It is never easy to revive a myth. This is in a way the difficult task that Ubisoft Montpellier has tackled by bringing life back to Prince of Persia, 13 years after the last episode. AND the lost crownjust announced at the Summer Gamer Fest conference, it might even have been a poisoned gift to the studio, three years after the announcement of a remake of prince of persia the forgotten sands (2010) highly anticipated.
But the prince’s return was nevertheless made through the front door, in the form of a pleasant surprise. It must be said that he has nothing to do with his predecessor, neither physically nor in his history, and less in his visual approach. However, this new opus feels like a return to basics with a game that is certainly more modern in its graphical approach than 2D anime.
Respect heritage and DNA
The exploration, the platform game, the combat and the puzzle aspect thus recover their rights in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownas well as with the power of time reinforced here (the ability to go back), and even given to the main enemy.
The game thus revives its lateral tracking of the hero’s evolution, as in its beginnings in 1989. And adds to this a serious touch of modernity, what Abdelhak Elguess calls “team influences” such as comics and anime that mark the game. graphically.
To address “this monster of video games” without distorting it, Ubisoft Montpellier has assumed the codes “with great humility”, while putting the leg on it. This already implies a strong narrative, with a hero who now has a name, Sargon, a young member of an elite group of warriors called The Immortals who must protect Mount Qaf, land of the gods of time. The queen’s son is kidnapped, so Sargon and his family set out to free him at the cost of many dangers and enemies to defeat.
A game full of Persian mythology where the question of personal development, the links with his brothers in arms and his family makes the hero think and move forward. The past and the future also collide and influence each other, while the narrative will be especially followed by the repercussions of his choices in the story.
A very attractive game
We were able to address the beginning of the game, beyond Chapter 3, when Sargon and the Immortals arrive at a palace, the iconic playground of the franchise. Prince of Persia. The hero finds himself alone to have to inspect the place, armed with his two sabers and his bow. And he will do it by jumping all over the place, over a wall like a leaf that lifts him higher once he returns to a leafy garden. Old fashioned platform game the lost crown it does not tolerate jumping and jumping and sometimes you have to think carefully about your approach to find the mechanism to unlock, the right moment to pass.
We explore with pleasure this new place beautifully created -and beautifully set to music-, but populated by creatures to be shamelessly eliminated thanks to a panoply of movements (saber, bow, slide to get behind the enemy, dodge, etc.) and a super power of fury or healing to unlock by chaining the blows. And by collecting charms, you can customize your attack or defense strategy to your liking.
And if you’ve already played the previous episodes, especially the first side-scrolling ones, you’ll almost instinctively find your reflexes, not looking for the 3D depth that’s visually very present in this beautiful rendering of Persia, but doesn’t exist in the game. You always have to climb. down the catwalks, progress, avoid the sharp rollers, hang from the poles or slide down the walls avoiding the spikes.
The older ones will taste it with pleasure, quickly forgetting that the hero has an unusual aspect of a young puncher, a bit arrogant in his way of wanting to do everything and rebel against everything. A promising Proust madeleine that should also seduce the youngest who are not familiar with the license with its graphic style in its time.
A Switch version for a younger audience
He has already been able to seduce Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia, who exchanged a lot with the new team. “He told us a phrase that was super important to us: ‘I feel like you’re doing it with this.’ Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown what we did with The sands of time (2003, editor’s note), that is, a new twist at some point,'” Abdelhak Elguess proudly recalls.
The game will also be available on Nintendo Switch and the port seems to be a great success. We were able to redo the same sequence of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and this one even seemed to us at times more fluid and easy in the controls. Ubisoft decided to draw a game that runs at 60 frames per second precisely to make Sargon’s movements, his attacks, more intuitive and fluid on the screen. Getting started is easy and the game even feels like it was made for the small handheld console. And it might not be the only title in the revival. At Ubisoft Montpellier we do not hide that, if you emulate it, “there could be opportunities to reflect on many things.”
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – Available January 18, 2024 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X⎜S, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Source: BFM TV
