Prince of persia: the lost crown demo preview
Ubisoft recently released a demo for their upcoming 2D Metroidvania style title, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, to let players get a small taste of what will be coming when full the game releases on January 18th. I played the demo for about an hour and walked away excited but not blown away by what I had experienced. This isn’t a knock on the game at all, as my less enthusiastic feelings stem from the gameplay elements that just felt a bit too familiar. These things don’t make the game bad by any means, as its strengths more than make up for it to create a strong overall first impression.
Content for this review was captured on PS5 through the Prince of Persia: The Last Crown demo, which contains no spoilers. Thoughts and opinions are subject to change in the final review.
Combat - It just works
The combat was easily my favorite part of the demo experience. It was quick and highly responsive, allowing me to run circles around my enemies as quickly as I could manage to do so. Slicing through enemies with Sargon’s dual blades felt smooth and impactful, making the combat feel incredibly satisfying. The parrying mechanic is also finely tuned and easily telegraphed, keeping it from feeling too tedious to focus on in the heat of the fast-paced combat.
Whether we’ve only scratched the surface or were shown most of what it has to offer in this demo, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown boasts a solid combat system with tight and addicting gameplay that I can’t wait to experience more of.
Exploration and Traversal
The most notable change in this new Prince of Persia entry is its adaptation of the 2D Metroidvania style. There were several key areas blocked off to keep the demo as straightforward as possible, but we were still given some freedom to explore a few of the nooks and crannies of Mount Qaf. Exploring these areas in this kind of layout felt quite familiar. Still, it also felt balanced as it rewarded discovery without being too overbearing by placing too much emphasis on uncovering every inch of the map. This demo did a great job of emphasizing that combat is the star of the show, while exploration is a rewarding side activity should you want to pursue it.
One particularly exciting addition to the Metroidvania formula is the memory shards, which allow you to take a snapshot of an area you don’t have access to at the moment due to lack of a required skill or item and receive a notification later when you’ve acquired what is necessary to make it through that specific section. Experienced players of 2D Metroidvania style games will attest to how frustrating it can be to be blocked off from an area, gain what you need to get through it later, and struggle to remember where or what the area was you were blocked off from in the first place. This is just one of hopefully many ways the full game will innovate on its included formulas.