Summary
The video game landscape as a whole has developed more than its fair share of tropes over the last few decades, and some of them have simply become a standard now. One ofthe biggest tropes in gamingis biomes and locales, with the same settings often being carried through the vast majority of video games, regardless of genre. For instance, gamers can usually expect to see a snowy biome, a desert biome, and a forest biome in just about any video game out there, and whilePrince of Persia: The Lost Crownis full of original ideas, it can’t escape this decades-old trope.
Set primarily on the mysterious Mount Qaf,Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownis home to a number of beautiful levels, ranging from ancient fortifications to a bustling forest that surrounds the mountain. But while most ofPrince of Persia: The Lost Crownis a joy to explore, there’s one biome that immediately feels like a chore to navigate, and it’s no surprise that it’s the game’s sewer level.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Can’t Save Sewer Levels
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Features Stellar Level Design
Bringing the franchise back to its 2D roots,Prince of Persia: The Lost Crowndoesn’t just offer some nostalgic fan service, but instead thrusts the series back into the modern age of gaming, making the incredibly smart decision to adopt the Metroidvania genre. While it was certainly a risky decision,Prince of Persia: The Lost Crownfeatures some of the bestMetroidvania level designin recent memory, learning from the genre’s leading figures and adding its own unique spin on things.
Practically across the board,Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s level design is top-notch. Whether it’s the constant sense of progression gained through new abilities, weapons, and mechanics, the natural increase in challenge the further the game goes on, or the innovative Memory Shard mechanic that could be a real game-changer for the entire Metroidvania genre moving forward,The Lost Crown’s Mount Qafis a delight to explore from start to finish.
Another major highlight ofPrince of Persia: The Lost Crownis its environmental design, which goes hand in hand with its stellar level design. Though Mount Qaf is mostly made to look like an ancient towering fortress,The Lost Crownstill features some incredibly diverse locations, all of which are made distinct via the game’s unique art style and lighting effects. For instance,Mount Qaf’s Sacred Archiveslook very different from its Lower City, which looks very different from the surrounding Hyrcanian Forest. And when so many ofThe Lost Crown’s locations feel so immersive, it only encourages players to explore even more.
Sewer Levels Are Still the Worst
But not all ofPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s biomes are equal. A few hours intoThe Lost Crown’s main story, players will be thrown all the way down to the bottom of the map, emerging in Mount Qaf’s Depths. A long-running trend in the gaming landscape, sewer levels are usually the most frustrating biome to explore, and that’s certainly true inPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
From a visual standpoint,The Lost Crown’s Depthsare incredibly disappointing. While the rest of the game features bright and vibrant colors and unique architecture, The Depths is dark, dingy, and unoriginal, looking just like any other Metroidvania sewer level. Of course, visuals are only one half of a sewer level’s problems, with its stereotypical mechanics being just as bad. Poison pools and enemies with poison throwing knives litter The Depths, and to make matters worse, players don’t even have access to their map when they’re first thrust into the grim area.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
WHERE TO PLAY
Dash into a stylish and thrilling action-adventure platformer set in a mythological Persian world where the boundaries of time and space are yours to manipulate. Play as Sargon and evolve from sword-wielding prodigy to extraordinary legend as you master acrobatic combat and unlock new Time Powers and unique super abilities.UNLEASH YOUR INNER WARRIORUse 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 QAFDiscover 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 ADVENTUREImmerse 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.
