Info about Prince of Persia The Lost Crown: Official game description: Comparison Grid =============== Complete Edition ================ Discover the critically acclaimed Metroidvania with the Complete Edition. The Complete Edition includes: • Prince of Persia™: The Lost Crown main game • Mask of Darkness Story DLC • Two Thrones outfit • Dark Prince outfit • Immortals outfit • Prosperity Bird amulet • Fariba's Notebook digital adventure guide\* MASTER A DEEP AND FUN COMBAT SYSTEM Use your Time Powers, combat, and platforming skills to perform stylish combos. Defeat a huge variety of enemies and challenging mythological bosses in Souls-like combats. EXPLORE THE MANY BIOMES OF MOUNT QAF Discover a unique Persian-inspired world filled with mythological landmarks. Find your way into a variety of interconnected biomes with their own identity and level design. Use your wits to solve puzzles and find hidden treasures. BE PART OF A CAPTIVATING STORY Immerse yourself in the story of Sargon, a young member of The Immortals. Travel to the time-cursed citadel of Mount Qaf to rescue the kidnapped Prince Ghassan. INNOVATIVE QUALITY-OF-LIFE FEATURES Get the thrill of exploration without frustration thanks to master level design and optional accessibility features. Remember locations easily with the innovative Eye of the Wanderer, a feature that allows you to take a screenshot and pin it to the map as a visual reminder. \*Available for download and streaming from the official website, , in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, or Spanish. About the Game ============== UNLEASH YOUR INNER WARRIOR -------------------------- Use your Time Powers, combat, and platforming skills to perform deadly combos and defeat time-corrupted enemies and mythological creatures. LOSE YOURSELF IN THE PRODIGIOUS MOUNT QAF ----------------------------------------- Discover a cursed Persian-inspired world filled with larger-than-life landmarks and explore a variety of highly detailed biomes, each with their own identity, wonder, and danger. LIVE AN EPIC ADVENTURE ---------------------- Immerse yourself in a Persian mythological​ fantasy through an intriguing and original story as you use your wits to solve puzzles, find hidden treasures, and complete quests to learn more about this corrupted place. Release date: 8 Aug, 2024 Categories: Metroidvania, Platformer, Real-time Combat, Exploration, Puzzle Solving, Player Customization, Single-player Story, Soulslike Combat - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: No data - Playtime Metrics: No data - Time-to-fun: No data - Player Archetypes: No data Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Excellent design, controls, exploration (weight 0.97): The game features excellent level design, smooth controls, and rewarding exploration. Players praised the varied biomes, intricate map design, and the satisfying sense of progression as new abilities unlock previously inaccessible areas. The visuals and music were also frequently lauded. - Top-tier Metroidvania, high accessibility (weight 0.58): Reviewers widely agree that the game is an excellent Metroidvania, often comparing it favorably to genre staples like *Hollow Knight* and *Ori*. Many appreciate the game's accessibility options, which allow players to customize the difficulty and enjoy the experience regardless of skill level. - Challenging, rewarding boss encounters (weight 0.45): The game features well-designed and challenging boss fights that require players to master the combat system and utilize their abilities strategically. The immediate retry option after boss fight failures minimizes frustration and encourages experimentation. - Surprisingly high quality Ubisoft game (weight 0.22): Many reviewers expressed surprise and delight at the game's high quality, especially considering it's a Ubisoft title. Some consider it to be the best Ubisoft game in many years, praising its originality and polish. - Tight, challenging platforming mechanics (weight 0.16): The game offers tight and responsive platforming mechanics, with a good balance of challenge and reward. Players praised the smooth parkour, precise jumps, and the satisfying feeling of overcoming difficult platforming sections. - Excellent audio-visual design, animations (weight 0.15): The game features excellent sound design, music, and visuals, creating an immersive and atmospheric experience. The animations are fluid and well-executed, and the art style is visually appealing. - Well-designed and engaging puzzles (weight 0.11): The game features well-designed puzzles that require players to utilize their abilities and think strategically. While not overly difficult, the puzzles are diverse and engaging, providing a satisfying sense of accomplishment upon solving them. - Innovative screenshot map marking feature (weight 0.1): The game's innovative photo feature allows players to take screenshots and place them on the map as visual reminders of points of interest. This mechanic greatly enhances exploration and reduces backtracking. - Well-balanced, customizable