I just lately had the chance to dive right into a roughly three-and-a-half-hour hands-on preview of the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown, and I had no thought what to anticipate.

I’ve truly not performed Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, so my most up-to-date expertise with the sequence goes again all the way in which to 2008’s Prince of Persia. The change to a 2.5D format intrigued me because it felt like a kind of conditions the place it may very well be an enormous payoff, or probably the mistaken transfer. After enjoying The Misplaced Crown for a number of hours, it definitely appears like the best alternative.

A return to type

The Misplaced Crown is a Metroidvania-style 2.5D platformer. You’ll traverse a large map with rooms that interconnect as you combat a wide range of enemy sorts, full puzzles, and procure some loot. As you progress, you’ll unlock shortcuts and teleport factors that help you shortly navigate the huge map so you’ll be able to return to previously-visited places after later unlocking abilities that help you entry beforehand unreachable areas.

In my session, protagonist Sargon, a member of the Persian warrior clan The Immortals, units out to the cursed metropolis of Mount Qaf in an effort to rescue the just lately kidnapped Prince Ghassan. In traditional Prince of Persia trend, time works slightly in a different way at Mount Qaf, which in flip paves the way in which for some fairly attention-grabbing potentialities each by way of story and gameplay. For instance, later within the session, I unlocked the power to carry out my evade motion whereas within the air, permitting me to leap over assaults and shortly evade to sprint behind my enemy and sustain the stress.

Oh, by the way in which, the soundtrack in The Misplaced Crown is top-notch. The Persian-themed music feels whimsical and mysterious when traversing Mount Qaf. However throughout difficult encounters, the music is intense and will get your blood pumping. Music is all the time an vital a part of a sport, however in The Misplaced Crown, it elevates the entire expertise. I can’t wait to listen to extra.

Danger vs reward

The fight system in The Misplaced Crown is extraordinarily fluid and fast-paced. Sargon has a fast mild assault, a heavy assault that takes longer to carry out however offers extra injury, a block, and a dash-style evade. You possibly can combo your mild and heavy assaults, and even acquire loot that may be outfitted to change your potential combos. Blocking will mitigate injury, however should be timed accurately. Nevertheless, some assaults are unblockable as indicated by a flash of pink mild when the enemy performs it. When that occurs, blocking isn’t an possibility, and you need to as an alternative evade the assault.

Evading gives you with a short invulnerability window, which suggests in idea you may play it protected by simply attempting to evade each assault versus block. However enemies also can carry out particular assaults that provide the alternative to carry out a block that results in a particular counter-attack. It doesn’t occur typically, however now and again your enemy could flash a yellow mild as an alternative of a pink one. When this occurs, should you completely time a block, you’ll not solely mitigate the injury from the particular assault however observe up with a high-damage counterattack that usually additionally leaves your opponent weak for a short time frame. Efficiently timing this block main right into a counterattack feels very rewarding, and may typically flip the tide of a battle in a boss combat.

Difficult but honest

The place Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown really shines is its boss encounters. Throughout my hands-on session, I encountered round half a dozen bosses. Every considered one of course with its personal distinctive skillset and assault patterns, permitting me to be taught with every try. One of many tougher boss fights took me a handful of makes an attempt however with every subsequent try, I discovered myself studying extra in regards to the combat. This may very well be an additional assault window or a strategy to higher place myself forward of an assault. Regardless of how difficult a number of the encounters had been, each felt honest and killable.

I do know this time period will get thrown round an excessive amount of these days, however in a approach, The Misplaced Crown has components of gradual satisfaction generally discovered within the Soulslike style. The best way you’ll be able to be taught the assault patterns of the boss encounters feels good. There have been a number of occasions once I’d get my butt kicked preventing a boss, however by the point I obtained grasp of the assault patterns of the boss, I’d find yourself performing a flawless try once I obtained the kill.

I’ll admit, my expectations going into Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown had been considerably reserved. I used to be hopeful the return to 2.5D would do it justice. It definitely does, and truthfully, the boss fights alone have me excited to proceed Sargon’s journey. The narrative is intriguing and I’m excited to see how the talents and gear you unlock later within the sport will change the fight.

Prince of Persia: The Misplaced Crown releases on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Collection X|S, and Nintendo Swap on January 15, 2024 at a worth level of $49.99.