Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown has so much driving on it. It hopes to be a return to kind for the long-running sequence, marking the primary main installment since 2010’s The Forgotten Sands. It takes the basic, side-scrolling, exploratory method that we all know and love and throws in spectacular visuals, a brand new story, and a few neat methods of its personal.
The Misplaced Crown isn’t a sequel or (fortunately) a prequel. As a substitute, the builders have created an unique outing based mostly on the basic formulation. The story follows a brand new protagonist named Sargon. This legendary warrior is a member of an elite group referred to as the Immortals. A brilliantly animated intro depicts an epic battle in progress, spurned by invaders into Persia. We be a part of Sargon and his crew in the direction of the top of this battle. Nevertheless, their victory is short-lived, quickly adopted by a deception from inside the palace that results in additional journey.
This narrative takes us to an thrilling new land referred to as Mount Qaf. It’s spectacular to see the builders take us to a world unrestricted by style tropes like palaces or desserts. As a substitute, we’re taken to an eerie place the place time appears to have stalled. There are allies who’ve been misplaced for many years regardless of having been seen by Sargon mere hours earlier. Massive monuments sit ominously within the background, shattered however someway nonetheless hovering in place. Time works in a different way right here, opening an interesting narrative that results in a number of quests.
There’s lots to do in The Misplaced Crown. Other than the principle quests that drive the story, there’s a robust incentive to discover each nook and cranny to search out hidden treasures. A number of aspect quests additionally await your consideration. You may work together with many attention-grabbing characters in your journey, including non-obligatory duties to your record or offering recommendation or treasures of their very own. These interactions and ranging pathways seldom grow to be overwhelming or distracting, although. As a substitute, they serve so as to add longevity to the sport, encouraging exploration as you comply with the story. It’s nicely balanced.
If half of your time is spent exploring, the opposite half is spent combating. Sargon is a warrior at coronary heart, in any case, and it reveals. He strikes shortly, with acrobatic grace that’s complemented by two impressive-looking blades. This mix ensures quick and satisfying fight; I didn’t discover myself relegated to mere button mashing to succeed. Sargon is privy to numerous strikes equivalent to dashing, blocking, and even taking pictures arrows, various the way in which you interact with every enemy. Unlocking different weapons alongside your journey is one other rewarding expertise. Plus particular strikes and collectable amulets add to your energy. It provides to the various fight, particularly for gamers who aren’t notably adept at this style. Sure, that may be me.
To that finish, the builders have added some terrific accessibility options. There are 5 problem ranges from which to decide on, catering to everybody from informal to hardcore gamers. It additionally provides one more reason to replay; for those who make it via on a better mode, you is perhaps tempted to provide it one other go at a tougher tempo. If issues are nonetheless too troublesome (or straightforward), you can too toggle a “guided mode” on or off throughout play. This provides icons to the map that present the principle aims and makes navigation simpler.
There are extra accessibility choices to maintain everybody completely satisfied. When the sport first masses, you’re given the liberty to select from varied settings together with font measurement, distinction, HUD, and different parts that make taking part in a extra pleasant expertise. It’s a development I’ve seen in different titles lately, and one I hope continues.
Talking of navigation, I’m notably pleased with the way in which the map works. It may be a tough factor to develop; different video games lay issues out in complicated methods, or maybe make it too small to be helpful. The mapping system within the Misplaced Crown is virtually excellent. It unravels as you progress, making it straightforward to see the place you might be, the place you’ve been, and the place you might want to get to.
One of the best a part of the map, although, is one thing referred to as Reminiscence shards. That is an image-capture function that lets you pin pictures on to the map. I love this function. For instance, for those who encounter an out-of-reach space or treasure, you possibly can take a snapshot and pin it to your present location. Whenever you uncover a brand new potential, you possibly can scan your map for these shards to see the place you might use it to achieve beforehand inaccessible gadgets or areas. It jogs my memory of writing notes on my map through the glory days of the DS. It’s good.
The Misplaced Crown can also be visually gorgeous. It runs at a silky-smooth 60fps on the Nintendo Swap; kudos to the builders for taking this little handheld severely. There aren’t any lags, there aren’t any loading screens, and the animations play splendidly. Actually, that is the form of optimization I’d anticipate from a first-party sport. Every little thing runs nicely in each handheld and docked mode.
Graphically, every space options lush environments that pop off the display screen. I seen bugs scuttling by within the foreground, to not point out these impressively massive statues frozen in time within the background. I notably loved seeing enemies creep in from the foreground earlier than leaping into the center part to assault. It provides a lot depth! The reduce scenes are one other standout, with full voiceover work complementing the motion.
Total, Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown is a splendid return to kind for the sequence. The builders have completed a terrific job with an unique story and a visually spectacular title that’s nicely carried out on the Swap. The graceful gameplay, terrific map system, and satisfying fight and exploration make this a must-play for style followers.