Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a 2½D side scrolling Metroidvania action platformer. It is notable as the first major release of the Prince of Persia franchise since 2010's Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.
The game centers on a new character, Sargon, a member of a group of warriors called The Immortals as they seek to rescue Prince Ghassan, who was kidnapped by Sargon's mentor. Following them to Mount Qaf, Sargon finds himself trapped in a temporal labyrinth as he seeks to uncover the truth behind the prince's kidnapping. The game serves as its own story, disconnected from other titles in the franchise.
The game was developed by Ubisoft Montpellier (of Rayman fame), but without involvement of series creator Jordan Mechner (who has, regardless, voiced his support for the game). It was announced in June 2023, and released on January 18, 2024.
Tropes
- Adopted into Royalty: It's implied that Ghassan is this, as one side quest has Sargon meet a Hermit, who was a former physician who delivered Thomyris' third and last son. However his insistence that the baby was swapped with another after the birth resulted in the queen sending him to be imprisoned on Mount Qaf, and when meeting Sargon he initially insists that he held Sargon in his arms when he was a baby, further imply that Sargon and Ghassan were Switched at Birth.
- All Your Powers Combined: If Sargon completes Ardashir's sidequest, he ends up having to Mercy Kill the general who uses all the skills of his soldiers who were fought before him in the boss battle.
- Antagonist Title: The "Prince of Persia" in this game turns out to not be referring to the kidnapped Prince Ghassan but Vahram, who was the rightful heir to the throne but was murdered by the queen alongside his father so that she could secure her bloodline as the ones to lead.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Prince is saved, and the Simurgh's blessing restored to Persia, but half the Immortals are dead, as are Anahita and Ardashir (if his side-quest is completed). Sargon also ends up shaking up the stability of the court by revealing part of why the Simurgh's blessing had been lost in the first place, which could cause a Succession Crisis, as Ghassan renounces his title in protest of this scandal, and while Sargon appears to have been anointed as a valid heir by the Simurgh, he's not in a position to prove that, even assuming he wants the job.
- Breaking Old Trends: This is the first game in the entire franchise where someone addressed only as "The Prince" isn't the protagonist. There is a prince in the game, but he's the Distressed Dude and actually given a name. In actuality, it's a role reversal of the Sands of Time-era of The Prince, with the reveal that Vahram is the true titular Prince of Persia, making it the first time the Prince has been the main antagonist in any game in the franchise (discounting the Dark Prince from Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones). However, this is potentially subverted as it is heavily implied (but unstated) that Sargon is Thomyris' biological son, which makes him a legitimate Prince of Persia as well.
- Chest Monster: Around halfway through the game, mimics start showing up in place of the game's Inexplicable Treasure Chests. Opening one will prompt it to chomp down on Sargon unless he moves away in time, and they have to be killed to relinquish their treasure.
- Continuity Reboot: After the Un Reboot with The Forgotten Sands, this game is a completely unrelated installment in the franchise much like the 2008 game.
- Death Course: There are several of these on Mount Qaf, and one of the Lore collectibles is a resignation letter from a construction worker saying he's lost two dozen workers to the things and that the architect must have been insane to insist that they be built in the first place.
- Degraded Boss: Several bosses that you fight early in the game, such as the sword master, the undead prisoner and Erlik, appear later in the overworld as normal (if beefy) enemies.
- Double-Meaning Title: Both the title (Prince of Persia) and the subtitle (The Lost Crown) have many different meanings that you discover throughout the story, for a whopping fourteen different meanings between the two for major and minor reasons:
- Most immediately, it refers to the inciting mission to rescue the kidnapped Prince Ghassan. At the end of Act 1, he's killed, seemingly lost for good. Later Prince Ghassan is saved from death, and his time with Sargon after this shows that Ghassan is loyal to Persia over his own treacherous mother, Queen Thomyris, making him a good fit as the Prince despite the reveal that he's not technically supposed to have the title.
