Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

• Genre: Action Platforming
• Spoiler Free Review: Yes.
• Time Played: 37 Hours
• Too Short/Long: This definitely could have been a good 10 hours shorter and not been any worse for it.
• Soundtrack: Nothing too special. Not bad, just kinda generic setting appropriate orchestra.
• Pleased/Disappointed: Very pleased overall. 
• Why I played: I heard it was actually a pretty good metroidvania, so I checked out the demo and picked it up sometime later.
• Did I cry: Nah, though there is some story drama, nothing really sad.
• Recommend to others: I would put it pretty high on the recommendations for metroidvanias, especially those who like both a challenging combat system based around perfectly times parries, knowing when to dodge, and when to use other abilities to out maneuver your opponent, AND precision-based platforming.

I've never really been a fan of the Prince of Persia series. Generally speaking, it's just not my style, but I like "Exploratory Action Platforming" or "Search Action" games a lot and it's been some time since I sunk my teeth into one. Maybe because a lot of them were blending together? Maybe just because I've been playing more RPGs lately. Regardless, The Lost Crown really scratched an itch. I almost want to say it's "more" than your standard metroidvania. There is just so much detail and thought put into the navigational mechanics, the level design, and the combat that it really feels like they blended together a few games that would usually independently focus on one of those points more than the other.

A lot of similar style games come down to "hit the enemy", and even if you have different ways of doing that, it doesn't really change the dance of combat - outside of maybe boss battles. Some similar games that focus too much on the combat, face the problem of just every battle becoming a grueling experience. The Lost Crown walks that line but maintains a balance to keep things mostly quick paced, while allowing you to feel the satisfaction of power scaling as well. Even to the end, it felt like I was more powerful, but I could fail if I didn't give it my all, but of course, mechanics came much more naturally as well.

I do wish some of the powers and other mechanics were obtained earlier in the game, but I also maybe wish the game was about 10 hours shorter. Not that I haven't played longer games of the ilk, but because it's so action focused both in and out of combat, it just feels like a bit of a chore at some point. I would say it starts of strong, and ends strong. There is a just a chunk in the mid-late game, and maybe just a much smaller chunk in the late game where I felt like "Okay, let's get this over with already, been here, done that."

That said, they really do challenge you in pretty much every way possible the game can think to do so, and generally speaking, I think the game does an excellent job of mixing it up. There are just moments where it feels like "too much" for what you have. That being said, maybe if you got some of those late game abilities earlier and maybe if there were another couple ability unlocks the time would have felt a bit better, but the vast majority of things you unlock and find along the way, are optional equipment you may not ever use, or just a "lore item" and some of these lore items are clearly just filler items where they felt they needed to stick something in a corner.

And sometimes even when you fine something good, it's just another incremental increase. So exploring everything only feels rewarding... sometimes, kinda. You gotta do it all if you want everything, and there MIGHT be something better, but probably not. They nailed the challenges to get the rewards, but the rewards often don't live up to the hardships you went through.

My biggest praises for the game are all in it's mechanics and gameplay, which are great. The other aspects are only alright. The music, the story, the characters, the presentation. All fine. Actually the presentation kinda bugs me because most of the time it looks more or less bog-standard. Maybe SLIGHTLY stylized, but nothing too special. But all the sudden every once in awhile, you'll get some dramatic flair. Some flashy colorful intros, some bright contrasting colored counter-attacks, some anime-ultimate-moves from the bosses. I feel like they should have went all-in with these style choices. Minor complaint though, the game never really looks bad and I'm glad they at least do a little to spice it up visually from time to time.