovering a greater conspiracy about the missing God of Time and Knowledge. The characters do a bulk of the heavy-lifting here. Sargon is a very interesting protagonist in that he's deeply flawed. His arrogance is his biggest weakness but as the journey goes on, dire situations quickly humble him. Seeing that character journey unfold makes Sargon a cut above your standard main character in an action game. Thankfully, he's backed up by the great supporting cast of the Immortals who have minor flaws that they're all trying to come to terms with, though don't expect anything Shakespearean in that department. This is Sargon's show and he steals it.



As you might've noticed, this isn't the same Prince of Persia from the PS2 era - the games that really boosted the franchise's popularity back in the day. This is a true return to the series' 2D side-scrolling platformer roots. However, it puts an interesting spin on the Metroidvania formula that I honestly didn't expect Ubisoft, of all companies, to innovate in. The world map is a sprawling, interconnected labyrinth of rooms with puzzles, traps, enemies and collectables to find, each interweaving in creative ways.

Like any good Metroidvania game, you're going to hit a lot of locked doors and unreachable obstacles in your first few hours, forcing you to come back at a later stage once you have what you need to progress. I usually start my Metroidvania playthroughs by aimlessly wandering around until things eventually start to make sense and click into place. That way, you're revisiting several locations but for a good purpose. It helps you properly visualise your surroundings and work out the semi open-world map in your head. Even though there's a handy overworld map that you can use, I found it best to simply get lost and explore until it all falls into place.



How Ubisoft cleverly innovates on this formula is with something called Memory Shards. These are collectable items that you can use to essentially snap-shot a photo of a location and save onto the world map, meaning you'll always have a visual reminder of where to return to and which powers you'll need to access those previously unreachable or locked spots. It's a small feature but one that goes a very long way once the map begins to open up and get a bit more complex.

This is a true return to the series' 2D side-scrolling platformer roots.

To that end, you can start the game either with Exploration or Guided mode enabled. Exploration mode essentially removes several map markers including quest markers and that's where memorising your surroundings comes in handy. Otherwise, you can opt for the Guided mode and have these markers placed on your HUD (including blocked paths) so you always know which direction to go or turn away from, making it a remarkably accessible Metroidvania game for newcomers to the genre perhaps put off by how challenging or confusing some of the other genre counterparts can be.



Along the way, you can activate checkpoints called Wak-Wak trees that let you save, manage your equipment and replenish your health. It's also a respawn point when you get a Game Over and trust me, you will (more on that in a bit). Apart from the main quest, you can also tackle side quests. Exploration works hand-in-hand with how you approach all of the quests in the game as side quests can be tackled along the way, and since your curiosity will naturally guide you to unlock more of the map, you're bound to check these objectives off in a very organic way. It's a pity that most side quests boil down to very standard fetch quests despite some character drama being presented by the NPCs, though the great rewards you obtain make the detours almost worth the trouble.

Speaking of NPCs, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown goes for quality over quantity. There are only a handful that you'll really get attached to but they're integral to Sargon's progression, both for his skill sets and as a character. Fariba is a girl that appears and occasionally drops hints about where to go or what to do next; the shopkeeper called 'The Mage' sells you an assortment of necessary items; and Kaheva is a blacksmith that can upgrade your weapons and amulets. Each interaction is delivered through text boxes and character art (like Hades), though the cinematic quality of the game never dips during its action-heavy moments, breaking away from that 'indie game' feel to let players know that they're still playing a very well-produced AAA action title.



Puzzles are dotted around the map and they're fine headscratchers if you enjoy figuring things out through platforming. At first, they're pretty simple, often requiring Sargon to move levers or push buttons but as the game progresses and new time-bending mechanics are introduced, it can become really tricky to coordinate and time your actions. Thankfully, the controls are superb and very responsive, letting you execute death-defying leaps and difficult jumps with pin-point precision.

I have never experienced action this finely tuned in a Metroidvania game before.

Getting into the meat of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, the side-scrolling platforming takes a backseat to the action, for better or worse. I have never experienced action this finely tuned in a Metroidvania game before. Most are certainly flashier and give you a bigger shot of adrenaline, but The Lost Crown favours agile movement above all else. You have your standard attacks with Sargon's dual blades but things become interesting as you have to take into account dodging, parrying and evading as well. You can't mindlessly mash the attack button and hope to deal enough damage - combat is a dance of all these movements, knowing when to attack, when to evade and when to strike with heavier abilities.



Most standard enemies can be dealt with pretty easily using the unga bunga method, but you'll often come across tougher foes like chimeras or armoured brutes that have clear weak points to exploit, either by successfully sliding under them to deal damage to their back or parrying flurries of attacks that cover your entire dodge zone. Bosses will absolutely annihilate careless players and this is where the challenge really ramps up. In true Metroidvania fashion, you'll probably fight many bosses at least half a dozen times like I did before getting the right pattern down. I wouldn't say it's a brutishly difficult ordeal but it does require some degree of skill from the player and a deep understanding of how to properly synergise all of Sargon's abilities in the moment.

Powerful abilities called Athra Surges come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and functionalities. Some give Sargon a sweeping lunge strike while others can create a healing zone, for example. They're all handy but you can only carry two of them at a time, so finding the right combination is often the key to a winning strategy. Without delving too deep into spoiler territory, you also unlock specific time powers that work in both combat and exploration. I wish Ubisoft got a little more creative with the time-bending mechanics as they're never as cool as The Sands of Time (or have much use outside of a few short-lived platforming sections), though they're also crucial to winning particularly tough fights.



Finally, there's Amulets. These typically grant Sargon additional powers like slowing enemies down on perfect parries, regaining health from downed foes or increasing the hits of a combo. You gradually unlock more Amulet slots as you progress and there are dozens of them to find, letting you really mix and match abilities to find the right combination for your playstyle. I adored this level of customisation. It's not unique to The Lost Crown but Ubisoft really went above and beyond to let players experiment and that's commendable.

The overall presentation - clearly taking notes from Hades and its own classic roots - is also top-notch, giving The Lost Crown an outstanding animated style that's hard not to love.

Over on the technical side, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is magnificent. It runs at a buttery smooth 60fps on PS5 and rarely, if at all, hits framerate hiccups. The sound design is also excellent and the score by composers Mentrix and Gareth Coker deserves an honourable mention, combining traditional epic orchestra with modern electronic beats and a touch of classic Persian instrumentals to top it off. The overall presentation - clearly taking notes from Hades and its own classic roots - is also top-notch, giving The Lost Crown an outstanding animated style that's hard not to love.



Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a crowning achievement for Ubisoft and its best game in years. It's inspired without being derivative and innovative for the Metroidvania genre, which is an absolutely wild thing to say. Yes, there's still a longing for the PS2 era of Prince of Persia to return but The Lost Crown makes a very compelling argument for why the side-scrolling format not only still works for the franchise, but can be built upon to very successful degrees. If this is the future for Prince of Persia, I welcome it with open arms.



*PS5 Review code provided by Ubisoft