Certainly one of my favourite online game sequence as a child was Prince of Persia, particularly the 3D iterations corresponding to Sands of Time and Warrior Inside. I used to be skeptical when Ubisoft introduced it might revive the long-lost franchise 14 years after the final most important installment right into a 2.5D facet scroller, a formulation just like the older Prince of Persias of the 90s.
After getting my arms on the brand new Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown and taking part in by its 30-hour story, I can confidently say that I like Ubisoft’s path right here and genuinely hope we get a sequel with the identical construction and format.
The newest installment of the hit franchise is an epic Metroidvania that accommodates all of the bells and whistles to compete with the likes of Hole Knight and Metroid Dread, among the finest within the style, the place it surpasses them in fight and world design. It’s that good. It is smart why it’s so unbelievable in case you do not forget that the sport is developed by the Montpellier division of Ubisoft, the group that created among the best platformers ever made — Rayman Legends. The builders take all of the platforming expertise they’ve garnered from that legendary sport and put it in The Misplaced Crown to create an journey that’s nothing wanting wonderful.
Story – A Charming Story of Thriller and Deception
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Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown places you within the sneakers of Sargon, a member of the elite group of warriors known as the Immortals. The Immortal’s goal is to guard the dominion of Persia by the orders of Queen Thomyris, which all seven members have been profitable at resulting from their distinctive fight talents. Nearly all of The Misplaced Crown’s plot focuses on one of the crucial essential missions for the Immortals — rescuing the Prince of Persia, who has been kidnapped from the dominion. This leads Sargon and the others to Mount Qaf, an uncommon place the place time doesn’t comply with its pure circulate.
Upon arrival at Mount Qaf, the Immortals cut up as much as cowl extra floor, main you (Sargon) by yourself to begin exploring Mount Qaf and uncovering all of the mysteries the unusual place entails. That is the place your journey formally begins by an intricate, complicated map that nails the Metroidvania model flawlessly. As you progress by the map, you’ll encounter your Immortal buddies and facet characters that push the story additional, detailing the lore of Mount Qaf and throwing twists that you just received’t see coming.
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Total, I used to be pleasantly stunned at how partaking it was to unravel the story of Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown. The actors voice the characters so effectively, every bringing their A-game, turning them to life, and including a sure attraction to the world you solely see in side-scroller video games. Don’t be fooled; this can be a full-scale story, not an afterthought, and I feel gamers can be pleasantly stunned to see a lot ardour has gone into the brand new chapter of the beloved sequence.
Fight – An Exhilarating Romp That Calls for Fast Pondering
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The fight in Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown has stunning depth and consists of two swords, a bow, Time Powers, and Athra Surges — every working collectively in excellent concord. Athra Surges are distinctive talents that may both heal you or deal important injury, and you’ll have two geared up at a time. As you progress by the sport, you’ll unlock extra Athra Surges that you could combine and match to create a construct that works for you, opening up loads of prospects for creativity. In different phrases, there’s a good quantity of freedom to customise your moveset, including replayability and various kinds of playstyles.
Add on Time Powers, and you’ll pull off an entire array of combos in battles and boss encounters. For instance, there may be one explicit boss that shoots a stream of fireside out of its mouth, the place you should utilize your “Shadow of the Simurgh” energy to position a “shadow” of your self earlier than the road of fireside and activate it to finish up on the other facet of the fireplace, saving you from taking any injury. This is only one of many examples you’ll be able to execute in fight, making for intense encounters that require you to suppose in your ft. Every enemy has a definite moveset, just like a Soulslike, the place you have to study their moveset or else you’ll meet your demise.
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You may inform that every fight encounter is hand-crafted by the group at Ubisoft Montpellier, and no enemies are procedurally generated or randomly positioned. You may inform that is true by how effectively every encounter works. There are all the time methods to outsmart the group of enemies with Time Powers, pull off insane combos, and activate an incredible-looking, quick anime-style cutscene once you execute a “excellent parry” signaled by a daring yellow circle. The entire fight mechanics match collectively so completely that you could’t assist however be hooked on the fluidity of all of it.
Platforming and Exploration – Metroidvania at its Most interesting
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Talking of fluidity, who would have thought Prince of Persia would work extremely effectively within the Metroidvania format? I’ve performed loads of the heavy hitters within the style, and sure, most of them are unbelievable, however I merely had essentially the most enjoyable taking part in by The Misplaced Crown’s world design and map format. The significance of backtracking and exploration is on full show, with each biome interconnecting so flawlessly, making you suppose that Ubisoft Montpellier has been creating video games on this style for years. However, no, that is the developer’s first try, they usually have completely crushed it.
Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown features a new concept for the style and pushes it ahead by including the Reminiscence Shards mechanic. Reminiscence Shards is an excellent addition that means that you can take an in-game screenshot of a location on the map, particularly for areas you’ll be able to’t attain but, permitting you to refer again to it when the time comes. This characteristic alone removes the tediousness of looking in all places on the map to seek out the place to go subsequent, eradicating the frustration that Metroidvanias can generally create. Reminiscence Shards are an innovation on the developer’s half, and I genuinely imagine they need to be a staple within the style resulting from how useful they’re.
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As you discover the labyrinthine halls of Mount Qaf, you’ll discover the most recent Prince of Persia sticks to its roots by together with top-notch platforming, just like the older entries. Whereas not all of it’s extremely tough, you’ll discover within the later half of the sport that platforming sections get so complicated that it might take your whole well being bar, plus your entire potions, to make it on the opposite facet and declare the reward. Platforming in The Misplaced Crown requires endurance and exact timing, making it oh-so satisfying once you succeed.
Most of my platforming in Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown went like this: swinging between poles, inching by bladed partitions, and teleporting to a field that disappears in a second. Oh, and now I’ve to wall bounce 4 occasions afterward to make it to the bottom flooring. Oh wow, now the bottom flooring isn’t stable, and I’ve to solidify it by utilizing my Clairvoyance time energy to stop me from falling to my dying. Platforming begins to really feel like a rhythm sport, the place your goal is to remain on beat. It turns into extraordinarily difficult in one of the simplest ways attainable, really rewarding you on your fast reflexes and choreographed button inputs.
Verdict
Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown is an outstanding Metroidvania that reignites the franchise in thrilling methods and solely will get higher the longer you play it. Meticulously crafted platforming blended with exhilarating fight makes for a sport that’s almost unimaginable to place down. Outdoors of the pure enjoyable the sport brings, there’s additionally a fascinating story and well-voice-acted characters that add to the expertise, making Mount Qaf really feel extra alive.
As a large fan of the long-lost sequence, I initially wished a full-scale 3D entry just like the hits we received again within the 2000s. After taking part in by the most recent installment, I’d wish to backtrack that assertion. I not solely love the path Ubisoft took right here but additionally admittedly imagine this must be the way forward for the sequence. Credit score the place credit score is due: Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown is Ubisoft’s finest sport in years.
This sport was reviewed utilizing a duplicate of the sport supplied by the sport’s writer,public relations firm, developer or different for the categorical objective of a assessment.
– This text was up to date on January eleventh, 2024