difficulty (weight 0.09): The game offers a well-balanced and customizable difficulty, providing a challenging but fair experience for players of all skill levels. Difficulty sliders and assist options allow players to tailor the game to their preferences. - Lengthy campaign, worthwhile DLC (weight 0.09): The game offers a lengthy single-player campaign with plenty of side quests and challenges, providing a good amount of content for its price. The DLC is also considered to be worthwhile, adding even more content and challenges. - Varied enemies, rewarding parry system (weight 0.07): The game features a diverse range of enemies and bosses, each with unique attack patterns and abilities. The parry system is rewarding and effective, with successful parries leading to stylish instant kills and opportunities for attack. - Authentic Persian setting, music (weight 0.07): The game's Persian language voice acting and soundtrack, created in collaboration with Iranian artists, are authentic and immersive. The Persian setting and cultural motifs add a unique and refreshing flavor to the game. Common complaints: - Clunky, unengaging combat system (weight 0.7): The combat system received mixed reviews, with some finding it clunky, unengaging, and lacking impact. Specific criticisms include unfair hitboxes, limited combo options, and an over-reliance on parrying. Some reviewers also noted issues with enemy design, such as limited variety, overly aggressive AI, and inconsistent attack patterns. - Weak, generic, predictable story (weight 0.66): Many reviewers found the story to be weak, generic, and predictable, with underdeveloped characters and a convoluted plot. Some felt the narrative lacked depth and emotional engagement, failing to live up to the standards of other Metroidvania titles. The story's ending was often described as rushed and unsatisfying. - Doesn't feel like Prince of Persia (weight 0.55): Some reviewers felt that the game failed to capture the essence of the Prince of Persia franchise, citing a lack of key elements and a departure from the tone and style of previous installments. The game's innovations were seen as insufficient, and some players expressed disappointment with the shift to a 2D platformer. - Ubisoft Connect integration issues (weight 0.2): A significant number of reviewers expressed frustration with the game's reliance on Ubisoft Connect, citing issues such as forced online integration, manual cloud saving, launch problems, and potential save data loss. The requirement to use a separate launcher and account was seen as an unnecessary inconvenience. - Poorly designed DLC content (weight 0.11): The DLC content was generally poorly received, with reviewers criticizing its limited content, frustrating design choices, and lack of integration with the main game. Some reviewers specifically disliked the removal of abilities and the increased difficulty in the "Mask of Darkness" DLC. - Numerous bugs and glitches (weight 0.09): Several reviewers reported experiencing bugs and glitches, including crashes, save data loss, and issues with controls and level design. These technical problems detracted from the overall experience and, in some cases, prevented players from completing the game. Gameplay feedback: - Standard Metroidvania platformer (weight 0.21): The game is primarily a Metroidvania platformer with interconnected regions gated by ability unlocks. Reviews highlight both standard genre elements and comparisons to titles like *Hollow Knight* and *Celeste*. Some found the level design competent but not exceptional. - Assisted exploration and puzzle-solving (weight 0.2): The game offers a variety of accessibility and exploration assist options, including guided modes, map markers, and the ability to skip platforming sections. Puzzles and platforming challenges are present, with some rewarding exploration with cosmetic items and gear upgrades. - Deep, parry-focused combat system (weight 0.18): The combat system features combos, special attacks, and ranged options, with a parry mechanic crucial for defense and counterattacks. Amulets allow for combat style customization. Some reviews note similarities to *Devil May Cry* and *Sekiro*. - Parkour and platforming assistance (weight 0.07): The game features a parkour system and a training mode to explore mechanics. Platforming assist options are available, including teleports after successful jumps on main paths. - Amulets and collectibles enhance character (weight 0.07): Players can collect and upgrade amulets to modify character stats and abilities, allowing for playstyle customization. Exploration is rewarded with collectibles like Soma Tree Petals (health) and Damascus Ore (weapon upgrades). - Large, interconnected world map (weight 0.05): The game features a large, interconnected map with diverse areas, encouraging exploration and backtracking. Some reviewers found the map confusing, while others appreciated its comprehensive design and the sense of connectivity. - Serviceable story and soundtrack (weight 0.04): The story is generally considered