- Later it's discovered that Vahram is secretly the son of King Darius and thus has a proper claim to the throne. Queen Thomyris murdered Darius (thus losing the crown to her) before she left Vahram for dead. Vahram is eventually fought as the final boss, and his death to Sargon means Persia has lost one of the claimants to the throne.
- Even later, a side quest heavily implies that Sargon and Ghassan were switched at birth, meaning that Sargon could have been the Prince of Persia but grew up on the streets instead.
- Sargon can meet alternate versions of himself who failed in their quest on Mount Qaf, meaning they lost the Prince of Persia. You can potentially add two more thanks to the above reveal that Sargon is a candidate for the Prince of Persia, making his alternates "lost crowns" after failing their mission and getting lost in Mount Qaf's Time Crash.
- Thanks to the Time Crash, Sargon meets a young version of Vahram, lost in the broken time-space of Mount Qaf, who hates how his older self has turned out and supports Sargon's efforts. The Stinger reveals Young Vahram starting a normal life raised on the restored Mount Qaf.
- Finally, by the end of the game all three Prince candidates rescind their claims to the throne in some fashion. Vahram sacrifices his life to restore the universe after almost destroying it, Prince Ghassan abdicates in protest of his mother's assertion of the throne and literally removes his crown, and while Sargon was given the Simurgh's blessing, he doesn't accept the position upon returning to Persia and instead departs the palace to places unknown.
- Evil Versus Oblivion: Azhdaha and Vahram display this conflict: Azhdaha is an ancient evil god who opposes the Simurgh, but is ultimately willing to strike a deal with Sargon on the basis that Vahram poses a much bigger threat to both of them, due to his single-minded goal to obtain the Simurgh's powers and erase the current world.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Played With. Due to the Time Crash engulfing Mount Qaf, characters are experiencing events around the labyrinthine location at different timeframes, with Sargon's apparently being the quickest. After they split up on entering the mountain, the next time Sargon encounters Artaban, he claims he's been exploring Mount Qaf for three days, when for Sargon, it was mere hours, and the bodies of Anahita's men that they were chasing down having been mummified and rotting for years. Therefore, Sargon's exploration of Mount Qaf is naturally much quicker than the others'.
- Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Despite the game being about Persian Mythology, it's pretty much stated that Classical Mythology also exists in this world, with Orod claiming to have fought and beaten Hercules while Sargon can find a note seemingly written by the centaur Chiron.
- Fisher King: The generation-long drought that Persia has been suffering is the result of Thomyris taking the throne without the Simurgh's blessing.
- Global Currency Exception: The Scrapper is a merchant in the Depths who sells a few strong amulets as well as a key to access a secret elevator floor, but as he frequently states, he only accepts Xerxes, the ancient coins found throughout Mount Qaf, instead of taking Time Crystals like other merchants (who also take Xerxes, but only one at a time for maxing out Equipment Upgrades).
- Good Princess, Evil Queen: Gender flipped in Ghassan's case, who is a kind-hearted young man who sees Sargon as a friend, while Queen Thomyris is revealed to have betrayed and murdered King Darius thirty years ago for the throne, being responsible for the disappearance of the Simurgh and the Time Crash on Mount Qaf. Ghassan actually notes that he's not at all surprised by this.
- God Was My Copilot: The crazy old man who gave Sargon advice from time to time is revealed in the finale to have been the Simurgh.
- The Great Serpent: One of the bosses is Azhdaha, a giant snake that made a home for herself in the Pit of Eternal Sands.
- Guide Dang It!: One game-spanning sidequest involves numerous puzzle rooms around the map which reward treasure chests upon solving them. Most of these are simple "look at the scenery nearby and perform an action related to it" tricks, but the puzzle room in the Pit of Eternal Sands is much more devious, containing nothing but two smashing traps sandwiching a pedestal. The solution is to go to a late-game area in the Upper City, capture one of the statue enemies there with the Dimensional Claw, and let it out to get smashed by the crushers; this is a very long distance away, and while the enemy needed is hinted at by the large statues in the background of the room, at first glance they look too big to be affected by the Dimensional Claw.
