Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown - Review: A Metroidvania Masterpiece

[@davidmthorley]

I played the demo and can already tell I’m going to love this. So addictive and satisfying. I loved it so much I played through the demo a dozen times. Can’t wait to play the full game.

[@keystonelyte]

This game is fucking perfect. I got 100% and it took me 31 hours. A Metroidvania with this much depth and love put into it was definitely needed.

[@Lord_Deimos]

I still can't believe that ubisoft finally made a good game

[@mac10-mu7dd]

What's sad is that in the 2000s / 2010s they used to release banger after banger. Splinter cell, Rayman, BGE, the first Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia.. All of their games had so much identity, they always tried new things to the point where it used to be other studios who copied Ubisoft and now it's the opposite, all of their games just seems so bland. I'm glad this one is good but we're still a long way from the old Ubisoft and how good they used to be

[@Lord_Deimos]

@@mac10-mu7dd I played all of them back in the day and the difference between that ubisoft and the current one is worlds apart. Ubisoft has been lazy as shit ever since they started milking AC and making everything an open world shit show with 3000 map icons.

[@jameskrbell]

Division 2, wildlands?

[@JLudd]

@@jameskrbelldivision 2 was so meh, division 1 at least had personality as a snowy New York was very cool to play in

[@CasualViewer-t4f]

Loved the demo. Excited for this one.

[@alibalalazadeh114]

As persian I'm so much impressed by the world design and characters and boss names . I think this game is really a master piece and they did a good job. Plus this was the first game with farsi subtitles and I'm so grateful for this ❤❤❤

[@LINKedup101]

Yooo its so cool that they did that! Localization like that takes a lot of time and effort and its dope they did it for Farsi, hopefully this inspires more devs to do it

[@alibalalazadeh114]

@@LINKedup101 yeah i hope so man❤❤❤

[@randys8974]

I'm a prince and I'm impressed as well. Such good design.

[@YEY0806]

​@@randys8974 As a non persian, I can confirm that I'm not persian 😂

[@myrlin7]

I was trying the demo and pulled up your past video on this game. 5 minutes, after seeing how tight the controls were and hearing you gush, I immediately preordered it. No contact dmg is wonderful. I just did last faith then blasphemous 2 then afterimage so the “feel” of this game was already 10 times better. Superior graphics and gameplay? Yes please. Thx for all your hard work my man. Been listening to you longer than I can remember and you never steer me wrong.

[@jb-dn5fy]

Same. Thought the early access was today but it's at midnight

[@TheDefiledShell]

I mean Blasphemous and Blasphemous 2 are amazing. Tight controls and everything. But yeah. I would compare this to Hollow Knight in terms of just almost perfection

[@nethrelm]

As a Prince of Persia and Metroidvania fan this was pretty much a no-brainer for me to check out, but seeing that map memory feature basically sold it to me on its own, lol. I can't even tell you how many times I wished a feature like that existed in other Metroidvania games. So many "why didn't I go that way again...?" moments of unnecessary backtracking could have been avoided (of course on the plus side for those designs, it does really make you learn the map).

[@ActionJaxonH]

Completely agree. Prince of Persia stands shoulder to shoulder with giants like Metroid Prime and Ori, and is easily one of my all time favorite Metroidvanias. I'm playing on Switch OLED as I like my handheld gaming, and even that version runs native res 60, it's a great handheld game. I've been playing at work every day in the office in tabletop mode 😂

[@JerroudiYassine]

that ubisoft montpelier studio has made some great games, whenever they do a platformer they do an amazing job. Happy to see Ubisoft still funding projects like this

[@Moori2163]

Really good review. I played the demo but was great seeing a little bit more of the later gameplay with a few more abilities. Going to be a day 1 purchase for me.

[@StillWeRide]

Played the demo and screamed "Come on!" when it cuts at Jahandar. It got me hooked. Game is beautiful too.

