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I will be sincere: Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown sounded simply high-quality on paper, however what I actually wished was the long-gestating remake of the best Prince of Persia recreation of all of them, The Sands of Time. That 2003 gem channeled the spirit of the traditional authentic recreation whereas brilliantly modernizing it. The franchise has arguably been chasing that top ever since. However that remake continues to be MIA.
So once I sat all the way down to play the primary few hours of The Misplaced Crown, then, I used to be pleasantly shocked to see that this wasn’t some low-budget, 2.5D try to recapture that early Twenty first-century glory. As an alternative, Ubisoft’s first correctly new Prince of Persia recreation because the 2008 reboot is its personal recreation – a Metroidvania – and it is such an ideal match that I am scratching my head questioning how this franchise and style by no means bought collectively earlier than.
Enjoying as Sargon, one of many not-literal Immortals who safeguard Persia, The Misplaced Crown guarantees to be a 20-25 hour romp set largely within the chrono-cursed Mount Qaf following a betrayal of the best order. Primarily based on the preliminary few hours I skilled, I might say that Ubisoft doubtless is not exaggerating; this must be a reasonably meaty journey. And the largest factor that turned rapidly and unexpectedly obvious throughout my quest was that I used to be going to must mud off a few of my previous action-game abilities, solid by Ninja Gaiden on Xbox across the similar time The Sands of Time got here out.
The Misplaced Crown is not any joke within the fight division.
Put one other manner, The Misplaced Crown is not any joke within the fight division. It harkens again to the unique Prince of Persia in that regard. Proper from the bounce, the unhealthy guys right here come out swinging – swords, polearms, and loads of different weapons – and you will must be fast to parry assaults (those with a yellow indicator), lest they take a bit chunk out of the three measly well being bars you begin with in the event that they join. Unblockable assaults, marked by a crimson glimmer, cannot be parried, so you may must keep away from these altogether. I most well-liked to try this by sliding beneath them so I may counterattack from behind.
On this observe, The Misplaced Crown additionally wastes no time in throwing you into one-on-one battles with bosses! I fought a number of of them within the opening hours, and I discovered these fights to be simply the appropriate mixture of difficult with out reaching the purpose of frustration. On this large monstrosity, for instance, I spent manner too lengthy attempting to brute-force him earlier than lastly settling down, studying his assault patterns, and rising victorious in a white-knuckle battle. That tussle nonetheless took a superb three-and-a-half minutes on account of his large well being bar.
However that is nonetheless a Prince of Persia recreation, and so there’s loads of precision platforming to do as properly. Fortunately, the penalty for failing to clear that mattress of spikes is not prompt loss of life (and as an alternative only one section of your well being bar), however traversal is not any stroll within the park. The truth is, one factor I did not particularly take care of within the first few hours was getting across the map. It is a Metroidvania, and as such you may go up, down, left, and proper on the map, and you will must return to locations you have already been. Touring lengthy distances, which you have to to do, is considerably cumbersome, significantly within the first couple of hours earlier than you unlock fast-travel stations.
One other layer of The Misplaced Crown I did like was the upgrades. You should purchase gadgets – like further well being potion capability, which I can promise you have to – in addition to upgrades like further amulet slots. Amulets are passive upgrades you will discover around the globe or buy, and so they supply issues like further well being, further injury, and so forth. I get the sense that I will welcome the flexibility to tailor my construct the deeper into this journey I get.
Ubisoft guarantees it should run at 60fps on all platforms (together with Nintendo Change).
Visually, The Misplaced Crown is not horrible nevertheless it’s not nice both, although Ubisoft guarantees it should run at 60fps on all platforms (together with Nintendo Change). I performed on PC and solely had a pair moments of slowdown that I will not maintain in opposition to it, contemplating that the staff continues to be sharpening the sport. Odds are these minor annoyances shall be smoothed out by the point it launches in mid-January.
One criticism I might levy up to now that is unlikely to be fastened, nonetheless, is the onboarding course of. For my style, The Misplaced Crown takes manner too lengthy to get going from a fight mechanics perspective. It took many of the preliminary three hours of the marketing campaign that I performed earlier than I had sufficient methods in my bag to start out holding my very own in fight. And whereas sure, it is a Metroidvania that is meant to peel again further onion layers as you progress, I might nonetheless argue that this Prince of Persia doles out its fight fundamentals manner too slowly.
Nonetheless, Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown is a surprisingly deep, no-nonsense Metroidvania that appears set to get our gaming yr of 2024 off to a superb begin.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s government editor of previews and host of each IGN’s weekly Xbox present, Podcast Unlocked, in addition to our month-to-month(-ish) interview present, IGN Unfiltered. He is a North Jersey man, so it is “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
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