Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown is a incredible Metroidvania reimagining of the historic sequence, however it’s removed from the primary reinvention the franchise has seen below Ubisoft. Probably the most iconic one was 2003’s The Sands of Time, which Ubisoft is presently remaking. That’s not the one I made a decision to play after beating and adoring The Misplaced Crown, although. That honor goes to 2008’s Prince of Persia.
I noticed Prince of Persia on sale for about $8 a few months in the past at my native unbiased recreation retailer. I knew nothing about it on the time, exterior of the truth that it was a bit controversial for its lack of problem and epilogue DLC on the time of launch, however I made a decision to choose it up in case I had the urge to attempt to play extra Prince of Persia after The Misplaced Crown. I gave it a shot over an extended vacation weekend, anticipating a dated puzzle platformer that historical past would have understandably forgotten.
As a substitute, I found a third-person motion recreation that might lay a blueprint that sequence like The Final of Us, God of Warfare, and Star Wars Jedi would observe. In 2008, Ubisoft Montreal predicted the place third-person, narrative-focused motion video games would go over the following decade. It’s time the studio will get some credit score for that.
Spoilers for 2008’s Prince of Persia observe.
Forward of its time
Prince of Persia begins with the titular character stumbling right into a battle between a daughter and her father. Princess Elika’s father has succumbed to the affect of Ahriman, the god of darkness, and in pursuit of Elika, he destroys the Tree of Life. To forestall Ahriman from being fully let out, the Prince decides to assist Elika heal Fertile Grounds round her kingdom so Ahriman might be locked away within the Tree of Life once more. It’s a swashbuckling fantasy premise about dangerous fathers and located household that arrived years earlier than these grew to become extra frequent themes in video games.
In some methods, Prince of Persia can also be the primary Metroidvania recreation within the sequence. Gamers have some freedom in selecting which Fertile Grounds to heal. Alongside the best way, gamers should accumulate Mild Seeds, that are spent to unlock new powers that allow progress, like what we see in The Misplaced Crown.
Prince of Persia was launched only a yr after Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Murderer’s Creed, so some climbing and platforming isn’t fairly as clean as in these video games, and it options some eccentricities in how controls are mapped. Nonetheless, I may see how the emphasis on free-flowing motion had an affect on future video games like Respawn Leisure’s Star Wars Jedi duology. The large drill struggle from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor attracts from Prince of Persia’s flight capacity. It doesn’t get practically the identical credit score as a trailblazer of fluid, considerably real looking human motion in 3D motion video games as Murderer’s Creed and Uncharted do, nevertheless it’s an enchanting take a look at a contemporary third-person motion platformer in its nascent stage.
Additionally forward of its time is how Elika is integrated into gameplay. Elika is at all times with gamers and may even assist out in a struggle. This was lengthy earlier than video games like The Final of Us and God of Warfare would garner approval for related programs. Extra importantly, it’s unattainable to die in Prince of Persia.
If gamers miss a bounce, Elika will seize them and convey them again to the final platform with steady footing. If the participant falls in fight, Elika immediately revives the participant, with the one punishment being that the enemy regains some well being. This method to problem was derided in 2008; Wired mentioned the sport “misplaced one thing vital” by together with these options. Taking a look at these mechanics in 2024, this gameplay system feels surprisingly forward-thinking. It makes Prince of Persia a extra approachable recreation, even at this time. It makes me want I’d performed this hidden gem when it got here out, as my youthful self would have appreciated its method to problem. Sixteen years later, a Prince of Persia recreation is as soon as once more being lauded for its method to accessibility, which the gaming trade takes much more significantly now.
Fight is essentially the most dated side of Prince of Persia. It tries to be very cinematic with easy combos, an absence of fail state, and many quick-time occasions with particular digital camera angles. It suffers from repetition as gamers are solely combating the identical 5 or so enemies all through a lot of the recreation. If Prince of Persia was made at this time, I think about it might draw upon the Souls sequence’ fight, simply as the fashionable God of Warfare and Star Wars Jedi video games have. It represents an period wherein 3D motion video games have been trying to turn out to be extra partaking and cinematic — an experimental midpoint between Satan Might Cry and Demon’s Souls.
The primary of us
All these components already cement Prince of Persia as a hidden gem in my eyes, one which’s price testing in 2023. However once I thought the sport had no extra to provide, I used to be flabbergasted by its ending.
The Prince and Elika develop nearer all through the journey, and the Prince finally learns that the King succumbed to Ahriman after Elika died. He revived her, which granted Elika the magical powers she makes use of to assist the Prince and heal Fertile Grounds over the course of the sport, however she is now a puppet of Ahriman. The Prince and Elika proceed to work collectively and finally cease her father, however Elika understands that to revive the Tree of Life, she has to surrender her personal life and power to it.
She does so, a lot to the Prince’s shock and disappointment. Credit roll over gameplay because the Prince slowly carries Elika out of the temple the place the ultimate struggle occurrs. It’s a second not too not like the credit of 2018’s God of Warfare, when Kratos walks again down the mountain on Jotumheim together with his son, realizing his demise is doubtlessly inevitable. Believing that Ahriman will finally be freed once more ultimately because the god is solely trapped and wanting Elika again, the Prince touches the darkish facet.
Within the ultimate post-credits gameplay phase of Prince of Persia, gamers should reduce bushes across the temple, draining the life from the land that they spent the entire recreation restoring. This offers the Prince the ability to revive Elika. however unleashes Ahriman upon the world. If that sounds acquainted, it could be as a result of The Final of Us was lauded for the same ending 5 years later, when Joel murders a gaggle of docs who may save the world as a result of he doesn’t wish to lose Ellie.
For 2008, it’s a subversive and thought-provoking ending, doubtlessly the primary of its variety in a mainstream AAA motion recreation like this. It’s not completely executed — it doesn’t grapple with the fallout of the Prince’s determination fairly as a lot as The Final of Us did with Joel’s — however Prince of Persia was nonetheless daring sufficient to sort out a heavy theme in that memorable second.
Contemplating I didn’t find out about this twist once I booted up the sport, I used to be floored when Prince of Persia wrapped up like this. Why don’t folks speak about this ending extra? Effectively, it had a popularity for being unfinished on the time of launch. Epilogue DLC was launched just a few months after launch, providing perception into what occurred subsequent to the Prince and Elika. It doesn’t add a ton to the story, and narratively, the bottom recreation wraps up in a satisfying approach as is. That didn’t dispel the concept that the sport ends on a cliffhanger as a result of Ubisoft needed to attract out the “true ending” in DLC.
Video games can get away with constructing on their endings post-launch these days; Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 each did that. It’s one other approach the online game trade wasn’t fairly prepared for Prince of Persia in 2008. It garnered stable evaluations at launch and went on to promote tens of millions of copies, however Prince of Persia doesn’t have the legacy it deserves at this time.
After a Sands of Time follow-up, known as The Forgotten Sands, the sequence would lay dormant till The Misplaced Crown’s launch on January 18. Ubisoft determined to pursue extra Murderer’s Creed-style video games somewhat than proceed this rebooted Prince of Persia sequence. Having not identified a lot about it once I picked it up, I can’t cease interested by Prince of Persia. I doubt Ubisoft will proceed this story, however I don’t suppose it must. Prince of Persia from 2008 and 2024’s The Misplaced Crown are each proof that the sequence nonetheless has an influential place within the trade and may coexist with the likes of Murderer’s Creed. It’s a sequence that shouldn’t be misplaced to the sands of time.
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