[@mordor1779]

I wasnt expecting anything at all from this game but what ive been hearing about it recently makes me really interested

[@Tragicx77]

Same. I could be considered a "ubisoft sucker" if you will. I defend their games and stuff a bit too much in the past, but my first thought with this game was "Cashgrab or copout due to Sands of Time Remake flunking". I am so glad I was wrong. This game is gonna slap so hard when I get to play it and I highly suggest you do too while we wait for the bigger games a bit later in the year. Ubisoft can make good games, they just have to try to.

[@thecasualfly]

check out the demo, a bit short but gives you an idea of gameplay.. def going to get it

[@StillWeRide]

its great. try the demo!! it looks great too

[@drogba6487]

Wow that map memory system is amazing. Literally, the reason I've never finished a metroidvania is because I get so drained by wandering the map. game-changer.

[@TK-zd7ym]

Played the demo, preordered the deluxe edition after it was over. I haven't played a game so goddamn good for a long time.

[@adonaielohim4147]

Why not ?? , go and play blasphemous 2 and last faith , that released in the last months , they're both bangers and probably better than prince of Persia

[@agasthyakasturi6236]

Blasphemous is good but not better prince of persia lmaoo​@@adonaielohim4147

[@jimlahey9122]

Blasphemous 2 is a WAY better metroidvania then this game

[@nestormelendez9005]

Extra dlc ​@@alenezi989a3

[@thelegacyofkain2672]

I brought the deluxe edition because I’m impatient 😂😂

[@christopherhardy1185]

Love the review. Let’s have more reviews in 2024 please and thank you.

[@scroogemcducks9685]

Immortals fenyx rising was probably the best recent game they made that I had the most fun with, I think the same team made this. Seems similar and I’m excited to give it a go. Thanks for the tip on Ubisoft+ had no idea it was coming to that

[@MrTmm97]

Just finished this…. 100%’d it in a handful of days. It was amazing. The story wasn’t great during the mid part…. But the gameplay was always amazing and the story wrapped up amazing. I am a lover of Metroidvanias and am so glad to have had another amazing one to sink my thumbs into! Bringing things back to basics helped Ubisoft make a decent game again!

[@kodierodgers404]

Masterpiece. Before you had my curiosity now you have my attention.😮

[@Jd_hendrix]

Such a good line from Django lol

[@RyanYNWA81]

Well this review has made me buy this tomorrow. Thank you cowboy.

[@paulevans6076]

The second you said "the only other metroidvania that stacks up for me against this is Hollow Knight" i was in. Definately getting this.

[@EuroRama95]

Ori and the blind forest is also one of the best out there :)

[@NickHunter]

@@EuroRama95 Will of the wisps is in my top 5 all time, love that series

[@EuroRama95]

@@NickHunter I agree both Ori but the 2nd one is just amazing

[@Amir-rx2xc]

one of the best games ubisoft ever made in my opinion

[@MrTmm97]

14:15 Many Xbox reviewers highly praised the fact it’s dubbed in quality Persian, which from the way they talked about it seems like it’s very rare in todays game releases.

[@thejustinjustin1233]

It’s a blast to play I was taken off guard by how fun it is.

[@JonPG31]

Great review CB. Can’t wait to play it tomorrow!

[@Gwydion129]

Wow, the visions as map markers look awesome, should make the backtracking so much easier

[@NickHunter]

honestly I'm the kind of person with great gameplay execution but a totally shit memory :D So this idea blew my head off

[@jimlahey9122]

They should add this to all metroidvanias after this, its an insane addition

[@SputNStuff]

hey cowboy, big fan of your vids and MV/soulslike reviews, thank you for reviewing this game. Because of that i got to try it and it quickly became one of my all time favs

[@LordLucian86]

My only gripe is that on console at least, the parry button L2 is also the button to use your super so blocking then attacking straight after frequently ends up in me using my super inadvertently. Not seen a way to change button mapping yet

[@NathanPerin-nj7gv]

I thought personally no 2D Metroidvania in recent memory would be better than Metroid Dread but this game is so good. I actually like it better than Dread.