- Heart Container: You can expand Sargon's maximum health by collecting Soma Flowers. Much like the Trope Namer, these come in both whole versions awarded by defeating major bosses and completing certain side quests, and partial ones hidden in various places across the world, which grant you a health expansion for every 4 collected.
- Hopeless Boss Fight: The first fight against the Big Bad. Should he be reduced to one quarter of his total health, the cutscene where Sargon is bested and thrown into the Depths plays automatically.
- Iaijutsu Practitioner: Vahram fights almost exclusively by rapidly unsheathing and sheathing back his katana-like blade. During his Hopeless Boss Fight, he even uses the act of unsheathing itself as a blunt attack, striking Sargon with the hilt of his sword.
- It's All About Me: Queen Thomyris is revealed to have betrayed and murdered King Darius thirty years ago for the throne. This, despite knowing at the very least something bad would happen as a result, since the Simurgh is directly involved with the anointing ritual and she has no reason to believe the Simurgh is a myth (like some others). None of that mattered as much as her having the throne though.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Vahram, leader of the Immortals, wields a single katana-like sword and often unsheathes it only to deal a lightning-quick blow in combat with a quick-draw. His fighting prowess with it is even better than Sargon's Dual Wielding technique, which is more than demonstrated in the prologue and his Hopeless Boss Fight.
- Ki Manipulation: Rather, 'Athra' manipulation, which is the game's name for its take on Life Energy, based off Persian mythology instead of East Asian. All the characters in the game, including the playable character, Sargon, are capable of using it to great effect, and it's how they perform most of their supernatural feats.
- Metroidvania: The straightest example in the franchise thus far. The world is a series of interconnected areas with multiple obstacles and obstructions that require the player to backtrack after obtaining specific abilities.
- Mythology Gag: Several to past Prince of Persia works:
- The Opportunity counterattack move on the basic zombie has Sargon leap off their shoulders and turn around to slash their back as he falls to the ground. This is one of the cornerstone moves in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and is an incredibly common tactic to quickly stab an enemy with the Dagger of Time and defeat them fast.
- When Sargon meets a version of himself who failed his quest to rescue Prince Ghassan, the alternate Sargon states that "time no longer flows like a river". This is similar to a famous line from The Sands of Time and the end of The Two Thrones:The Prince: Most people think that time is like a river, that runs swift and sure in one direction. But I have seen the face of time, and I can tell you... they are wrong.
- Prince Ghassan is somewhat similar to the Sands of Time Prince, being rather naive but with a strong heart and drive to do the right thing for everyone.
- Sargon started out on the streets and has a rougher, cocky and hard-headed demeanor with no connection to being a Prince of any kind, like the Prince of Persia (2008) Prince. Despite this he joins the Immortals through sheer talent and spirit, much like Dastan in the beginning of The Sands of Time movie (especially after a side-quest implies that Sargon may actually be the Prince of this game).
- No-Sell: Sargon can perform a variety of flashy counterattacks called Vengeful Counters, as well as Athra Surge special moves. Against Vahram, Athra Surges are immediately prevented by Vahram striking Sargon with the butt of his partly-unsheathed sword. Much later, the god-powered Vahram final boss delivers a jab which Sargon takes right on the cheek with no more than an angry glare. He then counters with a Shoryuken and a headbutt that sends the boss hurdling to the ground.
- No-Gear Level: Upon losing to Vahram and being tossed into the Depths, Sargon's Eye of the Wanderer gets stolen by Alkara, leaving him without any way to use the map until he chases him down and gets it back.
- Our Manticores Are Spinier: One of the game's bosses is a giant manticore named Jahandar, which attacks with both the scorpion tail and its lion body.
- Painted CGI: The artstyle of the game shows 3D models which are textured to seem like they are painted.
