Review: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Sitting down to write this review, I could barely believe Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the first new entry in the Prince of Persia franchise in 13 years. After both considering my time with this game and the rich history the series has enjoyed until now, I had to remind myself why that is.
Jordan Mechner’s original Prince of Persia pioneered the cinematic platformer genre back in 1989, and Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was a critical darling back in 2003. There’s so much potential to draw from between those entries, yet regardless, the series floundered. The last entry in the series, The Forgotten Sands, didn’t exactly light the world on fire. And while the Sands of Time movie was well received at the time (except by Destructoid), it didn’t seem to have any cultural staying power either. After that point, Ubisoft appeared to focus on the Assassin’s Creed series and put Prince of Persia on the back burner.
This puts Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown in an interesting spot. It’s both a return to the series’ 2D roots and, simultaneously, a reimagining of this universe as a Metroidvania. I’ll admit, it seems like an odd pivot on the surface. But after finishing the game and putting over 20 hours into exploring Mount Qaf, solving puzzles, and fighting epic bosses, I think this was the right choice. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown feels like it puts the franchise back in a good direction, and can stand on its own as one of the better Prince of Persia titles in the series canon.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (PC, PS5[reviewed], Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: January 18, 2024
MSRP: $49.99
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown puts players in the role of Sargon, a
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