[@infinitedeath1384]

Yeah as someone who doesnt play these sort of games often, this was one of the best games in general that ive played, in recent memory. 5/5 for me too, i hope there's a sequel. The last boss fight really was a blast, felt like a kid again being all hyped up whilst fighting him. This game is definitely worth the 90 bucks i spent (Aussie here).

[@lucashouse9117]

I wasn't too sure because I typically suck at this type of game but after playing the demo I'm super excited to play the whole game.

[@bluewings2]

Very good review, their is everything I need to know about the game ! I'm really surprised that Ubisoft made such a good game, but yeah, it looks like an excellent game, I'll have to try it.

[@spleggy]

I have to say I'm loving this game. Like some I was sitting on the fence due to the 50 GBP (in the UK) price tag. However they have done a very smart thing of letting you have a demo version to try for free. In the demo you start with some of your abilities unlocked so you can explore a bit and to be fair it was a successful "pitch" for the full game. Although visually it looks more like a SoTN a lot of the mechanics remind me more of Hollow Knight. Amulets are basically charms for example and you don't "level up" as such, instead you improve your weapons and abilities with upgrades and amulets. I think the only thing I like to see is a bit more flexibility on upgrades. If I invest into amulets and abilities that I later decide were not so good after all would be nice to get the chance to rebuild as some upgrade specific currencies are very rare.

[@MegaBobby36]

The map sounds awesome. I don't know how many times I've needed an item to unlock an early game jump,door or chest and forget about it because it needs a late game item to open or traverse it👍

[@ehabelsayed1991]

Can’t believe that Ubisoft made such an amazing game. Can’t wait to see the next version of that game.

[@PunkRockLifer]

Loved the demo and now after this review I am totally sold. The price point is fine here in the UK and I got it physical for £37 online. Bring on tomorrow

[@A.D.D.O.C.D.T]

You are the boss ,I trust your reviews.

[@akshaytrayner1960]

This is crazy that this was a good ubisoft game since the original trilogy and the ezio series

[@harrisimo08]

The traversal and platform puzzles look like Ubisoft saw Guacamelee and Hollow Knight in action and decided to fuse and evolve it. And that's awesome

[@GoF1ns]

Woke up one weekend and was bored so I figured I’d try the demo. Bought it in a heartbeat and I can’t put it down. 9/10.

[@MG-ff7se]

I hope they give the devs more money to create more games like this!!

[@b1thearchitect401]

I'm not huge on Metroidvania as a genre, but this game is by far my favourite. It's both the most challenging metroid style game i've ever played (on hard difficulty, these bosses are like Sekiro/Bloodborne level of difficult, you REALLY have to master their movesets and be incredibly precise with your movement and strikes), AND the most accessible (traversal and navigation are made WAY less cryptic and annoying by a Guided mode that gives you map markers to go after). I really think this game absolute bang on nails the balance of accessibility and challenge, demanding precision and skill while also letting you customize the difficulty so that you're not just stuck against a wall of frustration. The combat, story, exploration & platforming are all top tier. Really blown away by this as someone who also had no expectations, it's one of the most pure fun video games I've played in a couple years!

[@infinitedeath1384]

It's an absolute masterpiece. I also played on the hardest, although I modified a bit to remove athra damage on hits and improved athra regeneration and easier parry timing. Kept enemy health and damage the same as it is on immortal difficulty.

[@jonathanngo7452]

Snapshot on the map for easier backtracking needs to be mandatory in all metroidvania's moving forward!

[@brettpardue8786]

One really good Ubisoft game a couple years ago was Immortals Fenyx Rising. I've played through that game to completion like 4 times now and it never gets old to me for some reason lol. I guess I just like the sitting in the music so much and the banter between the gods. The only problem I have with the game is that it just doesn't let you upgrade organically enough. Every time you turn around they are giving you all these bonus rewards for like signing into Ubisoft or some shit when I really don't want them yet. I don't like being overleveled as soon as I start a game and everything is just a cakewalk lol.