- Power Copying: Sargon gains most of his Athra Surge techniques by destroying alternate versions of himself and absorbing their move for himself. The final two are instead received by defeating Menolias and Orod, and Sargon uses their Athra Surges against them as a Finishing Move.
- The Prophecy: One side quest involves breaking sand jars that reveal sections of a forgotten prophecy and a fresco depicting events, which very quickly is shown to concern the events of the game. Uncovering the entire prophecy reveals that it's about three princes: one believed dead and is motivated by revenge, referring to Vahram who is the son of King Darius and the rightful heir; one who is used as a pawn, referring to Ghassan who is the Distressed Dude who was kidnapped under orders from his mother; and another raised in secret, heavily implied to be Sargon himself who is the biological son of Thomyris and Switched at Birth with Ghassan. While the events of the prophecy do come true with Vahram ascending to become "king of all gods" and destroying the universe along with Sargon, there's a Prophecy Twist where the Simurgh resurrects Sargon immediately after the prophecy is completed, gives him the power to fight against Vahram and prove to him that mortals aren't meant to have the power of gods, and Vahram sacrifices himself to restore the universe and the Simurgh.
- Raise Him Right This Time: Vahran the twelve-year-old boy who was trapped in the Time Crash ends up becoming a separate existence from Vahran the forty-two-year old Immortal. The Stinger reveals that he will be raised by Neith and Artaban in the restored Mount Qaf.
- Really Royalty Reveal: Played straight with Vahram, who at first shown to be the highly respected leader of the Immortals, is revealed to be the son of King Darius, making him the rightful Prince of Persia instead of Ghassan. It's Zig-Zagged however later with Sargon, who's implied by certain side quests to be the true biological son of Queen Thomyris, but even at the end of the game this isn't confirmed.
- Recurring Boss: The Alternate Sargons, antagonistic versions of Sargon from different timelines. They're fought numerous times (only one of them is mandatory) and differ only having their own Athra Surges and one encounter being a Dual Boss, and besting them lets Sargon take their Athra Surges for himself.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Azhdaha, the enemy of gods and men, is imprisoned at the bottom of Mount Qaf. Despite her status as the resident God of Evil of the setting, she is hardly involved in the main plot outside of providing Sargon with the means to travel back in time.
- Time Crash: Mount Qaf is enveloped in one, leading to a number of temporal anomalies such as architecture being frozen mid-collapse, people from multiple time periods showing up in the same place, fresh corpses immediately rotting, a person experiencing events over the course of days in what feels like only a few hours from the perspective of another, and characters even encountering versions of themselves from alternate timelines.
- Time Master:
- Unlike prior entries, the game protagonist Sargon is not one, and lacks the time-manipulation abilities of the Prince from the Sands of Time trilogy, instead encountering variants of the power throughout his trek through Mount Qaf, such as fighting different versions of himself as minibosses, due to them seeking the powers of the Simurgh that our version of Sargon encountered and utilizes to aid himself in his journey, whereas they missed out on achieving them.
- However, Vahram, leader of the Immortals, is one, and demonstrates this most vividly at the end of his Hopeless Boss Fight. After Sargon manages to scratch him on the cheek during their sword fight, he pummels him into a wall, then demonstrates his earlier performance in their fight was him still holding back, freezing Sargon's movement mid-fall to the ground, then reversing the course of events to just prior to their clash with a mere hand gesture, leaving Sargon disoriented. However, unlike the Sand Trilogy Prince's use of the power, Vahram's does not seem to come with the ability to undo injuries even if events are erased, as he still retains the cut on his cheek afterwards even though their clash never happened.Vahram: Your efforts are futile. There's nothing you can do to stop me. I will erase every chapter, every word of your story. I can undo it all.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The story trailer drops several of the game's plot twists, chief among them being that Vahram, the leader of the Immortals, will betray everyone.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Radjen drops out of the story a third of the way through. The ending implies that she died, but no details are provided, unlike the other three Immortals to fall, who are explicitly shown dying.
