The season of E3 2023 kicked off with a bang at Summer Game Fest, as Ubisoft announced Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
The game is launching on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, last-gen consoles, PC and Amazon Luna on January 18, 2024.
This latest Prince of Persia title might not be what fans were expecting, especially when we're still waiting on the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake which has been delayed multiple times, but what Ubisoft showed with this original title certainly looks promising.
A 2D side scroller in the vein of the series' earliest titles, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown also features multi-weapon combat, and fantastical bosses. It doesn't look too far removed from something like Metroid Dread or Hollow Knight, but it remains to be seen if Ubisoft's game has any metroidvania DNA. Its story also appears to take a few leaves from the PS2 trilogy of Prince of Persia titles, specifically Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.
A 2D Prince of Persia game wouldn't have been on everyone's Summer Game Fest bingo card, but it's certainly a welcome return to the series' roots, with what looks like a number of modern design sensibilities thrown in. Hopefully, the cool looking boss fights can be as mechanically rich and visually interesting as its contemporaries, and just as challenging to boot.
Either way, it's a welcome change of pace from Ubisoft's usual open-world repertoire. Let's hope the final product gives long-time series fans something to love when it launches next year, as we don't know when we'll get to play that Sands of Time remake.
There was a surprising amount of two-dimensional games shown off between Summer Game Fest and Day of the Devs. Sonic Superstars was another such title, bringing the iconic hedgehog back to his side-scrolling roots alongside Tails, Knuckles and Amy.