[@WarlordRising]

Currently playing Early Access. This has the best story in the series, and it's not even close. The story, dialogue, voice acting, characters, etc is SO DAMN GOOD that I hope they make an animated series out of this. The gameplay and art style are S tier. As someone who even enjoyed the underrated Forgotten Sands, this is easily the best PoP game. Yes, even better than Sands of Time.

[@chrisbrown-lx7qz]

I play the demo of this and play for like 10 minutes i got instantly hooked so i decided to pre-order this game 😃

[@StillWeRide]

i tried to hold out till thursday but got the deluxe for early access 😂

[@cody3335]

Can’t wait to play!

[@mikaelskalberg9591]

I must say that i have waiting for a game like this in metrovania style. Finaly a protagonist that have combos and are as powerfull as the bosses you fight. You as a player feels like a acrobatic powerfull warrior. Instead of a fat little bug that is weak allmost all the time. Sorry for the spelling. Swedish guy over here 😂

[@dpatriot4130]

Thanks for all you do! You are an inspiration for us gaming dads out there.

[@fragged3d345]

Lots of hours on my ally this week, I’m excited!

[@thePR3TEND3R]

I love this game is so great! I would like to see faces of people who were bashing this game when the first trailer was announced, saying “can ubisoft go any lower”. Bravo for Ubisoft for proving them wrong!

[@YEY0806]

Also, the racists who were dissing this game because the character "looks" black

[@mgxzazfbyjuchrisclarkvpz236]

That wasn't the argument. People thought Ubi were being woke. You make it sound like their problem was his "blackness". I know he's not "black" anyway but use some nuance before calling them racist at least.

[@YEY0806]

@@mgxzazfbyjuchrisclarkvpz236 "being woke", you already proved my point

[@tanyadavies265]

There was no hesitation i Pre-ordered the game as soon as id heard about it CB as loved playing POP back in the days..Watched all the uploads so thank u for them all as iv throughly enjoyed watching the content 👍My player skills leave a lot to be desired yet spending a lot of time in the training arrear ( witch i will have to do ) im hoping ill git gud 🙏 😂 Hearing u talk about what the game entails and the puzzles i throught oh shit frustration gonna get the better of me yet with seeing if you die u start not far from where u died i new its gonna be a game thats fare on the not so skilled player 👏 Brilliant review 👌 im so pumped for 18th and giving this game my time.

[@wesley6571]

Never played prince of persia but this is a must buy for me. In the mood for a good metroidvania.

[@sonalliandrews4098]

Amazing game. Action packed. I just completed it. When I felt the end of the game approaching I couldn’t believe it, I wanted more. Guys spend your In game money and upgrade your amulets😅 I wish the story was a bit deeper too. I was wondering about two of the immortals who never showed up or got killed. Two things I want to know are: Will this game have a part 2? And how long did it take to make this awesome game?

[@ActionJaxonH]

Good point. I watched a review that said this game didn't revolutionize metroidvanias but did do it well, but with the new memory shards, it HAS revolutionized metroidvanias, more than any other game in the genre I can think of

[@JTCT371]

I will be buying this. Love they went with the side scrolling metrovania route.

[@infinitedeath1384]

Have you enjoyed the game so far? Ive finished it, and loved it from start to end.

[@JTCT371]

@@infinitedeath1384 i started playing yesterday and the game is incredible. Definitely a must play!

[@drevsgames1172]

Can’t wait to get my copy!!

[@JiP-Melee]

Buy this game PLEASE to show that we want more of this. This might be my favorite Metroidvania of all time. I think it might be better than Hollow Knight.

[@BlakeRocks52]

There’s still some “this has Ubisoft written all over it” moments.

[@gangsterbenji]

Great review I’m so hyped! One thing I wish you touched upon though was the difficulty. Which difficulty did you choose and was it a nice challenge throughout the game/well balanced?