serviceable, with some reviewers finding it interesting and well-written, while others found it basic. The soundtrack provides nice ambiance, and the game length is average. - Time powers unlock progression (weight 0.04): The main character unlocks time-based abilities throughout the game, which are essential for traversal, puzzle-solving, and combat. These powers are often gained by defeating bosses and are reminiscent of those in *Sands of Time*. - Sargon's quest to rescue Ghassan (weight 0.03): The player controls Sargon, who is tasked with rescuing Prince Ghassan and uncovering the truth behind time anomalies on Mount Qaf. Sargon is described as agile, with a versatile moveset. - Limited optional content rewards (weight 0.02): The game features optional collectibles and varied challenges, but rewards are static upgrades. Boss battles are uniquely designed, but the base game only includes eight, which may not be enough for some players. - Modernized Prince of Persia gameplay (weight 0.02): The game is set in Persia and maintains the high level of operational difficulty characteristic of the Prince of Persia series. The game includes various elements such as Amulet builds, hidden boss challenges, mural document collection, and Xerxes coin exchange. - DLC focuses on parkour and puzzles (weight 0.02): The DLC focuses heavily on parkour, precise timing, and puzzle-solving, requiring multiple attempts to complete sections. The DLC introduces new amulets that enable new survival playstyles and combos. - Progression unlocks new zones (weight 0.02): Progression unlocks previously inaccessible zones. Gaining new skill mechanics and combos as you progress. The game world develops as powers are acquired. Performance notes: - Excellent and smooth performance overall (weight 0.11): The game generally exhibits excellent performance, running smoothly on a variety of hardware, including the Steam Deck and lower-end PCs. Many players reported high and stable frame rates, even at higher resolutions and settings. Some reviewers specifically highlighted the game's optimization and fluidity. - Various technical issues reported (weight 0.04): Some players have encountered a variety of technical issues, including graphical glitches, freezes, crashes, and getting stuck in the environment. There are also reports of inconsistent damage zones and map markers, as well as characters not behaving as expected. These issues appear to be less common but can be disruptive. - Problems quitting the game (weight 0.01): Some players have reported issues with quitting the game, including the lack of a 'quit to desktop' button and infinite loading screens when attempting to return to the main menu. These issues have reportedly persisted for some time. This can be frustrating for players who want a quick and easy way to exit the game. - Control delay, SSD requirement (weight 0.01): Some players have reported a slight delay in the controls, which can make platforming feel frustrating. Additionally, while the game runs well on older machines, it may require an SSD to avoid long loading times, which some consider excessive for a 2.5D game. - Lacks ultrawide/16:10 support (weight 0.01): The game lacks support for ultrawide and 16:10 resolutions. This can be a drawback for players with monitors that use these aspect ratios, as they may experience stretching or black bars. - Satisfying controller feedback (weight 0.01): The controller vibration feedback during combat is satisfying. Game movements feel splendid with an Xbox Series X|S controller, whether connected wired or wireless. - Jumping/sliding bug (weight 0.01): One specific bug prevents jumping and sliding, requiring the player to die to fix it. Restarting or reloading the save does not resolve the issue. This is a significant bug that can severely impact gameplay. - Bugged Steam achievements (weight 0): Some players have reported that Steam achievements are bugged, requiring them to replay parts of the early game to unlock them. This can be frustrating for achievement hunters who want to unlock all of the game's achievements. - No simultaneous play (weight 0): The game cannot be played simultaneously on Xbox Series X and Steam due to Ubisoft's restrictions, requiring disconnection. This is a limitation for players who want to play the game on multiple platforms at the same time. Recommendations: - Highly recommended Metroidvania, PoP revival (weight 0.81): Many reviewers highly recommend the game, especially to fans of Metroidvanias and Prince of Persia, citing its high quality, innovative gameplay, and successful revival of the franchise. Some consider it among the best in the genre, while others suggest it as a good entry point for newcomers. - High quality, GOTY contender (weight 0.09): Many reviewers express strong positive sentiments, with some considering the game a contender for Game of the Year and praising its high quality. Some reviewers highlight that the game was one of the best releases of the year. - Worth buying, especially on sale (weight 0.09): Many reviewers suggest waiting