On Nintendo’s show floor at this year’s PAX Aus 2023 is a new upcoming title from a series that is getting a recent resurgence: Prince of Persia! While Ubisoft Montreal struggles to remake Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Ubisoft’s team in Montpellier are returning to the series’ 2D roots with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. We got to play a short demo of the beginning section of the game, and it feels smooth and rewarding.
The Lost Crown stars a new protagonist called Sargon, who travels to a cursed kingdom with a band of fellow warriors to rescue their kidnapped prince. At the start of the demo, the warriors split up in different directions and leave Sargon on his own, but some sassy dialogue between them makes me think we will see more of them in the full game.
Running around as Sargon feels easy and fluid, and his dual sword attacks have some real weight behind them when they strike, invoking a strong connection with the very first Prince of Persia from 1989. He can parry enemy attacks for massive damage with a dramatic animation, but it’s still decently hard and I died a handful of times during the demo length.
We spied a few references to the reversal of time, something that has been a staple of the series since Sands of Time. Sargon himself doesn’t have time powers, but the environment around him can be restored to a past point in time; crumbled statues can repair themselves to form platforms for Sargon to use. And of course, there’s a healthy number of spike traps and pit traps.
I thoroughly enjoyed what I played of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and will keenly await its release on 15 January 2024, on all consoles as well as PC.
About the Author
Edie W-K
she/her
If it isn't video games, Edie doesn't care about it. She's been playing games since the N64 era, and only spent enough time away from her 3DS to earn a Bachelor in Games Design from RMIT.