[@flywheelshyster]

While late I bouught the game on switch specifically because of this review, I know there are ways to get other launchers to work on steam deck but I wanted to just plug and play so to speak and despite Ubisoft's mistakes recently maybe its good to show support to good games cause this game really is a bloody masterpiece. I mean really. Like just this morning I reach a boss or subboss who beats my ass so bad the first two times I think it'll be weeks before I'll beat him...then I had a second morning poo, took to it another two times and beat it that fourth. Its just such a good, smooth combat system that once you *get* an enemy's moveset you can kinda kick ass. It may be my last ubisoft game, at least for awhile,and certainly my last Switch game, but man oh man, what a great recommend. Glad I followed your advice on it, i'm just gonna say it, better than Metroid Dread...because as great as Dread was it didn't have that backtracking that the classic metroid games and such had, but this Prince of Persia game hits all the correct beats.

[@brycebarbee378]

Anyone else get anxious after seeing a completed metroidvania map on a game you haven't played yet, just seem so daunting.

[@NickHunter]

I don't look at games in that way

[@RiseRyder]

I absolutely loved Guacamelee, so I cannot wait for this.

[@infinit33]

I remember when they were gonna release that remaster for all of the older prince of persia games but it got cancelled for the foreseeable future 😢

[@OptimumSlinky]

It didn’t get cancelled. Development was restarted at Ubisoft Montreal (the OG studio) because the Indian Ubisoft studio originally doing it wasn’t up to the task.

[@JJsiN84]

This was not on my radar whatsoever. Especially since it was a Ubisoft game, kudos to them for throwing a free demo out there. After I played the demo I was absolutely sold. Loving the full game now.

[@infinitedeath1384]

It's so good. The movement, combat, visuals, sound, everything feels amazing. 10/10 game easily.

[@themightythor1160]

Such a shame it's not available of Steam.

[@ActionJaxonH]

What did you think of Metroid Dread's final boss? For me, THAT was the pinnacle of hype. It was soooo hard too, 3 phases and I couldn't even beat the 1st when I started.

[@randys8974]

As me being a prince, i can definitely feel a connection.

[@petersonfamily6223]

Is there any replayability? The cost is holding me back when you can many really good Meterovania titles for short money and come back to this later. For the PC it is $59.99 the Ubisoft+ $17.99 for a month.

[@Spradles]

Yeah but does it have the original Slicer traps?

[@DarkSignRaven]

Hey Cowboy, IDK if you will respond but I have 2 questions You said this is on par with Hollow Knight, but how does it compare to Blasphemous 2 and The Last Faith or possibly even Symphony of the Night? Having never played a Metroidvania, Is this the route to go or should I play another I previously mentioned? Again, don’t know if you’ll respond but thanks if you do!

[@Skegfromcraigslist]

NEVER played a metroidvania? Damn I feel old

[@TheNiktus]

the changing zone camera mouvement is annoying.. hope it will be fix for smoother transition

[@metamyther]

the screenshot feature looks sick.

[@lxsaglr8704]

I need a sequel to the prince of persia 2008 one. That was my childhood game. This is great though!

[@jimlahey9122]

Didnt expect this game to be this addicting wow

[@nick-illcityreppin-sknk]

HERE I GO SPENDING BUCKS TO THIS TIME REALLY PLAYYYY ITTTTT THANK YOU COWBOY

[@craigemery856]

This is an easy day one buy for me cant wait until Thursday or Friday

[@jankogo]

Best Metroidvania I have played since Metroid Dread. Masterpiece.

[@vexicution5533]

Just to ask can you pull off melee combos lick in hack & slash games? (,x,x,x,x,y,y,y,y x,y,x,y,x,y,x,y)

[@tacankalay735]

Can you change the dash button from r2 to O. I cant in the demo

[@nelia039]

The Iranian culture bit is accurate FINALLY. The Prince of Persia franchise despite being “Persia” being in the title; was usually conflated with Arab/ Arabian stereotypical culture.

[@snowkracker]

I’m loving it. However. On both the female boss and the guy I fought on the pirate ship, Sargon glitched out and became invisible. While in this state I didn’t take any damage whatsoever but was able to damage the boss. Tbh I was a little disappointed because it made the fight simple. However I don’t know if I would have been able to beat either of them so easily. Has anyone else experienced this invisibility thing?