for a sale before purchasing the game, indicating that while the game is enjoyable and of good quality, the full price may be a bit steep. Purchasing during a sale is often described as a 'steal' or a 'great value'. - Desire for DLC or sequel (weight 0.02): Many reviewers express a strong desire for DLC or a sequel, indicating they enjoyed the game and want more content. This suggests the game left a positive impression and players are eager to see the story or gameplay expanded upon. - Deserves more attention, better sales (weight 0.02): Reviewers feel the game didn't receive the attention it deserved, possibly due to marketing or platform exclusivity. They believe the game is worth the money and are disappointed the development team didn't achieve greater success. - Great for Steam Deck (weight 0.02): The game is well-suited for the Steam Deck, making it ideal for portable play. However, some reviewers note issues with offline play, login problems, and manual save management when playing on both PC and Steam Deck. - Good while waiting for Silksong (weight 0.01): Some reviewers suggest this game can help fill the void while waiting for the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong. This implies that the game shares similarities with Hollow Knight and may appeal to fans of that game. - Play with a controller (weight 0.01): Some reviewers recommend playing the game with a controller, suggesting that it enhances the gameplay experience. This may indicate that the game's controls are better suited for a gamepad than a keyboard and mouse. Other player notes: - Development team disbanded post-release (weight 0.11): Ubisoft disbanded the development team after release, making a sequel unlikely and disappointing fans. This decision is seen as a major negative, especially given the game's quality and the team's potential. Some speculate this was due to the game not meeting sales expectations or a shift towards other projects like crypto/NFTs. - Story based on Persian mythology (weight 0.06): The game's story is rooted in Persian mythology and history, featuring the protagonist Sargon on a quest to rescue a prince. The setting incorporates Babylonian and Assyrian cultural elements, creating an authentic representation of Iranian culture. The narrative explores themes of growing up and the meaning of strength. - Story and graphics are average (weight 0.04): Reviewers have mixed opinions on the story, with some finding it decent and fitting for the genre, while others consider it bland or just okay. The voice acting and characters are generally seen as serviceable but not exceptional. The graphics are acceptable but not particularly impressive, with some comparing them to mobile games. - Ubisoft Connect requirement is intrusive (weight 0.04): The game requires Ubisoft Connect, even when purchased on Steam, which some reviewers find intrusive and unnecessary. This also prevents Steam family sharing. While some users didn't find it problematic, it's a common complaint associated with Ubisoft titles. - Diverges from previous entries (weight 0.03): The game diverges from previous Prince of Persia titles, with some reviewers feeling it doesn't quite capture the essence of the series. Some suggest it could have been a new IP altogether. While some appreciate the references to past titles, others find the cartoonish visual style a departure from previous installments. - Distinctive and high-quality presentation (weight 0.03): The game features a distinctive art style, high-quality animations, and fitting music that complements the environments. Reviewers appreciate the overall presentation and attention to detail, suggesting a large and dedicated development studio. The art style and music are considered timeless. - Solid Metroidvania gameplay (weight 0.02): The game is a Metroidvania title developed by Ubisoft Montpellier, marking Ubisoft's first attempt in the genre. The plot has some great plot twists that are not entirely predictable for a Metroidvania game. The reviewer likes metroidvania games for exploration and fun traversal mechanics. - Inspired by anime and other games (weight 0.02): The game draws inspiration from Japanese shonen manga and anime, incorporating action and philosophical themes. It also features a charm/amulet system similar to Hollow Knight and includes references to Dark Souls. These influences contribute to the game's unique style and gameplay mechanics. - Platform assist mode available (weight 0.01): The game includes a "platform assist" mode that appears after failing a section multiple times. There are further difficulties and a boss rush mode available. The reviewer completed the main game in 9 hours and the DLC in 1.7 hours, utilizing platforming skips whenever possible. - Deluxe edition includes skins (weight 0.01): The game includes skins in the deluxe pack. The reviewer bought the deluxe edition to complete all achievements, including those in the Mask DLC. The reviewer purchased the complete upgrade DLC, which includes a story DLC, skins, and extras. Emotions: No emotions}