[@joebarrett29]

I’m dying to play. Early access tonight midnight baby I neeeed it.

[@MARK111174]

At first had bugs: secret chest not appearing between archer statues and parrot/captain quest freezing game however, restarted game and no issues- completed 100%

[@ihormay3418]

Great game, too bad Ubisoft killed the team and considered this game a failure:(

[@NadeemShekh-uy9zn]

I want a Moon Knight game like this

[@Terron29]

Just beat it. It was VERY good. I played it on switch and even there it ran at a mostly smooth 60fps though there were some drops here and there and it did crash a few times. My critiques with it are the story was forgettable and the music was totally forgettable imo. I think some of the environments are uninteresting as well, look at how awesome that frozen in time ship area was for example. That was awesome. Wish we got more of that. Overall a damn fine metroidvania.

[@jaretco6423]

I have never played an Prince of Persia game before. But as an Metroidvania fan, this game looks sick. Would y'all recommend it, even as someone who never played the previous games before starts with this?

[@LionDynastyGaming]

Are you doing a let’s play for this cowboy?

[@dcarpenter85]

The Ubisoft+ sub hack is what I do for just about every major Ubi release. Just did it last month and got through both AC Mirage and Avatar for 15 bucks. To be honest though I will probably be picking this up on Switch so I can play portably. It is a shame it isn't on Steam at launch because it would be perfect for the SD OLED.

[@FightinCowboy]

You can probably install the give yourself launcher on deck. I have blizzards launcher installed to play wow

[@horrorjunkie96]

all those health bars 😳 does the game get super hard to warrant all that health?

[@P.vieRa_YT]

the demo was fun for the short time I played

[@MrRighteousfish]

Game looks dope. Only issue is the cost.

[@StillWeRide]

50 bucks isnt ridiculous. wait for the first sale and itll be 30 probably

[@NatetheGr891]

It’s also on Ubisoft plus for $17/m

[@Tacopenguins]

Good review been looking forward to this for a while and will probably get it soon after drop I just hope we see the prince I don't like when they give us a title game with out said character like Diablo 4 and never fight Diablo hope the story isn't that thin as people have said.

[@MARK111174]

Radjen supposedly died either cut from game or defeated by the General

[@BirdsOfWar]

Demo was fire even tho it was short af

[@abaddon_the_annoyer3084]

Good to know. Can't wait to play it. My only problem with these open-ended metroidvania type of games (because I suck at them) are ending up in a place where I really shouldn't be yet. Does the game make it very clear if that's the case and is it easy enough to get out again? 😝

[@StillWeRide]

theres a "guided" setting that shows objectives and obstacles you cant pasa..you can flip it on and off too.

[@YEY0806]

​@StillWeRide honestly, even though it could just be recency bias, I really think this game beats all other highly acclaimed metroidvanias like Hollow Knight, Ori and Blasphemous. Those games are still great and I love them, but this feels like an actual step forward in the genre

[@StillWeRide]

@@YEY0806 its amazing...im 7 hours and I love it

[@doublejump8035]

Cowboy did you have to increase or decrease the difficulty of the game at any point?

[@grumpycloud30]

What's the difference between a premiere and a live?

[@grumpycloud30]

Do you think this is a game people not used to metroidvania games could get through?

[@davealaya]

Metroidvania games are usually easy to get into. The difficulty spike may vary later.

[@FightinCowboy]

Premieres are regular videos that go live with interactable chat so everyone can watch it when it first goes up and talk

[@ksbhattiksb]

It's a gem of a game back to form ubisoft get the deluxe version

[@JoshJackson-lq7tj]

Got my copy coming on Thursday on ps5

[@infinitedeath1384]

How are you liking it? I had so much fun with the game! Might get around to collecting all the secrets at some point.

[@utromnation8894]

I’m kind of flabbergasted at how good this game is. I’m about 7 hours in or so and loving it. Waited until a sale to get this because I wasn’t expecting much. I’ll be nabbing the DLC day one.